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Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

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Articles 1 - 26 of 26

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Oral Presentation: Depictions Of Sexuality And Gender Construction In Japanese Manga And Anime, Sarah Huerta Apr 2011

Oral Presentation: Depictions Of Sexuality And Gender Construction In Japanese Manga And Anime, Sarah Huerta

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

This presentation will explore research into gender and sexuality in anime and manga as compared to popular U.S. displays of gender and sexuality using a brief historical and cultural contextual background on manga and anime. I will discuss a comparison between U.S. and Japanese gender and sexual depictions in anime/manga and popular American media. Lastly, I discuss the potential for anime and manga in exploring gender and sexuality in U.S. studies, as well as my current, ongoing research with individuals in anime/manga groups

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Oral Presentation: Students And Free Enterprise, Jami Vallesteros Apr 2011

Oral Presentation: Students And Free Enterprise, Jami Vallesteros

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

UNLV SIFE is part of an international non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilize university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. Participating students form teams on their university campuses and apply business concepts to develop outreach projects that improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need. In addition to the community aspect of the program, SIFE’s leadership and career initiatives create meaningful opportunities for learning and exchange among the participants as well as the placement of students …

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Aids/Hiv Denialism: Patients’ Privacy Rights, Fadia Abdullah, Guadalupe Medrano Apr 2011

Aids/Hiv Denialism: Patients’ Privacy Rights, Fadia Abdullah, Guadalupe Medrano

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

HIV is a sexually transmitted disease that develops into AIDS. There is no cure for it, only treatment. In this poster, we look at the pros and cons of disclosing this type of information. People who decide to disclose their HIV status may have various reasons for doing so, but most do it for emotional support and for prevention of spreading the disease. Those who decide to keep it private primarily do it to not face rejection, discrimination, degradation, and loss of respect. (Petronio Page 72) The problem with creating a public database is that many organizations are against the …

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The Effects Of Working Memory On High And Low Working Memory Capacity, Colleen M. Parks, Christine Agnir Apr 2011

The Effects Of Working Memory On High And Low Working Memory Capacity, Colleen M. Parks, Christine Agnir

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Acute stress is a factor that impairs working memory (McHugh et al.,2010). Emotional stimuli have been used in long-term memory studies. The emotional content of information is important in long-term memory studies that have focused on stress, but it is unknown if the valence of the stimuli matter for working memory tasks. Little research is know to use emotional pictures of N-back stimuli. Our goal is to determine whether these factors may significantly disrupt the working memory process of efficiently completing complex tasks.

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Should Primates Have Legal Rights?, Hannah Barten, Zhimin Chen Apr 2011

Should Primates Have Legal Rights?, Hannah Barten, Zhimin Chen

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

A primate having legal rights is a controversial topic these days. Many other countries around the world support the idea of great apes having legal rights, because we for one are one of the five great primates. Others do not support this trending topic as much as others. These types of people believe that great apes such as chimpanzees are superb testing animals for medical purposes, because of the fact that they are closely related to mankind. Organizations such as Great Ape Protection, work towards protecting the rights of these great apes since they cannot speak for themselves. In many …

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Placebos: Ethical Research Or Unethical Deceit, Tawnya Schirmeister, Sabrina Crilley Apr 2011

Placebos: Ethical Research Or Unethical Deceit, Tawnya Schirmeister, Sabrina Crilley

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

There is an ongoing debate between whether or not it is ethical for researchers to use placebos while studying terminal illnesses. Within this debate there are two parties, the party that believes that it is ethical and the party that believes that it is not. Both parties have many valid points and have very detailed arguments against one another. When determining whether or not the use of placebos is ethical or not, you must first understand what a placebo is, and what the different types are. This paper goes over what a placebo is, what the different types are, and …

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Female Sexism, Tasha Choi, Sirikwan Pitalkwaltanakul Apr 2011

Female Sexism, Tasha Choi, Sirikwan Pitalkwaltanakul

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Sexism in the sciences is not just relevant to the sciences but in all fields of study. Woman are steadily on the rise, many going to college, and much more graduating with a degree in sciences and other male dominated fields. But despite the increase of female academic success, there are still fewer females in careers like science and professorship. Many factors contribute to sexism in the sciences, those factors being motherhood and family commitments, social interactions of female and male from early youth, social barriers in the field, and possible biological theories.

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Intelligent Design And Its Place In The Classroom, Victor Trinh, Mekdelawit Mezgebu Apr 2011

Intelligent Design And Its Place In The Classroom, Victor Trinh, Mekdelawit Mezgebu

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Creationism, is the dominant belief held by the public. Evolution, on the other hand, is the competing theory of the mechanisms of creation. The recent dispute among the scientific and political field that has furthermore complicated the question of intelligent design being integrated into the curriculum of public schools is addressed here. We attempt to give both sides of the argument, along with analyzing the components of each theory. Intelligent design advocates are for the idea of accommodating what they have coined “intelligent design” into the classrooms of American schools. The opponents of intelligent design (evolution supporters); however, claim that …

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Should Intelligent Design Be Taught Alongside Evolution In Public Schools?, Chelsea Opdendyk, Christina James Apr 2011

Should Intelligent Design Be Taught Alongside Evolution In Public Schools?, Chelsea Opdendyk, Christina James

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Evolution being the creation of life through a scientific method and ID being the creation of life through a religious point of view. The overall proposing question to be discussed throughout this project is whether or not ID should be taught in schools alongside Evolution within science classes. The first phase of this project involves research of the positive teachings of ID within the school system and how it can be beneficial to students. The second part of this project involves the negative aspects of educating students the proposed theory of ID. The final phase revolves around the favored conclusion …

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Relationship Between Perceived And Actual Quality Of Data Checking, Hunter Speich, Sophia Karas, Dan Erosa, Kelly Grob, Kimberly A. Barchard Apr 2011

Relationship Between Perceived And Actual Quality Of Data Checking, Hunter Speich, Sophia Karas, Dan Erosa, Kelly Grob, Kimberly A. Barchard

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Data quality is critical to reaching correct research conclusions. Researchers attempt to ensure that they have accurate data by checking the data after it has been entered. Previous research has demonstrated that some methods of data checking are better than others, but not all researchers use the best methods. Perhaps researchers continue to use less optimal data checking methods because they mistakenly believe that they are highly accurate. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived data quality and actual data quality. A total of 29 participants completed this study. Participants checked that letters and numbers …

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Exploratory Studies Into Possible Uses Of Calcareous Dolostone On The Shivwits Plateau, Jennifer Durk, Lauren Falvey, Karen G. Harry Apr 2011

Exploratory Studies Into Possible Uses Of Calcareous Dolostone On The Shivwits Plateau, Jennifer Durk, Lauren Falvey, Karen G. Harry

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Excavations at pueblo habitation sites on the Shivwits Plateau suggest that calcareous dolostone was regularly procured and used by the inhabitants of the Mt. Dellenbaugh region. Calcareous dolostone, a soft, powdery calcium carbonate, is not local to these sites but was presumably procured from somewhere beneath the rim of the Grand Canyon. In this poster, we present the results of exploratory experiments into possible uses of this resource. Specifically, we evaluate the performance characteristics of powdered dolostone with reference to two activities: pigment production and ceramic manufacture.

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Learning Mechanisms For Acquiring Knowledge Of Tonality In Music, Rikka Quam, Matthew Rosenthal, Erin Hannon Apr 2011

Learning Mechanisms For Acquiring Knowledge Of Tonality In Music, Rikka Quam, Matthew Rosenthal, Erin Hannon

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Most people think that musical knowledge is exclusive to trained musicians. Actually, casual music listeners have implicit knowledge of important structural aspects of music, such as tonality. Tonality contributes to the feeling of anticipation one would experience when hearing someone sing “do re mi faso la ti” without singing the final “do”. Knowledge of tonality may be learned through the statistics of music (Krumhansl, 1990). However, learning mechanisms have rarely been investigated experimentally (Creel et al., 2002). Artificial grammar learning experiments have shown that listeners can acquire highly structured knowledge such as syllable co-occurrence and language syntax through passive exposure. …

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Examining The Construct Validity Of The Metaphors Test, Jane Park, Kelly Grob, Yevgeniya Verenikina, Kimberly A. Barchard Apr 2011

Examining The Construct Validity Of The Metaphors Test, Jane Park, Kelly Grob, Yevgeniya Verenikina, Kimberly A. Barchard

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Emotional Intelligence is a multi-faceted construct. Existing tests do a good job of measuring some aspects of Emotional Intelligence. The Metaphors Test (Barchard, 2004) was designed to measure the ability to decipher the emotional content of ambiguous sentences. This test may measure a new facet of Emotional Intelligence. The purpose of this research was to examine the construct validity of the Metaphors Test as a measure of Emotional Intelligence. Using a sample of 281 undergraduates, the Metaphors Test was correlated with the four branches of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT; Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2004): Perceiving Emotions, Using Emotions …

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Analysis Of Morris Water Maze Data With Bayesian Statistical Methods, Maxym V. Myroshnychenko, Anton Westveld, Jefferson Kinney Apr 2011

Analysis Of Morris Water Maze Data With Bayesian Statistical Methods, Maxym V. Myroshnychenko, Anton Westveld, Jefferson Kinney

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Neuroscientists commonly use a Morris Water Maze to assess learning in rodents. In his kind of a maze, the subjects learn to swim toward a platform hidden in opaque water as they orient themselves according to the cues on the walls. This protocol presents a challenge to statistical analysis, because an artificial cut-off must be set for those experimental subjects that do not reach the platform so as they do not drown from exhaustion. This fact leads to the data being right censored. In our experimental data, which compares learning in rodents that have chemically induced symptoms of schizophrenia to …

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How Experience Influences Infants’ Recognition Of Male And Female Faces, Jennifer L. Rennels, Veronica A. Glover, Andrew J. Cummings, Andrea J. Kayl, Mateusz Orlewicz, Roanne J. Tiongson, Brooke Ditzler Apr 2011

How Experience Influences Infants’ Recognition Of Male And Female Faces, Jennifer L. Rennels, Veronica A. Glover, Andrew J. Cummings, Andrea J. Kayl, Mateusz Orlewicz, Roanne J. Tiongson, Brooke Ditzler

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Young infants with female primary caregivers are able to differentiate familiar female faces from novel female faces but not male faces. Experience processing faces may be important for being able to discriminate among similar-looking faces. Subsequently, increasing infants’ experience with less familiar faces should improve their ability to differentiate those types of faces. This study examined if infants’ experience with faces affected their recognition of new faces. Prior to testing, 2-3 month old infants were assigned to one of three conditions: a male video, a female video, and no video condition. Infants were familiarized to both male and female faces …

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Aids Denialism, Erika Jenel Delos Santos, Roy Llana, Jocelyn Tan Apr 2011

Aids Denialism, Erika Jenel Delos Santos, Roy Llana, Jocelyn Tan

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

AIDS denialism is a growing issue in many parts the world. Through scholarly journal articles, book resources and other research tactics, further understanding how HIV/AIDS denialism is unethical can be distinguished. Discovering that AIDS is most prominent in South Africa explains why denialism is as critical as it is. However, the unethical aspect of AIDS denialism is in effect particularly amongst families. When a South African inhabitant realizes they have AIDS, they feel outcasted by their families due to shame. They fear as though they will be disowned because they have flaws that are unacceptable. These family values are significant …

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Vaccines Controversy, Jackelin Ruiz, Keith Wellman Apr 2011

Vaccines Controversy, Jackelin Ruiz, Keith Wellman

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Our research was conducted on a Vaccine controversy which raised the question on ethics, morality, safety and effectiveness of vaccination on children. The case study we focused on was about a study done by Dr. Andrew Wakefield and twelve other Colleagues, which was published in a well know journal The Lancet. The study has recently been retracted because an investigation found that he failed to mention that his research of the MMR vaccine was funded through solicitors seeking evidence to use against vaccine manufactures (Deer, Brian). To conclude our research we compared the current vaccination rates with the rates …

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Ethics Of Paid Gamete Donation, Kyle Dayton, Maeleen Witte Apr 2011

Ethics Of Paid Gamete Donation, Kyle Dayton, Maeleen Witte

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

This presentation shows the standing ethical questions in the aspect of gamete donation, analyzes them, and contrasts them. This article primarily focuses on whether it is ethical to pay a donor for their gametes (sperm or egg). Within this presentation, we question whether donation should be purely altruistic and not motivated by incentives.

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Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Michael Phan, Jeniene Hassan Apr 2011

Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Michael Phan, Jeniene Hassan

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Embryonic stem cell research has the potential to regenerate malfunctioning tissues and replace harmful cancer cells. Although it holds the potential to alleviate malicious disabilities and diseases, it raises ethical concerns due to the destruction of a fertilized human embryo. In certain religions (Catholics and Christians), embryonic stem cell research is detested due to the destruction of a human at its early stages of life (embryo). On the other hand, scientists believe that embryonic stem cells can “someday…used to treat human diseases.” (Hansen 879) This analysis on embryonic stem cell research will consider both the supporting and opposing side of …

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Keynote Address: Community Health In Las Vegas, Camila H. Alvarez Apr 2011

Keynote Address: Community Health In Las Vegas, Camila H. Alvarez

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

New Urbanists present both a theory for strong community development and an architectural planning program for moving towards sustainable urban environments. They argue neighborhoods should be compact, pedestrian-friendly, with mixed-usage of housing and activities, and available public spaces. These design elements foster and encourage social interaction among residents which creates and enforces neighborhood community. I tested New Urbanism Theory by performing ethnographic fieldwork to assess the quality of neighborhoods in Las Vegas. Then I compared neighborhood qualities to residents’ responses to their neighborhood, neighbors, and quality of life from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Social Survey. My results confirmed New …

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Using Placebos In Research Involving Terminal Illnesses, Mark Day, Ryan Hicks Apr 2011

Using Placebos In Research Involving Terminal Illnesses, Mark Day, Ryan Hicks

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Placebos are medical interventions that falsely lead patients to believe that they are receiving treatment and that their condition is being changed, when truly no specific treatment is being administered. Using placebos in research involving terminal illnesses has become debatable. While a placebo could potentially give way to new treatments, through testing alongside a specific drug in a clinical trial, the placebo itself may fail and the patient is not cured leading to possible fatality. It has been found that using placebos in research, like performing surgeries, can aid in medical or clinical research and could help our society financially …

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Ethics Behind Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Samantha Haydock, Regine Dejesus Apr 2011

Ethics Behind Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Samantha Haydock, Regine Dejesus

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Advancement in embryonic stem cell research can cure the world of sicknesses in ways that were only imagined. Out of all the stem cells, embryonic stem cells have the capabilities to develop into any cell and tissue type. Embryonic stem cell research is controversial due to how these cells are harvested. In harvesting these cells, the embryos are destroyed; further halting any development of a human being. We began our research by asking why this topic is an ethical issue. Using various media resources, we took key points from both sides and also looked into the latest advancements that may …

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Can Female Genital Mutilation Victims Benefit From Corrective Surgery: To Regain Sexual Pleasure And Be “Whole” Once Again?, Monique Sulls Apr 2011

Can Female Genital Mutilation Victims Benefit From Corrective Surgery: To Regain Sexual Pleasure And Be “Whole” Once Again?, Monique Sulls

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is defined by the World Health Organization, (WHO), as the removal or cutting of the external female genitalia. WHO estimates between 100 and 140 million girls and women worldwide currently live with the consequences of FGM. The study finds that through corrective surgery, pre/post therapy, counseling, and sexual education victims to FGM can regain sexual pleasure providing them a chance to be “Whole” once again.

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Global Warming: At What Point Does Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Release Become Unethical?, Luke Good, Gladys Lopez Apr 2011

Global Warming: At What Point Does Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Release Become Unethical?, Luke Good, Gladys Lopez

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

In recent decades, the concept of global warming has developed increasing concern among the scientific community and general public alike. What was initially dismissed as little more than unlikely has now become a severe warning for global climate crisis threatening not only our way of life but ultimate future existence on this planet? Global warming is defined as the steady mean increase in atmospheric temperature, the primary asserted cause thereof being increased emissions and inherent atmospheric concentrations of “greenhouse gases” – carbon dioxide in particular. These gases contribute to the greenhouse effect by trapping radiation (from the sun) in the …

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Adaptation Of The Nevada Climate Change Data Portal Web Interface To Small-Screen Mobile Devices, Tsvetan Komarov Apr 2011

Adaptation Of The Nevada Climate Change Data Portal Web Interface To Small-Screen Mobile Devices, Tsvetan Komarov

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Robust and convenient access to the Nevada Climate Change Data Portal is vital for the project’s success, because of the researchers’ need to gather and analyze large volumes of data with minimal effort. However, the current version of the data portal web interface is not optimized for small-screen mobile devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, iPads, NetBooks, and others. The proposed research will address this issue by exploring the current methods for creating a client-aware web interface adaptable to the variety of small-screen devices, designing and implementing the most appropriate solution, and finally, user testing of the implemented solution.

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Event Program, Carl Reiber, Nicholle Booker Apr 2011

Event Program, Carl Reiber, Nicholle Booker

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

UNLV Undergraduates from all departments, programs and colleges participated in a campus-wide symposium on April 16, 2011. Undergraduate posters from all disciplines and also oral presentations of research activities, readings and other creative endeavors were exhibited throughout the festival.

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