2011 Diamond Research Scholars
Jessica Arce
Film and Media Arts, Geography and Urban Studies
School of Communications and Theater
Mentor: Julia Mendenhall
Department of English
Project Title: Hawthorne and the Roots of Its Redevelopment
After over a decade of planning and redevelopment, the neighborhood of Hawthorne of South Philadelphia only faces a few moments before fulfilling the final stage of its intensive metamorphosis. With funds provided through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOPE VI (Housing Opportunities for Everyone) grant program, the city of Philadelphia launched the redevelopment of Hawthorne in the mid-‘90s with the promise of rebuilding Hawthorne to correct the neighborhood’s blight and restore it for its residents. Hawthorne has come a long way since the allocation of the HOPE VI money. Whereas Hawthorne was once the site of one of Philadelphia’s largest public housing developments, it now houses some of Philadelphia’s newest luxury condos and lofts. Hawthorne is a neighborhood transformed in all senses of the word. This research project takes an analytical look at the motivations behind the transformation of Hawthorne and comments on the results of its redevelopment through an experimental documentary piece.
Cassandra Cotta
Dance
Boyer College of Music and Dance
Mentor: Joellen Meglin
Department of Dance
Project Title: mEmotion
Abstract: "The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray."
I began this project on a mission to bring validity to the very basic human experience of a wide spectrum of potential emotions that one may experience over a period of lifetime. I questioned why I suddenly felt a focused push from my loved ones to be happy all the time, which made me feel ashamed of being anything else. What happened to every other emotion a person could feel? In addressing this, I found that I first needed to face myself and to set out to share what I thought and felt, while allowing others to watch me do this as a dancer, and more importantly as a person.
My process included writing an ongoing journal in the form of a blog, intimately describing my thoughts and feelings on life and the process of creating and performing a dance; recording several videos of solo improvisations done on the day of journaling to connect my verbal language to my body language; creating two separate duets between myself and fellow dancers Megan Quinn and Jessica Warchal-King, related to the same process evident within the blog. I also commissioned a piece of music composed by Kento Watanabe, to be created completely separately from the dance, but ultimately to be used in the performance setting. These duets were performed both as part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in September and also in a smaller concert at Temple University in October. In the future, I plan to continue opening up and exploring who I am, what I am doing and how I relate to the rest of the world – a commitment I have made to those who shared with me in this process. I am not certain I have brought validity to each emotion as I originally intended, but I do know that I have opened a new creative door for myself as an artist. Perhaps I did not change the world, but I did transform who I am and inspired many to join me in asking questions of the person staring back from the mirror.
Maria Flaccavento
Anthropology
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Kevin Varrone
Department of English
Project Title: Versions of Dante: Translation and Anthropology
Abstract: This project is a poetic investigation of translation, using different versions of Dante's Inferno as a basis for analysis. American translator Norman Shapiro once wrote, "A good translation is like a pane of glass; the better it is, the less it will be noticed." This project challenges Shapiro's glass simile by exploring translation as an anthropological process, considering the changing elements of language and culture as lenses through which to view the process itself, as well as an original text. Selected translations include those of writer and humanist Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1867), playwright Dorothy L. Sayers (1949), and former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky (1994). Analysis of this sample works to contextualize the differences among translations in regard to their respective landscapes of production. Through synthesis of social and literary theory, as well as philosophies of interpretation, this project deconstructs the notion of translation as an objective, neutral process, wherein a translator serves as an invisible intermediary between ancient and modern worlds. Rather than lauding certain translations over others, this study seeks to bring them into conversation with one another, toward a more holistic understanding of Dante's text and its innumerable versions. Experimental essay and poetic response work to valorize the differences among translations as inherent features of the process itself, rather than smudges or imperfections. The ultimate goal is to re-instill the significance of literature to the formation of cultural identity and cross-cultural understanding, and to remember that our interpretations are, in fact, interpretations of interpretations.
Mitchell Frizzell
Music History
Boyer College of Music and Dance
Mentor: Steven Zohn
Department of Music Studies
Project Title: Rediscovering the Bassoon Concertos of the Dresden Court
Abstract: A genuine drought of baroque bassoon music plagues soloists. Twentieth-century solo works abound, though they do not quench the thirst of many players for baroque concertos, a form which, though common, holds onto its widespread appeal. As musicians strive to outshine and outperform others, being able to choose from a wider variety of pieces and know the historical practices behind them, would undoubtedly assist these musicians in not only broadening their own musical gamut but also that of their listeners.
A promising group of musical manuscripts, five of which may aid bassoon players in the quest to find "new" music to play, exists in Eastern Germany, stowed away there for over three centuries. Five early eighteenth-century bassoon concertos sit and wait in the State and University Library in Dresden. They sit and wait, yearning to be brought to light, heard once more by audiences, eager for a dose of baroque beauty. Three composers, Graun, Reichenauer, and Horneck masterfully wrote these pieces and, though their names may not ring any bells even to many music historians, they nonetheless demand our attention. Historians and players alike must give these pieces their due consideration. Doing so will not only expand the repertory, but will also teach us more about baroque practices, not only for our own edification, but also for the enjoyment of our listening audiences.
Marc Fulmer
Mathematical Economics
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Michael Leeds
Department of Economics
Project Title: Digging Up Dirt: The Effects of Licensing on the Pay of Geologists
Abstract: In the United States, over 1100 occupations are licensed in at least one state and 23 out of every 100 workers must obtain state occupational licenses. Occupational licensing derives from state laws requiring individuals seeking to work in certain professions to obtain licenses that permit them to do so. I add to a body of literature that has examined the effects of occupational licensing on the pay of workers in licensed professions. Specifically, using data from the Census Bureau 2000 5% Public-Use Microdata Sample, I estimate a variant of the Mincer wage equation to determine the effects of licensing on the pay of geologists. I find statistically significant results suggesting that continuing professional education requirements and the use of state-specific examinations (both factors that originate from state licensing laws) increase the pay of licensed geologists.
Leticia Garcia
Women's Studies
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Melissa Gilbert
Department of Geography and Urban Studies
Project Title: Listening to the Margins: Hunger and the Struggle for "Good" Food
Abstract: Predominantly white, upper-middle class activists who organize around food security in low-income communities of color in Philadelphia often use economic frameworks for examining poverty that assert the superiority of their own cultural tastes and preferences over those of others. The argument that "poor people would eat like us, if they could only afford it," is based on the premise that all people aspire to achieve one ideal of "good" and "healthy" tastes, but do not realize this ideal simply because they experience material handicaps. Ultimately, this attitude thwarts the creation of culturally-appropriate food security programs that build on already existing food practices within a community as a starting point for enacting food access, security and sovereignty. My research examines a community kitchen in Kensington, a low-income Latino and African American neighborhood in Philadelphia, where tensions were high between white-upper middle class activists and the neighborhood's residents. I conducted ethnographic research and soundscape research at the community kitchen to address the following queries: How are different approaches to community development at Las Parcelas related to the gendered, raced and classed experiences of the people who maintained the space? How was food employed in these struggles? How do these struggles reflect the development of advocacy around slow food? I found that the Puerto Rican women's experiences with exploitation and displacement under colonialism influenced how they approached community development, and framed the way they understood power relations at Las Parcelas through story telling. I found that one of the women employed food to resist the uneven power relations between herself and the white-upper middle class activists she encountered at Las Parcelas, signifying the importance of food in her struggle to overcome oppression. Her use of food demonstrates that food has more than just a monetary value, it also has a social value that is employed by marginalized people to navigate multiple oppressions. Activists who organize around food security in low-income communities of color should collaborate with community members to develop projects that celebrate the social value of food within respective neighborhoods if they want to enact their goals more effectively.
Amelia Garrett
Environmental Science
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Michael Leeds
Department of Economics
Project Title: Using Economic Models to Determine Community Garden Location
Abstract: My research evaluates the social, economic, and spatial conditions that impact the number of community gardens in each census tract in Philadelphia. I use garden spatial data to establish the number of community gardens in each census tract. Then I utilize negative binomial and Tobit regression techniques to determine the number of gardens per census tract based on a variety of socioeconomic and spatial data. I find that population density, poverty rate, home vacancy rate, percentage of residents that are not naturalized citizens, and number of healthy corner stores in a census tract are significant predictors for the number of community gardens in a census tract in Philadelphia. My results support earlier findings that gardening occurs in areas with high poverty rates and strengthens the argument for supporting community gardening as a means of effectively improving food security and social capital in neighborhoods that are most in need. Policy makers and nonprofits can use my findings to develop a strategy to support community gardeners by identifying tracts that are likely to contain gardens.
Sierra Gladfelter
Anthropology, Geography and Urban Studies
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Robert Mason
Department of Geography and Urban Studies
Project Title: BEYOND BOUNDARIES: Geotourism as a Bridge between Yosemite National Park and its Gateway Communities
Abstract: This project investigates Yosemite National Park, one of the oldest and most-heavily visited National Parks in the United States, and its relationship with the communities just outside its gates. Traveling to communities surrounding the park that have an economic stake in park visitation, I investigate geotourism, a concept defined by National Geographic's Center for Sustainable Destinations as a form of tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place, and the interactive map project currently underway in the region. Through a qualitative, ethnographic approach, I examine the perceptions of community members and park officials towards this project, and their perspective on its ability to serve as a management tool, not to promote visitation, but to address Yosemite's visitor capacity by diffusing use and slowing the flow of visitors through the park entrance/exit ways. Focusing specifically on an initiative promoting place-based tourism along the path environmentalist John Muir walked into Yosemite Valley, I map out the challenges facing local geotourism projects. I proceed to evaluate the potential for such efforts to provide a platform that builds stronger park-community relationships through mutually-sustaining projects.
Lynsey Graeff
Political Science
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Bryant Simon
Department of American Studies
Project Title: "Eyes Around Temple:" A Social Media Case Study of Student Response to Race as it Relates to Campus Crime
Abstract: This research looks at the relationship between university students and neighborhood residents in an urban setting. More specifically, it focuses on the way crime is talked about via social media. I examine the way Temple University students respond to on- and off-campus crime through social media outlets and the ways in which ideas and discussions about race are central to all discussions of crime on Temple's campus. Criminal acts against students, particularly crime that is perceived to be committed by African Americans in the vicinity of Temple University tends to elicit an anxious, emotional response from the media, the University, and students, making the aftermath of such occurrences a revealing window for observing frank opinions about race relations in the community. This work analyzes social media's role as a platform for students to disseminate their views, specifically using a breakdown of comments on a student-created Facebook page entitled "Eyes around Temple" as data. Ultimately, this research aims to shed light on the racial tensions that exist between suburban "visitors" and urban residents in the global city as viewed through the lens of social media, an imperfect yet illuminating news source.
Stephen Guerra
Music Theory
Boyer College of Music and Dance
Mentor: Michael Klein
Department of Music Studies
Project Title: A Theory of Dominant Synecdoche
Abstract: We still do not understand how the harmonic language of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries works, at least not a in a way efficient enough for concise and uniform teaching. The reason behind our inadequate comprehension of this language owes to our reluctance to embrace a wholesale revision of an assumption "that the principles of the earlier common practice underlie post-Wagnerian tonality." I propose a theory that revises this assumption. I assume instead that the late chromatic language makes statements through abstraction, omission, and reference, through re-interpretations, and re-interpretations of re-interpretations. In other words, I treat late chromatic harmony as a form of poetry.
My paper is divided into three parts. It first develops an analytical theory based on the proposition that the defining harmonies of the common-practice are entirely substituted by their strongest attributes in the late chromatic language. From this base I develop several corollary theories whereupon I extend the theory into the early-twentieth century. The development of all stages of the theory is heavily grounded in musical examples. I analyze excerpts of works by Wagner, Strauss, Chausson, Reger, Chopin, Schoenberg, and Brahms among others.
Rebecca Harris
Political Science
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Sean Yom
Department of Political Science
Project Title: Gender Inequality and Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia Post 9/11
Abstract: In a post 9/11 world, the West is scrutinizing the Middle East more than ever before. With foreign intervention becoming consistent in the region, some citizens of these countries are responding angrily to western actors that are pushing Middle Eastern countries to adapt western values and institutions. Gender equality is one of the most contested issues today because the ways in which many Middle Eastern women are portrayed dramatically conflict with western values. With a growing western presence in the Middle East, is it useful to evaluate Saudi gender equality according to western values? If the West were to consider another culture's values before implementing their own, they may need to reevaluate the ways in which they approach foreign policy. From my research I have concluded that western values should not be used when evaluating Saudi women in the domestic sphere and education, while western values should be used when evaluating Saudi human rights violations. Investigating the ways in which western values may or may not be useful for evaluating gender equality in Saudi Arabia encourage a new way for international actors to conduct foreign policy. Just because the West has certain institutions that express and represent power for women, does not mean that other countries without these institutions do not value women in positions of power.
Eric Horst
Economics, Political Science
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Richard Deeg
Department of Political Science
Project Title: The Effects of Privatization on Higher Education Efficiency
Abstract: This paper is a cross-national analysis studying the effects of privatization on the efficiency of national systems of higher education. It tests the hypothesis that higher levels of privatization correlate to increased efficiency in national higher education systems. The study is divided into a quantitative analysis and a qualitative analysis. In the quantitative analysis, fourteen Western European countries are given privatization scores based on the percentage of higher education funding from private sources. The countries are also given efficiency scores that are derived by comparing a three-part performance indicator against the percentage of GDP devoted to higher education funding. The privatization scores are then plotted against the efficiency scores. In the qualitative analysis, privatization of higher education in three country case studies, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Finland, is examined using four additional criteria: mechanisms of public financing, ownership, control, and norms of governance. This section is designed to see if these qualitative factors associated with privatization are more present in high efficiency systems. The results of the quantitative analysis found no significant correlation between privatization and system efficiency. Analysis of the case studies also found no discernible pattern between the presence of qualitative privatization factors and system efficiency.
Yuan Huang
Geography and Urban Studies, Asian Studies
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Robert Mason
Department of Geography and Urban Studies
Project Title: Diet Dichotomies: Urbanization and Nutrition in a Rapidly Changing China
Abstract: When one thinks of the "fattest" countries in the world, the United States often pops up first. Yet the USA no longer has a monopoly on fat. Indeed, China is a country that has exhibited startling recent increases in rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Moreover, due to the development of infrastructure and large disparities in wealth, obesity is more prevalent in China's cities than its rural areas. Despite urban access to a variety of foods that support healthy diets, obesity rates are continually soaring. As metropolitan citizens gain weight, rural malnutrition rates remain three times as high as those in urban areas. Although rural diets have improved significantly over the past ten years, the dichotomy between rural and urban diets remains stark. Essentially, this project is an initial study and analysis of differences in urban and rural diets due to economic development and urbanization. Ultimately, I illuminate the urban-rural dichotomy in diets and demonstrate the adverse and beneficial effects of rapid urban growth on both city and rural diets.
Sumair Irfan
Economics, Political Science
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: William Stull
Department of Economics
Project Title: The Best No-Limit Texas Hold'em Players: An Empirical Test of Mincer's Earnings Model
Abstract: As the popularity of No-Limit Texas Hold'em has increased to that of other professional sports, the scope of poker research has widened. Nevertheless, researchers have failed to study actual poker entertainers and instead have focused on theoretical poker models. This paper fills a void in poker research by studying, through the lens of Mincer's earnings model, some characteristics that may make a player more successful. With a sample size of 100, my first hypothesis studies the impact of years playing poker, which is used to measure both age and experience. My second hypothesis examines the effect of years of formal education on rank in a single No-Limit Texas Hold'em event. Using data from the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event, I obtain the ordinary least squares estimates of the coefficients of years playing poker (YPP) and years of education (YOE). I find that the relationship between YPP and rank, significant at 1%, follows an inverted parabola, where rank worsens on the upstroke and rank becomes better on the down stroke. The relationship between YOE and rank is only significant at the 15% level, so I make no conclusions about this relationship. I conclude that Mincer's earnings model partially fits No-Limit Texas Hold'em players.
Alexis Kandra
Painting
Tyler School of Art
Mentor: Odili Donald Odita
Department of Painting and Drawing
Project Title: Memory of a Place through Oral History and Plein Air Painting
Abstract: Paintings and Memories are similar. Both are based on subjective experiences and each one is different. My project will use paintings and memories to attain a more holistic and specific understanding of a place and the relationships people have with that place. I will be looking at the borough of Swissvale Pennsylvania, where people have lived for generations and have seen many changes. By researching oral history and creating plein air paintings, I will explore the relationships between Swissvale and its citizens over a wide segment of time. My paintings of what I'm observing in the present will be informed by people's memories of the past. Time passes inevitably, and this project will approach the present, recent past, and distant past equally without a bias of one being inherently better than another. As time passes, what become valuable are not the objects or locations themselves but rather the relationships people have with those places. Memories and experiences are what give a place value to someone. Different people will have different memories of a place. I will be challenged to create paintings that many people can relate to their own experiences, so that my project will truly portray Swissvale in an honest, specific, and in depth way. I will exhibit the paintings and the oral history together so that they will complement each other and work together to give the viewer an understanding of the borough that he or she would not have otherwise.
Shailer Kern-Carruth
Dance
Boyer College of Music and Dance
Mentor: Merian Soto
Department of Dance
Project Title: Manipulation Through Subtle Shifts
Abstract: That feeling when you're stuttering and stammering to find exactly the right word and you know you have it, buried somewhere in your brain, and it's "right at the tip of your tongue." The moment of confrontation when you stall for time. The night you stay awake with someone until the sun rises, trying to define yourself as separate from anyone else. These are verbal moments that are universally difficult to navigate. If the essence of these experiences is a sensory experience, perhaps they are better articulated through the body than the brain.
I plan to create two sections of dance movement that incorporate musical collaboration and spoken word (if appropriate) to be part of a larger work entitled 'BREW,' choreographed by BodyFields Performance Collective (of which I am a part of) for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2011.
In this process I am working with performers to embody their stories of the difficulties of articulation. Stories and memories become abstractions as they are translated from words to movement, losing literalness but maintaining the felt sense of what it means to describe things that are seemingly impossible to describe. I am asking the performers to move the emotions and feelings connoted with the act of articulation from their minds into their bodies, and sitting back to watch the subtleties unfold.
Kathyrn Knauth
Mathematics and Computer Science
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Rolf Lakaemper
Department of Computer and Information Sciences
Project Title: Mind Body Kinection: A Development Platform to Create Applications for Kinect-Guided Avatars
Abstract: The Microsoft Kinect was launched as a sensory accessory for the Xbox 360 gaming console in 2010 and has since opened the door to a plethora of new interactive software, significantly enhancing human-computer interaction. Mind-Body Kinection utilizes open source development tools to design both a general platform and a specific application for the Microsoft Kinect. Our project focuses foremost on creating a platform that allows average Kinect users to create applications for their device with which they can control a projected 3D graphic model using body movements. This platform is unique in that our target audience needs no prior knowledge of how to code, which mends a significant gap between software developers and those without technical experience. Users of all experience levels will be able to design a puppet, task, and environment, and instantly interact with their digital creation, whereas previously this feat was only achievable by adept programmers. Consequently, this software allows a much larger population the capability to produce applications for the Kinect and opens to the door to innumerable new uses for the Kinect, including educational, artistic, entertainment-oriented, and therapeutic tools.
Eli Kramer
Psychology, Hebrew
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Gregory Tucker
Department of Psychological Studies in Education
Project Title: Personal Hardiness and Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity: A Multidimensional Analysis
Abstract: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals face unique stressors that present unique challenges (Lewis, Derlega, Griffin, & Krowinski, 2003). While these stressors are a reality, so are the strengths that many LGB individuals draw upon to overcome them. Unfortunately, because the empirical literature on LGB development generally focuses on deficits (Russell, 2005), little is known about how these strengths develop. The current study investigated a primary aspect of resilience in LGB populations, personal hardiness, by exploring its relationship with salient LGB identity constructs. The Courage to Challenge Scale (Smith & Gray, 2009), a measure of resilience specifically designed for use with LGBT populations, served as the measure of personal hardiness. Because LGB identities develop in complex social and individual contexts, a multidimensional measure of sexual minority identity, The Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity Scale (Mohr & Kendra, 2011), provided the eight specific identity constructs. Acceptance Concerns, Identity Uncertainty, Internalized Homonegativity, Difficult Process, and Identity Superiority were all negatively correlated with scores on personal hardiness. Identity Affirmation and Identity Centrality were positively correlated with the scores. Interestingly, Concealment Motivation was the only identity construct not significantly correlated with personal hardiness. Identity constructs significantly predicted personal hardiness scores, explaining 32.8 percent of the variance. Lastly, living in a more supportive state environment (i.e. a state with a higher percentage of residents in favor of legalizing marriage equality) was negatively correlated with scores on personal hardiness.
Emily LeBlanc
Computer Science
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Rolf Lakaemper
Department of Computer and Information Sciences
Project Title: Mind Body Kinection: A Development Platform to Create Applications for Kinect-Guided Avatars
Abstract: The Microsoft Kinect was launched as a sensory accessory for the Xbox 360 gaming console in 2010 and has since opened the door to a plethora of new interactive software, significantly enhancing human-computer interaction. Mind-Body Kinection utilizes open source development tools to design both a general platform and a specific application for the Microsoft Kinect. Our project focuses foremost on creating a platform that allows average Kinect users to create applications for their device with which they can control a projected 3D graphic model using body movements. This platform is unique in that our target audience needs no prior knowledge of how to code, which mends a significant gap between software developers and those without technical experience. Users of all experience levels will be able to design a puppet, task, and environment, and instantly interact with their digital creation, whereas previously this feat was only achievable by adept programmers. Consequently, this software allows a much larger population the capability to produce applications for the Kinect and opens to the door to innumerable new uses for the Kinect, including educational, artistic, entertainment-oriented, and therapeutic tools.
Dominick Lebo
Political Science
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Megan Mullin
Department of Political Science
Project Title: Natural Gas in Pennsylvania: The Unique Case of the No-Severance Tax State
Abstract: Pennsylvania abounds with Marcellus Shale and the natural gas industry is well aware. While the influx of drilling companies represents employment and lower energy costs, drilling activities can have negative impacts on local communities, such as water pollution and damage to roads and bridges. States therefore adopt severance taxes on the industry, the revenue of which is spent on environmental protection, regulation of the industry, and various environmental projects around the state. 23 states harvest natural gas from some form of shale, and all of these states levy some sort of severance tax, Pennsylvania being the only exception. What can account for this variation? I hypothesize that there is a correlation between the combined lobbying efforts of gas interests and environmentalist and the eventual rate of taxation legislators impose on drillers. According to this relationship, the efforts of the natural gas industry in lobbying Pennsylvania legislators far outweigh efforts made by environmental activists.
I will attempt to falsify this hypothesis as well. A number of factors can confound this relationship; for example, states may adopt a certain rate of taxation because they tax other industries heavily already. Perhaps Pennsylvania, the unique state, imposes a far greater corporate income tax on the industry than did other states at the time of tax adoption. Maybe a state's revenue sources for its Department of Environmental Protection were suffering and so a higher rate of taxation was more easily justified. More general budget concerns may be at play, and the list goes on. What confounds this analysis further is the fact that many PA legislators, along with the governor, opposed, and continue to oppose, the tax even in the face of a $5 billion state budget deficit.
Jae Hyeon Lee
Physics
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Maria Iavarone
Department of Physics
Project Title: Visualizing the Charge Density Wave Phase at Atomic Scale with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
Abstract: A major goal of current efforts in condensed matter research is to understand the factors that determine the electronic properties of materials. Such knowledge will lead the way to the rationale design of new materials with predictable properties. Essential to the achievement of this goal is a detailed understanding of how materials properties vary and can be controlled on atomic scale.
In some materials such as NbSe2, the electron density form waves in space with alternating regions of higher and lower charge density; hence the name, charge density wave. For a particular range of temperature, superconductivity and charge density waves are known to coexist in this material. The exact mechanism by which both states coexist (or even the mechanism of the charge density wave state itself), is still under debate in the scientific community. We introduce impurities in the material to disturb locally the charge density waves.
To characterize the electronic properties of materials on atomic level we use scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy at low temperature. This technique allows visualization of local electronic density of states with atomic resolution. Moreover, Fourier transform of STM images can provide information of the Fermi surface changes induced by the impurities.
Daniel Lomask
Environmental Studies, Community and Regional Planning
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: M. Richard Nalbandian
Department of Community and Regional Planning
Project Title: Planning for fish: The economic potential of ocean zoning
Abstract: Technological advances in commercial fishing practices have brought economic efficiency to the industry but threaten the ecological sufficiency that the industry depends on. In particular, bottom trawling gear is highly destructive to marine ecosystems and contributes to overfishing. Marine spatial planning, a form of ecosystem-based management, offers a solution to the problem of overfishing. By creating a network of protected areas with varying restrictions, marine spatial planning can limit commercial fishing to a level that is sustainable. This study assesses whether or not bottom trawling creates negative externalities in the overall fishery in order to determine if an immediate economic incentive for marine spatial planning exists. While the results cannot conclusively determine the existence of such "proximity effects", avenues for further exploration are revealed.
Annika Lutz
Computer Science
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Rolf Lakaemper
Department of Computer and Information Sciences
Project Title: Mind Body Kinection: A Development Platform to Create Applications for Kinect-Guided Avatars
Abstract: The Microsoft Kinect was launched as a sensory accessory for the Xbox 360 gaming console in 2010 and has since opened the door to a plethora of new interactive software, significantly enhancing human-computer interaction. Mind-Body Kinection utilizes open source development tools to design both a general platform and a specific application for the Microsoft Kinect. Our project focuses foremost on creating a platform that allows average Kinect users to create applications for their device with which they can control a projected 3D graphic model using body movements. This platform is unique in that our target audience needs no prior knowledge of how to code, which mends a significant gap between software developers and those without technical experience. Users of all experience levels will be able to design a puppet, task, and environment, and instantly interact with their digital creation, whereas previously this feat was only achievable by adept programmers. Consequently, this software allows a much larger population the capability to produce applications for the Kinect and opens to the door to innumerable new uses for the Kinect, including educational, artistic, entertainment-oriented, and therapeutic tools.
Melissa MacKinnon
Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering
Mentor: Svetlana Neretina
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Project Title: The Formation of Supported Gold Nanostructures on Oxide Substrates
Gold nanoparticles were produced using the solution-based synthetic protocols devised by Murphy and coworkers. These nanoparticles, which are 4 nm in diameter, were then dispersed onto an oxide substrate. While the vast majority of gold nanostructures have been produced using solution-based synthetic protocols, it is well-understood that a significant number of potential applications require that the nanostructures be supported by a substrate in a manner which renders them immobile. The nanoparticles, which originally showed weak adhesion to the substrate, were then heated to temperatures approaching their melting point. This anneal resulted in nanoparticle adhesion strong enough to withstand aggressive sonication and swabbing. The strong adhesion is highly suggestive of the formation of a heteroepitaxial relationship capable of crystallographically aligning all nanoparticles in a single orientation. The nanoparticles also show a size reduction of 1 nm after the anneal which we attribute to a nanoparticle shape change, the loss of gold along the substrate due to surface diffusion and the destruction of the capping layer. These substrate-based nanoparticles should prove quite effective as seed materials for the nucleation of larger nanostructures with a higher degree of complexity.
Michael Oeckel
Asian Studies
Temple University, Japan Campus
Mentor: Tin Tin Htun
Department of Asian Studies
Project Title: Japan and the United States: Feminism and LGBT Movements
Abstract: Japan and the United States stand not only as two of the most powerful economies and most populous countries, but they are also the respective great powers in the Eastern and Western world. As two of the most developed democracies, the two countries have many things in common – but that is not to say they are the same. Amongst their various differences is the history of their women and LGBT movements. While these countries are racially different, all countries share sexual and gender minorities, and how they developed legal protections and rights for these groups can possibly shed much light on society.
Comparing and contrasting how these two economic super powers have developed and fostered their feminist and gay rights movements will allow us to further understand the differences between Japanese and American culture. Understanding the reasons behind these differences as well can perhaps allow us to manage predictions on how developing Asian countries will establish their own rights. With Japan as the regional power and America's global media dominance, women rights movements and sexual minorities can draw inspiration and ideas from both countries to create their own movements.
Do women rights or gay rights develop better – and how do we decide which is better, if we even can – under the Japanese model or the American? Which model is most likely to be emulated by Eastern countries growing up in an arguably Western world?
Jovana Radojevic
Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering
Mentor: George Baran
Department of Mechanical Enginnering
Project Title: Finite Element Modeling of an Effect of the Interphase Material on Crack Propagation and Toughness of a Particle-Reinforced Polymer Composite
Abstract: Composites are materials consisting of a discontinuous reinforcement phase surrounded by a continuous matrix phase. The matrix's purpose is to bind the reinforcements together and to transfer the load to and between reinforcements. Reinforcements are made of stronger materials that provide superior strength and stiffness to the composite. There can also be an additional layer (interphase) between reinforcements and the matrix. This interphase provides a better interaction between reinforcement and matrix, and also improves mechanical properties of the composite.
The Center for Bioengineering and Biomaterials at the College of Engineering in cooperation with the Department of Chemistry developed an interphase material whose structure and exceptional mechanical properties replicate the behavior of nacre (mother of pearl – the inner layer of seashells). To analyze the effects of this interphase in the particle reinforced composites, finite element modeling (FEM) will be used. FEM is a numerical technique for finding approximate solutions to the partial differential equation that describes the system of interest. All the analysis throughout this project will be conducted using a progressive damage and failure materials FE model created using ABAQUS software. The main purpose of this project is to use engineering tools to provide a quantitative prediction of the fracture toughness of a particle reinforced polymer composite and also to try to describe the effect of the interphase on that composite's fracture toughness. The ultimate goal of this research is to bridge the micro-scale and macro-scale analysis of polymer composite and predict the fracture toughness of the material.
Terez Varkonyi
Political Science
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Beth Curran
Department of French, German, Italian and Slavic
Project Title: The Construction of Harki Identity in France and French Algeria
Abstract: The harkis are ethnic Algerians (also termed Algerian Muslims) who fought for France during the Algerian War, which lasted from 1954 to1962. This work focuses on the evolution of the harki identity (separate from the Algerian identity) as perceived and legislated by the French government. There are three critical stages to the development of this identity, which are shaped by a series of government policies. The first stage begins in 1914 and lasts until 1961, just before the end of the war. The second stage takes place between 1962 and 1974. This stage is marked by the migration of harkis to France. In 1963 French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou implemented a repatriation policy for harkis, which also allocated housing for them in camps where they were excluded from French society. The third stage takes place from 1975 to 2005 and is characterized by the voices of second generation harkis who grew up in France. Unlike their parents, they were educated in the French educational system; therefore, they had the tools to pressure government for policies to recognize and ensure harkis' equal rights and the establishment of a self-proclaimed harki identity.
