Amarina Kealoha
Amarina will travel this summer to New York City, the cultural birthplace of hip-hop, to investigate this contemporary musical and cultural phenomenon, focusing on the films and videos made about the genre. Her stay will involve an intensive schedule of research, interviews and live events, as well as video documentation, which will form the preliminary visual and theoretical groundwork for her final creative endeavor. The purpose of her immersion in hip-hop culture is an inquiry into the ways in which hip-hop functions as a mode of resistance. During the 2001-2002 […]
Sylvan Guerveno
Sylvan will compose a symphonic poem in two movements, titled “L’Enfer en Soie” (Hell in Silk), based on “L’Hautontimoroumnos” (The Self-Tormenter)–a poem from the 1857 collection Les Fleurs du Mal, by Charles Baudelaire. The dualism that is present in the poem becomes, in this piece, an exploration of the pain of psychological torment, and the relief that may also come with one’s own tormenting behavior. This alliance of pain and pleasure is realized in a musical texture combining unusual orchestral sonorities and music with vocal-like qualities. University Orchestra Director, David […]
Benjamin M. Chen
Benjamin plans to implement an algorithm for quantitative analysis of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI) that will improve the specificity of the calculated levels of cellular metabolites such as choline, creatine, N-acetylaspartate and myo-inositol. This information is critical for predicting tumor type and grade, tailoring treatment protocols to individual patients, and distinguishing between treatment effects and recurrent tumors. The current method of estimating metabolite concentration is not sufficient when using acquisition parameters that give complicated spectra. A least squares method, developed by Provencher et. al., is more accurate. Benjamin will […]
Mariyam Cementwala
Mariyam plans to investigate whether international law helps people with disabilities in developing countries, through a case study of inclusive education (Education for All) in India. Over the last two decades, disability activists have succeeded in instituting explicit or codified international obligations, norms, standards, and binding rules about disability, through international organizations like the United Nations. Their presumption is that international law can be a tool for the translation of grandiose principles into realized services that actually better the human condition, even among the poorest and most downtrodden individuals in […]
John Weedin
A double major in Molecular & Cell Biology and History, John intends to investigate the function of polysialic acid (PSA) on the cellular membranes of cancer cells. Polysialic acid is a relatively long, negatively charged sugar polymer composed only of sialic acid monomers. While the role of polysialic acid in neural and fetal cells has been well studied, information regarding its role in tumor cells has not. John hypothesizes that the long molecule disrupts the cell-cell interactions that prevent uncontrolled cell division, allowing tumor cells to rapidly multiply and expand. […]
Casey Butterfield
Casey will examine the situation of Catalan women writers in the first generation following the death of Franco through close literary analysis of author Carme Riera’s body of work and further study of her cultural reception in Spain as a feminist author using a minority language. The completed analysis will constitute her Senior Honors Thesis in the Comparative Literature major. Since little of Riera’s work has been translated into English, Casey will also translate several of her short stories to offer a sampling of Riera’s views and method to non-Catalan […]
China Star
My research examines the changes in the prevalence of unmarried mothers in Ireland nearly a 20% between 1988 and 1999, the church and community response towards these women, and alternative interpretations of the lifestyles and demographics of single mothers. In recent years the response towards single parents has moved from one of social exclusion, condemnation towards one of outward acceptance and coping, a shift clearly influenced by the increasing prevalence of unmarried mothers and on account of moral condemnation of the alternatives of social exclusion of the mother and her […]
Tam Bui
Through a combination of literature review, data analysis, and interviews, Tam’s Senior Honors Thesis for her Political Economy of Industrial Societies major will examine the role that Vietnamese-American high tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are playing in developing the New Economy in Vietnam. Tam will conduct a series of face to face interviews with Vietnamese CEOs, engineers, business and community leaders in Silicon Valley to determine why Vietnamese-American entrepreneurs are networking and making direct investments in Vietnam, and whether these investments are helping or hindering Vietnam’s attempts to develop its […]
Aida Sadikovic
Aida’s Senior Honors Thesis in Molecular & Cell Biology will focus on investigating the mechanisms behind the murine immune response to Listeria monocytogenes. L. monocytogenes is a ubiquitous intracellular human and animal pathogen that can spread from cell to cell via actin-based motility. Previous studies have shown that VASP-binding deficient strains of L. monocytogenes exhibit slow motility and virulence attenuation compared to wild type strains, especially in the liver during secondary murine listeriosis. She hopes to gain a better understanding of the reasons behind this tissue difference and to determine […]
Gloria Brar
Indole-3-Carbinol (I3C) is a natural compound found in Brassica vegetables, such as broccoli and cabbage; this compound has been shown to arrest the growth of breast cancer cells in a mechanism that seems to involve several critical cell cycle proteins. Gloria’s Molecular & Cell Biology Senior Honors Thesis project will investigate the changes in subcellular localization of these proteins. This data will help characterize the mechanism of I3C-induced breast cancer cell growth arrest and will be useful in evaluating the mechanisms and therapeutic promise of certain I3C derivatives. In addition, […]