2001 Conference Abstracts

Biology

ANDERSON, FRANK: RADFORD UNIVERSITY
PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE VITAMIN D3, SUPPLEMENTATION NEEDS OF CAPTIVE BOMBINA ORIENTALIS
Four groups of six toads were exposed to varying amounts of vitamin D3 supplement over a 15-week period. The D3 exposures were 2.2 IU/g, 4.8 IU/g, 12.9 IU/g, and 38.5 IU/g. The supplement was applied by dusting 4 crickets per toad every other day over the course of the study. Every week the toads' weights and lengths were measured and recorded. This data was compiled into averages for each group and compared graphically, while the raw data was compared using a t-test to determine the significance of the data. Using the graphical analysis the toads exposed to lower amounts of D3 showed increased growth, which was supported by the t-test comparison of the low D3 group and the high D3 group (p = 0.0865). It appears statistically and graphically that the toads exposed to low amounts of D3 experienced greater weight and length increases. The middle range groups showed similar results with no significance between their growth patterns (p = 0.493), while the high D3 group showed the lowest amount of growth.

HOSP, TERRA: RADFORD UNIVERSITY
EFFECTS OF THYROXINE ON IN VIVO DEVELOPMENT OF CHICKEN EMBRYOS
CO-AUTHORS: TERRA HOSP; * J. ORION ROGERS
Reports from the literature reveal that thyroxine accelerates differentiation of embryonic intestinal epithelium in vitro. This study tested the effects of various concentrations of thyroxine on Gallus domesticus (White Leghorn strain) chicken embryos' intestinal development in vivo in both windowed and shell-less culture conditions. A third condition, in ovo, was used as a control. The windowed cultures allowed easy access for treatment while the shell-less cultures allowed both easy access for treatment and isolation from eggshell effects. The windowed and shell-less embryos were exposed to concentrations of thyroxine ranging from 10-6 to 10-10 M, and 0.01 N NaOH was used as a solvent control. The effects of thyroxine were tested by measuring both beak and third toe length as well as by collecting segments from the duodenal loop of the small intestine at 14 days of incubation. Tissue processing included fixation in Carnoy's fixative, dehydration, infiltration and embedding in paraffin. Five micron thick sections were stained with Schiff's reagent to enhance goblet cell visibility and counterstained with fast green. My hypotheses are that goblet cell number and previllous ridge height will increase in embryos treated with thyroxine compared to solvent and in ovo controls and that the numbers of total goblet cells will increase with increasing thryoxine concentrations. Preliminary results reveal that goblet cell numbers in 14-day in ovo embryos are significantly higher (P <0.025) in distal versus proximal regions of previllous ridges. Collection and analysis of additional data is still in progress.

SPEILMAN, LAUREL: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
THE EFFECT OF TANNINS ON THE GROWTH OF CHESTNUT BLIGHT AND OTHER FUNGI
Around the turn of the century the American chestnut, a major hardwood tree throughout the Appalachian Mountains, was practically wiped out by a nonnative fungus called Cryphonectria parasitica, or chestnut blight. There are many current efforts to bring back the massive trees. One approach involves looking at the relationship between tannins in American chestnuts and their susceptibility to blight. Many plants use tannins as a defense against fungi and other microorganisms. American chestnuts have a high tannin content, but chestnut blight is unusual because it uses tannins as a food source. I studied the effects of tannins on the growth of different strains of chestnut blight and other fungi collected from other trees. As expected, overall the chestnut blight strains grew better with tannins than the other fungi, but I uncovered some interesting growth variations among the chestnut blight samples.

KOSTADINOV, TIHOMIR: UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND
AN INTERNET-BASED INVENTORY OF THE TREES AND SHRUBS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND CAMPUS
CO-AUTHORS: *DR. HAYDEN, JOHN ; KOSTADINOV, TIHOMIR S.
An inventory of the native and exotic dicotyledonous woody plants growing on the campus of the University of Richmond, VA, was completed in the summer of 2001. The trees and shrubs were photographed, and a web site was developed featuring each species with a high quality digital image and a brief technical description from the botanical literature. More than 170 woody dicotyledonous species were documented, in 44 angiosperm families. In addition, herbarium specimens were collected from each species as a voucher and became part of the permanent specimen collection at the University of Richmond Herbarium (URV). Statistics about the physical geography and woody vegetation on campus were collected and presented. The web site has many botanical, pedagogical, recreational and other uses.
It is available to the public at: http://www.mathcs.richmond.edu/~tkostadi/trees.

KELLOGG, SHELLY: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
PARASITISM OF NATIVE SILK MOTHS AT SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
A recent study in Massachusetts suggests that Compsilura concinnata, a non-native tachinid fly released for control of the gypsy moth, may be at least partly responsible for the declines of native silk moth populations in New England. Although Compsilura has also been released in Virginia, no declines in local silk moth populations have been reported. In this study, caterpillars of one species of silk moth, Actias luna, were placed outside at different developmental stages to determine the parasitism rates, especially by Compsilura concinnata. Compsilura parasitized caterpillars deployed during the 4th and 5th instars, with a much higher rate for the 5th instars. Very high rates of hyperparasitism, which is parasitism of a parasite, were observed with Compsilura, an event that has not yet been reported. It is possible that Compsilura's population in Virginia is kept in check by hyperparasitism. The situation in Virginia seems to be different from that in Massachusetts and deserves much further attention.

SHELL, MICHAEL: UVA-WISE
A METHOD FOR RAPID EXTRACTION OF DNA FROM FIELD-COLLECTED FRUITING BODIES OF MYXOMYCETES
CO-AUTHORS: SHELL, MICHAEL; JONES, KEVIN *
Myxomycetes are heterotrophic protists with complex life cycles in which motile, trophic stages (amoebae and plasmodia), alternate with a sessile fruiting stage. Myxomycetes are considered a monophyletic group whose limits are clearly circumscribed. However, phylogenetic relationships between the six recognized orders within the group remain unclear, and ordinal-level placement of some genera is controversial. The extent of morphological convergence within myxomycetes is unknown. The utility of 18S rDNA sequences in defining evolutionary trends within protist groups is well documented, but has not been applied to myxomycetes. In order to pursue a molecular phylogeny for these organisms, we have developed a DNA extraction method for myxomycetes, which uses field-collected fruiting bodies. The method has proven effective over a wide range of sample morphologies, sizes, and ages, and yields DNA of sufficient quality and quantity for PCR amplification of the 18S rDNA. The method has also been successfully used to extract DNA from dried plasmodia and sclerotia. The simplicity, speed, and robustness of the extraction method should greatly aid development of a molecular phylogeny for myxomycetes, and make existing herbaria of fruiting bodies amenable to DNA-based studies.

ZIBDEH, HANA: UVA-WISE
VARIATION IN CONTROL REGION SEQUENCES OF MITOCHONDRIAL DNA AMONG "MELUNGEONS"
CO-AUTHORS: ZIBDEH, HANA; KISER, JENNIFER; *JONES, KEVIN
Thousands of Appalachian people are descended from the so-called "Melungeons"- a putative 'mixed race' population. Through oral tradition, many Melungeons have claimed Mediterranean ancestry, although much information on their background has been obscured by the need to escape the stereotypical racial laws that existed during much of the history of the Southern United States. Understanding the origins of the Melungeons has now become an issue for the provision of effective regional healthcare; the population suffers a number of debilitating diseases, including thalassemia, Familial Mediterranean Fever, and Machado-Joseph, whose accurate diagnosis is often hampered by their scarcity among Americans of Northern European origin. We have investigated the maternal geographic origins of approximately 60 Melungeons through PCR amplification and sequencing of the control region of mitochondrial DNA. Comparison of these sequences to those in GenBank, and the Mitochondrial DNA Concordance database supports the diverse ethnic and geographic origins of Melungeon population, through the maternal line. A subset of these sequences may also help explain the unusual diseases that are prevalent in those who claim Melungeon ancestry.

MAXEY, JAMES: VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE
INDUCTION OF AUTOGAMY IN PARAMECIUM: APOPTOSIS-LIKE NUCLEAR DEGENERATION IN A UNICELLULAR ORGANISM.
CO-AUTHORS: MAXEY, JAMES; *BELL, WADE
Apoptosis is a normal physiological method used by multicellular animals to eliminate cells that are either no longer needed or potentially have become dangerous to the organism. One critical marker of the activation of an apoptotic pathway is the characteristic breakdown of the nucleus as one of the final acts of this programmed cell death. Interestingly, nuclear elimination is not unique to metazoans. Ciliates, such as Paramecium and Tetrahymena use a form of nuclear degeneration as a reproductive strategy. In Tetrahymena, some commonality between this degeneration and multicellular apoptosis has been established. Ciliates possess two distinct types of nuclei; a transcriptionally active macronucleus and germinal micronucleus. After a reproductive meiotic event (as opposed to a vegetative mitotic cell division), the macronucleus of the ciliate is targeted for elimination. Some strains of Paramecium do not require a conjugation event in order to generate this pathway. This strategy, known as autogamy, is a self-fertilization process that can be initiated by starvation of recently fed cultures. We have studied the dynamics of autogamy and vegetative cell division in cultures of Paramecium tetraurelia in order to determine which periods during culture growth would be optimal to look for the existence of apoptosis-like triggers to the autogamy pathway. We have found by using a DNA-specific fluorescent dye that newly fed cultures show the least percentage of autogamy in the population two days post-establishment and that these cultures can be induced into autogamy up to 86% within 24 hours by starvation.

TAYLOR, ANNE: RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE
PRELIMINARY SCREENING OF ACINETOBACTER CALCOACETICUS FOR GENES INVOLVED IN THE REGULATION OF NATURAL COMPETENCE
CO-AUTHORS: TAYLOR, ANNE M.; WRIGHT, THAMRAH; *POPE, MARGARET
Natural competence is the ability of a microorganism to take up exogenous DNA from the environment. We have conducted a preliminary study to identify genes involved in the process of natural competence in the Gram-negative bacterium, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. While many genes that are involved in carbon catabolism have been identified in this organism, few genes involved in natural competence have been found. Those genes that have been studied appear to be part of the structural machinery for DNA uptake. Genes involved in the regulation of this process, however, have not been identified. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we have amplified two such regulatory genes, pilS and pilR from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a well-characterized naturally competent bacterium. These PCR products were then non-radioactively labeled and used as probes for Southern hybridization experiments. Weak homologies were observed for both pilS and pilR, suggesting the presence of a similar regulatory system in A. calcoaceticus. These findings are of interest because competence in Pseudomonas sp., like many other naturally competent bacteria, is regulated in response to nutrient depletion. Previous studies have suggested that this may not be the case, however, with A. calcoaceticus. We have also constructed a genomic library of A. calcoaceticus in bacteriophage l. We have recently begun screening this library for the genes homologous to pilS and pilR. Once these genes are cloned and sequenced, the roles that they play in the regulation of natural competence of A. calcoaceticus will be determined.

JEFFERSON, STEPHANIE: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CELL LINE CHRFZ-A STUDY OF PLATELET FORMATION
CO-AUTHORS: JEFFERSON, STEPHANIE; *ZIESMANN, SUZANNE
CHRFz is a human megakaryoblastic cell line from an earlier established CHRF cell line taken from a solid leukemia tumor. Prior characterization of CHRF cells shows it as an appropriate way to study megakaryocyte function, maturation, and subsequent platelet formation and release. CHRFz has since been cultured in 20% Fetal Bovine Serum and Fischers Media for several years and has become phenotypically different from the original CHRF-including high ploidy, large size, and process formation. CHRFz cells form processes 60% of the time, and the CHRF cell line has not previously been noted to extend proplatelet-like processes. The cells display a doubling time of approximately 40 hours in culture. CHRFz exhibits the markers platelet glycoprotein IIbIIIa, and Factor VIII antigen, characteristic of megakaryoctyes and platelets. The cells do not express a marker specific for T-cells (CD4), indicating that it is not biphenotypic for the erythroid lineage. Karyotypic analysis of the cells is still under experimentation to test whether the cells still exhibit similar chromosomal markers as described in the earlier established CHRF line. The characterization of this cell line under specific culturing conditions will provide the scientific community with a unique system for studying megakaryocytic properties, maturation and platelet formation and release.

BORTHWICK, DERRIC: VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE
THE EFFECT OF CASPASE INHIBITORS ON APOPTOSIS
CO-AUTHORS: BORTHWICK, DM; QUASH, ROMAN; ADDINGTON, AK*
Photoreceptor cells in the human eye are the means by which images are transferred from the world around us to the occipital lobe. Once these images are transferred to the brain, they are processed, resulting in the ability of sight. The retinal epithelial cells (RPE), however, underlie the photoreceptor cells acting as a barrier between the blood stream and the photoreceptor cells. The RPE cells are crucial for the mechanics of vision. They sustain the primary vision cells. It has recently been discovered that some forms of blindness occur due to the death of RPE cells. The underlying process responsible for the deterioration of these cells is known as apoptosis: a form of programmed cell death. Apoptosis is initiated by the pro-domain cleavage of specific initiator caspases that exist in the body as zymogens, such as caspase 9, which then proceed to activate a variety of effector caspases, such as caspase 3. However, this process can be inhibited. The aim of the following research was to study the in-vivo and in-vitro effects of specific caspase inhibitors. In vitro experiments were directed at determining the inhibition constants of the inhibitors against the purified enzymes. Additionally, the effects of caspase inhibitors on arresting cellular apoptosis was investigated using two cell lines: the Jurkat cells (a human lymphoma line commonly used in apoptosis studies) and a RPE cell line derived from the mouse. We compared both the commercially available fluoro-methyl ketone lines of caspase inhibitors and diazomethyl ketone derivatives as well.

Chemistry/Biochemistry

SCHMITZ, JULIA: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
EFFECTS OF METAL CENTER, LIGAND TYPE AND NUMBER UPON CYTOTOXICITY OF POTENTIAL METAL COMPLEX ANTICANCER AGENTS
CO-AUTHORS: SCHMITZ, JULIA, M; DAVIES, DR ROBIN DAVIES*
Novel platinum and palladium compounds are being synthesized and tested on a variety of cell lines- both normal and malignant- to see if there is any cancer fighting activity. In my experiments, I narrowed my tests to colon cancer only. When testing the novel compounds, I looked for patterns in the results. I compared the effectiveness of metal center, the number of ligands in the compound, and which ligand was most effective. Through my testing I was able to determine that palladium was more effective than platinum at killing the cancer cells. My results also demonstrated that generally the more ligands there are on the metal center, the better the compound kills the cell. Finally, my results showed that mono dione was better than mono phen. For further research, I would like to test these compounds on other cell lines and also synthesize compounds with different combinations of ligands.

EDWARDS, TONICKA: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
ADSORBENT MATERIALS FOR FLUORIDE REMOVAL FROM DRINKING WATER
CO-AUTHORS: EDWARDS, TONICKA; ABDEL-FATTAH, TAREK*
Batch adsorption kinetic and isotherm studies were conducted to compare and evaluate different types of adsorbents for fluoride removal from aqueous media. Various low-cost adsorbents such as activated carbon (Calgon Filtrasorb 400), two naturally occurring zeolites (clinoptilolite and chabazite) and two synthetic molecular sieves (13X and 5A) were treated with 0.5 M solutions of FeSO4 and CaCl2 to improve their sorption capacities. Furthermore, these adsorbents were investigated to assess their capacity for removal of fluoride from water by batch adsorption studies. One potential application of adsorbents for fluoride is point-of-use treatment devices, hence the selection of activated carbon and the zeolite materials which are relatively low in cost. The molecular sieves provide a basis for comparison with previous studies and represent well-characterized materials.

BOGHEA, MIRELA: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
STUDY OF ADSORBENT MATERIALS FOR CADMIUM REMOVAL FROM AQUEOUS MEDIA
CO-AUTHORS: BOGHEA, MIRELA; ABDEL-FATTAH, TAREK*
Batch adsorption kinetic and isotherm studies were conducted to compare and evaluate different types of adsorbents for cadmium removal from aqueous media. Seven different materials were selected in order to perform the experiment including: naturally occurring zeolites (Clinoptilolite and Chabazite), modified zeolites, synthetic zeolites (13X and 5A) and activated carbon (Calgon Filtrasorb 300). These absorbents were investigated to determine their capacity for cadmium removal from aqueous media by batch adsorption. The data showed that all adsorbents have affinity for cadmium removal from drinking water. Molecular sieves 13X and 5A have shown to remove more then 95% and 85% respectively of cadmium from aqueous media. However, naturally occurring zeolites Clinoptilolite and Chabazite remove 55% of cadmium from aqueous media.

REITHER, LAURA: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
DETECTION OF TRICLOSAN IN GEOGRAPHICALLY-DIVERSE WASTEWATER SAMPLES
CO-AUTHORS: *ORVOS, DAVID; REITHER, LAURA
Triclosan (TCS) is a lipophilic, chlorinated biphenyl ether commonly utilized as an antimicrobial in toothpaste, deodorants, detergents, and in the treatment of some plastics and textiles. Though it appears that TCS is not toxic to mammals, TCS has been shown to be acutely toxic to aquatic organisms such as rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Daphnia magna, and algae. Recently, concerns have arisen regarding the potential health risks to humans, antibiotic resistance, and the ecological risks associated with long-term exposure to low levels of pharmaceuticals, including TCS, in wastewater and subsequent receiving waters. The goal of this research was to detect and quantify TCS in primary influent and secondary effluent at various Virginia wastewater treatment plants using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). An HPLC method was developed to optimize TCS detection. Using an Agilent 1100 HPLC with diode array UV/Vis/NIR detection, TCS had a retention time of 7.03 minutes with a mobile phase of 70:30 acetonitrile:0.1% acetic acid in water. The TCS peak exhibited excellent separation from other components of wastewater. The calibration curve had a correlation coefficient of 0.996. TCS can be detected at a concentration of approximately 10 ppb. Further research includes extracting and concentrating TCS from the wastewater samples using C18 solid phase extraction and liquid:liquid extraction. The concentration of TCS present in the wastewater samples will then be determined using the optimized HPLC method.

BISHOP, BRIAN: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
REMOVAL OF 2,4-DICHLOROPHENOL FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION USING COMPOSITE MATERIALS CO-AUTHORS: BISHOP, BRIAN; GRUNOW, PATRICIA; ABDEL-FATTAH, TAREK*
The objective of this study involves the use of composite materials as adsorbents for the removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) from aqueous media. The materials for this study were MCM-41, MCM-48, MCM-50 and hexagonal mesostructure (HMS). These materials are organo-silicates with opened structures. The organic components within the structure give hydrophobic and organophilic properties that are suitable for removing organic pollutants. These adsorbents are studied to determine their capacity for DCP removal from aqueous media by batch adsorption studies. Activated carbon was also studied because it is the base technology for organic removal. The data shows that all materials have affinity for 2,4-DCP. All synthesized materials, except the MCM-50, equaled or exceeded the activated carbon by removing more than 90% of the 2,4-DCP after 72 hours.

SIVULA, MICHAEL : UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
BETA-ARRESTIN 2-GFP AS AN ASSAY FOR GPCR-LIGAND INTERACTION
CO-AUTHORS: SIVULA, MICHAEL; HEISE, CHRISTOPHER; IM, DONG SOON*; LYNCH, KEVIN
G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are key targets for pharmaceuticals, perhaps as much as one half of all drugs target GPCRs. Following stimulation with an agonist, GPCRs are phosphorylated by one of several kinases known as G-protein coupled receptor kinases (GRKs). Phosphorylation of the GPCR by a GRK results in binding of arrestin proteins, which function to promote receptor densensitization and internalization. The family of G-protein coupled receptors known colloquially as 'Edg' receptors have been identified to interact with the lysophospholipid mediators lysophosphatidic acid (Edg 2,4, and 7) and sphingosine-1-phosphate (Edg 1,3,5,6, and 8). By over-expression of a beta-Arrestin type 2-GFP (Green Fluorescence Protein) fusion protein with a G-protein coupled receptor, one can monitor receptor-ligand interactions by the movement of the GFP-derived signal from the cytosol to the cell membrane. Use of the Edg receptors and the known lysophospholipid ligands allowed for assay development. Another objective of the assay is focused on psycosine receptors, for which assay development has been problematic. In addition, we are using this assay to screen 'orphan' GPCR's with novel ligands.

JACKSON, HEATHER: SHENANDOAH UNIVERSITY
SOLID PHASE MICROEXTRATION AND ON-LINE METHYLATION GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY FOR AROMATIC CARBOXYLIC ACIDS CO-AUTHORS: JACKSON, HEATHER; LIU, YAQIAN; DANIELSON, NEIL*
The development of a new method to study aromatic carboxylic acids could drastically reduce the time and labor involved in testing aqueous samples. Solid phase microextration (SPME), a simple solvent-less extraction technique, was previously shown effective for the absorption of both aliphatic carboxylic acids and phenyltrimethylammonium hydroxide (PTMAH). Analysis for the aliphatic carboxylic acids was done using a gas chromatograph equipped with a mass spectrometer. The method seemed promising for aromatic carboxylic acids as well. The base method for aromatics was developed using benzoic acid, the simplest in the family. The development began with isolating the peak, continued with optimization of the experimental conditions, and finished with the creation of a calibration curve. The second compound tested, salicylic acid, contains two functional groups available for methylation. Due to the second reactive group two separate product peaks consistently appeared. As a result, the procedure was not optimized and a calibration curve was not made. The final compound tested, naproxen, contains a single reactive group and so a calibration curve was constructed, although quantitation with a capsule purchased at a local drugstore was not successful.

BOYCE, JAMIE: RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE
THE DETERMINATION OF THE HEAT CAPACITIES OF LIQUIDS WITH THERMAL LENS CALORIMETRY",
CO-AUTHORS: BOYCE, JAMIE; MADDEN, MICHELLE; AND SEIDMAN, KURT*
The application of thermal lens calorimetry to the determination of the heat capacities of liquids has been reported in the literature. The method is much faster than more traditional calorimetric techniques, but the accuracy is poor; a 60% error was reported for the heat capacity of methanol. Recently, Seidman and Payne reported a procedure that dramatically improved the results, but the method still did not provide the type of accuracy that can be obtained with calorimetric methods. Errors with this modified procedure were still averaging about 3%. This paper describes refinements in the technique that are now producing results that rival those obtained with more traditional methods. The relative errors obtained when determining the heat capacities of toluene, methyl acetate, and 1-propanol were 0.7%, 2.5%, and 0.4%, respectively. A significant modification in the method, one which will allow data to be acquired more rapidly, has also been investigated. This modification involves measuring the power of the thermal bloom that is produced as the laser beam passes through the liquid rather than its diameter. Although the results obtained with this modification are not as good as those described above, they show promise.

MOSHIER, MONIQUE: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS OF CATECHIN AND HYDROXYCINNAMIC ACID DERIVATIVES
CO-AUTHORS: MOSHIER, MONIQUE; *BECK, JOHN
It has been found that regular consumption of green tea results in lower incidents of breast, pancreatic, colon, esophageal, and lung cancers. This is due to the presence of flavanols and catechin derivatives, strong antioxidants, which aid in preventing cancerous growth. Previous studies have shown a relationship between antioxidant levels and free hydroxyl substituents. In our investigation we have established a link between reported antioxidant behavior and toxicity to brine shrimp (Artemia salina). Derivatives of catechin modified at the alkyl hydroxyl group are being synthesized to enhance brine shrimp toxicity and antioxidant activity with the inclusive goal of increasing anticancer activity.

SNIDER, RACHEL: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
INVESTIGATION OF A MEDICINAL HERB FROM THE UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS
CO-AUTHORS: SNIDER, RACHEL; *BECK , JOHN
Tournefortia hirsutissima (family Boraginaceae), known as "Chiggernit", is used as a medicinal herb in the United States Virgin Islands for treatment of various conditions including: mange, cold, fever, diabetes, diarrhea and "stomach troubles." The family Boraginaceae is recognized as containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA's), which are known to be hepatotoxic and mutagenic among others. Chiggernit was investigated for PA's as well as other bioactive components. The results of this investigation will be reported.

ABDEL-ALIM, INTISAR: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
A CHARACTERIZATION OF THE AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR OF COLON CANCER CELL LINES SW-480, SW-620, AND HCT-15
CO- AUTHORS: INTISAR ABDEL-ALIM; *DR. ROBIN DAVIES
The malignant colon cell lines SW-480- a primary tumor, SW-620- a metastatic tumor, and HCT-15- a primary tumor, are three cancer lines that demonstrate varying morphological, physical, and chemical characteristics. More importantly, these three lines show varying adhesive characteristics that affect the cell's formation into a metastatic tumor. Metastasis is a huge problem for the diagnosis and treatment of colon cancer. These cell lines will undergo experimental testing that will characterize the adhesive qualities using a Cell Adhesion Assay and Soft Agar Assay. The three lines will be exposed to nine platinum and palladium compounds and an MTT Assay will be performed to calculate the percent survival of the lines against these nine compounds and the most effective compound against each of the cancer lines will be determined. The compounds will be tested on the normal colon cell line CCD-33Co to determine the toxicity of the compounds on normal colon cells. In my studies, I hope to find a difference in the effectiveness of the platinum and palladium compounds against the three cancer colon lines. I also hope to find that the results of the cytotoxic analysis can be correlated with the results of the soft agar and cell adhesion assay results. Hopefully, my results will prove to be valuable for further study of the metastatic and aggressive behavior of these three forms of colon cancer and will provide relevant information in the future for the production of a therapeutic model for preventing the formation of metastatic colon tumors.

REITHER, LAURA: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
IDENTIFICATION OF NEW SNARE REGULATORS
CO-AUTHORS: *MUNSON, MARY; *HUGHSON, FREDERICK; REITHER, LAURA
A hallmark of eukaryotic cells is the maintenance of an elaborate internal membrane system composed of intracellular organelles. Communication between the organelles is facilitated by transport vesicles that carry protein and lipid cargo. The delivery of cargo is highly selective and requires the specific binding of SNARE protein complexes. SNARE proteins (soluble NSF attachment protein receptors) are membrane-associated proteins located on either the target membrane (t-SNARE) or the vesicle membrane (v-SNARE). Regulatory proteins are necessary to modulate SNARE specificity and assembly. While some regulatory factors have already been identified through genetic methods, the goal of our research was to identify and characterize novel SNARE-binding proteins from yeast lysates by affinity purification. Recombinant SNARE complexes composed of the yeast exocytic proteins Sso1p, Sec9CT, and Snc2p were purified and incubated with yeast lysate. We observed new SNARE-binding proteins attached to the complex. One concern was that several of these bands were potentially Sec9CT degradation products. Therefore, a similar SNARE complex was also purified in which we substituted the two helices of Sec9CT in place of the full-length Sec9CT protein. Those bands which are not Sec9CT degradation products will be identified through sequencing. Future characterization of these newly observed SNARE-binding proteins will provide insight into the regulation of SNARE complex assembly and disassembly.

CROCKETT, WADE: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
MODIFICATION OF LOW-COST ADSORBENTS FOR CHROMATE REMOVAL FROM AQUEOUS MEDIA
CO-AUTHORS: CROCKETT, WADE; ABDEL-FATTAH, TAREK*
The objective of this study is to examine the adsorption capabilities of low-cost adsorbents such as activated carbon (Calgon Filtrasorb 400), two naturally occurring zeolites (clinoptilolite and chabazite) and synthetic zeolites (13X and 5A) for chromate removal from aqueous media. The adsorbents improved sorption capacities by treating them with 0.5 M solutions of FeSO4 and CaCl2. Batch adsorption studies were conducted to evaluate the adsorbent ability to remove chromate from water. In a batch sorption experiment, approximately 70% of the 50 ppm chromate solution was significantly removed by using chabazite modified with FeSO4 after reaching a 48 hour equilibrium.

CUBA, VALERIE: ROANOKE COLLEGE
THE MANIPULATION OF THE SYNTHETIC PROCESS OF TRIRON METALLOCENE OLIGOMERS
CO-AUTHORS: CUBA, VALERIE; DR. W. GARY HOLLIS*
The formation of the triiron metallocene complex, 1,1'-bis (4-ferrocenyltetrafluorophenyl) ferrocene, is a gradual process that includes the synthesis of the di-substituted ferrocene unit, 1, 1'-bis(pentafluorophenyl)ferrocene. The reaction of ferrocene in hexanes with TMEDA and BuLi produced a di-lithiated ferrocene unit. Hexafluorobenzene was added, which afforded, after hydrolytic workup, 1, 1'-bis(pentafluorophenyl)ferrocene (2). Compound 2 was further purified by liquid chromatography and identified by 1H NMR and 19F NMR. Reaction of compound 2 in THF, with NaCp, NaH, and FeBr2, afforded, after isolation by Soxhlet extraction, 1, 1'-bis(4-ferrocenyltetrafluorophenyl)ferrocene (3). The triiron complex isolated was relatively pure (90-95%) after the extraction; therefore no further purification was needed. The triiron complex was characterized by 1H NMR and 19F NMR. The synthesis of metallocene complexes involves multiple lab techniques that need to be performed with precision in order to produce the desired compound. The complexes are needed in order to understand the interactions between linked metal units.

MURAFSKY, DUSTY: MARY WASHINGTON COLLEGE
INFRARED REFLECTION-ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY OF NEAT ALCOHOLS AND CARBOXYLIC ACIDS ON GRAPHITE
CO-AUTHORS: DUSTY J. MURAFSKY; *LEANNA C. GIANCARLO
Infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS) is a surface sensitive technique used to characterize molecules at interfaces. Using a homebuilt IRRAS cell with small gold mirrors at an 80° angle to the surface normal, the vibrational spectra of primary alcohols, 1-triacontanol, stearic acid, eicosanoic acid, and tetracosanoic acid (dissolved in phenyloctane) on graphite were collected. Primary alcohols, butanol through octanol, displayed "normal" alcohol behavior with a strongly bonded OH peak when adsorbed on graphite, suggesting these alcohols lie "flat" on the surface. Methanol through propanol, however, gave free OH peaks in the 3700-3750 cm -1 region. These free OH peaks suggest that shorter alcohols may be small enough to stand up on the surface of graphite in an alternating pattern (CH3 termination, OH termination, CH3 termination, etc. for neighboring adsorbates) prohibiting hydrogen bonding. The initial IRRAS spectra of the time-dependent studies of tetracosanoic acid on graphite showed aromatic peaks of a monosubstituted benzene between 1950 cm -1- 1750 cm -1. These peaks are consistent with the vibrations of the solvent (phenyloctane). These peaks decreased and disappeared as the acid displaced the phenyloctane on the surface. Small peaks attributed to the tetracosanoic acid then appeared in the hydrogen bonded OH region (3600-3200 cm -1). Similar studies were performed using alcohols.

STEPHENS, JOSEPH: ROANOKE COLLEGE
FORENSIC CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENTS
CO-AUTHORS: JOSEPH C. STEPHENS; BENJAMIN P. HUDDLE*
This project produced a collection of forensic chemistry experiments designed to provide lab work to accompany an undergraduate criminology course. Included are many important and typical problems faced by forensic investigators and law enforcement officers around the country. Blood plays an important role in the investigative process, both for possible crime scenes and in suspicious deaths. In this project a blood protocol was developed to ensure safe blood handling in the laboratory. Blood experiments developed include carbon monoxide (qualitative and quantitative), blood alcohol concentrations, and analysis of other volatiles in blood. Analysis of urine for arsenic is described, as well as the analysis of fire residues for possible arson. Both DNA and normal fingerprinting help to identify a possible suspect. Atomic absorption was used to detect lead levels in alcohol to determine if a suspect liquid was moonshine. Artificial "marijuana" can be analyzed using the Duquenois-Levine color test, the presence of cystolithic hairs, and thin layer chromatography. Other drugs and white powders can be analyzed by spot testing, thin layer chromatography, and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Specifics of each method will be detailed at the poster session.

BONSALL, TROY: ROANOKE COLLEGE
ELECTROACTIVE METALLOCENE ASSEMBLIES
CO-AUTHORS: BONSALL, TROY, F.; HOLLIS, W. GARY; DECK, PAUL, A.
In this project the diiron complex, 1,4-diferrocenyl-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzene was synthesized by first reacting ferrocene and butyllithium in order to lithiate the ferrocene. Then hexfluorobenzene was added, the resulting crude product was then purified using flash chromatography on silica gel in hexanes. The diiron complex was produced in 15% yield with respect to hexafluorobenzene. Cyclic voltammetry was then used to determine if the two iron atoms in the complex "communicated." Osteryoung Square-wave Voltammetry was used to evaluate the "communication" of the iron atoms in 1,4-diferrocenyl-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzene with the "communication" between iron atoms of other diiron complexes. The cyclic voltammagrams did not show the expected two oxidation/reduction waves as was expected if the iron atoms did "communicate." According to the square-wave techniques, there is no experimental difference between 1,4-diferrocenyl-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzene's "communication" and other diiron complexes that contained fluorinated linkers.

DE SANTIS, JULIANA: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
PROGRESS TOWARDS SYNTHESES OF AROMATIC SIDE-CHAIN (Z)-LIGUSTILIDE DERIVATIVES
CO-AUTHORS: DE SANTIS, JULIANA; *BECK, JOHN
(Z)-Ligustilide, a bioactive natural product from the widely used medicinal herbs of Ligusticum species, has demonstrated biomimetic reactivity with the nucleophiles nitrogen and sulfur. This reactivity has prompted the synthesis of a simpler version of (Z)-ligustilide, 3-benzylidene-phthalide. Successful bioactivity testing of 3-benzylidenephthalide has led to the proposed development and structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies of an entire family of aromatic analogs in an effort to improve the antimicrobial and antiviral activity of this class of compounds. This study reports on the progress towards the syntheses of electron-rich aromatic side-chain derivatives. These derivatives will subsequently be subjected to modified Birch reduction conditions to selectively reduce the aromatic phthalide portion of the derivative.

PAUL, MEREDITH: ROANOKE COLLEGE
THE PERSISTENCE OF METAL CONTAMINANTS IN SOIL
CO-AUTHORS: PAUL, MEREDITH; STEEHLER, GAIL*
This project studied how metal ions move through soil. The tops of ten soil environments were contaminated with chromium (III), copper(II), nickel(II), and lead(II). Water was run through the column of these contaminated soils to see how the metals moved through the soil column. Soil was sampled from several depths within the column. Following acid extraction, samples were monitored by atomic absorption spectroscopy. As water passed through the columns, metal concentrations at the surface decreased, and began to increase further down the column.

HILEMAN, CRYSTAL: ROANOKE COLLEGE
DETERMINING THE EFFECTS OF COAL MINES ON SOILS AND CREEK SEDIMENTS
CO-AUTHORS: HILEMAN, CRYSTAL; STEEHLER, GAIL*
Soil and sediments from coal mines in Wise and Dickenson counties were analyzed for metals and pH. Samples were collected based upon location during the mining process, distance from the mine, and the age of the mine. Samples were analyzed for Mn, Fe, Cr, Pb, K, Na, Mg, Cu, Zn, and Ca. Mines were examined for trends with concentration and distance as well as for changes in concentration through the mining process.

OSTLUND, SETH: VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE
AN IMPROVED METHOD FOR COBALT DETERMINATION USING SURFACTANTS
CO-AUTHORS: OSTLUND, SETH; *PHARR, DAN
A Flow Injection Analysis method for cobalt determination using thiocyanate and 3% of the surfactant Tween-80 has been developed that eliminates the required use of acetone, isoamyl alcohol, or other organic solvents. A detection limit of 1.2 ppm Co2+ was reached and the method conformed to Beer's Law for concentrations as high as 750 ppm with a 5 micro-liter sample, a flow rate of 2.0 mL per minute, and a throughput of 2 samples per minute. A 34 ion interference and masking agent study was conducted and found that a 0.0010 M EDTA solution at pH 2.5 masked up to 30 ppm iron and 5 ppm copper. The cobalt calibration plot with EDTA yielded a higher detection limit of 6 ppm.

FIELDER, LAYNE : VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE
A TOTAL SYNTHESIS OF WITHASOMNINE
CO-AUTHORS: SEGAR, JOSEPH;. SMITH, STANTON*; FIELDER, LAYNE
The pyrazole alkaloid withasomnine has been prepared by alkylation of 4-phenylpyrazole followed by a free radical oxidative cyclization.

CROWDER, KATHERINE: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
OXYLATE FROM CARBON DIOXIDE: A STUDY OF A NEW CO2 REDUCTION CATALYST
CO-AUTHORS: DESANTIS, JULIANA; BURR, REBEKAH; *GRANGER, ROBERT
A study of the catalytic properties of [Pt(dpk)Cl4] (1) and [Pt(dpk)2Cl2][PF6]2 (2){dpk = di-2-pyridyl ketone) are presented. Compound 1 has been shown to add several small molecules such as H2 CO, H2O & CO2 across the C-O carbonyl bond. Molecular modeling of 1 predicts a severely strained bond angle for the py-CO-py bond of 107º. Steric rehybridization form sp2 to sp3 would alleviate some of the bond strain and may explain how carbonyl ketone in dpk activates the bonds of H2, CO, H2O and CO2. An x-ray crystal structure of the hydrolyzed form of 1 was obtained and it also shows a py-CO-py bond angle of 106.5º. Electrolytic reduction of compound 2 in the presence of CO2 resulted in the isolation of oxylate. This represents a 2-electron step resulting in the simultaneous reduction of two CO2 molecules, whereby the two CO2 radical anions dimerize to form a carbon-carbon bond. A proposed mechanism and the significance of this process are discussed.

Economics

LANE, LAQUIEN: VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY
THE ASIAN ECONOMIC CRISIS AND ITS IMPACT ON THE US ECONOMY
CO-AUTHORS: HUNT, JEREMIAH; LANE, LAQUIEN
The Asian Crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 and spread to Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia, then to Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan. Financial systems in Thailand, Korea, and Japan all came under intense strain, but nowhere as destructively as in Indonesia, which by early 1998 had become the worst effected victim. The 1997 Asian financial meltdown began in Thailand on July 2, after the collapse of 16 financial companies in late June alerted to the strains on the financial system. Malaysia was not as badly hit by the currency crisis as Thailand, Indonesia, or Korea. Hong Kong remained almost untouched by the Asian turmoil until a massive sell-off of its share market in the week of October 20. The dive in the market was driven by fears of a downturn in the Hong Kong economy and the prospect that it would abandon the peg between the Hong Kong and US dollars. China is partially insulated from the turmoil because its own financial markets are rigidly controlled, but its banks are similarly overburdened with debt and its exports at risk from a worldwide slowdown in demand. The Asian economic crisis, which was the third region-wide crisis during the 1990s (the first was the Currency Crisis in Europe, 1992-3, and the second was in Latin America in 1994-5), literally changed the economic system of those countries and had a world-wide impact. The US Fed took policy steps to protect the US economy from the crisis.

Humanities

KUBAT, JENNIFER: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
REVOLUTIONARY FEMINISM: THE BATTLE FOR CITIZENSHIP
In 1789, the events that transpired in France shattered the country's institutions. As the French Revolution continued, the need for a formal government became imperative to establish some order to the chaos. One of the first orders of business was to create a new constitution for the fledgling nation. However, this new constitution left many groups of French citizens wondering how they fit into their new government. One of these groups was women. During the revolution, women proved their usefulness and their ability to be something more than just housewives and mothers. Because of their involvement with many key events such as the March to Versailles in 1789, feminists felt that they deserved citizenship. However, these pioneers would soon realize that there were some things they simply could not change. Tarnished reputations and associations would prevent any large amount of support. Only a handful of men were willing to support women in their cause. Feminists also found that the majority of women did not hear their ideas or did not understand their ideas. As a result, the group that feminists fought for did not support their ultimate goal of citizenship. As the revolution continued, women's rights would make slight headway; yet, for the most part, women were in the same situation as they had been in the Old Regime. Ultimately, Napoleon Bonaparte would wipe out any achievements women had made with his "Code Napoleon."

JELAVICH, CAROLINE: RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE
TWICE TOLD TALES: STUDIES IN INTERTEXTUALITY
CO-AUTHORS: JELAVICH, CAROLINE; SPIES, LYNNE*
What do West Side Story, Ahab's Wife, Scarlett, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, have in common? They are all part of a literary current identified as intertextuality, a part of post-modern theory, that posits how literature essentially "re-writes" previous work that directly stems from post-modern theory. Interextuality is an important aspect in the way we study modern literature. If it is true that we are just putting a new face on recycled themes and ideas, then we must closely examine what themes are being regenerated and what the author's motives are. The novels that I have looked at are Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, and Maryse Conde's Windward Heights. In these novels, two classic 19th-century novels and two 20th-century postmodern counterparts, I used a postcolonial lens to inspect the authors' treatments of character, theme, setting, and time. In my research I have tried to answer the questions of motive and exchange between the pairs and also among the four as postcolonial novels. After examining the novels as a student, possible professor, and theorist, I helped Professor Lynne Spies, a Randolph-Macon Woman's College English professor, create a course that looked at five sets of intertextual novels through the lenses of postcolonialism and feminism. For the course, I created a website and aided in designing a possible course structure and creating potential assignments. I also compiled information that will be useful for the students, Professor Spies, and myself as I continue my research.

HARRIS, STEPHEN: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
THE DEATH OF CHIVALRY: A STUDY OF FEDERAL PRISONS IN THE UNITED STATES CIVIL WAR
My paper argues that the United States government retaliated against southern prisoners during the latter period of the Civil War. In the last two years of the war, known as the "hard war," the bitterness of a prolonged war catalyzed a transition in the treatment of captive Confederates. Influenced by eyewitness accounts of northern prisoners being mistreated, politicians such as Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton completely abandoned the tenants of the conciliatory policy. Despite adequate resources, many northern prisons did not provide prisoners with the means to survive. Food rations and supplies for prisoners of war were intentionally reduced, as the Union government instituted a vindictive policy of total retaliation. A twelve-percent mortality rate in northern prisons supports this theory, as well as government records with reports from Stanton and others. Prison studies of Elmira in New York and Johnson's Island in Ohio, for example, testify to the drastic changes in the conditions of northern prisons. Northerners no longer viewed the southern rebels as their wayward brothers in the latter years of the war. Confederate captives lost their human rights and suffered unbearable cruelties in United States' prisons.

CAMPBELL, KATHERINE: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
THE ROLE OF POPULAR MAGAZINES IN SHAPING AMERICA'S PERCEPTION OF JAPANESE AMERICANS DURING WORLD WAR II
In August 1942, National Geographic published an article entitled "Unknown Japan: A Portrait of the People Who Make Up One of the Two Most Fanatical Nations in the World." The opening picture showed Japanese adults and small children under five dressed in full military attire, with the caption, "parents glorify the military tradition in their children from babyhood." The article then depicts the Japanese as "masters of deception" who do not allow others to learn their language so that they can remain secret and unknown. The article described the houses Japanese lived in and how best to bomb them, and gave a detailed description of a bizarre laboratory where Japanese conducted weather experiments to aid in eventual world domination. This article promoted the racial stereotypes that most Americans in the late 1930s and early 1940s believed, and it encouraged the fears and worries of Americans. Through the popular medium of magazines, Americans learned about the Japanese, a people that they knew very little about, and these magazines promoted and supported beliefs and prejudices against both Japanese in Japan and those who lived in the United States, which culminated in the decision to intern Japanese Americans in World War II. Most of these magazines viewed Japanese Americans and Japanese citizens as virtually the same and promoted the beliefs that Japanese Americans citizens still held allegiance to their homeland. The decision to intern Japanese Americans reflects the US government's and the American public's prejudices against people of Japanese descent.

BURNS, ELIZABETH: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
REALMS OF UNREASON: MEDICAL AND LITERARY PERSPECTIVES ON INSANITY AND THE TREATMENT OF THE INSANE, 1837-1853.
This essay juxtaposes for the purpose of comparison and contrast, medical and literary perspectives on insanity from 1837 to 1853 using four contemporary texts: "The Gentle Boy," 1832, and "The Minister's Black Veil," 1836, from Twice-Told Tales, 1837, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Bartelby, the Scrivener," 1853, by Herman Melville, and "The Haunted Palace," 1839, a poem occurring in the center of "The Fall of the House of Usher," by Edgar Allan Poe. In these works, the depictions of insanity carry subtexts describing causes of insanity, and other subtexts addressing contemporary social responses to the insane. In "The Gentle Boy," insanity is defined contextually as mental excitement and imaginative exuberance, and is observed in the behavior of Ilbrahim, Katherine, and Tobias respectively. In "The Minister's Black Veil," the insanity is shown as Goodparson Hooper's expression, way of life, expressed alongside the surrounding community's sense of his immorality and repression of its own moral malaise. In "Bartelby, the Scrivener," insanity is expressed in individual expression as negativism and in a more pervasive sense as an excessive stillness depicting the extreme order imposed on asylum inmates. One subtext attributes insanity to a furiously active, achievement-oriented life, coupled with the pervasive, unexpressed fear of futility in American society. "The Haunted Palace" 1839, is a metaphor of the mind surrounding reason as the palace surrounds the monarch. Insanity is shown as the result of the overthrow of reason by "evil things, in robes of sorrow." Edgar Allan Poe. "The Haunted Palace." 1839. The Poe Decoder.

STULL, JENNIFER: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
THE CIVIL WAR AS A MORAL RELIGIOUS CRUSADE
Northern evangelicals caused the Civil War to be viewed as a moral religious crusade as they spoke out against the government's laws and decisions they felt were immoral, going against God's glorious destiny for the country. The South viewed the Union in different terms than the North as they felt their way of life was threatened by a more unified nation. Evangelical Protestantism was the principle subculture in American society and forged its ideals with those of democracy and freedom. Northern churches, although they did not agree with abolitionism, began to see the institution of slavery as the nation's sin. Antislavery opinion in the northern churches increased with the denominational schisms of the 1830s and 40s. Northern ministers preached the evils of slavery after such laws as the Compromise of 1850, The Fugitive Slave Law, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act were passed. The effort of northern ministers to keep these laws from being enacted was a moral crusade. Northern Protestants increased their role in politics after John Brown was executed. He served as their martyr, as many believed his raid and execution would end slavery. After Lincoln's election, Protestants in the north felt ready to make supreme sacrifices for their antislavery religion, leading evangelicals to view their actions to combat slavery as a moral crusade. After the secession of the slave states, some evangelicals were unwilling to speak out against slavery, but they all viewed the Civil War as a moral crusade to protect the Union and government God gave them.

MCGILL, MARIAH: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
WORKING CLASS HEROINES: JEWISH WOMEN AND THE LABOR MOVEMENT
The last decade of the 19th Century and the early decades of the 20th were a period of unprecedented growth in labor organization. In every industry across the United States, workers formed unions in order to improve working conditions and raise wages. Women were especially vulnerable to workplace exploitation but were rarely represented in the unions. A variety of factors such as a common perception that a woman's place was in the home and fears that women would steal men's jobs, led to a widespread hostility among labor leaders and working men towards working women. In organizing unions, male and female workers alike faced the difficult problem of uniting workers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Levels of union activism varied among ethnic groups, but regardless of ethnic affiliation, the vast majority of working women were excluded from active participation in unions. Jewish women from Eastern Europe were striking for their high level of involvement in labor organization, particularly in New York City. Jewish women were able to reach out to women workers across ethnic lines, by appealing to a shared popular culture that glorified strong "plucky" working women. The techniques used by Jewish women in the 1900's such as rent strikes were widely adopted by women all over the United States during the Great Depression. Drawing on a variety of sources, including contemporary newspaper articles, interviews and biographies, this paper will explore the cultural background of Jewish women and the ways in which this facilitated their activism.

DENHAM, SARAH: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT DURING WORLD WAR TWO: AMERICA'S CONCENTRATION CAMPS
CO-AUTHORS: CHANG, GORDON; CONRAT, MASIE AND RICHARD; GESENWAY, DOBORAH; ROSEMAN, MINDY; HANE, MIKISO; KITAGAWA, DAISUKE; MODELL, JAMES; OMORI, EMIKO; DANIELS, ROGER; FEELEY, FRANCIS; GRODZENS, MORTON; HAYASHI, ANN KOTO; IRONS, PETER
This paper covers the lives of the Japanese Americans during World War II. It begins with the atmosphere in America the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It then focuses not on the decision to open the "relocation centers", but the process of opening the camps and the lives of individuals put into the camps. Through many narratives and detailed descriptions of the lives of those who were forced into the camps, the story of the sacrifice and suffering is told. The paper focuses not on the political aspects of the war and the camps, but the inhumanity that was forced upon the hundreds of thousands of Americans who were put away because of the color of their skin.

RICHARDSON, ANDREW: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
THE U-2 INCIDENT AND THE PARIS SUMMIT FAILURE
Gary Powers, a pilot chosen by the CIA would fly a history making flight over the Soviet Union photographing important military installations. He was flying a U-2 spy plane that had been specifically built for this type of mission. Although this mission had been done before, the distance planned to be covered and the date at which it was flown would have a dramatic effect. He began his espionage mission on May 1, 1960; however, his plane was shot down and he survived only to be captured by Soviet forces. The date of flight was harmfully close to the Paris Summit, which was designed to discuss many international Cold War issues, including nuclear weapons disarmament and the questions surrounding Berlin and Germany. The ruined flight of Powers would play a major role in the failure of the conference, when both Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union and President Eisenhower of the United States could not reach an agreement settling the incident. Two important primary sources used in this paper include Francis Gary Powers' own account of the incident and President Eisenhower's memoirs.

SCHWENZER, ALISON: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
NIXON'S PLAY OF THE 'CHINA CARD'
CO-AUTHORS: ALISON J. SCHWENZER; DR. ARNDT*
During the years Richard Nixon spent in the White House, he took bold and dramatic steps to alter the United States' role in world affairs. With the help of his National Security advisor, Henry Kissinger, Nixon began secret negotiations with the People's Republic of China. Many factors played central roles in this visit including the desire of the United States to improve relations with the Soviet Union, the ongoing war in Vietnam, and Nixon's re-election campaign. In the years following Nixon's visit, the United States possessed what has come to be known as the 'China Card'. The 'China Card' was used by the United States to take advantage of the rift growing between China and the Soviet Union. By building up China, the United States hoped to weaken the Soviet Union. Nixon opened up diplomatic relations with China in the early seventies to gain possession of this card. Nixon used the 'China Card' as a domestic-political weapon to open relations with the Soviet Union and to negotiate the Vietnam War in order to solve his problems in the United States and increase his chance for re-election.

TAYLOR, BRANDON: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
THE BAY OF PIGS: KENNEDY'S "ORPHAN CHILD"
Kennedy's decision to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs will be discussed, specifically, his motivation to proceed with the engagement and why it ultimately failed. Although scholars agree that the invasion was a mistake, there is still debate on why Kennedy followed through with the operation. It is clear that his campaign to alleviate communism from the Western Hemisphere played some role in the invasion of Cuba. In addition, the inexperience of his administration led to difficulties between government agencies. They were working independently and there was no collective effort to define a clear strategy for the invasion. Moreover, inadequate communication between the agencies and the President's administration all contributed to the decision to invade the Bay of Pigs.

WISE, PAUL: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES
During the sixteenth century in England, King Henry VIII tried to divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon, but the Catholic Church did not approve the request. Consequently, Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church and became supreme head of the Church of England. He was faced with declining revenues; his court was big and his military affairs expensive. He needed money and land. Thomas Cromwell, the King's secretary, thought up a plan to seize many Catholic monasteries throughout England. Many were very wealthy, and, since they were linked to the Catholic Church, the Church of England no longer needed them. The monasteries were destroyed to show the power Henry VIII wielded as the head of the Church of England and to seize resources so he could distribute them in order to keep influence over the country. The paper explains who helped dissolve the monasteries, as well as how they were dissolved. There was a political reason for the dissolution, dealing with Henry VIII's desire for a male heir to the throne and there was an economic reason that helped Henry VIII deal with the many lavish reforms he was determined to make. The results of the dissolution meant more money for the rich, and less money for the already poor. Henry VIII made a lot of money by dissolving the monasteries and at the same time separated the religious from their monasteries and caused them to be homeless. This changed the face of England for centuries to come.

PASKVAN, LIAM: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
THE SPANISH ARMADA OF 1588: A MYTHICAL DEFEAT
Many historians have long treated the defeat of the Spanish Armada as a pivotal juncture in the transfer of power in Europe from Imperial and Catholic Spain to Protestant England. The expedition headed by Don Alonzo Perez de Guzman, Don de Medina Sidonia, however, was not nearly as crushing a blow to Spanish arms as was previously assumed. Despite myriad reports intimating that Sidonia was unfit for his post, many overlook the nobleman's efforts in assembling the fleet and maintaining his composure throughout the expedition's darkest hours. Furthermore, while King Philip II is ridiculed for his micromanagement of the fleet's plan of movement, little of Sidonia's culpability is alleviated by this criticism of Philip's strategic doctrine. Though popular history has hailed England's defense in quasi-mythical proportions, it is evident that those who lived through the occurrences of summer and fall of 1588 were unconvinced that Spain's Armada had been defeated. Indeed, until news filtered across the Irish Sea of Spanish misfortunes on the Irish littoral, many Britons suspected an immediate renewal of hostilities by a strengthened and revitalized Spanish fleet approaching from the north. Even more representative of the Armada being more of a severe cosmetic wound than a true mortal blow to the Spanish is that after the outcome of the expedition was made known to Philip II, the monarch still maintained his dreams-and resources to construct a replacement Armada, whose goal was not only the reigning in of Protestant England, but retribution for the defeat of 1588.

CEFARATTI, REBECCA: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
LIMINAL WOMEN: THE PARADOXICAL STATUS OF COURTESANS IN CLASSICAL ATHENS
The courtesans of classical Athens were a unique population of women who fulfilled the sexual whims of any man willing to buy them. Yet, there were more aspects to the courtesan's life than simply her occupation as a sex worker. By evaluating the literary, artistic, and archaeological evidence from the period, we can begin to understand the different facets of a courtesan's life. First, this presentation evaluates the ways in which these women participated in "womanly" activities, such as spinning and religious festivals. From there, is an investigation into how these women could infiltrate the "manly" aspects of Athenian society, by attending symposia, interacting with philosophers, and engaging in a complex system of gift and commodity exchange. These courtesans were self-possessed and culturally perceptive, and they used these characteristics to balance between their existence as women in a culture that was otherwise indifferent to their welfare and as sex-workers who could move rather freely throughout the male sphere of society.

WEBBER, NAHLIAH: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
THE ROLE OF THE POST- MODERN WOMAN IN ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALIST ALGERIA
My project will investigate the role of Islamic women in their own history and I will be using Algeria as a country for reference. All of the information collected will be used to support the ideas that: a. due to the division of labor that places women in the private sphere of the home, women's public status is defined by the men in their lives, b. men are defined by their relationship to their government, and as such, c. men act as an intermediary between women and their government, therefore, d. as the role of the man changes, especially with the change of government, the public and private roles of the woman changes as well. My aim is to support the additional ideas that: the Islamic Algerian woman has maintained an active visual and verbal role in her history and that the maintenance and suppression of this role is important to all women. I have found that their are four different periods in Algerian history that represent different social periods which have had major impacts on the relationships of power that the native men have shared with their government and, most importantly, ones in which women have had to find and maintain an active role. The four periods are: the pre-Islam and Islamic periods of the pre-colonial era, the colonial era and the post-colonial era. In the case of Algeria, the power relationships between men, women and the government have been subject to foreign influence that has increased and decreased their power, depending on the nature and goals of these foreign institutions.

CITRO, MICHAEL: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
IMAGE OVER ISSUES: THE FIRST TELEVISED PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE BETWEEN KENNEDY AND NIXON
Heralded as the closest presidential election in history, the 1960 presidential campaign between Republican Vice-President Richard M. Nixon and Democrat Senator John F. Kennedy marked a political watershed for the United States. Although there were many decisive factors that determined the election results of 1960, the first televised debate between Kennedy and Nixon on 26 September 1960 served as a pivotal turning point in the campaign as a new dimension of political campaigning had emerged. Relying heavily on the actual text of the debate as well as the political commentaries of both candidates and observers, this paper examines the critical effect of the first ever-televised presidential debate. In so doing, a new era in political campaigning emerged as John F. Kennedy triumphed over Richard M. Nixon, thus revealing that image was paramount to issues in American society.

Interdisciplinary Studies

GARCES, GIANNINA: MARY BALDWIN COLLEGE
INTEGRATING BUDDHIST PRACTICES INTO WESTERN MEDICINE: AN EXPLANATION & CRITIQUE
Both psychological and physiological medicine have begun to incorporate Buddhist elements, signifying a potentially major turning point in the relationship between science and religion. Science and religion have typically been regarded as either "conflicting" or "independent" (Ian Barbour); new practices in western medicine suggest an "integrationist" approach. In critiquing this integration of science and religion, I consider the following questions: Do the health benefits associated with Buddhist practices have spiritual origins? If so, how does science evaluate these metaphysical aspects? Also, is it realistic to integrate practices from two fundamentally different credos? Should science and religion instead explore their respective domains without overlap? How would integration affect the advancement of each? To answer these questions, I concentrate on the previous, current, and future relationship between Buddhism and western medicine. I consider how physiological and psychological medicine fit into the larger scientific arena, and how Buddhist practices fit the general definition of "religion." Then I explore the background of integration. I review Buddhism's perspective on science, as well as the Buddhist reaction to scientific interest in Buddhist practices. Finally, I consider how western medicine is integrating Buddhist practices. This study identifies the potential for integration while raising questions about its possible consequences.

CRANE, FARRAH: RADFORD UNIVERSITY
COMBINING MARKETING AND THEATRE THROUGH AN INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE
For my presentation I will be detailing information learned and tasks assigned while completing an internship in the marketing department of the Wohlfahrt Haus Dinner Theatre. The Wohlfahrt Haus Dinner Theatre is a multi-operation space, including a dinner theatre, restaurant, bar and lounge, concert spacing, gift shop, and convention center. The marketing department serves all of these entities. While interning there I learned various marketing aspects, especially those related to the tourism industry, as well as theatre management skills, which I hope to pursue one day. I was exposed to every aspect of theatre management, from designing to educational responsibilities. I will also focus on this topic during my presentation, including current theatre problems and the future of the theatre in our country.

BAUER, JASON: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
FIRST STRIKE TO FALLOUT: AMERICAN CULTURE, NUCLEAR WAR, AND THE MOVIES, 1949-1999
American cultural response to the nuclear world can be accurately tracked by examining Hollywood films and TV movies from the period 1949 to the present day. As the United States adjusted to the various political and social currents of the atomic age, distinct phases of entertainment emerged in American movies. During the immediate postwar era when the public's understanding of atomic science was limited, nuclear war was a science fiction gimmick used as a fear-inspiring plot device. When the Soviet Union became a larger nuclear power and the Cold War reached its depths in the 1950s and 1960s, movies presented nuclear war as an unwinnable catastrophe in films like On The Beach, Dr. Strangelove, and Fail-Safe. In these movies, "the system" controlled human actions, and the result is inevitable death and destruction. After a brief pause in nuclear war movie production in the 1970s, linked to détente, the 1980s resurrected the genre with a focus on the technical aspects, particularly computers and machines. Human folly was either accelerated by or embodied in powerful military computers, the former in War Games and the latter in The Terminator. In the 1990s, with the fall of the Soviet Union and the probable proliferation of nuclear weapons to terrorists and other non-state actors, movies like Broken Arrow and The Peacemaker reflected new nuclear villains with personal motives. In these films, nuclear war is the price of the hero's failure to stop the villain's evil plan. This observable, measurable trend is expected to endure.

FENIMORE, ROSS: DAVIDSON COLLEGE
INVENTING THE GAY GENE: THE ETHICAL QUANDARY OF BIOLOGICAL DETERMINISM
Social construct or biological determination? How is sexual orientation constructed? The recent completion of mapping the human genome will be certain to reinvigorate the search for a "gay gene" and bolster the ranks of the biological determinists whose search, despite gaining considerable momentum in the early nineties, has recently begun to wane. In an age that has seen the rise of the Internet, our craving for the "clickable" truth propels us into a need for expanding knowledge: indeed, knowledge is power. Why are we the way we are? The science of molecular biology, specifically genetics, has presented us with a template of construction-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The question now becomes even more prevalent: is homosexuality inherent in our genetic structure? I will survey the genetic research completed, while focusing on the ethical dilemma that arises from a strictly biological determination of sexuality. This ethical quandary will be the basis of my research. What are the implications of such a gene, not just in the determination of sexual identity, but also within legal contexts, and the moral dilemma faced by the scientific and medical communities? How could knowledge of a "gay gene" serve to work against gay people and their continued struggle for autonomy? This paper will serve to introduce the prominent figures in the debate and shed light on the ethical implications resulting from genetic research of sexual orientation, while providing a platform for the counter-arguments of these determined scientists and the prospect of future genetic research into sexual orientation.

Mathematics/Computer Science

SCHULTZ, ANDY: DAVIDSON COLLEGE
RECURSIVE R-COLORINGS AND MONOCHROMATIC SUBSTRUCTURES OF THE POSITIVE INTEGERS
This talk summarizes results from a summer REU program at the University of Idaho. After an introduction to general Ramsey theory and its applications to colorings of the positive integers, we examine the results that motivated the speaker's research, namely the 1995 paper by Bialostocki, Erdos, and Lefmann "monochromatic and zero-sum sets of non-decreasing diameter." We then define the research problem this paper inspired and compare initial results to those of the non-decreasing diameter set problem. Finally, we describe a recursive coloring technique that generates solutions for infinite families of positive integers and state some conjectures and further research directions.

THOMAS, LAURA : CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
A MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS OF FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS
CO-AUTHORS: LAURA J. THOMAS; *DR. GLENN WEBER
In 1945, before the advent of computers and linear programming, Nobel Laureate George Stigler formulated and heuristically solved a diet problem, in which the Army wanted to meet the nutritional requirements of the field GI's while minimizing the cost. This was one of the first problems studied in the new field of Operations Research. A total of 77 foods were considered, resulting in a not very appealing diet with a yearly cost of $39.93 (1939 prices, or about $500 today). In this study, the foods were restricted to those found in eight fast food restaurants: Arby's, Burger King, Hardee's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's, Subway, Taco Bell, and Wendy's. Using nutritional information downloaded from the individual restaurant's websites, models were developed and successfully solved to find the optimal diet for each individual restaurant and the combined optimal diet considering over 400 foods from all the restaurants. Some of the results were rather surprising, including infeasibility within individual restaurants. Using operations research techniques, much insight was gained into the fast food industry, and will be fully described in this presentation.

JOHNSON, EARL: RADFORD UNIVERSITY
CLINICAL SOFTWARE FOR THE AUDIOLOGIST
Clinical Software for the Audiologist was developed merging two disciplines of my undergraduate study, Computer Science and Audiology. This software is comprised of three main sections: Client Database, Hearing Screening, and Equal Loudness Curve Verification. The Client Database section allows for the addition, deletion, and modification of clients' records. The Hearing Screening section generates a pass or referral statement based on the client's responses to stimuli presentation. This section also generates a letter to the concerned party pertaining to the client's hearing screening performance. The Equal Loudness Curve Verification section assists the audiologist in determining the reliability of the client's responses to stimuli. This software program, "Clinical Software for the Audiologist" will aid the audiologist in his/her daily practice regardless of work setting.

Psychology

WOOD, SONYA: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY (PSYCHOLOGY)
PRESENTATION COLOR AND ITS EFFECTS ON RECOGNITION OF NEW WORDS
CO-AUTHORS: WOOD, SONYA; BETTS, TERESA; KUHR, PETER
The goal of the current experiment is to determine if presentation color affects recognition when identifying old and new words. Specifically, participants were given sets of non-colored and colored, old and new words and their reactions were recorded. The sample included fifty undergraduate psychology majors from Christopher Newport University who participated in the study for extra credit. Although color did not affect reaction time between non-colored words and colored words, participants recognized new words that were part of the non-colored condition better than old words. The data suggests that people are putting too much effort into processing old words, therefore taking away from their ability to process new words.

BETTS, TERESA: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY (PSYCHOLOGY)
THE RELATION BETWEEN REACTION TIME AND RECOGNITION JUDGEMENTS AND RECOGNITION ACCURACY
CO-AUTHORS: BETTS, TERESA; WOOD, SUNNY; KUHR, PETER
Gibbons (2000) showed that pleasantness ratings could be statistically combined with recognition judgments to improve word recognition accuracy. Essentially, high pleasantness ratings indicated that a word was previously exposed. The current research extended this procedure by examining the relation between the reaction time to make recognition judgments and recognition accuracy. Participants were expected to react faster to previously exposed words, which means that reaction time could be statistically combined with recognition judgments to improve recognition accuracy using the Gibbons' procedure. Participants saw 40 words that were presented one-at-a-time on a computer screen for 2 seconds each. Immediately afterwards, participants made old/new recognition judgments for 40 targets and 40 foils and their reaction time was recorded. The prediction was that reaction time would significantly and negatively correlate prior exposure of words. In fact, reaction time was expected to predict exposure above and beyond recognition judgments. Overall, a weak correlation was found between reaction time and exposure, but reaction time did not predict exposure in a multiple regression analysis. However, past research tested participants across longer retention intervals and found that participants poorly identified new words. Therefore, the data was further examined to select participants who showed poor recognition accuracy for new words relative to old words. For these participants, reaction time negatively and significantly correlated to exposure. Moreover, reaction time significantly predicted exposure above and beyond recognition in a regression equation. Therefore, reaction time may be statistically combined with recognition judgments to enhance recognition accuracy of words.

OWEN, CARLA: RANDOLPH-MACON COLLEGE
THE COURT'S EYEWITNESS: TELEVISED NEWS FOOTAGE AND THE MYTH OF THE UNBIASED JUROR
Despite the affection that scholars have for the jury system, very little research examines influences on jurors' decisions. Although previous research has examined attorney bias during the jury selection process, bias from pretrial publicity, and the inherent biases of the jury system, no previous work has systematically explored the effect of jurors' prior exposure to news footage concerning criminal activity. Thus, this study investigates whether televised news footage of crime influences viewers' opinions. I hypothesize that news coverage of criminal activity leads viewers, who are potential jurors, to feel less safe and to be more inclined toward harsh penalties for criminals. Using a classic experimental design, I found that many respondents' opinions of crime and the justice system changed after viewing videotaped footage of criminal activity. The results suggest that viewers are influenced by news coverage of crime and indicate that a truly impartial jury may not exist.

CUEVAS, KIMBERLY; PATRICE ESSON; KRISTIN WHITACRE: RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE
EXAMINING DRAWING AS A TOOL TO FACILITATE YOUNG CHILDREN'S MEMORY RECALL AND ACCURACY
CO-AUTHORS: KIMBERLY CUEVAS; PATRICE ESSON; KRISTIN WHITACRE; *BETH SCHWARTZ-KENNEY
The use of drawing has been found to increase the amount of information provided by young children (Gross & Hayne, 1999). Some researchers have found that this increase in recall has had detrimental effects on accuracy (Bruck, Melnyk, & Ceci 2000), while others have found no effects on accuracy (Gross & Hayne 1999). Much of this research has examined school-aged children after both long and short delays between the event and interview session. A limited amount of research exists that includes preschool children, and no study has included a delay longer than one month. The present study included 42 three-year-olds. Children witnessed a story-telling session and were interviewed using a free recall question and direct questions after a 3-month delay. Participants were randomly assigned to either a draw condition, in which they were asked to draw and tell about the event, or a tell-only condition. The direct recall session included: yes/no, open-ended, and specific questions, consisting of both leading and abuse questions. Using six MANCOVAs we analyzed children's responses to free and direct recall questions. Results indicate that children in the tell-only condition reported a significantly greater percentage of incorrect information when responding to yes/ no, open-response, and leading questions. Children in the draw condition provided a higher percentage of correct responses in the open-response questions. Interestingly, we found that during free recall, children in the drawing condition provided significantly more incorrect information than children in the tell condition.

HALL, MARCIA; HOWELL, SHORNA: RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS MAKE LEMONADE: PROVERBS AS ADVANCED AND DELAYED ORGANIZERS AND MEMORY TOOLS
CO-AUTHORS: HALL, MARCIA; HOWELL, SHORNA; *ADAMS, BEVERLY C; HESTER, CARL*
Previous research has demonstrated that when proverbs are used as advanced organizers they can aid readers in remembering and understanding information contained in accompanying passages (Frase, 1975; Morena & Divesta, 1995). In the present research, two experiments examined whether proverbs that were used as advanced or delayed organizers could help adolescent readers remember and understand text. In experiment 1, thirty-six adolescent boys and girls completed a questionnaire in which proverbs were presented before or after a text (situation), or literal translations of the proverbs were presented before a text. Half of these participants were questioned about their familiarity with each of the proverbs. An analysis of the results showed that when asked about their familiarity, older teenagers remembered more proverbs and situations than younger teenagers. The interaction of proverb order and the sex of the participant was marginally significant, relative to the number of proverbs and situations remembered. In experiment 2, thirteen adolescents completed a proverb multiple-choice questionnaire that required their selection of the most appropriate interpretation of a proverb with its accompanying text. When the proverbs and text were presented together in the multiple-choice format, the presence of the proverb had no effect on the participants' selection of a particular answer. Future research will probe explanatory responses in a qualitative study. The use of proverbs in non-western cultures, specifically, South Africa and Zimbabwe, will be examined also.

PAGE, RENEA: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
AN ANALYSIS OF NEED FOR COGNITION AND DEFINING MOMENTS
CO-AUTHORS: PAGE, RENEA; SANDER, BROOKE; *GIBBONS, JEFFREY
The current study examined participants' existential moments, or defining moments in one's life. Specifically, 20 participants reported 10 of their most defining moments and, for each event, they estimated the frequency of recall, and they made memory ratings along with ratings of pleasantness and importance. Participants also filled out a need for cognition scale. The defining events and contrived defining events were then incorporated into a computer-simulated program. One week later, participants were asked to correctly identify their events from the contrived events and their reaction times were recorded. Unexpectedly, participants showed faster reaction times to the contrived events. Interestingly, existential moments became more pleasant over time for high need for cognition participants.

HARRIS, EMILY: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT PRIMING AND REACTION TIME: DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PROCESSING.
The object of this study was to see whether different levels of processing would affect reaction time. Different levels of processing were tested through the modality of the prime words. The experiment consisted of alternating study and test phases. In the study phase, either the participants or the experimenter read the word lists out loud. The study was a within design with four different categories: visual-read related, visual-read non related, auditory related, or auditory non related. The hypothesis was that the visual-read related prime would have the fastest recognition of pictures shown on a computer. Priming lists were found to affect reaction time, without any significant difference between the two modalities. The pictures proved to be a major confounding variable in this experiment. Picture's recognition time within one category were significantly different from each other, meaning that some pictures were easier to recognize than others.

WOOD, SONYA: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
THE EFFECT OF SCHOOL UNIFORMS ON CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR
CO-AUTHORS: WOOD, SONYA; BETTS, TERESA E.
The goal of the current experiment is to determine if a relationship exists between school uniforms and classroom behavior. Specifically, the current study was designed to determine if school uniforms affect classroom behavior in the public school system. The sample will consist of teachers and students in three high schools in Newport News, VA. The three schools will have different uniform policies and will be questioned by the survey method before and after the uniform policies go into effect. Surveys will include demographic information and direct questions about students' classroom behavior. Participants who are required to wear school uniforms are expected to have better classroom behavior than students who do not wear uniforms.

BETTS, TERESA: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
DO HEAVY METAL AND COUNTRY MUSIC CAUSE ADOLESCENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN RECKLESS BEHAVIORS?
CO-AUTHORS: BETTS, TERESA; WOOD, SONYA
This experiment will test the effects of listening to heavy metal and country music on reckless behaviors in juvenile offenders. The research will be conducted at four juvenile detention facilities. Two facilities are located in northern Virginia and two facilities are located in southern Virginia. A total of 30 13-17 year old male offenders will be tested over a three-day period where they will complete two word tests and one emotional response questionnaire. During the questionnaire portion of the procedure, music will play. Males who prefer heavy metal music are expected to react more quickly to angry words and report the desire to engage in reckless behaviors than the males who prefer country music and the control group, especially when these males are exposed to country music. Conversely, when listening to heavy metal music, males who prefer country music are expected to react more quickly to angry words and report the desire to engage in reckless behaviors than males who prefer heavy metal music and the control group.

HARVEY, CRYSTAL: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
DOES STORYTELLING INFLUENCE MOOD?
CO-AUTHORS: CRYSTAL HARVEY; *JEFFREY GIBBONS
Previous research has shown that negative emotions fade faster than positive emotions (Walker, Gibbons, Vogl, & Thompson, 1997) and that telling many stories to several different types of people reduces the negative affect of events in memory (Walker, Gibbons, Traxel, Crowley, & Vogl, 2000). The current study examined the relation between storytelling and mood, where a story was a real event having a beginning, an end, and a point. Participants who told few stories and few different types of people their stories had a lower mood. For individuals in a high mood, their mood was stable across all days in the study. Finally, participant's moods were higher when they told their stories to many different types of people.

PARADA, SHANNON: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE ESTIMATION OF FOOT TRAVEL TIME AND DISTANCE
CO-AUTHORS: PARADA, SHANNON; LABODA, CORI; *VELKEY, DR. ANDREW
The goal of the current study is to explore the relationship between gender and the estimation of time and distance. Participants are asked to 1) estimate the distance to an experimentally-positioned target, 2) estimate the amount of time needed to walk to the target, and 3) walk to the target at a normal pace while the experimenter records the travel time. The discrepancies between travel estimates and actual measurements will be analyzed. Pilot studies revealed main effects of gender and distance estimates; males were more accurate than females in their estimation of distance, but inaccuracy increased at farther distances. Interestingly, a Gender by Distance interaction revealed that males increasingly underestimated the amount of travel time needed as distance increased, whereas females increasingly overestimated the amount of travel time needed as distance increased.

SMITH, CAMERON: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
THE EFFECT OF RUMORS ON MEMORY
CO-AUTHORS: SMITH, CAMERON; SPAIN, RANDY; *GIBBONS, JEFFREY
The goal of the current experiment is to determine if a relationship exists between the rating of believability of news headlines (some of which are rumors and some of which are true headlines) and which, if either, are more recognizable by participants over a certain time interval. In addition, the study aims to determine which type of headline (either the true headlines or the rumors) becomes more believable over time. The sample consisted of undergraduate students enrolled in psychology courses at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA. Specifically, the current study was designed to determine what type of news headlines (out of 18 given) would be rated by participants to be more believable and which headlines were rated as less believable by use of a "believability scale." The scale of believability ranged from -3 to +3, whereas negative scores indicated unbelievability and positive scores indicated believability. The participants would, after a time interval of 48 hours, again be assessed the original 18 headlines as well as 18 new headlines. Upon rating the believability of these headlines, the participants would also indicate which headlines were recognized from the first assessment. The scale of believability ranged from -3 to +3, whereas negative scores indicated unbelievability and positive scores indicated believability. Upon analysis, it was shown that the rumors became slightly more believable over the retention interval. Furthermore, it was shown that the rumors were more recognizable upon the second assessment than the true headlines.

CONGLETON, ERIKA; DUNN, ANDREA: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
THE EFFECTS OF EMPLOYEE REPRIMANDS ON OBSERVERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE WORKPLACE
CO-AUTHORS: CONGLETON, ERIKA; DUNN, ANDREA
The goal of the current experiment was to determine if employee responsibility, contrasting information, and the tolerability of a supervisor affect participants' perceptions of fairness and commitment to the workplace. The sample consisted of 102 psychology majors at Christopher Newport University. The participants were given scenarios about an employee who was reprimanded by a supervisor. In half of the scenarios, participants were told that the supervisor who reprimanded the employee was usually tolerable while the other participants were told that the supervisor was usually intolerable. Half of the participants in each condition (tolerable or intolerable) were told that the employee was guilty while the other half was told that the employee was not guilty. The participants completed surveys regarding fairness, consequences, responsibility, and commitment. The participants were then given contradicting information about the employee's guilt and they were given the same surveys to complete taking into consideration the new information. The tolerability of the supervisor affected the participants' commitment to the workplace and their perception of employee responsibility. In addition, a Time x Guilt interaction occurred for all six measures. For overall fairness, employee responsibility and consequences, as well as supervisor responsibility and consequences, the only difference found between Guilty and Not Guilty was at Time 2.

Sociology/Anthropology

MANN, BRITTANY: GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OF AND MENTAL HEALTH CONSUMERS' EXPERIENCE WITH PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE
CO-AUTHORS: MCFARLAND, LYNN*; SLEIGH, MERRY*; BRITTANY MANN
Stigma is a powerful negative marker of disgrace and discredit than can be elicited by both overt, physical conditions, as well as by more societal or psychological attributes such as poverty and mental illness. Research has shown that individuals with mental illnesses are among the most stigmatized disability groups. Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1992 to combat the discrimination against individuals with both physical and mental disabilities in the workplace. The purpose of my current research is twofold, one to assess the experiences of individuals with mental illness in the workplace, and two to assess the general public's and mental health consumers' knowledge of the ADA. In order to measure this, I have adapted two surveys. The first survey consists of twenty-two true or false statements designed to measure an individual's knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The second survey inquires about the employment experiences of mental health consumers, focusing primarily on instances involving the stigma of mental illness and discrimination. In my presentation I will present previous research investigating the stigma of mental illness in employment, as well as my project design.

SHOCKLEY, EFFIE: FERRUM COLLEGE
AN UNIDENTIFIED POPULATION: A COHORT OF NURSING HOME CONSUMERS AGES 18-64
This paper was written this past summer at the University of Maryland Baltimore County's Summer Undergraduate Research Conference. I worked closely with Dr. Nancy Miller of their policy sciences program. According to a 1997 Nursing Home Consumer Survey (the most recent published information of this sort), roughly ten to twelve percent of nursing home consumers were found to be between the ages of 18-64. However, after completing extensive research, I have come to the realization that this cohort is virtually unidentified. A number of factors could possibly explain why information is so scarce. In my opinion, after the research I have observed as well as conducted, I conclude that these young individuals are wrongly placed in nursing homes due to a faulty system. Statistics I have compiled from Dr. Nancy Miller's "Nursing Home Consumer Decision" show the top two admitting diagnoses of individuals 18-64 were related to substance/alcohol abuse and mental illness, note: HIV/AIDS was also specific to this age group. Research also shows that nursing homes are ill-equipped to treat such conditions. These individuals are placed in nursing homes because there are no other available options. The majority of nursing home consumers in the study were Medicaid recipients, if they had any insurance coverage at all.

BURKE, FELICIA: SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
WHY DO THEY DO IT? A SCHOLARLY INQUIRY INTO THE DIVERSE MOTIVATIONS FOR COLLECTING
My research project, designed to complement that of my faculty sponsor, Amber Bennett, who is researching the impact of collecting on American Material Cultural Studies, has been to examine the diverse and expanding body of literature and scholarly research devoted to collecting that has emerged within the last decade. Most research to date lies in and between several disciplines, including, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and economics. I hope to gain a broader understanding of this mystifying cultural phenomenon of collecting- a "cliche" in which, as Laurence Zuckerman notes, "anything from high art to swizzle sticks is being collected by someone somewhere," and in which Paul Martin states, "the throwaway flotsam and jetsam of yesteryear has become the rarified antique of today," by examining the literature and scholarship from an interdisciplinary perspective. Furthermore, I would like to gain insight into whether collecting can be fully understood and appreciated by looking to only one field of study, as many scholars of collecting have.

REINHART, NICCOLE: CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
DETERRENCE AND THE DEATH PENALTY: AN EXAMINATION OF MURDER RATES IN VIRGINIA AND WEST VIRGINIA, 1965-1999
The use of the death penalty has resulted in a number of studies to determine if the death penalty has any general deterrent effect on crime, in particular murder. Similarly, the purpose of the present study was to determine whether the existence of the death penalty in a state has any general deterrent effect on the state's murder rate. For this study I compiled the murder rates for Virginia and West Virginia using the data-time period from 1965 to 1999 using FBI Uniform Crime Reports compiled by the Bureau of Justice. (The year 1965 was chosen because that was the year West Virginia abolished the death penalty completely). Using these rates, I calculated the change from the previous year to the next for each state. I then calculated the cumulative change in the murder rate for each state over the 35-year period. The cumulative change in Virginia's Murder Rate over the data-time period was -2.5 percent. The cumulative change in West Virginia's Murder Rate over the data-time period was 0.4 percent. The implication of the findings in this study is significant. Such findings suggest that the existence of the death penalty in a state does in fact have an effect on the state's murder rate.

*indicates faculty co-author