University of Utah Undergraduate Research Abstracts, Volume 10, Spring 2010

154_Honors College

149 HONORS COLLEGE Message from the Director What distinguishes most an education at a Research I University is the on-going production of new knowledge. What this lends to both classrooms and even the most casual conversations on the lawn in front of the Union building is a freshness, an awareness of what is important and new. Research is what invigorates teaching, scholarly production, and the contribution we might make to the academic community. Research brings students into collaboration with faculty and intro-duces them to processes, ways of knowing, and interpretation and invites them to apply what they have learned in the classroom. The Honors Program believes that every student should have a meaningful experience in research and that excellence in research and writing ought to be celebrated. This is why we are joining with the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program for the seventh annual Research Symposium. In fact, now every student who graduates with the Honors degree and completes an Honors thesis or capstone project participates in this symposium. This day recognizes our commitment to research, our belief in the immense benefit it provides for students, and our involvement in the larger research agenda of this great university. We are also pleased to feature the Honors students' abstracts in the University of Utah's Undergraduate Research Abstracts Journal. We invite you to join us in celebrating the achievements of Honors students in completing their theses, and in mak-ing a contribution to the production of new knowledge at this University. Martha Bradley 150 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 HONORS RADIATION THINK TANK: NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC POLICY We face a global electricity dilemma. On one hand, demand in 2030 will likely be twice what it was in 2000, due mostly to growth in developing nations. On the other hand, continuing to extract and burn fossil fuels will significantly undermine our effort to improve quality of life. Nuclear power has a com-parative advantage to fossil fuels in this regard, providing "baseload" capacity with only a fraction of the carbon emissions linked to climate change. Nuclear deserves consideration as part of our future strategy, but the nuclear industry has slowed almost to a standstill for three reasons: First, new nuclear power plants are not an attractive investment. Second, there is no accepted solution for long term stor-age of radioactive waste. Finally, the spread of nuclear technology is associated with nuclear weapons proliferation. The response of lawmakers to these issues will determine the viability of nuclear power for our energy future. Several factors render nuclear a poor investment. Construction takes six to ten years, and the initial expense is extraordinarily high. Further, construction is competitively subcontracted which should bring costs down but instead impedes coordination and often leads to interface errors between com-ponents or supply bottlenecks. Nuclear projects are notorious for exceeding initial budgets and time-lines. Finally, because investors and banks are so wary, higher interest is charged on loans for nuclear plants than for coal or gas plants. Interestingly, the last generation of reactors were developed by state-owned or -sanctioned utility monopolies, where oversight was centralized and cost overruns didn't bankrupt the company. Even in today's competitive electricity market the government can help absorb some of the investment risk. Indeed, in 2005 Congress allocated $18.5 billion for loan guarantees, and President Obama has already promised $8.3 billion for two new reactors in Georgia. Nuclear might not be an option in the near future, however, unless the issue of waste storage is resolved. In the 1980's Yucca mountain was designated as the site for 135,000 metric tons of nuclear waste. Federal interests have shifted, however, and funding for the site has been curtailed. On March 3, 2010, the Department of Energy officially withdrew its license application for the site with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This comes as a major set back to the nuclear power industry. Other tempo-rary sites, such as the Skull Valley, Utah, waste storage site are being looked into for the short term, but no long term solution is apparent. Besides being extremely costly and politically controversial, few other geologic sites can be proven stable for the next hundred thousand years to a million years. Radioactive waste may not be a serious impediment to the industry if reprocessing is an option, but no alternative technologies have yet proven secure and cost-effective. Perhaps the most serious concern associated with pursuing nuclear power is nuclear proliferation, which is the spread of nuclear technologies in and among countries to strengthen military power. Politicians and the public alike fear that pursuing nuclear activities will lead to the production of nuclear weapons. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty seeks to address these concerns by limiting the use of nuclear technologies for all reasons other than peaceful research. One-hundred-eighty-nine countries have signed the treaty, but the international community worries about the treaty's non-sig-natory countries, particularly those that likely possess nuclear weapons: India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel. North Korea and Pakistan are also on "alert" according to the Fund for Peace's Failed States Index. Appropriately managing nuclear capabilities must be a vital state function. While the Obama administration supports expanding the Non-Proliferation treaty, it remains uncertain whether more countries will agree to the treaty's terms and whether the treaty will ultimately prevent nuclear military aggression. Anthony Ardovino, Robbie Hallstrom, Erin Schroeder (R. Huber, T.G. Richmond) Honors College University of Utah Anthony Ardovino Robbie Hallstrom THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 151 HONORS COLLEGE THE PRICE OF PUNISHING POT: THE ECONOMICS OF MARIJUANA POLICY In this essay, I examine the various approaches that policymakers take regarding marijuana. When examining the costs of the various policies regarding illicit drugs, it is necessary to first determine what the goals of those policies are. In general, there are two main goals for policy makers, those being prevalence reduction and harm reduction. Once this is determined one can then assess the cost effec-tiveness of possible policies to implement. When examining the best policy option for marijuana it is necessary to take into account its effects on a person's health (or lack thereof), its effects on productivi-ty, its effects on family, and also any adverse effects for the society in which the illicit drug is being used. Making marijuana illegal with harsh penalties such as large fines and/or jail may have beneficial effects on the prevalence of the use of the drug. However, these harsh penalties may also create adverse effects not only for those who consume the drug but also for innocent family members. Fines are an attractive punishment method as long as the fine successfully deters people from committing crimes and they are a proper amount in accordance to the crime that was committed. The problem with some fines for marijuana use is that they are so large. For instance, in Alabama, the possession of 2.2 pounds or less, so even 1/8th of an ounce, of marijuana will necessitate a fine of $6,000. This amount seems unnecessarily large considering marijuana use does not impose that large of a burden on the society nor the individual. These large fines that are imposed can prove to be a large burden on some families. I understand that these fines are put in place in hopes to deter people from using the drug, however, this is not always the case and by imposing a large fine on a mother that had smoked marijuana, the government is tak-ing money from her that could otherwise be used by her to care for her children. Thus, the person the fine is imposed upon is not always the only person this fine hurts. I believe it is time we accurately assess the damage caused by the use of marijuana alone, as well as the damage caused by the punishment of those caught in the possession of this drug. We must ask ourselves what is truly the goal of our marijuana policies and are we achieving that goal in the most cost effective manner? Michelle Badger (Mark Glick) Department of Economics University of Utah Michelle Badger Mark Glick 152 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 EXPLORING IMPEDIMENTS TO BENEFICIAL BEHAVIORS USING SOCIAL MARKETING THEORY: AN APPLICATION USING A LARGE STATE UNIVERSITY Social marketing is an approach to behavior change that draws upon marketing theory to address social concerns such as smoking, lack of exercise, and recycling. The primary goal of social marketing is to persuade people to engage in behaviors that increase social welfare. The University of Utah markets activities congruent to sustainable behavior; however, even though recycling is a beneficial behavior, not everyone complies. Even those who identify themselves as favor-able to recycling and acknowledge the benefits associated with recycling do not always recycle. This thesis uses a conceptual marketing framework that addresses motivation, opportunity and ability for respondents. Building on the conceptual structure, this work develops a description of the motiva-tion, opportunity and ability as well as structural impediments to pro-social behaviors in a real world setting. The study closes the loop on the contribution by using the conceptual structure to test various marketing messages for persuasiveness. This study uses qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the structure of recycling on campus (e.g., Is there motivation? Opportunity? Ability?) and barriers to sustainable behaviors on campus. The findings are used to suggest improvements the recycling outreach campaigns. The focus groups and survey data indicate that although students are generally motivated to recycle, they are limited by a lack of opportunity on campus. Students are unclear about contamination, which means students are potentially recycling incorrectly or not recycling due to the concern of recycling incorrectly. The tagline found most effective for marketing recycling implied a reward for students that recycled. In terms of the conceptual structure, students were motivated, felt they had some, though not always easy, opportunity, but that their knowledge was lacking. This suggests that although stu-dents liked the tagline that rewarded them for recycling, to effectively recycle they need education on exactly what can be recycled and where. Suneil Bhambri (Teresa Pavia) Department of Marketing University of Utah Suneil Bhambri Teresa Pavia THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 153 HONORS COLLEGE NANOCOMPOSITE DIELECTRIC CAPACITANCE USING POLY-METHYL METHACRYLATE AND SILICA In the effort to continually develop smaller and smaller electronic systems, a study was conducted on the effects of nanoscopic polymeric structures in the improvement of capacitor dielectrics. This study was organized to follow a previously completed research study done by Dr. Toshikatsu Tanaka (2005) [3] on the inclusion of micro- and nano-sized fillers in thermoset resins and polymers. The primary objective was to validate claims that the dielectric properties of poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA) could be improved through the addition of silica nanoparticles. The selection of a polymer such as PMMA is desirable due to the large side chains on the monomer unit. These chains allow for mechani-cal twisting and rotation upon application of an electric field. This molecular motion creates a polar electric effect within the polymer which leads to a higher dielectric constant than non-polar polymers. Here, testing is done on neat PMMA films (film layers with no silica present) and the results are com-pared to films having various concentrations of silica nanoparticles. The neat and nanocomposite films were deposited by spin casting at varying spin speeds and tested at different electrical frequencies and operating temperatures. Capacitor structures were fabricated on glass substrates using a Denton E-beam Deposition system to deposit aluminum onto glass substrates. Capacitor structures were fabri-cated on glass substrates using a Denton E-beam Deposition system to deposit aluminum. First, alu-minum was deposited on the glass, followed by deposition of the neat PMMA or nanocomposite film. Second, a layer of aluminum was deposited onto the film to create a "sandwich" capacitor with a poly-meric dielectric substance. New methods of film formation were analyzed and the structural integrity of the samples tested. Further studies into methods of depositing the PMMA/silica mixtures will signifi-cantly enhance the research of nanoscopic polymeric dielectric capacitance. Steven Brätt (Debra Mascaro) Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Utah Steven Bratt Debra Mascaro 154 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 THE EFFECTS OF HEALTHCARE COMMUNICATION STYLES ON VISIT LENGTH AND PATIENT SATISFACTION Time is one of physicians' most precious commodities. Meanwhile, lack of time is often one of patients' biggest complaints about office visits. Many studies have explored the implications of decreased visit lengths, both on overall patient health as well as physician satisfaction and burnout. Nearly all con-clude that more research is necessary. Originally, this study sought to examine patients' reactions to directive versus facilitative health care provider communication styles. Community participants with a family history of cancer participated in a cancer information session with one of three confederate student nurses speaking in either a direc-tive or facilitative manner. Participants' skin conductance, cardiac impedance and heart rate data were recorded and pre-/post-session questionnaires were completed. Our analysis found that one important difference between the directive and facilitative condition was length of visit, with the facilitative visit being significantly longer. This prompted us to explore three additional research questions. First, which provider communication behaviors are related to visit length? Second, which patient communication behaviors are associated with visit length? And finally, which patient and provider factors affect patient satisfaction? Multiple regression analyses, controlling for condition and confederate nurse, were used to examine the relationships between communication behaviors, visit length and patient satisfaction. Provider communication behaviors related to shorter visit lengths included a higher ratio of health counseling statements and a higher proportion of questions asked of the participant - both open and closed ended. Shorter visit lengths were also related to higher nurse dominance, i.e. a higher proportion of nurse talk during the session compared to total talk time. Longer visits were associated with a higher ratio of nurse emotional utterances to the patient. Meanwhile, higher participant biomedical and emo-tional utterance ratios were associated with longer visits. Participants in the directive condition (also the shorter condition) reported lower satisfaction than those in the facilitative condition. The main communication behavior we identified to account for this difference was a relationship between nurse dominance and slightly decreased satisfaction. We also found that participant anxiety before the session was related to decreased overall satisfaction. These findings may increase our understanding about communication factors in healthcare settings. It is especially interesting to note that factors traditionally considered important in health care discus-sions - such as question asking and counseling, were associated with shorter visits. It is also important to observe that patient communication behaviors were generally more predictive of longer visit lengths than provider behaviors. Additionally, we found that patient anxiety and provider dominance are likely to play a role in patient satisfaction. Our findings may have implications for how to influence and predict visit length and patient satisfaction in health care settings. Kelsey Liane Buchman (Lee Ellington) Department of Psychology Kelsey Liane Buchman University of Utah Lee Ellington 156 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 AN INVESTIGATION OF SINGLE POLE TRANSMISSION LINE STRUCTURE FOUNDATION DESIGN PROCEDURES The proper design of single pole transmission line structure foundations is a difficult task due to the complexity of the loading mechanisms and the variability of the load resisting medium. Steady state and transient loads induce large moments in all three planes, large shearing forces, and axial uplift and compression forces at the butt of the foundation. Drilled shafts are the most common type of founda-tion used for these types of structures. The design of this type of foundation is often very conservative due to poor knowledge of subsurface conditions and inappropriate design models. The result is a foundation that costs tens of thousands of dollars more than necessary. For a transmission line that consists of hundreds or even thousands of these structures, the excess cost is staggering. The purpose of this thesis is to determine the state of practice of a regional utility company, conduct a literature review to determine the current state-of-the art methods that are available, and to make immediate recommendations to improve the design procedures that are used. It was discovered that the biggest deficiencies in the design process are a lack of standardization, inadequate investigation of subsurface conditions, and improper determination of soil strength parameters. The cost of perform-ing additional subsurface investigation is relatively small in comparison to the savings that can be achieved. It is recommended that a standardized design manual be incorporated in all projects, addi-tional subsurface investigation be performed, and methods used for determining soil strength parame-ters be based on the model that will be used to perform the foundation analysis and design. Byron H. Foster (Evert C. Lawton) Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Utah THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 157 HONORS COLLEGE MAPPING EOSINOPHIL ACTIVATION IN EOSINOPHILIC ESOPHAGITIS Here we develop a new method for the detection and mapping of eosinophil (white blood cell) activa-tion in a disease called eosiniphilic esophagitis (EoE). The number of people affected by this disease in the US is currently 400,000 and it is doubling every 4-5 years. Symptoms include food impaction, dys-phagia (difficulty swallowing), odynophagia (painful swallowing), and heartburn. EoE is characterized by the infiltration and activation of eosinophils in the esophagus. When eosinophils activate, they release granule proteins such as MBP-1, EDN, EPO, etc. Currently, the best way to diagnose the disease is invasive, time-consuming, and not particularly revealing because it involves manual analysis of small biopsy samples, which are not always characteristic of the esophagus as a whole. To overcome the problem with the current method of diagnosis, we develop a noninvasive imaging scheme. The approach is to determine antibodies that bind with high affinity to granule proteins spe-cific to EoE, label these antibodies with the radiolabel, Technesium-99, by chelation with NHS-MAG3, and then determine binding characteristics and detectability by testing them on EoE tissue samples. In vivo, antibodies bound to esophagus tissue could be detected by radioimmunodiagnostic techniques such as SPECT, MRI, etc. This method would result in a 3D map of eosinophil activation in the esopha-gus. This is desirable not only because it would involve a less invasive diagnostic technique for the patient to undergo, but it would also provide a way to study other questions related to the disease. This paper further discusses the overall approach and describes the antibody labeling step in detail. Courtney E. Gonzalez (Leonard F. Pease III, Gerald J. Gleich, Kathryn A. Peterson) Department of Chemical Engineering University of Utah Courtney E. Gonzalez Leonard F. Pease III 158 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 EUGENE ENGLAND'S CALCULATED RISK: THE STRUGGLE FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE A prophet, in simplest terms, is one who desires to change society for the better and call those around them to action. In my research I define the prophetic voice and examine the writings of Eugene Eng-land, an influential English and Mormon Literature professor. I pose the question of whether England possesses the prophetic voice with his emphasis on the personal essay and promotion of dialogue. Dialogue was a central theme of England's life. He believed that by asking questions and having differ-ing opinions represented that we come closer to God, and find our true selves. Academic freedom, or the right for a teacher to teach and a student to learn, was closely connected with England's concept of dialogue. To him a university was the best place to ask questions and find truth. When England began teaching and writing, universities were mainly secular. Over four decades in academia, England recog-nized the need for and championed the value of open dialogue between the secular and spiritual, which is now a conversation more common on campuses. For my research I followed the development of England's prophetic voice by analyzing his writings, lec-tures, journals, and correspondence. I also researched the circumstances concerning his employment and retirement from different universities since he was asked to leave some because of his support of dialogue. There is continuity in his writings, from his first published piece in Dialogue, a Journal that he co-founded, to his last lecture at the Sunstone Symposium, which is completely devoted to the issue of academic freedom in Utah higher education. Speaking out about academic freedom was a risk that England saw as essential, and it is still essential today. By analyzing England's writings and life we can find a way to have greater academic freedom, especially in the field of Mormon Studies. Charlotte Hansen (Mark Matheson) Department of English University of Utah Eugene England Charlotte Hansen Mark Matheson THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 159 HONORS COLLEGE ENVIRONMENTAL TOXIN EFFECTS ON DOPAMINERGIC NEURONS IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER Parkinson's disease (PD) is defined as the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Symp-toms of the disease include tremor, akinesia, rigidity, and autopsy frequently reveals amyloid plaques known as Lewy bodies in the surviving dopaminergic neurons. It is a common disease in which 50,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, and where one in six Americans reaching the age of 75 will devel-op. It is believed that PD can be caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Early onset PD is typically familial and accounts for 5% of all PD cases; the remainder are idiopathic. Convincing epi-demiological evidence suggests that exposure to environmental toxins (paraquat, rotenone, 6-OHDA) generates dopaminergic losses by unidentified subcellular mechanisms. We first optimized methods of dopaminergic histology in Drosophila melanogaster, a research area that has been problematic (Drobysheva et al, 2008). We are currently working on a study which aims to determine the effects of environmental toxins on Drosophila melanogaster ---- toxins which have previously been used in vari-ous vertebrate models of PD. Preliminary data demonstrates wide differences in male and female toxin susceptibility, and almost complete neuronal losses before behavioral phenotypes are evident. The main goal of my project is to determine if the behavioral phenotypes following toxin exposure are specifically due to dopaminergic neuronal loss, or due to the impairment of another system such as normal synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction. This will be accomplished by killing dopaminergic neurons using genetic tools. These flies will then be exposed to dopaminergic toxins ascertaining whether or not observable phenotypes are due to defects in systems other than the dopamine pathway. Kenny Helmandollar (Alice Schmid) Department of Human Genetics University of Utah Kenny Helmandollar Alice Schmid 160 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 SYNTHESIS OF STRUCTURAL DERIVATIVES OF COMPOUND 1023 AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE BRANCHING OF NORMAL MAMMARY TISSUE A small-scale chemical screening collaboration was initiated between several members from the Hunts-man Cancer Institute (HCI) and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Utah. In one of the initial screens preformed by this collaboration, including compounds synthesized in the Department of Chemistry and compounds purchased from outside sources, compound 1023, Figure 1, was seen to have two different and potentially significant biological implications. The first was with regards to the branching and development of primary breast epithelial tissue, and second as a potential candidate for drug therapy. We focused our efforts on the developmental aspects of 1023 and its effect on normal breast tissue. It was found that compound 1023 and its synthetic derivatives are aromatic hydrocar-bon receptor inhibitors. This will hopefully lead to further understanding into the development of the kidneys and lungs, which share a similar branching phenotype to that of mammary tissue. Figure 1: The Structure of Compound 1023 Matthew C. Hess (Ryan E. Looper) Department of Chemistry Matthew C. Hess University of Utah Ryan E. Looper THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 161 HONORS COLLEGE "PLEASURE PAST AND ANGUISH PAST": DROWNED DECADENCE AND PHOTOGRAPHY IN CHRISTINA ROSSETTI'S GOBLIN MARKET Published at the chronological center of the Victorian era in 1862, Christina Rossetti's poem Goblin Market resurrects questions of technology, death, and feminine access to ecstasy during a period of vast restructuring. In addition to confronting the social status of the female protagonists, Rossetti's poem forges a thematic link between Laura's transformation and the contemporarily popular collodion processing of photographic images, first developed in Europe around 1850 and used as the primary means of rendering images until the fin de siècle. One of the most didactic and pervasive figures in Victorian social concerns was the "fallen woman": tra-ditionally a young, beautiful, and middle- to lower-class female who, by the fault of one moral misstep, is reduced to sexual impurity, pregnancy, venereal disease, and ultimately suicide by drowning. This image makes repeated appearances in Victorian art, from Thomas Hood's poem "The Bridge of Sighs" and Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield, to paintings such as one entitled Found, by Rossetti's older brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. However, the woman fallen from grace in Goblin Market undergoes a transformation that departs in both theme and aesthetics from the standard depiction of female suicide. The protagonist's social redemption consists of a moment of exposure and excess, mediated by her still-pure sister and mim-icking the collodion photographic process; after which she metaphysically dies by vanquishing "pleas-ure past and anguish past" and becoming a bourgeoisie wife and mother who speaks tired truisms from the grave of her unfeeling body. To explore Rossetti's antiphon to male-generated narratives of fallen women, as well as the influence of both physical ecstasy and the mechanism of photography on the poem, the project will review Goblin Market through the lenses of selected essays from Visions of Excess by Georges Bataille and Roland Barthes' Camera Lucida. This reading provokes a narrative of ecstasy and death in decadence and the photographic rendering of the protagonist into a speaking specter, suffering from an excess of image and a void of interiority. Loni Jacobsen (Anne Jamison) Department of English University of Utah Loni Jacobsen Anne Jamison 162 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 YOUTH CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMS AT UNIVERSITY NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERS/ HARTLAND PARTNERSHIP CENTER: A YOUTH PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION The question addressed by this research is: What are the assets and needs of Youth Capacity-Building programs at University Neighborhood Partners/Hartland Partnership Center from the perspective of youth residents at Hartland? In examining this question, special focus is applied to the perceived and desired roles of youth residents, strengths of and challenges for youth programming, and possible explanations for why some Hartland youth are not participants in capacity building programs. By developing, framing and examining the research question from a youth perspective, the research intends to adhere to the principles of both community-based research and youth participatory evalua-tion theories: specifically, the research engages two youth residents of Hartland as co-researchers in the evaluation process, who will serve as co-facilitators in focus groups of their multinational peers. These co-researchers and I will conduct three focus groups with youth residents ages 7-17, and will analyze the data by identifying important concepts and themes presented. Results will be disseminat-ed to Hartland youth and other important partners and stakeholders, with the intention of utilizing the strengths of youth perspectives toward greater youth input into programs. Annika L. Jones (Trinh Mai) College of Social Work University of Utah Annika L. Jones Trinh Mai THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 163 HONORS COLLEGE GOVERNMENTAL VERSUS EXTRA-GOVERNMEN-TAL TRADE INTERVENTIONS: AN EXAMINATION OF SYSTEMIC FAIRNESS While cross-border trade is not new, the level of information available to the general public about the methods and consequences of trade is; and as more information becomes available to the public, more consumers begin to question the sources of their products. As such knowledge has developed, so have efforts to regulate trade in order to make it more equitable and fair and to mitigate the ten-dencies of certain commodity trades to negatively affect the lives of producers. This paper examines governmental and extra-governmental trade interventions in two commodities and two countries - coffee in Ethiopia and diamonds in Botswana. The case studies of coffee and diamonds show that governmental trade regulations can only go so far in regulating trade as well as satisfying the demands of international partners, while extra-governmen-tal regulating schemes are inherently limited in scope because of their dependence on purchasers and the good will of their partners. Alone, neither method of regulation creates systemic fairness. The paper concludes with a proposal for how governmental and extra-governmental regulators can work together to move toward a more sustainable and comprehensive trade system where producers, con-sumers, and intermediaries are satisfied. Sabrina King (Claudio Holzner) Department of Political Science University of Utah Sabrina King Claudio Holzner 164 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 STUDENT VOLUNTEERISM AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: THE CASES OF GHANA, CHILE, AND CHINA A lack of quality education is a barrier to development. Right now there are approximately 101 million children of primary age who are not attending school. Even those that are fortunate enough to attend school often are not receiving a quality education due to a shortage of teachers, school supplies, and funding. There are hundreds of organizations working toward making it possible for all children to receive a quality education - one of the Millennium Development Goals is to have universal primary education by the year 2015 - and these goals can be expedited by making use of student volunteers. Right now, student volunteers play a very shallow role in humanitarian efforts, i.e. teaching English, building houses. This paper suggests a way in which student volunteers can be used at a deeper level by allowing them to work on adjusting the structure of educational systems themselves. Katie Kormanik (Thomas Maloney) Department of Economics University of Utah Katie Kormanik Thomas Maloney THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 165 HONORS COLLEGE THE LOST ART OF ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS Architecture is more than the fulfillment of functional requirements and our physical need for shelter. Juhani Pallasmaa writes, "A house does not solely constitute our ‘third skin,' an externalization of our bodily functions; it is also an externalization of our imagination, memory, and conceptual capacities." One of the most enduring ways we project our values and our selves in the architecture we build is through architectural details. The building detail has served many purposes throughout the evolution of architecture. Whether to hide building joints, emphasize materiality, or add symbolic ornamentation, details have always been a critical element in successful architecture. Through the art of detailing, architects communicate the most intimate aspects of their designs to ensure that other construction professionals materialize their ideas. Architectural details connect build-ing occupants to the place, embody the abstract depths of the human condition, and externalize the truest cultural meanings. Our experience of architecture is shaped by details on conscious and subcon-scious levels. Recent trends in architecture have limited the presence of the architectural detail. Value engineering, the prevalence of Building Information Modeling (BIM), and increasingly strict building codes have made unique, meaningful details expensive and time consuming. Current societal trends of con-sumerism and consumption have exacerbated the problem. Well-detailed buildings are increasingly difficult to find in the contemporary built environment. Our architecture, which reflects our values as well as shapes them, is currently overly practical, overly similar, and sensuously impoverished. The art of architecture involves much more than inserting ready-made templates of typical construc-tion details into a virtual environment. Architecture like Chartres Cathedral, the Chrysler Building, and the civic fountains of Lawrence Halprin share few outward similarities. However, each stands as a recognizable icon and elicits an emotional response from its participants because of the details in its composition. Through this project, I present the historical role of the detail, its disappearance from contemporary architecture, and architectural details of successful buildings. I believe the quality of our architecture is directly related to the quality of its details. As stated by Mies van der Rohe, "God is in the Details." Adam LaFortune (Mira Locher) College of Architecture + Planning University of Utah Adam LaFortune Mira Locher 166 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 SALT SIFTING The Great Salt Lake has always been present in my life. I was born only a few miles from its coast on the fringe between summer droughts and fall showers. Each time it rains I am reminded of the rise and fall of this unique body of water. The valley that I have called my own for 20 of my 24 years carries the lake's name. The city where I live now is named after one of the three rivers that feed both dead seas. Over 150 years ago, Mormon pioneers in Missouri saw visions of its sacred shores. Generations of Lind-says have lived and died in this valley. I too will do the same. And yet, I have never given the lake more than a cursory look. Like many things in my life, the lake lays dormant, defining the events of my past, present and future, but never making itself manifest. Only a deliberate expedition into the unknown will reveal the lake effect. By venturing into this foreign physical space I hope to unravel old memories and mold new ones. I will sit on the shores of the lake, sifting salt. Jacob Lindsay (Andy Hoffman) Department of English University of Utah Jacob Lindsay THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 167 HONORS COLLEGE REPRESENTATION AS CONQUERING: MANIPULATION AND COERCION IN "TITUS ANDRONICUS" This essay implicates both Shakespeare and his character Aaron as catalysts of the tragic chain of events in Titus Andronicus. Recent criticism proposes that the grim plot of the play is a result of a tex-tual tradition that offers only sacrifice as an alternative to war, and that the character Titus Andronicus' actions direct the events of the play. I refute this criticism by demonstrating how both Shakespeare as playwright and Aaron as a stage-transcending identity manipulate and control identities onstage and off through false representation. Shakespeare and Aaron subdue, overpower, and inevitably conquer identities both onstage and off. The brutal ends of Titus Andronicus are not a result of circumstantial means; there exists a malevolent force, directed by Shakespeare and embodied by Aaron, which both acts as an agent of manipulation and coercion throughout the play and transcends the stage with its effect on the viewing audience. Anthony Marzinelli (Dennis Kezar) Department of English University of Utah THE SENDING AND RECEIVING OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CELL PHONE PICTURES ("SEXTING") AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS The prevalence and correlates of sexting behavior were examined in 609 high schools students. Of all surveyed, 18% said they had sent a sexually explicit image of themselves to another person via cell phone. About twice as many reported that they had ever received a sexually explicit cell phone picture. Ryan Kelly McKinnon (Donald S. Strassberg) Department of Psychology University of Utah Anthony Marzinelli Ryan Kelly McKinnon Donald S. Strassberg 168 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 ALLOWING FOR VOICE: ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES OF URBAN EDUCATION THROUGH WRITING Although educational inequities-mainly linked to race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status-are largely the results of systematic failures in urban education, curriculum can be used as a tool to transform the system and empower students to become critical thinkers and agents of change. In the field of sec-ondary English/Language Arts, writing is an essential part of this transformation process because it allows students to express the voices, and thus the experiences and perspectives that are uniquely theirs and that are often lost, or even suppressed, in a system that sees them only as failing test scores. In order to effectively address these challenges as a future teacher, I must first develop an understand-ing of the disparities in urban education, historically and in the present. I must recognize the privileges that I have by virtue of my race and socioeconomic status, and how these privileges have played out in my own education and perspectives on education. I must learn how to become an effective ally to all students, regardless of their background, and develop the best teaching methods to help these stu-dents succeed on high levels. If I am to do this through writing, I must be willing to "risk intensity," as poetry teacher Judith Michaels suggests, in my own frequent reflections of myself, and in the work that I will do with my students in the classroom. This thesis will examine the current pedagogical practices being used to address writing disparities in urban education, especially the practice of critical pedagogy, and a personal assessment of my own abilities and desires to effectively implement these teaching methods. Rochelle McConkie (Janet Kaufman) Department of English University of Utah Rochelle McConkie THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 169 HONORS COLLEGE CONSOLIDATING CENTRAL POWER THROUGH BUREAUCRACY: FOUNDATION OF BRITISH RECORD-KEEPING FROM THE EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY TO 1800 Beginning in 1755, Britain experienced a widespread controversy over the need for a regular popula-tion census due to uncertainties regarding British population decline since 1688. Historians have addressed this controversy as a starting point for the development of the census. However, the devel-opment of the census began as early as the sixteenth century, as the English central government sought to consolidate and bolster its power through expanded bureaucracy. The English Reformation, begun by Henry VIII and stabilized by Elizabeth I, fostered the events, legislation and nationalistic ide-ologies that paved the way for the inception of regular, standardized government record-keeping. In turn, improved record-keeping reinforced centralized control. The Census and Vital Registration Bill introduced in 1753 was both the culminating evidence of the centralization of power through bureau-cracy as well as the catalyst for the controversial conversation that ensued in the the latter half of the eighteenth century. These foundations of bureaucracy provide the evidence for the rise of the British nation-state and the national government's ever-present interest in and manifestation of increased centralized power. Rachel Vianna Miller (Jim Lehning) Department of History University of Utah Rachel Vianna Miller Jim Lehning 170 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 STAGE MANAGING FOR NON-TRADITIONAL THEATRE There is a disparaging lack of information on the history or evolution of the Stage Manager position in theatre. It is generally accepted that a Stage Manager is the person responsible for making a theatre production run smoothly on stage and backstage, in prerehearsal, rehearsal, performance and post performance stages (Stern, 1). To accomplish this, the Stage Manager must have an intimate knowl-edge of the script and the director's interpretation of it. However, any information on how to perform these duties is limited to a few texts that are general reference or "how-to" manuals with little informa-tion regarding how to transform this information for the different types of theatre. In a non-traditional production, defined as a production without a script, a Stage Manager must make major adjustments in the normal routine to perform his/her duties efficiently. This paper uses an original Butoh piece to help illustrate this concept with the intention of providing guidance for other Stage Managers. Katherine Mzik Department of Theatre, Stage Management University of Utah Katherine Mzik THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 171 HONORS COLLEGE EXPLORING POSSIBLE INTERRELATIONS AMONG SOCIAL KNOWLEDGE COMPLEXITY, SOCIAL COMPETENCE, AND CHILDHOOD DEPRESSION One condition that has been linked to a child's social knowledge complexity and social competence is the development of childhood depression (Rudolph, Caldwell, & Conley, 2005; Whitton, Larson, & Hauser, 2008). Complexity in social knowledge involves self-awareness, and knowledge of both socially acceptable and unacceptable behavior (Bye & Jussim, 1993). Social competence defines how a person uses their social knowledge during social situations such that their behavior can either facilitate proso-cial interactions or hinder attempts to interact with others (Burks et al, 1999b; Possel et al, 2006; Crick & Dodge, 1994). If one's memory or interpretation of social interactions develops a negative bias, his/her subsequent behavior could lead to social withdrawal, eventually leading to depression (Burks et al, 1999b; Burks et al, 1999a; Dodge et al, 2002). Few studies have examined how children's social knowl-edge complexity and perceptions of social competence might be related to their actual experiences of conflict with peers and the mental representations associated with such events. We hypothesized that the complexity of children's interpretations of negative peer behavior in their recall of personally expe-rienced events would inform their explanations of peer conflict in hypothetical stories which would be related to enhanced perceptions of social competence and fewer depressive symptoms. Data were col-lected from 81 children (ages 7-12) with 47 generating personal memories of peer conflict. Partial least squares modeling was used to examine the pathways between social knowledge complexity in the children's personal recall, the social knowledge complexity of their explanations of 1) a fictional friend's mean-spirited behavior and 2) their explanations of antagonistic peer behavior portrayed in 3 short vignettes, perceptions of social competence and depressive symptoms. Children who received higher social knowledge complexity scores on their personal recall also had higher hypothetical social knowl-edge complexity scores on both assessments using stories than children with lower scores on the per-sonal recall assessment. Older children had higher social knowledge complexity scores on the hypo-thetical scenarios involving antagonistic peer behavior than younger children. Higher social knowledge complexity on the peer assessment was directly associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Higher scores on the fictional friend assessment of social knowledge complexity were related to higher levels of perceived social competence which acted as a mediator leading to fewer depressive symptoms. The full model accounted for 55% of the variance in children's depressive symptoms. In the entire sample of 81 children, the ratings of social knowledge complexity for the hypothetical story about the fictional friend were significantly related to higher levels of perceived social competence which partially mediat-ed a link to fewer depressive symptoms with higher social knowledge complexity in the explanations of the friend's behavior also significantly related to fewer depressive symptoms. The full model explained 39% of the variance in children's endorsement of depressive symptoms. Both models sup-ported the premise that children who possess complex social knowledge and perceive themselves as being socially competent are less likely to endorse depressive symptoms. Caitlin O'Connor (Monica Tsethlikai) Department of Psychology University of Utah Caitlin O'Connor Monica Tsethlikai 172 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 ENVELOPED BY THE IRON CURTAIN: UNDERSTANDING THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DEUTSCHE DEMOKRATISCHE REPUBLIK, 1945-1953 The end of the Third Reich, in 1945, marked the division of not only Germany into four zones, but also a division between the Soviet Union and the former allies. The German zones, created with a united Ger-man economy in mind, soon suffered a failure of cooperation over Soviet American disagreements about German reparation payments. The arguments divided the German economy and drove the cre-ation of separate Eastern and Western German states. The Eastern Soviet Zone was initially adminis-tered by the Soviet Military Administration (SMAD). Soviet administration orchestrated economic, polit-ical, and cultural reform ultimately resulting in the forced unification of the Social Democratic Party and the German Communist party to create Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED). The uni-fied party was centrally organized under the prominent Communist party member Walter Ulbricht. The SED was organized throughout East Germany in a hierarchic structure headed by the Central Commit-tee and Politbüro, both responsible to Ulbricht. Walter Ulbricht, kept in power by the 400,000 man Red Army, created the façade of a democratic state through the development of political parties and organizations known as the ‘anti-fascist' bloc. The ‘anti-fascist' bloc comprised of specialized organiza-tions that sought to integrate all communities of the population into cooperation with the regime. The regime reinforced its influence in East Germany by creating a mandatory ideological doctrine enforced through the monitoring of society. Ulbricht's ideological doctrine coordinated with implementation of state-wide, centrally planned economic and cultural measures. The economic and agricultural reforms, necessary for socialist transformation, pushed the East German population to their breaking point resulting in coordinated strikes and protests in June 1953. The SED was unable to control its own pop-ulation and was forced to rely on the Soviet Red Army. The effective silencing of the population through external military force further demonstrated the illegitimacy of the regime. The Red Army, despite the protests, reinstalled Walter Ulbricht as head of the East German regime. Ulbricht, fearing resurgent protest, reconsolidated his power by restricting popular political opinion and intraparty dis-sent through the expansion of political laws and the power of the Ministry of State Security (Staatssicherheitpolizei). Thomas Rollins (Ronald Smelser) Department of History University of Utah THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 173 HONORS COLLEGE VEGF GENE THERAPY REVIVES CORONARY ARTERY DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONOTRUNCAL BANDED CHICK EMBRYO Background. Constriction of the conotruncus (CT) during early embryonic development alters the migration of mesenchymal tissue into the heart causing failure of absorption in the bulbus arteriosus, misalignment of both great vessels, and reduction of coronary vascularization. Objective. We hypothesized that the transfection of VEGF would benefit vascular repair and prolifera-tion following mechanical injury to the developing heart. Design/Methods. The CT of a stage 21 (31/2-d) chick embryo was tied with an overhand knot using 10- 0 nylon suture. Hypoxia-responsive pRTP801-VEGF plasmid was complexed with a reducible cationic polymer, ABP, in HEPES buffer (5 ng/5 mL), and infused into the compact layer of the CT-banded heart at stage 29 (6-d). Normal embryos did not undergo operation. At stage 36 (10-d) India ink in PBS was injected into the left ventricle and subsequently filled the coronary arteries. The heart was then fixed in diastole with 1 mg/Kg diltiazem in 4% paraformaldahyde, and imaged under a stereophotomicro-scope. Morphometric analysis (SigmaScan Pro) was performed to determine the maximum coronary artery distance and ventricular vertical length. We also conducted morphologic analysis with H&E and Masson's trichrome stained sections. Data are presented as mean±SEM (n?8) and analyzed by ANOVA. Results. Ventricular lengths showed no statistical difference (p>0.05) among the normal, CT-banded, and CT-banded with pRTP801-VEGF/ABP transfected hearts. Coronary artery length indexed by ven-tricular length was similar between CT-banded VEGF-transfected hearts (0.47±0.04, p>0.05) and normal embryos (0.50±0.02) but markedly decreased in CT-banded hearts (0.34±0.05, p<0.05). The CT-banded hearts with pRTP801-VEGF/ABP treatment showed improvement in coronary anomalies including irreg-ular formation or missing ostium, as displayed in the CT-banded hearts. Conclusions. Coronary arteries in CT-banded hearts with pRTP801-VEGF/ABP treatment undergo pro-portionate vascular growth and penetration comparable to normal development. Improved under-standing of underlying molecular mechanisms of hypoxia-triggered VEGF signaling can have potential therapeutic implications in various cardiovascular diseases. Kyle H Sabey1, (Norman Hu1,2, and David A. Bull1) 1Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, and 2Department of Pediatrics University of Utah Kyle H. Sabey Norman Hu David A. Bull 174 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 MAKING GENERATIONS: MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS IN IOLA LEROY AND CORREGIDORA One of the most devastating aspects of slavery was the objectification of slave women's bodies by white slave masters that resulted in the creation of a new "race," the "mulatta/o," or mixed race. The master's offspring was at once both progeny and chattel. Both early and contemporary African Ameri-can novelists focus on this dilemma and specifically on the monumental identity crisis their mixed race characters faced, as they were often perceived as representing the discord between the races. In the resulting conflict, mothers generally had the greatest influences on their children's identity develop-ment, but the dilemma was compounded when the mother was herself of mixed race heritage. This led to several questions: How does she negotiate her own identity and pass that along to her children? How do her children, in turn, form their own identities? This paper explores these questions through a comparative literary analysis of Frances E.W. Harper's Iola Leroy (1892) and Gayl Jones's Corregidora (1975). Using Barbara Christian's theories of identity for-mation among women as women, daughters, wives, and mothers in Black Feminist Criticism (1985), I will explore the importance of the relationship between mixed race mothers and daughters in forming the identity of both, and the ultimate need to announce their identities through revealing their secret histories. Vanessa Seals (Wilfred D. Samuels) Department of English University of Utah THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 175 HONORS COLLEGE THE IMPACT OF THE GREAT RECESSION ON AUDITORS' ASSESSMENT OF GOING CONCERN AND FRAUD RISK Over the past decade the United States economy has experienced a rollercoaster of extreme highs and extreme lows. 2008 proved one of the most extreme lows since the Great Depression, America had seen. With the fall of Lehman Brothers things began to slide downwards quickly. The government began bailing out large big player corporations such as General Motors and AIG, worried about the aftermath such an occurrence would cause on an already fragile economy. Companies across the nation were suffering and had no other choice but to cut back significantly in order to stay afloat, most of them started by cutting employees. As unemployment increased families were left to keep paying their mortgages, bills, on less money than before fueling fraud. By cutting back, companies were cutting each other. Sales were down and costs could only be decreased so much while still continuing business, in conjunction the risk of going concern similarly increased as fraud increased and things didn't seem to be looking up anytime soon. With the increase of fraud and going concern this meant a direct effect on the accounting world. Unlike the Enron situation where SOX was released to assist Auditor's in tightening their belts and pro-tecting investors, no new auditing regulations were released in regards to SAS or the PCAOB. Auditor's had their hands full with detection of fraud and going concern and to complicate the situation with clients were unable to pay the fees associated with internal control assessments and audits in a time when they needed it the most. With risks of fraud and going concern increasing there was no way to cut costs on hours booked. Deep evaluation needed to be done in addition to the requirements put forth by SAS and the PCAOB, in order to detect fraud or rightfully assess going concern issues. So audit firms were often times forced to take the reduction in profit, or on occasion just break even on a job, in order to retain clientele. In essence the economic recession backed companies and employees into a wall. As circumstances worsened fraud and going concern increased leaving auditors backed up against the wall, attempting to gain reasonable assurance about clients who may or may not have nixed their internal controls in the process of trying to cut costs and assess if that client is going to be able to continue operations through the year. Mean while the clients who need an audit the most often times can not afford to pay an increase in fees even though the amount of testing and evaluation by the auditors needs to increase or just can flat out not pay for an audit company to come in. Things were getting sticky in the audit world and the solvent seemed out of reach in the near future. Erica Sellers (Bob Allen) School of Accounting University of Utah Erica Sellers Bob Allen 176 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 THE MIRROR ILLUSION IN THE CONTEXT OF PERIPHERAL VISION The mirror illusion is a useful tool for measuring of the relative weighting of visual and proprioceptive information in certain contexts. The most recent exploration into the mirror illusion has demonstrated that visual capture, or the perception that a hidden hand is in the location of the reflection of the other, does influence the accuracy of gesturing the width of an object when moving the hidden hand. In the present experiment, this application is investigated in a more naturalistic visual-motor environ-ment through stimulating visual capture in the peripheral vision. In a within-subjects design, 13 University of Utah students stimulated visual capture utilizing only the peripheral vision and then attempted to gesture the width of a block moving only their hidden hand. The results indicated that the participants did perceive that their hidden hand was in the location of the reflection, and this effect was more obvious the greater the discrepancy. This suggests that when performing common movements and manipulations in some contexts, the peripheral vision is relied upon more than propri-oception. Brooke Shell (Sarah Creem-Regehr) Department of Psychology University of Utah Brooke Shell Sarah Creem-Regehr THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 177 HONORS COLLEGE DIRICHLET'S THEOREM AND L-FUNCTIONS Dirichlet's Theorem states that given any two relatively prime positive integers a,m, there are infinitely-many primes p in the arithmetic progression a + mk where k is any nonnegative integer. A modern mathematical reformulation of Dirichlet's Theorem states that given any relatively prime positive inte-gers a,m, there are infinitely-many primes p such that p is congruent to a modulo m. This way of look-ing at Dirichlet's Theorem influences us to consider group theoretic results in order to prove this seem-ingly simple theorem. This thesis will start with an introduction to the foundations of algebra, number theory, and analysis, and will build on these concepts to introduce the advanced concepts used in the proof of Dirichlet's Theorem. The concepts of abstract groups, finite abelian groups, homomorphisms, the Fundamental Theorem(s) of Arithmetic, divisibility, and dual groups are just a few of the preliminary topics that will be covered before the machinery necessary to conquer Dirichlet's Theorem will be introduced. Following the introductory concepts a thorough proof of Dirichlet's Theorem will be provided Robbie Snellman (Don Tucker) Department of Mathematics University of Utah 178 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 DÉNOUEMENT Storytelling exists in many nascent forms. Everyone uses the basic elements of storytelling to describe the everyday events of their lives to friends, family, and colleagues. It is the essence of communication. For a writer to express personal thoughts, while developing a distinct voice is difficult and affects com-munication with the audience. For the audience, the atmosphere you create must be perceived as a real illusion. In this collection of short stories, I explore the definition of dénouement-the unraveling of a plot. Using this theme, the collection attempts to help the reader experience the world through the eyes of female anti-heroes. Dissatisfaction with traditional roles in society leads each plot to an anti-resolution. Developing these stories involved learning how to control and experiment with imagery and characterization. Attending readings, operas, plays and other cultural events was a major part of the research process. In Little Death the anti-hero, Brianna, finds herself in the middle of an unhappy marriage with little connection to the outside world. She begins a new job in a chiropractic office where she meets an unconventional doctor who has invented a strange healing machine, he calls the "Cymatron."The story arks when Brianna accidentally finds herself in the machine. Confused and anxious, in the healing process, she finds there is sometimes little difference between pleasure and pain. Melissa Suy (Francois Camoin) Department of English University of Utah Melissa Suy Francois Camoin THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 179 HONORS COLLEGE APPROXIMATE ELECTROMAGNETIC CLOAKING The objective of cloaking is to render objects invisible to any detection mechanism (radar or sonar for example). One recent cloaking scheme is transformation-based cloaking. The idea behind this scheme is to design a suitable cloak material to surround a region of interest, say the unit ball, such that any incoming probing wave will propagate through this region as through empty space thus rendering the unit ball together with the cloak material invisible to an external observer. Although theoretically this scheme produces perfect cloaking, there are high singularities required in the cloak material; thus in real applications one ends up only with an approximate cloaking effect. In an effort to mathematically understand these approximations, a regularization of the transformation-based cloaking scheme has been recently proposed and studied in detail; the scheme builds up on the previous idea but also requires the use of a dissipative (conducting) layer surrounding the unit ball. However, all the existent results are obtained only in the case of a non-dissipative cloak material. In reality all materials have some level of dissipation, and thus an understanding how dissipation affects the behavior of the trans-formation- based cloak is essential. One main result of this thesis is the numerical analysis of the influ-ence of dissipation in the cloak material on the overall behavior of the transformation-based cloaking scheme. Also, in a recent paper, an anti-cloak scheme has been proposed which cancels the cloaking effect of the initial transformation-based scheme. The second important result of this thesis is the numerical illustration of how the regular version of the transformation-based cloaking scheme described above defeats the anti-cloak. Andrew Thaler (Daniel Onofrei) Department of Mathematics University of Utah Andrew Thaler Daniel Onofrei 180 HONORS COLLEGE SPRING 2010 NUCLEAR BCR-ABL INDUCES APOPTOSIS INDE-PENDENTLY OF ITS TYROSINE KINASE ACTIVITY IN K562 LEUKEMIA CELLS Chronic myelogenous leukemia originates with the chromosomal translocation that results in the breakpoint cluster region (BCR) gene on chromosome 22 to fuse with the Abelson murine leukemia oncogene (ABL) on chromosome 9. Fusion of Bcr to Abl leads to constitutive activation of Bcr-Abl tyro-sine kinase which triggers multiple signal transduction pathways related to cell proliferation, survival, and the suppression of apoptosis. It has been shown that by altering the location of Bcr-Abl within the cell, the function of Bcr-Abl is also modified. While cytoplasmic Bcr-Abl induces apoptotic resistance and survival, nuclear entrapment of Bcr-Abl results in the opposite effect and stimulates pro-apoptotic mechanisms. Previous studies suggest that the apoptotic role of nuclearly localized Bcr-Abl is depend-ent upon its tyrosine kinase activity. However, Bcr-Abl can activate factors that mediate apoptosis, via the genotoxic stress signaling pathway, independently of its tyrosine kinase activity. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine whether the ablation of the tyrosine kinase activity of a nuclearly localized Bcr-Abl (4 NLS-Bcr-Abl) using a kinase-dead mutant (4 NLS-Bcr-Abl-KD) would protect K562 leukemia cells from undergoing apoptosis. Apoptotic activity was evaluated by morphologic determi-nation, a caspase-3 assay, and flow cytometry with annexin-APC and 7-AAD staining. Variability among transient transfections coupled with the use of a less sensitive caspase assay (caspase-3/7 assay) pro-duced results that made it difficult to see statistically significant differences across groups. Nonethe-less, it was known from previously published studies that the 4 NLS-Bcr-Abl does induce apoptosis, albeit modestly. Therefore, flow cytometric analysis and fluorescence/brightfield microscopy, excluding non-transfected cells, were utilized to furnish the appropriate levels of sensitivity. Surprisingly, the tyro-sine kinase activity of our nuclearly localized Bcr-Abl was entirely dispensable for the induction of cell death in K562 leukemia cells. Emmeline Tran (Carol Lim) Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry University of Utah Emmeline Tran Carol Lim THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 181 HONORS COLLEGE THE FINANCIAL RAMIFICATIONS OF GENE PATENTING Since their origin, patents on genes have been surrounded by controversy with debates focusing on the ethical, scientific and commercial consequences of such grants of exclusivity. While any under-standing of all perspectives is vital for future policy concerning the topic, this paper highlights the financial consequences of maintaining the current view of gene-related patents, specifically the rise of the licensing model as a means of extracting profit from gene patents. A troubling trend that is emerg-ing is that researchers attempting to develop products based off gene function have to invest signifi-cant amounts in licensing sequence patents that overlap the target gene but provide no further informative value. The purpose of the thesis study is to analyze the potential market size both for the gene-related prod-uct as well as licensing and comparing the two markets to determine, from an economic efficiency viewpoint, what level of knowledge and size of sequence should be allowed to be patented. The prod-uct market will be determined by estimating the decrease in market cap of biotechnology stocks after changes in legislation and the licensing market will be modeled by factoring the genome's size and the average costs of licensing. Although the research is still in process, I conjecture that the evidence will show that the discontinua-tion of patents for small nucleotide polymorphisms and expressed sequence tags will significantly reduce the licensing market while leaving the product market largely unaffected, thus maximizing the potential of both markets and creating the most economic benefit for society. The Ruth Eleanor Bamberger and John Ernest Bamberger Memorial Foundation Scholar 2009-2010 Alexandra Weiss (Elizabeth Tashjian) Department of Finance University of Utah Alexandra Weiss Elizabeth Tashjian