2012 MOM Journal
The Meeting of Minds Journal of Undergraduate Research is specifically designed to offer undergraduate students the opportunity to experience the manuscript submission and review process.
Students who participate in the Meeting of Minds conference are invited to submit a written version of their presentation to the Journal Review Board for publication in the volume which corresponds to the presentation year. The initial volume published in 1998 incorporated submitted papers from the inception of the conference through the past year (i.e., 1993-1998).
This journal gathers selected works presented at the 20th annual Meeting of Minds conference, which took place on May 11, 2012 on the campus of the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
This lively undergraduate forum showcased the research projects of students from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, the University of Michigan-Flint, and Oakland University. The projects captured here — an impressive array representing a wide range of disciplines and methods and topics — are the products of close collaboration between the students and their dedicated faculty mentors. Some projects were traditional academic ones, and some were creative presentations that are hard to capture in the pages of a journal but enriched the live conference with performance and the use of multi-media.
Over 400 participants took part in the conference as both presenters and audience members. Presentations were grouped into themed sessions combining multiple disciplinary perspectives on related topics. This was an opportunity for students to see how different disciplines define and explore problems in uniquely productive ways, and to generate some speculation and communication across disciplinary boundaries. We know this was gratifying for students, because the post-presentation comments were thoughtful and provocative, and because so many of the presenters went on to refine their project reports for publication.
Like the Meeting of Minds conference, this journal celebrates student research—from the inception of a project to the articulation of the findings for a larger audience, applying fresh rhetorical conventions and new insights gained in the aftermath of the conference. Research and creative projects carried out under the direction of a faculty member arguably represent the ideal culmination of an undergraduate education. The student not only synthesizes and displays the knowledge and skills gained over years of work in an academic field, but begins to think with her own mind and speak in her own voice, participating in the creation of new knowledge and new modes of expression. These projects mark the intellectual transition to the world of graduate study and the professions for which most of our students are bound. We thus warmly thank the faculty mentors on each campus for shepherding this process as well as the Meeting of Minds Coordinators and support staff at the participating campuses. Special thanks are due to my colleagues, Robert Stewart and Laura Schovan at Oakland University, Andre Louis at UM-Flint, as well as to Jennifer Zhao, Debbie Parker, Maureen Sytsma, and Sharie Beard at UM-Dearborn, who managed the conference registration process, planning, and logistics.
We invite you to sample the work presented in the following pages. These papers are a window into an exciting undergraduate encounter with the rewards and demands of academic research and with the fruits of intellectual and creative inquiry. We hope you enjoy the results of our students’ efforts.
– Susan Gedert, Meeting of Minds Coordinator
College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters, UM-Dearborn
Endangerment and Restoration of Tigers (Panthera tigris) and Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) (PDF)
Hala Hachem
Faculty Sponsor: Orin Gelderloos
Department of Natural Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
The Effects of Spearmint Chewing Gum on Cognition and Electroencephalogram (PDF)
Kristen Campbell, Vanessa Malochleb, Maia Assaf, Wally Moreno, Donald Jones
Faculty Sponsor: Julius Militante
Department of Biology; University of Michigan-Flint
Scientific Research Review: External Factors that Affect the Rate of Disease Progression in HIV Patients (PDF)
Tyler Doyon
Faculty Sponsor: Jerry Sanders
Department of Biology; University of Michigan-Flint
Theoretical Investigation of Two Proposed Arginase Inhibitors (PDF)
Josh Flint
Faculty Sponsor: Jie Song
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry; University of Michigan-Flint
DFT Study of the Adsorption of Oxygen on Char surfaces (PDF)
Kristopher Keipert
Faculty Sponsor: Jie Song
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry; University of Michigan-Flint
Modern Languages and Literatures Papers
Examinations of Voice, Society and Feminism in the Lives and Contrastive Works of Alfonsina Storni and Colette (PDF)
Hali Kivari
Faculty Sponsor: Jennifer Law-Sullivan
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures; Oakland University
Nihilism in Carmen Laforet’s Nada: Activism or Abulia? (PDF)
Meghan Sullivan
Faculty Sponsor: Adolfo Campoy-Cubillo
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures; Oakland University
Nations of the Other: Forms and Effects of Social Marginalization in Sab, La clase media, and Peregrinaciones de una alma triste (PDF)
Rachel Butler
Faculty Sponsor: Cecilia Saenz-Roby
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures; Oakland University
Aristocracy and the Creation of the Hispanic Nation (PDF)
Hali Kivari
Faculty Sponsor: Cecilia Saenz-Roby
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures; Oakland University
How the Author’s Gender Affects the Identity of Women and Slaves in Sab and María (PDF)
Meghan Sullivan
Faculty Sponsor: Cecilia Saenz-Roby
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures; Oakland University
Medieval and Renaissance Studies Papers
Desdemona Defined: Showing the Strength and Independence of a Female Character (PDF)
Elisabeth Cooper
Faculty Sponsor: J. Caitlin Finlayson
Department of Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Britomart's Drag Presence in Book III of Spenser's The Faerie Queene (PDF)
Miranda Cauchi
Faculty Sponsor: J. Caitlin Finlayson
Department of Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Plague Upon Plague: The Narrative Frame of The Decameron and Women’s Status during the Black Death (PDF)
Wafa Algahmi
Faculty Sponsor: Gabriella Eschrich
Department of Language, Culture, and Communication; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Eroticism amidst the Renaissance (PDF)
Kia Fuqua
Faculty Sponsor: Gabriella Eschrich
Department of Language, Culture, and Communication; University of Michigan-Dearborn
The Pilgrimage of Grace (The Northern Rebellion) 1536 (PDF)
Linda Fournier
Faculty Sponsor: Rayne Allinson
Department of Social Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Plague and Medicine in Tudor and Stuart England (PDF)
Jaclyn Maraldo
Faculty Sponsor: Rayne Allinson
Department of Social Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Gender Roles in the Aztec and African Empires (PDF)
Emily White
Faculty Sponsor: Rayne Allinson
Department of Social Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Mathematics and Engineering Papers
The Fundamental Group and Brouwer’s Fixed Point Theorem (PDF)
Amanda Bower
Faculty Sponsor: Thomas Fiore
Department of Mathematics and Statistics; University of Michigan-Dearborn
The Series Solution Does Not Properly Solve Zeno’s Dichotomy Paradox Within Its Historical Context (PDF)
Zach Murphy
Faculty Sponsor: Cameron McLeman
Department of Mathematics; University of Michigan-Flint
The Response Characteristic of Carbon-Reinforced Composite Plates under Transverse Loading (PDF)
Joshua Keegan
Faculty Sponsor: Olanrewaju Aluko
Department of Computer Science, Engineering and Physics; University of Michigan-Flint
Design, Development and CFD Validation of a Subsonic Wind Tunnel (PDF)
Saiful A. Siddique
Faculty Sponsor: Quamrul H. Mazumder
Department of Computer Science, Engineering, & Physics; University of Michigan-Flint
The Effect of Disclosure on Relating to Others Domain of Posttraumatic Growth (PDF)
Cassandra Crispin and Melissa Sawa
Faculty Sponsor: Kanako Taku
Department of Psychology; Oakland University
Religious Strength and Posttraumatic Growth: Examining the Effect of Alcohol Consumption in College Students (PDF)
Melissa Sawa and Valarie Pierson
Faculty Sponsor: Kanako Taku
Department of Psychology; Oakland University
Effects of Sperm Competition and Perceived Risk of Infidelity in the Workplace (PDF)
Casey Sturk, Dennis Kelley, Ashleigh Callahan
Faculty Sponsor: William McKibbin
Department of Psychology; University of Michigan-Flint
Music Primes Schemas in a Narrative Generation Task (PDF)
Stacy Memering
Faculty Sponsor: Synthia Sifonis
Department of Psychology; Oakland University
Men and Civilization in Knocked Up (PDF)
Rachel Light
Faculty Sponsor: Kyle Edwards
Department of Cinema Studies; Oakland University
Effects of Trigger Words on Human Emotion and the Process for Counter Conditioning Trigger Words (PDF)
Andrea G. Smith
Faculty Sponsor: Jacob Cayanus
Department of Communication; Oakland University
Qi Baishi and Sotokichi Katsuizumi: the Friendship Between Artist and Art Collector(PDF)
Anne Patrias
Faculty Sponsor: Susan Erickson
Department of Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Domon Ken: Up Close and Personal (PDF)
Noha El-Ghoroury
Faculty Sponsor: Claude Baillargeon
Department of Art and Art History; Oakland University
Titian’s Venus and The Male Gaze (PDF)
Eva Shillair
Faculty Sponsor: Susan Wood
Department of Art and Art History; Oakland University
Tomatsu Shomei’s Nagasaki: A Spectacle in Nuclear Photography (PDF)
Sunny Rishi
Faculty Sponsor: Claude Baillargeon
Department of Art and Art History; Oakland University
Corpus Christi: The Handling of the Body of Christ in Italian Renaissance Art (PDF)
Megan Milewski
Faculty Sponsor: Nicole Bensoussan
Department of Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Through a Tear Stained Viewfinder (PDF)
Jessica Wood
Faculty Sponsor: Claude Baillargeon
Department of Art and Art History; Oakland University
Innocent, Yet Guilty: A Seemingly Paradoxical Socratic Conviction (PDF)
Emma Slonina
Faculty Sponsor: Michael Rosano
Department of Social Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Socratic Method and Political Life: Oil and Water (PDF)
Shane Henson
Faculty Sponsor: Michael Rosano
Department of Social Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Immigrant Life: the Influence of Role Models (PDF)
Damir Vucicevic
Faculty Sponsor: Ronald Stockton
Department of Social Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
The Wage Curve and Regional Economies (PDF)
Parul Luthra
Faculty Sponsor: Bruce Pietrykowski
Department of Social Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Public Library Kinesthetics: The Response of Detroit’s Campbell Branch Library to the Cultural Texture of the Southwest Detroit Community (PDF)
Aubrey Franklin
Faculty Sponsor: Jennifer Perlove-Siegel
Department of Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Lutheran Social Services Flint/Saginaw Child and Family Services Foster Families Services Evaluation (PDF)
Mayghen Howell
Faculty Sponsor: Denise Dedman
Department of Social Work; University of Michigan-Flint
Biotechnology: The Impacts, Implications, and Debates Surrounding Its Use in Third World Nations (PDF)
Tamera Dandachi
Faculty Sponsor: Ananthakrishnan Aiyer
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice; University of Michigan-Flint
Copyright:
- Copyright for the materials within these pages belongs to these institutions jointly.
- Questions regarding the copyright should be addressed to the campus representatives listed below.
- Copyright 2012, University of Michigan Board of Regents and Oakland University Board of Trustees
University of Michigan Board of Regents
Julia Donovan Darlow
Laurence B. Deitch
Denise Ilitch
Olivia P. Maynard
Andrea Fischer Newman
Andrew C. Richner
S. Martin Taylor
Katherine E. White
Mary Sue Coleman (ex officio)
Oakland University Board of Trustees
Henry Baskin
Monica Emerson
Richard Flynn
Michael Kramer
Jacqueline Long
Ronald E. Robinson
Mark E. Schlussel
Jayprakash Shah
Gary D. Russi (ex officio)
The University of Michigan-Dearborn Executive Officers
Daniel Little, Chancellor
Catherine Davy, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Edward Bagale, Vice Chancellor for Government Affairs
Mallory Simpson, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement
Jeff Evans, Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs
Stanley E. Henderson, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Life
The University of Michigan-Flint Executive Officers
Ruth Person, Chancellor
Gerard Voland, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
David Barthelmes, Vice Chancellor for Administration
Mary Jo Sekelsky, Vice Chancellor for Student Services and Enrollment Management
Oakland University Executive Officers
Gary D. Russi, President
Susan M Awbrey, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
John W. Beaghan, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer to the Board of Trustees
Rochelle A. Black, Vice President for Government Relations
Eric Barritt, Vice President for Development, Alumni and Community Engagement
Mary Beth Snyder, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
Victor A. Zambardi, Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Trustees
Meeting of Minds Campus Representatives
UM-Dearborn
Jennifer Zhao
Susan Gedert
313-593-5490
UM-Flint
Andre Louis
810-762-3383
Oakland University
Robert Stewart
Laura Schovan
248-370-2140
The University of Michigan and Oakland University, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employers, comply with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The universities are committed to a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the University of Michigan Senior Director for Institutional Equity and Title IX/Section 504/ADA Coordinator, Office for Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, 734-763-0235, TTY 734-647-1388 or Oakland University’s Director of Diversity and Compliance, 203 Wilson Hall, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan 48309-4401, 248-370-3496.