Journal of Scholarly Endeavor Volume II 2002 Symposium for Research and Scholarship SlippeiyR~ck Universrty of Pennsylvania \~ l~ Journal of Scholarly Endeavor ,,[: l Volume II I 2002 Symposium for Research and Scholarship SlipP,eryR~ck Un1versrty of Pennsylvania © 2002 Slippery Rock University. All rights reserved. This publication is protecte? by federal copyright law. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retri~val system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechamcal, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or to be used to make a derivative work without prior permission from the author. Journal of the Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Symposium for Research and Scholarship Volume II, 2002 Editor: Patrick A. Burkhart, PhD Department of Geography, Geology and the Environment Associate Editor: Carolyn S. Steglich, Ph.D. Department of Biology College of Health, Environment, and Science Abstracts of Inquiry and Creativity Contents Forward viii Keynote Speakers- Dr. John N. Gardner & Dr. Randy Swing Celebrating Scholarship: Students and Faculty Learning Together ix, x Chronic Corticosterone Elevation Retards Appetitive Instrumental Conditioning in Rats 1 Jerutifer Adamczyk, Steven Stockton, and Richard Port Bl2 Interface Project 2 Imran Ahmed, Sahnan Awan, Gihantha Keenagahapitiya, Suneth Rupasinghe, Jonathon Zettlemoyer, and Sam Thangiah The Spontaneous Act of Choreography Shannon Altman, Amber L. Barnes, Jerutifer Blankenship, Angela M. Caracciolo, Shannon M. Covert, Desiree N. Dahms, Stephanie Davis, Samantha Dixon, Kiley E. Durst, Kristen E. Frame, Andrea Gallagher, Jamie L. Giebel, Andrea Hamilton, Maria Hanley, Jessica L. Hill, Krista Harvey, Gretchen Hurd, Candice Hollabaugh, Lori A. Incardona, Stefanie A. Kase, Jennifer Keller, Danielle M Krynicki, Kelly Lewis, Nicole M. Lonsinger, Tara Madsen, Andrea Mankey, Nina Martin, Erin E. Maser, Laurel A. Matthews, Melinda A. McClintock, Ronnie E. Milcic, Brianne R. Nicholson, Laura R. Pelat, Krystle Pellegrino, Kristin Phillippi, Anita Reda, Jacquelynn A. Schneider, Brandi L. Shaw, Sharon R. Smith, Gina Sozio, Margaret J. Spalu, Rosie Trump, Valerie Williams, Emily M. Wykoff, and Marcy J. Yonkey 3 '\ ii Studying the Prwalence of Chlamydia Trachomatis among Undergraduate Students at Slippery Rock University Patricia Baird, Laura Bateman, Cheryl Baxter, Linda Beatty, Diane Buck, Jocelyn Coleman, Patsy Ann Johnson, Kathleen Kellinger, Joyce Penrose, Linda Starosta, and Victoria Walton 4 Preliminary Study of Compliance and Outcomes and Their Relationship in Patients After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Surgery Barbara Billek-Sawhney 5 A Picture of Depression among College Students Penny Bodenhorn, Gretchen A. Piatt, Wendy L. Stuhldreher, Kimberly Y-Z. Forrest, and William J. Ryan 6 A Renovated System Design for Greywater Treatment at the Robert A. Macosky Center: Approach and Assessment Bruno Borsari, Thomas Reynolds, and Spencer Welton 7 Accessing Student Grades Securely over a Web Interface Shafraz Branudeen, Rachna Murthy, Dilsara Pathirana, Shalinda Tennakoon, Jacob Thomas, and Sam Thangiah 8 Secure Internet Access to Intern Information Shafraz Branudeen, Rachna Murthy, Dilsara Pathirana, Shalinda Tennakoon, Jacob Thomas, and Sam Thangiah 9 Three Dance Works: Student-Faculty Collaborative Research and Faculty Research . Megan Casey, Meredyth Casey, Leanne George, Krista Harvey, Lauren Kinker, Tara Madsen, Kristin Mazzulli, Jennifer McHenry, Nola, Nolen, Amanda O'Brien, Angela Pfeiffer, and Jennifer Roe 10 A Plant Community Survey ofthe Restoration Site at the Robert A. Macosky Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research: Past Intentions, Present Condition, and Future Potential Shawna Chesto, Michele Gauger, Rebecca Albaugh, and Steven Doherty 11 Hunting for Perfection 12 Christopher S. Cole Coding the BJ 2 Robot at the Assembly Level 13 Brian Creasy, Kurt Loverde, Megan Webberking, and Sam Thangiah Earthworms (Lumbricus spp.) as Indicators a/Soil Quality: A Comparative Study between a Forest Habitat and a Cultivated Field 14 Brooke Cuttino, Timothy Elder, Jennifer Lauzon, Christina Lefevre, Spencer Welton, and Bruno Borsari Exclusionary Area Criteria Georeferencingfor Sechan Limestone Industries Proposed Residual Waste Land.fill 15 Scott Davidson and Janet Smith True Distance Fit of&ponentia/ Curves and Tests of Application 16 Roman Denu, Narendra Patel, and Yi Lin Old Fields to Forest: A Study of Plant Community Succession at the Robert A. Macosky Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research 17 Steven Doherty, Michele Gauger, and Anne Leone Learning a Second Programming Language in a Rapid Prototyping Environment: Jumping through Java! 18 Janaka Edrisinghe, Ashwin Ghimire, Juan Martinez, Erika Slater, Io Kei Wong, and David Valentine A Preliminary Evaluation from the Educational Opportunities Offered by a Solar Powered Cultivator 19 Timothy Elder, Bruno Borsari, and Thomas Reynolds Technical Characteristics and Versatility of an Alternative Energy Toolkit at Slippery Rock University Timothy Elder, Bruno Borsari, and Thomas Reynolds 20 iv A Feasibility Study for the Implementation ofRotational Grazing in Western Pennsylvania Timothy Elder and Bruno Borsari 21 High Depression Rate in Native American Children Kimberly Y-Z. Forrest, Marcy Leeds, and Adelle Williams 22 Catharine Maria Sedgwick's 'Patient Investigation' of America's Past Ellen A. Foster 23 Response ofHuman Erythroleukemia Cells to Retinoic Acid Analogues Susan Fox, Sarah Weinschenk, and Paul J. Birckbichler 24 Soil Capabilities ofDecreasing Growth: Inhibiting Effects of Coumarins Michele Gauger, Bruno Borsari, and Valentine Kefeli 25 A Comparison ofthe Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Tool, Multidirectional Reach and Berg Balance &ore in Elderly Residents ofa Catered Living Facility Mary Ann Holbein-Jenny, Barbara Billek-Sawhney, Elizabeth Beckman, Jamie Chichy, Kathryn Gruver, Kimberly Meek, and T. Smith 26 Examining the Prevalence of Drug Use Among College Students Amanda A Hopwood, Kimberly Y-Z. Forrest, Wendy L. Stuhldreher, and William J. Ryan 27 Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (CETP)PA: Scholarship, Pedagogy, and an Increasingly Scientifically-Literate Citizenry Patsy Ann Johnson, Patrick A. Burkhart, Elise M. Grabner, Edwin W. Buchert, Mark L. Campbell, and Carmine L. Decarlo 28 Researching Our Roots: Writing Our Stories - Writing in the Fourth Genre Priscilla Kelly, Cynthia Dillon, and Jacquelyn Muller 29 v Rotation, Translation, and Vertical Displacement of Supraglacial Clasts during Summer Ablation, Matanuska Glacier, Chugach Mountains, Alaska 30 Ranae Kowalczuk, Jeffrey Strasser, Edward Evenson, Patrick A. Burkhart, Staci Ensminger, and Daniel Lawson Characterization ofPseudokarst in Badlands National Park, South Dakota 31 ; ' 11 Ranae Kowalczuk, Kirk Sander, and Patrick Burkhart The Design of the "I-CARE" Community Garden in New Castle, PA 32 Studies on a New Animal Model for Type 2 Diabetes Megan Majcher, Sarah Weinschenck, Paul J. Birckbickler, and Dennis L. Guberski, 33 Distributed Architecture Solutions to Vehicle Routing Problems with Time Windows Adrian Matlack and Sam R. Thangiah 34 A Proposal for a Campus Sustainability Initiative for Slippery Rock University 35 Andy McDonald and Steven Doherty 36 Shawna Nixon, William J. Ryan, Wendy L. Stuhldreher, and Kimberly Y.-Z. Forrest, "The Desert of the Real": Baudrillard's Hyperreality, Sun Tzu 's Taoism, and The Matrix as Romantic-Postmodern Film 31 Rachela Pennenter and Corrie Wagner Germination Tests ofLettuce (Lactuca saliva L.) Seed in Red Sumac (Rhus typhina) Leaves Water Extracts and Pheonlics Isolation through Paper Chromatography Theresa Reustle, Bruno Borsari, and Valentine Kefeli I :1 Jennifer Lauzon and Thomas Reynolds Factors Related to Distorted Body Image in College Women \1 38 Acute Dexamethasone or Corticosterone Treatment Enhances Prepulse Inhibition in Rats Genera Reyes, Steven Stockton, Jennifer Adamczyk, and Richard Port 39 Use ofRAPD PCRAnalysis in Studying the Biogeographical Relationships among Members ofthe Genus Antennaria Scott A. Rodgers, Jerry G. Chmielewski, and Steven R Strain 40 Teaching Science using Research-Based Pedagogy in a Conceptual Physics Course for Pre-Service Elementary Education Majors - Early Results from the Assessment Program Ben Alan Sbaevitz 41 Maize Crosses to Illustrate Epistatic Ratios ofKernel Colors in Maize Mark A. Shotwell and Richard I. Andrews 42 Chronic Corticosterone Elevation Impairs Prepu/se Inhibition in Rats Steven Stockton and Richard Port 43 The Impact of an Integrated Learning Community Cluster and Freshman Seminar on Academic and Social Integration, Academic Performance, and Student Persistence for First Year Students, Special Admits, Students of Color, and Specific Majors Amanda Yale, Matthew Cashdollar, April Longwell, and Cathy Brinjak 44 Student Scholarship: Giving Credit where Credit is Due Inaugural Plenary Address, 5 April 2001, SRU Symposium Dr. Carl 0. Moses Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, College of Arts and Sciences 45 - 49 Associate Professor, Dept of Earth and Environmental Sciences Lehigh University vii Commencement Address Slippery Rock University, 12 May 2001 Representative Dick Stevenson gth Legislative District, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 50 - 53 Commencement Address Slippery Rock University, 15 December 2001 Dr. William E. Strickland, Jr. President and CEO, Manchester Bidwell Corporation 54 - 56 Index ofAuthors 57 - 59 Acknowledgements 60 viii Foreward The Symposium for Research and Scholarship at the Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania is intended to celebrate scholarly achievement by sharing the successes of the university community. The impetus for this event was a motion carried by the University Forum in May of 2000. The Symposium and Journal this year represent a broadened collaboration of interests from across our institution. Please read the Acknowledgements and give recognition to the contributors. The University Forum asserts that scholarship deserves a coordinated venue for dissemination to enhance the academic climate of campus by encouraging intellectual exchange and awareness. This effort also supports the University's Mission - Slippery Rock University wi II excel as a caring community oflifelong learners connecting with the world. The APSCUF-SSHE collective bargaining agreement defines scholarly growth to include experimentation, research, program development, grant acquisition, participation in juried shows, and performance. We affirm these notions for the purpose of documenting scholarship from across our institution within the Journal of Scholarly Endeavor. We further assert that pedagogy - the art or method of teaching, which examines cognition and how teaching can best advance learning, is of notable merit for our consideration as an institution of higher learning. We trust you will find that the works contained herein demonstrate original inquiry and creativity, as well as substantial achievement. The plenary address from the 200 I Symposium and the commencement addresses from May and December are included to encourage recollection of other perspectives on scholarship, as recently shared with our communit); by these esteemed guests. We thank the scholars and keynote speakers, as well as all participants and attendees, who have taken time and given effort to this celebration of learning. Let us deepen our pride in our purpose and our achievements. Patrick A. Burkhart, PhD Academic Environment Committee University Forum ix Plenary Address Celebrating Scholarship: Students and Faculty Learning Together Dr. John N. Gardner and Dr. Randy Swing Common Hour Thursday 11 April 2002 Multi-Purpose Room, University Union The keynote speakers at the 2002 SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship are Dr. John N. Gardner and Dr. Randy Swing. These two professors are respected scholars of the First-Year Experience for American students of higher education. Dr. John N. Gardner Dr. John Gardner is the Senior Fellow of the National Resource Center for The First-Year and Students in Transition. Gardner is best known as the initiator of the international reform movement in higher education to call attention to and improve what he has coined "The Freslunan Year Experience." In the January 1998 issue of Change, Gardner was cited in an article naming approximately 80 people as the "past, present, and future leaders of higher education." The authors of this study drew on the results of 11,000 questionnaires to name the leaders whom the Chronicle ofEducation dubbed "the movers and shakers." He has served on the Board of Directors for AAHE and on advisory boards for The American Council on Education and The Association of American Colleges and Universities. Gardner's work has been favorably reviewed in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The New York Times, The Times of London, U.S. News and World Report, Money Magazine, and numerous other publications. Gardner now serves as Executive Director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College, funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts and The Atlantic Philanthropies, whose basic mission is to work with colleges and universities around the nation to develop and share a range of first year assessment procedures and tools. This process helps build a body of information on the best practices in the first college year. Gardner's special area of expertise in higher education is the creation of programs to enhance the learning, success, retention, and graduation of students in transition, especially first year students. He has served as a workshop leader in hundreds of faculty and students affairs development events and has consulted with approximately 400 campuses in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, U.K., Republic of Ireland, Denmark, and Norway on issues related to first year and senior students. x Dr. Randy Swing Dr. Randy Swing serves as Co-Director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College, located in Brevard, North Carolina and funded by grants from the Atlantic Philanthropies and The Pew Charitable Trusts. Dr. Swing is involved in every aspect of the Policy Center's mission to improve the first college year through the development and dissemination of new assessment tools and techniques. His leadership roles include developing two national surveys of first-year students, Your First College Year (YFCY) and the First-Year Initiative (FYI) benchmarking survey, the First-Year Assessment listserv (FYA-L), the Summer Assessment Institute, and the Association for Institutional Research/Summer Assessment Fellows Program Until 1999, Dr Swing worked for 20 years in a wide range of first-year programs at Appalachian State University. Most· recently, as founding director of the Assessment Office, he developed and initiated a campus-wide assessment program with a focus on learning outcomes. Earlier, he co-developed the Freshman Seminar Program, founded an Academic Advising Center for freshman and sophomores, and coordinated an Upward Bound program for low income, first generation students from rural Appalachia. He serves on the Technical Advisory Panel for the National Survey of Student Engagement, on the Editorial Boards for the Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, and the journal of Innovative Higher Education, and as secretary for the Consortium of for Assessment Planning Support (CAPS). In 1999, he received a National Science Foundation Summer Fellowship to study public opinion of Educational Policy. Dr. Swing holds active membership in the Association for Institutional Research, The Consortium for Assessment Planning Support, and the American Association for Higher Education. His current work explores assessment methods, instruments, and data analyses - with emphasis upon documenting learning outcomes from first-year seminars, first-year programs, and general education curricula. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 Chronic Corticosterone Conditioning in Rats Elevation Retards 1 Appetitive Instrumental ADAMCZYK, Jennifer (U), jennadamczyk@hotmail.com, STOCKTON, Steven (U), PORT, Richard (F), Psychology Corticosteroids are known to have acute excitatory effects on hippocampal neurons but are neurotoxic when levels are chronically elevated. Consequently, acute stress has been shown to facilitate simple forms of learning, presumably via arousal, whereas chronic stress appears to have deleterious effects on cognitive functions. Hippocampal dependent learning tasks, including passive avoidance and spatial learning, have been previously shown to be impaired in animals with chronically elevated stress hormone levels. The present study evaluates the impact of chronic elevation of corticosterone on the acquisition of an appetitive instrumental response. Young male rats (n=24) were assigned to control, low dosage (250 ug/ml) or high dosage (500 ug/ml) corticosterone conditions at 30 days of age. Corticosterone was administered through their drinking water for a period of 60 days and animals were placed on mildly restricted diets for approximately one week prior to testing in an automated instrumental conditioning apparatus. Corticosterone elevation persisted throughout the testing phase. Test sessions occurred daily and consisted of 20 minutes of training in which a lever press response was autoshaped using food reinforcement (pellets). Animals were trained to a criterion of greater than 50 responses on two consecutive sessions. Training was terminated after 50 days if an animal failed to learn. An analysis of variance revealed a significant effect of group, f(2,21)=17.34, p<.01. Application of Tukey's HSD test revealed that the control group (mean of 8.5 days) acquired the response more quickly than the low dosage group (mean of 24.8) which acquired the response more quickly than the high dosage group (mean of 40.1 days). The disruption of acquisition of an instrumental response is smprising in that the hippocampal formation is not essential for this type of learning. However, disturbed signals from the hippocampal fonnation are known to impede classical conditioning, an associative form of learning that also does not require an intact hippocampus. It would appear that the chronic effects of corticosteroids may impair hippocampal function such that the abnormal signaling may undermine instrumental learning. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 2 B12 Interface Project AHMED, Imran{U), AWAN, Salman{U), KEENAGAHAPITIYA, Gihantha (U), RUPASINGHE, Suneth (U), sxr6174@sru.edu, ZETILEMOYER, Jonathan (U), THANGIAH, Sam (F), Computer Science The B 12 Intetface design is a voluntary group project for undergraduate students to learn more about Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. It also provides insights into practical applications of what students learn inside the classrooms. Real World Interface Inc. developed the B12 robot in 1988. The robot comprises of two main parts namely the base unit and the sonar unit. The base unit is used to move the robot around and the sonar unit is used to look at the environment in which it is operating. A main master processor controls both of these units. Till now the research has been mainly focused on programming the robot at the base level, that is, the programming of the main processor. The basic code for the interface has been developed in C++ programming language. As of now the intetface runs the communication program and initializes the robot to accept commands from the user interface. The commands, which are sent from the interface, are in the form a file that goes through the communication port of the user interface PC to the robot. All the information being sent from the robot is in text format. The main goal of the project is to expand the interface so that it can translate all the information being sent by the robot into a format that the user understands. When the intetface is fully functional it will be able to analyze and draw a map of the terrain the robot is navigating using the information sent by the robot's sonor. Using this information, the intetface will also keep track of the position of the robot compared to the terrain it mapped. It will also re-draw the map after every m:ovement of the robot displaying the current position, the path followed, and the distance between itself and the obstacles. It will also be able to display the dead reckoning of the robot in comparison to the place it started from. To show where the base and the sonar units are pointing to, the interface will have two separate dials. There will be a power meter to give the remaining battery power of the robot. This information is essential as it helps the user to know how much life the battery has and whether it needs to be recharged. It will also have a graph which will display the velocity and acceleration of the robot. The hands-on work with the project helps the students understand the basic principles of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. In addition the programming of the robot and the design of the interface can be used by undergraduate students continuing with the project. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 3 The Spontaneous Act of Choreography ALTMAN, Shannon (U), BARNES, Amber L. (U), BLANKENSHIP, Jennifer (U), CARACCIOLO, Angela M. (U), COVERT, Shannon M (U), DAHMS, Desiree N. (U), DAVIS, Stephanie (U), DIXON, Samantha (U), DURST, Kiley E. (U), FRAME, Kristen E. (U), GALLAGHER, Andrea (U), GEIBEL, Jamie L. (U), HAMILTON, Andrea (U), HANLEY, Maria (U), HILL, Jessica L. (U), HARVEY, Krista (U), HURD, Gretchen (U), HOLLABAUGH, Candice (U), INCARDONA, Lori A. (U), KASE, Stefanie A. (U), KELLER, Jennifer (F), Dance, jennifer.keller@sru.edu, KRYNICKI, Danielle M. (U), LEWIS, Kelly (U), LONSINGER, Nicole M. (U), MADSEN, Tara (U), MANKEY, Andrea (U), MARTIN, Nina, Marfa, TX 79843, MASER, Erin E. (U), MA'ITHEWS, Laurel A. (U), MCCLINTOCK, Melinda A. (U), MlLCIC, Ronni E. (U), NICHOLSON, Brianne R. (U), PELAT, Laura R. (U), PELLEGRINO, Krystle (U), PIIlLLIPPI, Kristin (U), REDA, Anita (U), SCHNEIDER, Jacquelynn A. (U), SHAW, Brandi L. (U), SMITH, Sharon R. (U), SOZIO, Gina (U), SP AHR, Margaret J. (U), TRUMP, Rosie (U), WILLIAMS, Valerie (U), WYKOFF, Emily M. (U), YONKEY, Marcy J. (U) Co-principal investigators Jennifer Keller and Nina Martin and dance department student investigators research the "spontaneous act of choreography" in which there is no visible distinction between well-crafted improvisation and well-crafted choreography. Ensemble dance improvisation reveals the creative process at work; it is an expression of spontaneous artistic collaboration. Compositional decisions are made on the spot by groups and individuals who share authority over the creative process. The students and faculty collectively arrive at their research :findings through the act of live performance. From February 23 - March 5, the investigators participated in four master classes and six hours of workshops in which guest artist Nina Martin imparted her philosophical approach to dancing improvisation as choreography. Through a series of specific exercises, critical observation, and critical dialogue, Martin guided the students to make sophisticated, on-the spot decisions in order to create "impro'ography - or the combination of improvisation and choreography. Perfom1ance opportunities complete dance research by presenting the artistic product to an audience for examination, reflection, and entertainment. "Impro'ography" was performed for the Slippery Rock University campus on Tuesday, March 5, 2002. The research project provides the investigators an opportunity for professional development through the creative processes of performance and improvisation. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 4 Studying the Prevalence of Chlamydia Trachomatis among Undergraduate Students at Slippery Rock University BAIRD, Patricia (G), BATEMAN, Laura (S), BAXTER, Cheryl (G), BEAITY, · Linda (S), BUCK, Diane (G), littled24@alltell.net, COLEMAN, Jocelyn (G), JOHNSON, Patsy Ann (F), KELLINGER, Kathleen (F), PENROSE, Joyce (F), STAROSTA, Linda (G), WALTON, Victoria (G), Nursing Chlamydia Trachcimatis (CT) is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and represents the most commonly reported infectious disease in the U.S. Because it frequently occurs in the absence of symptoms and is responsible for significant morbidity, especially among women, routine screening on an annual basis is recommended. The recent development of DNA-based tests using urine specimens bas made such screening easier to accomplish. Also, these tests (Ligase Chain Reaction or LCR) are more sensitive and specific than previous tests and have become the "gold standard" for testing for the presence of CT organisms. Staff at Slippery Rock's Student Health Center have instituted a comprehensive health promotion and disease prevention program, part of which is aimed at detecting STDs. Data from that program indicated a positive test rate for CT of 3.4% for the period June 2000 to May 2001. This study was undertaken to determine whether the true prevalence among undergraduate students was significantly higher than this, thus indicating a more comprehensive screening program than is in place at the present time. The goal for the sample of undergraduate students, aged 18 to 24, was 200. Students were recruited from a randomized list of undergraduate students provided by the Office of Institutional Research via phone call and follow up letter with instructions for participating. Recruitment began in September of 2000 and ended in May of 2001. The study team was able to recruit only 91 subjects during that period. When queried about their reluctance to participate, students indicated that they thought providing a urine specimen was "gross" and they were sure they didn't "have anything". Young men expressed the belief that only women got CT. (In spite of the recent estimate that as much as 500/o of CT in men goes undetected because men are rarely screened.) Subjects ranged in age from 18-24 with a mean age of 19.6. Three students reported having previously been treated for an STD. Two students had positive tests for CT for a prevalence of2.2%. The group concluded that there is no demonstrated need for the Student Health Center to revise its screening policy. They recommend further research among several universities in the State System of Higher Education to determine whether student health centers that offer ongoing education regarding STD prevention, and emphasize screening and risk reduction have different prevalence rates than student health centers that do not offer these services. They recommend improving participation by offering screening to all who present for care at a student health center, regardless of the reason for the visit SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 5 Preliminary Study of Compliance and Outcomes and Their Relationship in Patients after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Surgery BILLEK-SAWHNEY, Barbara (F), barbara.billek@sru.edu, Graduate School of Physical Therapy PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to investigate compliance and outcomes and their relationship in patients after anterior cruciate ligament surgery. SUBJECTS: Nineteen subjects (10 male, nine female) participated in this study. All subjects were patients of a board certified orthopedic surgeon; each patient had ACL reconstruction using the bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft. MEmODS: Data was gathered on patients' compliance by the use of a compliance survey and outcomes were measured using the Knee Outcomes SlllVey Activities of Daily Living Scale (KOS ADLS). Data was gathered at six and 12-weeks post surgery. ANALYSIS: Median compliance scores and mean KOS ADLS scores were calculated at weeks six and 12. The Wilcoxon signed ranks test was used to compare outcome measures at weeks six and 12 and changes in patients' compliance from week six to week 12. The relationship between compliance and outcomes was determined using Spearman's rho correlation coefficient. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in the KOS ADLS from week six to week 12, with a significance level of .016 and an alpha level at .02. The comparison of compliance scores demonstrated that compliance at six-weeks is significantly greater than compliance at 12-weeks with an alpha level of .003. No significant relationships were found between compliance and outcomes at weeks six or 12. CONCLUSION: From week six to week 12 in the rehabilitation process patients' outcome measures improved and compliance measures decreased. There was no relationship between patients' outcome measures and their compliance. RELEVANCE: Compliance with exercises, historically, bas been a critical factor in outcomes. This preliminary study does not support that concept in the rehabilitation in patients after anterior cruciate ligament surgery. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 6 A Picture of Depression among College Students BODENHORN, Penny, J. (U), pennybodenhom@hotmail.com, PIAIT, Gretchen A (G), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. STUHLDREHER, Wendy L. (F), Allied Health, FORREST, Kimberly Y-Z. (F), Allied Health, RYAN, William. J. (F), Exercise and Rehabilitative Sciences. College health prof~onals view depression as a key health issue, which correlates with other behaviors that jeopardize students' physical and mental health. According to a recent national college health survey, 100/o of college students have been diagnosed with depression, including 13% of college women. The Beck Depression Inventory (BECK) is an assessment tool commonly used to detennine the degree of depression an individual is experiencing. Thus., the entire BECK inventoty was included in a questionnaire that has been used as part of the Student Health Assessment Project (SHAP), which is a cross-sectional study of college students' health habits. The purpose of this report was to examine the prevalence of depression among college students at SRU and the physical, social and emotional health behaviors that are associated with it. The questionnaire was administered to students (N==326) enrolled in a required Personal Physical Fitness course (PE 141) during the spring of2001. Use of this course helped to insure that the sample would be fairly representative of the student body at SRU. SPSS was used for statistical analysis. The significance level was set at <.05. Analysis of the BECK scores revealed the prevalence of mild depression as 12% (N= 33), moderate a-; 6% (N= 16) and ID3Iked as 4% (N= 12) with a total prevalence of 22% (N=61). The prevalence of depression was similar between males and females. Comparison of depressed and non-depressed students revealed significant associations between depression and behaviors regarding finances, relationships, sleep, and smoking. More depressed students canied a credit card balance than non-depressed (53% v. 31%; p<0.05) and experienced difficulty with finances (74% v. 5S°/o; p<.05). A higher percentage of depressed students had sought help for gambling than those not depressed (10% v. lo/o; p<0.0001), had experienced difficulties with personal health (68% v. 26o/o; p<0.0001), with dating relationships (62% v. 44%; p < .05), with family (59% v. 38'%, p <.05), with roommate(s) (47% v. 32o/o; p<.05), had difficulty falling asleep (Tf'/o v. 53% ; p<0.001) and smoked (37% v, 21%; p<0.05). More depressed students also reported more difficulty with time management (81% v. 65%; p<.05) and work issues (56% v. 33'%; p<.05). Examination of correlates of depression within each gender revealed significant differences in depres.5ed v. non-depressed for overall health and for relationship difficulties such as those in dating, at wmk, with family and with roommate(s). Correlates by athletic team membership revealed similar associations. These results underscore the importance of not only recognizing known correlates of depression (sleep and personal health), but emphasizing the need to identify emerging behaviors that may play a significant role in depression such as credit card debt and gambling. I ____ SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 7 A Renovated System Design for Greywater Treatment at the Robert A. Macoskey Center: Approach and Assessment BORSARI, Bruno (F), Parks and Recreation/Environmental Education, REYNOLDS, Thomas (S), WELTON, Spencer (G), ssw2122@sru.edu Household wastewater represents a unique challenge in the prevention of watershed pollution. The Robert A Macoskey Center (RAMC) for Sustainable Systems Education and Research at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania provides a laboratory for the investigation of alternatives to typical rural household wastewater disposal systems. Through the use of a composting toilet, the Center produces only greywater effluent. Tiris water from the showers, sinks, laundry and dishwasher requires some treatment for safe and non-polluting discharge into the environment. As part of a student thesis project, a unique tool has been constructed at the Center to allow for hands-on investigation of possibilities for the effective treatment of this water. The design considerations used to construct this tool were based in ecological engineering. Many of the methods for the treatment of wastewater were derived from twelve criteria taken from the literature on the design of living systems for wastewater remediation (Todd and Josephson, 1996). These criteria stress the importance of constructing systems that are maximally reliant on diverse biological systems. Every effort in this project was made to work towards the construction of an ecologically diverse, biological system following these twelve criteria. While striving to conform to these criteria, the system was also designed to be flexible, allowing a variety of configurations and promoting investigation of the effectiveness of different treatment regimes. It was also constructed to be relatively easy to maintain and was designed to fill other functions within the house. In addition to the design and construction of the investigative tool, this project has also developed a monitoring program to assess the quality of the water and the treatment capacity of the various system configurations. The parameters being monitored are dissolved oxygen level, pH, total dissolved solids, temperature, total solids, nitrate and ammonia nitrogen, biochemical oxygen demand and fecal coliform counts. These parameters were monitored from different points in the system and were also recorded over time to determine changes both spatially and temporally through the system's operation. The infonnation gathered tlrrough this program helped to guide adjustments and reconfigurations of the system. This project was intended to facilitate the development of a greywater system that can recycle the household wastewater for irrigation, and eventually for total reuse. To achieve the closure of the water loop within the individual household, a tool must allow the in-depth understanding of what must be removed from the water and the methods to accomplish this task. The greywater system at the RAMC represents this tool and a significant move in the elimination of wastewater discharge in small flow applications. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 8 Accessing Student Grades Securely over a Web Interface BRANUDEEN, Shafraz (U), MURTHY, Rachna (U), PATHIRANA, Dilsara (U), TENNAKOON, Shalinda (U), sxt2238@sru.edu, THOMAS, Jacob (U), THANGIAH, Sam (F), Computer Science We have developed a program to let students check on-demand the grades of the courses the student is taking in the current semester through the web. This will allow a student to see his/her perfonnance on current courses he/she is taking at any given time throughout the semester. The students can check their standing in any of their courses without consulting the faculty. A database will e-0ntain all the up-to-date grades for the semester. Faculty will access this database to update it as required. All connections to this database will be authenticated via a central server. Tirrough this method, an individual student can only access their own grades corresponding to their login and password. A specific login and a password for each student assigned by the administration can be used to achieve this process. The program will present an interface with which the students interact. The interface will be a server-side script written in JSP (Java Seiver Pages) which will handle the task of authenticating the student and querying the databases. This interface will then display to the student, his/her current grades for each class he/she is taking at the moment. JSP gives the programmer the ability to create scripts that can send data from the web browser to server through a secure channel by means of encryption. Since JSP runs on the server, it does not require any special interaction on the end user's part, as it will look just like a regular web page. Since JSP is portable to any server platforms, it can be setup to run on any of the existing seivers. Grades made available to students on demand in such a simple manner will allow them to keep track of their performance. In addition, it will allow students to gauge their cunent standing in the class and what is required of them to improve their grade. Such a system will decouple the need for students to get in touch with the faculty every time they want to check their grades for the semester. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 9 Secure Internet Access to Intern Information BRANUDEEN, Sha~raz (U), mxb6319@sru.edu, MURTHY, Rachna (U), PATIIlRANA, D1lsara (U), TENNAKOON, Shalinda (U), THOMAS, Jacob (U), THANGIAH, Sam (F), Computer Science yve have developed ~program that will allow companies seeking interns to directly login mto ~ Computer Science department database containing intern information through a web interface and search for prospective interns. Tiris allows each prospective employer to do the search for interns in an efficient manner, as they will not have to physically read resumes. All the resumes are stored in a department database, and we are using a relatively new technology know as Java Server Pages (JSP) to implement the front end and database connectivity. JSP is in essence Java servlets, which is the server-side extension of the Java programming language an alternative to ASP and PHP. The use of JSP will enable us to provide high perfonnance, interactive, platform independent Web sites. Our implementation will allow the user to access our web site securely using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL). The process begins by students submitting resumes to the department. These resumes are constructed using key words such as "Computer Science, QP A, Senior and technology related terms". The student resumes are added to the database. Next the companies who wish to refer to our database contact us and we give them a user name and password. They can use this user name and password to log on to our web interface and search for students with specific qualifications. Depending on the key word they type in they will be given a list of people whose rerume has these key words. Finally they can pull up these resumes and get the required information to hire the intem The advantages of this system are that it is less tedious for the people who use it. from the department handling the resumes, to the companies who are looking for prospective interns. They do not have to go through all the resumes to find what they want; they only get who they search for with qualified attributes. It will also save both time and mono/ for, not only the companies, but also for the school and the students. A system of this kind is not available in the University at the current time. Any department or administrative office can use it by customizing the program to its needs. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 10 Three Dance Works: Student-Faculty Collaborative Research and Faculty Research CASEY, Meagan (U), CASEY, Meredyth (U), GEORGE, Leanne (U), HARVEY, Krista (U), KINKER, Lauren (U), MADSEN, Tara (U), MAZZULLI, Kristin (U), MCHENRY, Jennifer (U), NOLEN, Nola (F), nola.nolen@sru.edu, Dance, O'BRIEN, Amanda (U), PEIFFER, Angela (U), ROE, Jennifer (U) Dance faculty member Nola Nolen and eleven students who enrolled in the Fall 2001 Practicum II - Repertory class were co-principal investigators in one collaborative dance project. In the same class Nolen conducted research to develop two dance works, one in a unique, new movement style (for Nolen) and one a contemporary ballet. In the student-faculty collaborative work, informally entitled The Kitchen Piece, Nolen assigned movement research problems for her co-investigators to use as a starting point for developing moveme:µt. Once individual students had developed and refined their movement phrases, Nolen and the group worked collaboratively manipulating and arranging the movements and phrases. The resultant work was built upon the concept of frustration. Each student's personal movement vocabulary and style became group material. The first showing of the work was on the 2001 SRU Dance Theatre Fall Concert. Nolen and the students have continued their research in spring 2002 in order to further develop the work for presentation on the Fall 2002 Dance Faculty Concert. Nolen's research with the class has yielded two very different works. The first, Ritual, was developed from a research problem Nolen assigned herself: to create a work with a movement vocabulary other than ballet Nolen set the work as if it were danced by a mythical group of primal women. For the second work, Nolen employed a contemporary ballet style, a challenge for modem dance students but also an opportunity for preprofessional development. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 11 A Plant Community Survey of the Restoration Site at the Robert A. Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research: Past Intentions, Present Condition, and Future Potential CRESTO, Shawna (G), thepeaceofwildthings@yahoo.com , GAUGER, Michele (G), ALBAUGH, Rebecca (G), DOHERTY, Steven (F), PREE Restoration of a 4 acre site at the Robert A. Macoskey Center, previously excavated for topsoil and fill began in mid-1990 with the application of pulverized limestone and compost to rebuild soils. Wildflower seeds were dispersed and select grasses, forbs and tree seedlings were planted with differing objectives. The present plant community is composed of native, non-native and noxious species. A botanical inventory was undertaken during fall 2001 as part of a graduate course in Applied Ecology. An objective was to provide an information base to assist in the development of management alternatives and restoration directives. Four modified belt transects emanating from the site center out along cardinal point directions were used to sample across site gradients. Plant species were identified and presence was recorded in 5m2 sampling intervals along the transects. Voucher specimens for all unknown species were collected and identification was attempted at the SRU Herbariwn. Sixty-four plant species were identified, while 31 remain unknown. Native species accomt for 54% of the sampled species. At least IO species are invasive, such as Bull 1bistle (Cirsium spp.), which may overtake other species. Only two species were present in all sampling segments: Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota), a native species; and Spotted Knapweed (Centurea maculosa), a naturalized and opportunistic species. Other dominant species recorded were various Asters, Solidago spp., and Trifolium species, which are instrumental in nitrogen fixation. Soil samples, compared to previous soil tests from 2000, showed a slight increase in ooil organic matter, while pH remains acidic. Soil nitrogen is low and unchanged, but there are at least 4 nitrogen-fixing species present at the site. Plant species input from previous restoration phases are marginally present. Prairie species represent a small portion of the species richness at the site. These findings indicate that site recovery may benefit from a re-consideration of original restoration goals. Because restoration is a process of renewal, the assisted return of plant communities back to pre-disturbance conditions may not be appropriate goals. Instead, re-establishment of ecosystem health and re-building of impaired functions and ecosystem services may be more appropriate. These goals, however, pose their difficulties in ambiguity and less certain application practices. As an outcome of the research, several recommendations are proposed that are based on the plant community inventory and from past restoration infonnation. Many of the plants present arc noted as pollen sources for butterflies and honeybees. Others have medicinal uses. The restoration site is an important educational source for hands-on participatory and action research, and provides wildlife habitat. Information from this field effort may be used as a data source for management and as interpretive material for education. The restoration site continues to provide opportunities for restoration programs and studies of assisted and natural succession. I ' SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 12 Hunting for Perfection COLE, CHRISTOPHER S. (U), csc2676@sru.edu Hunting for Perfection is an artwork incorporating video within a computer-generated three dimensional environment. This work explores issues of body image, physical ideals and the extensive effort members of this society put forth in order to achieve this perceived ideal form. The environment in which this work occurs is an imaginary space modeled upon a number of ancient Greek and Roman temples. The central images of nude male and female figures in conjunction with the space allude to a continuing cultural tradition of ideal fonn and beauty. The computer-generation of this environment has been pursued for a number of practical reasons. The means of creation allows for the use and alteration of a space that would not nonnally be readily available for such a production. Also, the use of the computer pennits an extreme level of control over virtually every environmental factor, promoting a precision that may not be available in a physical space. In the space surrounding the images of classical figures are a series of video-based images of people whose activities represent various forms of the pursuit of the ideal. Some of these individuals' activities simulate actions that imply forward motion. Riding a stationazy exercise bicycle or running on a treadmill requires an expulsion of energy in a directionally focused effort, yet no movement occurs. In Hunting for Perfection, these individuals appear to be aimed in the direction of their goal, yet it is never reached. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 13 Coding the B12 Robot at the Assembly Level CREASY, Brian (U), LOVERDE, Kurt (U), WEBBERKING, Megan (U), rnmw3164@sru.edu, THANGIAH, Sam (F), Computer Science College is not only for learning in the classroom, but also outside the classroom. Many students think otherwise and limit themselves to learning only the required material and thus never furthering their knowledge. This spring semester of 2002, a handful of regular students volunteered upon their own will to learn something new. Our group of three members wanted to work on the Bl2 robot at the machine code level. Although some parts of the robot's code were already functional, we have added more functionality to it using the Motorola 68000 assembly language. Some of the functions we implemented include utilizing the sonar ports on the exterior of the B 12 robot, getting the position and relative position of wherever the robot is, calculating the velocity when moving, which direction the robot is moving, and the status of many parts of the robot. Another important aspect of this project is allowing support for an interface. This interface will be completely graphical and will allow the user to easily control all of the aforementioned and previously implemented functions of the B 12 robot. Our job with working at a low level is to have the functions of the B 12 pass a message to the graphical user interface that can be understood easily. We must have our assembly code generate these values, because this interface will be able to constantly and periodically update values. These values will be sent to the computer doing the interface over a connector to a separate computer where it will be interpreted and displayed in the interface. One of the most important features that we have implemented is the sonar board. The robot bas twelve small sides, each of which have a sonar port, which is circular and slightly reflective. When the command is sent to the base of the Bl2, the sonar board will send out a 'ping' from each of the twelve sonar units. 'Ibis ping will find out the distance each sonar module is to the nearest object. Using the pinging of the sonar modules, we can gather the data from each of the twelve modules and print the values out in a way that the interface can interpret them. The interface will then take those values and draw a map of the terrain of the room it is in. Eventually, we could have the robot navigate on its own through a room, guided only ~Y the valu~ gathered by ~ sonar modules. Imagine setting the robot in a big room with many objects. Theoretically, we could run a program and the robot would be able to map out the entire room all by itself without running into anything. . We have had an interesting time working with the B 12 mobil~ robo~ and we have learned a lot about how it works at the machine level. Our contn'butions will allow future computer science students to further their_ knowledg~ in robotics ~ improve upon the B 12. We hope that, during our presentation, you will have learned just as much about this remarkable robot as we have. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 14 Earthworms (Lumbricus spp.) as Indicators of Soil Quality: A Comparative Study between a Forest Habitat and a Cultivated Field CUTTINO, Brooke (G), brookecuttino@hotmail.com, ELDER, Timothy (G), LAUZON, Jennifer (G), LEFEVRE, Christina (G), WELTON, Spencer (G), BORSARI, Bruno (F), Parks & Recreation/Environmental Education Soil biota participate in the decomposition of detritus and thus, they also enhance the ecological cycling of nutrients within agroecosystems. Earthworms (Lumbricus spp.) have been long recognized effective indicators of soil quality among the diverse forms of organisms inhabiting the soil. In an on-going effort to maintain soil fertility and preserve soil resources it is necessary to investigate what environmental conditions may favor the proliferation of these anellids. This work focuses on a comparative study carried out between September and November 2001 at SRU to substantiate ideal environmental conditions that may promote the growth of earthworms, within the 2 rhizosphere of herbaceous and arboreal plants. Three random samples ofland (lm ) were selected and excavated at a depth of 0.15 rn in order to count the number of earthworms within the clods of soil of the sampled areas. This investigation was conducted in the cultivated fields and an adjacent mature forest at the Macoskey Center of SRU. Temperature measurements were taken also at the ground level and at 0.15 m in depth. Descriptive statistics were calculated from the data for both habitats (forest and cultivated fields), which appear to indicate that the October soil temperatures (58°-70°F) facilitated earthworm activity in the roost superficial soil horizons. Additionally, more numerous earthworm counts were measured in the cultivated fields (µ 1=14; µ2=105; µ3=8) than in the forest habitat (µ.i=9; µs=7; µ?2). This finding was unexpected, as soils of cultivated fields tend to endure various types of disturbances due, to routine fanning practices. Therefore, more research is necessary in order to answer this important question that arose from this preliminary, comparative investigation. as SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 15 Exclusionary Area Criteria Georeferencing for Sechan Limestone Industries Proposed Residual Waste Landfill DAVIDSON, Scott W. (U), icswd@hotmail.com, SMITH, Janet S. (F), Geography, Geology, and the Environment Formal application bas been made by Sechan Limestone Industries Inc. (Sechan) to site a residual waste landfill in a former limestone-mining quarry adjacent to McConnells Mill State Park in western Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) oversees the application process and will approve or deny the permit application after a lengthy review process that includes a public comment period and a public hearing. The pennit application addresses issues of concern regarding the technical nature of the proposed landfill and its operations, its location in relation to established exclusionary area criteria, and the harms and benefits of the proposed project Within the application document, Secban must adequately address exclusionmy area criteria, which include but are not limited to the following issues relevant to this specific permit Is the proposed project located: within 100 feet of a perennial stream; within 1 mile of a 1-A priority wateiway; within 1 mile of a unit of the National Park Service; within 1 mile of the footpath of the Appalachian Trial; within 1 mile of a National Natural Landmark; within Y.. mile of stocked waters; within Y.. mile of a historic site listed in the National Register of Historic Place? The permit application will not necessarily be denied if the proposed project falls within any of these boundaries, or is in conflict with other exclusionary criteria, but these issues must be addressed to the satisfaction of DEP prior to approval (DEP, 2000). McCormells Mill State Park, located in Lawrence County, PA, encompasses the dramatic geology of Slippery Rock Creek Gorge, a 19th Century gristmill, and a 1911i Century covered bridge, attracting visitors from throughout the region, the countty, and from around the world. Hiking, rock climbing and whitewater kayaking are popular recreational activities within the park, and Slippery Rock Creek is a water supply source for municipalities downstream. The proposed landfill site is located adjacent to the eastern boundary of the park, near the area of heaviest use, directly upgradient of Slippery Rock Creek, and on the border of Lawrence and Butler counties. GIS (geographic infonnation system) is an integrated toolbox for establishing relationships between spatial data sets (and their corresponding attribute files) that rakes advantage of the power of visual presentation through the use of maps, charts, tabulation, and electronic display. Illustrations of the proposed landfill site and its geographic relationship to McConnells Mill State Park and exclusionary area criteria are application well suited to the power of visual communication made possible through GIS. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 16 Old Fields to Forests: A Study of Plant Community Succession at the Robert A. Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research DOHERTY, Steven (F), steven.doherty@sru.edu, Parks and Recreation/ Environmental Education, GAUGER, Michele (G), LEONE, Anne (G) Tree and seedling species composition, distribution, dominance, and density were measured in old fields and forests at the Macoskey Center to document successional seres and corresponding plant community transitions. Field studies were conducted during fall 2001 as part of two courses, Sustainable Forest Management and Applied Ecology. Two sampling methods were employed. Stratified random samples of seventeen 100 m2 quadrats (lOxlOm) were located within representative plant community associations. A wandering point-quarter method was also used that recorded nearest neighbor distances of trees along four E-W transects averaging 350 meters. Measured parameters included: species occurrence, DBH (diameter at breast height) measures for trees, and stem counts for seedlings (trees< 5cm DBH) placed in one of four height classes (0-50cm, 50-140cm, 140-250cm, >250cm). Computations from empirical data included: tree basal area (m2/ha), stem density (nos.Iha), species richness and diversity. Species importance values and site similarity indices compared species presence and dominance between samples. Seventeen tree and 21 seedling species were recorded. Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina), Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) and Box elder (Acer negundo) were common in old fields. Hawthorne (Cretaegus spp.) were canopy dominants in young forests on dry soils. Among forest species, Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) was present most often and had the highest relative density and dominance. Red maple (Acer rubrum) was the only co-dominant White Ash (Fraxinus americanus), Elm (Ulmus spp.), Sugar maple (Acer saccharum), Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra), and Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica) were present but less commonly encountered. Tree basal area ranged from 0.4 m2/ha in old field plots and transect segments to 541 m2iha in the interior of the woodlot. Tree stem density averaged 1150/ha but did not typically correspond to basal area, indicating a progression of even-aged trees and the conspicuous absence of other size classes and older trees. Diversity and Evenness indices were inversely correlated with basal area, identifying disproportionate representation of forest species. Seedling densities ranged from 200 stems/ha to 111,400 stems/ha, but were skewed toward small size classes (seedlings < 50cm DBH comprised 76% of sampled individuals), inferring poor recruitment of seedlings to tree class; black cherry seedlings averaged 22, 156 stems/ha compared with 157 stems/ha for red oak seedlings. Results indicate that browse selection by deer may be in part be responsible for a shift from a oak-hickory forest complex to a northern hardwood association comprised of less desirable forage species in the understory. A successional trajectory to secondary forests comprised of typical and ubiquitous species tolerant of a wide range of environmental conditions is documented. Intentional management, selective removals and select plantings may assist succession and enhance forest condition. 17 SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 True Distance Fit of Exponential Curves and Tests of Applications DENU, Roman (U), rjd0826@sru.edu, PATEL, Narendra (U), and LIN, Yi (F), Mathematics Continuing our works in the area of exponential curve fit and the law of exponentiality, in this presentation, we will (1) develop a theoretical framework, and (2) implement computer simulation procedures so that our theoretical results can be realized with realtime data Within the theoretical framework, our exponential prediction models and a new mathematical theory, named blown-up theory, will be applied to quantify and to make predictions for a real-life situation, useful for business planning. Specifically, we have established the following simulation and prediction model, Each given positive series of numbers x.<0) = (xi, x2 , .• ., x,J can be simulated by using the solution of the differential equationy' +~=bas follows: b] -ak - [ x --e b] -a(k-1) , k-l xk+I -[ - x1 --e - ,2, ... ,n 1 a a where the parameters a and b are given by either [a, b] = (BTBl 1BrY, or o.1i A. When k equals (n+ I), (n+2), .. ., practical and meaningful predictions are made. At the end. we look at the annual gross incomes of a newly established business of the past four years by applying our new prediction model. With an application of our sequence operators, we are able to reasonably forecast the coming years' gross incomes of the business. When compared to the real-life data, our forecasts are shown to be very good. This example can be employed to evidence the fact that when small samples are concerned with, and when traditional statistics is no longer valid, since the sample is too small, our theoretical framework and methods can be considered and applied. 0 SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 18 Learning a Second Programming Language in a Rapid Prototyping Environment: Jumping through Java! EDRISINGHE, Jana.ka (U), GHIMIRE, Ashwin (U), MARTINEZ, Juan (U), SLATER, Erika (U), WONG, Io Kei (U), VALENTINE, David W. (F), david.yalentine@sru.edu, Computer Science A common misconception among beginning students in Computer Science is that the discipline's primary emphasis is on learning new programming languages. In fact, the programming languages are just the means of expression for the actual theoretical elements of the field. Languages are not even center stage, and yet students often believe they are. In the Spring semester of 2002, we initiated a trial program to help offset this misconception. Particularly, we invited a half dozen undergraduates to join us in a "programming club" to learn the Java programming language. These students had all completed CpScl50, which is a second course in C++ in the curriculum, so they were proficient programmers in that language. They would meet weekly with a faculty member, after classes, and we would learn Java together. It is a non-credit bearing endeavor, undertaken only for the skill it offered: Java programming. Five of the six students are actively participating. The means of instruction was project-oriented: especially the rapid-prototyping of problem solutions. This was intentional. We wanted to keep the focus on using the new language, and not get trapped in all the syntactical details of where you put the commas, etc. This technique is commonly advocated for such an object-oriented language as Java (see Object Computing International at www.ociweb.com). Students each obtained their own Java books (and no two students had the same textbook!). Students select the projects. The faculty member will ask: "what next is it you need to know how to do in Java?" The students give surprisingly uniform (and correct) answers: they understand how one programming language works, so they are just fitting the new language into the cognitive framework already developed. The faculty coach then assigns a standard kind of introductory assignment to highlight the feature the students feel the need to explore. The students then try to code a solution in the next hour, and there is a great deal of cooperation and sharing of insights as we progress. So far we have done the (1) Hello World program (standard 1/0), (2) finding prime numbers by modulus (selection & iteration structures), (3) the sieve of Erastosthones (array processing), and numerical approximation of square roots (functions). The undergraduates involved will share their experience in a panel setting. We expect to continue such a club activity in the coming semesters, building on what we learned here. By relegating the syntax of a new language to a club activity, we will counteract the "need-to-learn languages" mindset of many undergraduates. We are also mentoring them in how they will continue to pick up new languages throughout their professional careers. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 19 A Preliminary Evaluation from the Educational Opportunities Offered by a Solar Powered Cultivator Elder, Timothy (G), eltdd36@csonline.net, BORSARI, Bruno, (F), REYNOLDS, Thomas (S), Parks, Recreation & Environmental Education Demonstrating the feasibility for alternative energies in modem agriculture constitutes a 51 major challenge for the 21 century. It was within this framework that a tangible attempt to solve the problem was initiated at Slippery Rock University in 2001 by converting a garden cultivator to solar power. The focus of this study was to demonstrate to local, small growers the environmental benefits provided by the modified fann implement The investigators prepared a short instructional session to be offered at farmers' events in the state of Pennsylvania on September 22, 23 and 29, 2001. The recipients of instruction (N=53) volunteered to fill out an "ad hoc" evaluation instrument that was properly designed for this study. The protection of human subjects was considered. Approval to conduct the study was granted by the SRU Institutional Review Board Committee (IRB). Seven indicators were considered in the survey to evaluate the respondents' interests in alternative energy systems. The data were recorded on a Likert scale. The frequencies for each parameter indicate a consensus about learning more on this topic if opportunities were provided (0.66 strongly agree, 0.28 agree and 0.06 had no opinion). When the respondents were asked about the need to shift from fossil fuels to alternative energies a frequency of 0.88 for those who strongly agreed and 0.12 for those who agreed was measured. For the incorporation of energy issues into curricula frequencies of 0.81 for respondents who strongly agreed and 0.19 for those who agreed were obtained, whereas supporting school demonstration of this kind produced frequencies of 0.83 (strongly agree), 0.13 (agree) and 0.04 (no opinion). The fifth indicator measured the interest that was generated by the demonstration for the Master program in Sustainable Systems (MS3 ), revealing a broader distribution of the frequencies (0. 34 strongly agree, 0. 17 agree, 0.42 no opinion, 0.02 disagree, 0.06 strongly disagree). When the respondents were asked if they would purchase the equipment despite a 50% cost increase, a frequency of 0.38 strongly agreed, 0.42 agreed, 0.16 had no opinion and 0.02 disagreed. A frequency of 0.06 strongly agreed, 0.17 agreed, 0.25 had no opinion, 0.23 disagreed and 0.04 strongly disagreed if the purchase of the alternative energy toolkit would increase 150% of its original value. This preliminary evaluation study has revealed a general interest about energy alternatives in the state of Pennsylvania. The investigators are grateful to the Robert A. Macoskey Center and the College of Health and Human Services of SRU for supporting this research. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 20 Technical Characteristics and Versatility of an Alternative Energy Toolkit at Slippery Rock University Elder, Timothy (G), eltdd36@csonline.net, BORSARI, Bruno, (F), REYNOLDS, Thomas (S), Parks and Recreation/Environmental Education The need to develop alternatives from fossil fuel energy consumption is mandated by the limit of world oil reserves and the environmental costs associated with their continued use, particularly in tenns of the pollution they produce. The focus of this research is to demonstrate the value of studying energy in lower power applications through a solar powered toolkit that was developed by Slippery Rock University in 2001. The fulfillment of the educational needs of students enrolled in the sustainable systems program, while educating a broader population range within the community, constitutes a concurrent objective for this study. The kit included a purposefully designed portable charging unit and a cultivator, characterized by a continuous track, to which a permanent magnet type DC motor was installed. This type of motor is advantageous in its efficient use of power output (128 Amps) and it is relatively inexpensive when compared to other DC motors suited for this kind of application. Three lead-acid, deep cycle, gel-type 12 Volt batteries were chosen for the system. They provide a combined storage capacity of 192 Amp/hr, while allowing the cultivator a functioning autonomy of approximately 30 min/battery. The two single-ctystalline photovoltaic panels are manufactured by Siemens and were adequately sized to meet the weekly power requirement of 3072 Watt/hr (192 Amp/hr X 12 VX 1.333 {efficiency constant}), with respect to available insolation (4.12 hrs/day) in the Slippery Rock area. The investigators with the cooperation of MS3 students accomplished the component assemblage of the charging station and cultivator. This initial stage of the research project engaged the participants in a unique learning experience as they participated in wiring the cultivator, installing the solar array, and connecting the wiring to the charge controller for the batteries. The kit is adaptable to various kinds of manipulations and it is designed to be :flexi"ble for a variety of small·caie power applications. Theoretical-comparative operating costs between the DC lectric motor and a conventional combustion engine of similar power were calculated. onsidering a gasoline cost of $1.60/gallon (price in autumn 2000), the combustion ~ngine may generate an operating cost of $124.80/year. Assuming a 5 years life expectancy for the batteries, a lower operating cost for the solar cultivator was calculated at $48/year within the five years timeframe assigned to battery longevity. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 21 A Feasibility Study for the Implementation of Rotational Grazing in Western Pennsylvania ELDER, Timothy (G), eltdd36@csonline.net, BORSARI, Bruno·(F), Parks and Recreation/Environmental Education An alternative to large pennanent pastures, rotational grazing switches animals between smaller paddocks to allow time for forage species to recover from the effects of grazing. The purpose of this study was to examine the occurrence and extent of benefits to farms adopting rotational grazing practices through support from EPA 319 and Growing Greener Programs. Survey data were collected for 55 farms in 18 counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania in 2001 and used to assess improvements in economic and environmental conditions after installation of rotational grazing systems. The validity of the study was enhanced by multiple methodologies used to gather the research data These included interview questions with the fanners, observation of the facilities being installed under a rotational grazing system and a document analysis review. Correlation analyses of the data suggest several significant relationships that may predict outcomes for programs that promote rotational grazing. Strong correlation occurred for the participating dairy farms between dollars spent per acre and tons of soil saved per acre per year (r = +.86, n = 18, p < .01), and for the non-dairy fanns between cost-share dollar amounts and soil saved per farm per year (r = + .53, n = 37, p < .01). These initial results suggest that programs aimed at developing rotational grazing systems can benefit the environment and help farmers to reduce farm costs while improving the profitability of their operation. 22 SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 High Depression Rate in Native American Children FORREST, Kimberly Y.-Z. (F), kimberly.forrest@sru.edu, LEEDS, Marcy (F), WILLIAMS, Adelle (F), Allied Health Depression in children, a serious mental health problem, can result in poor school perfonnance. Few studies have evaluated how demographic factors influence depression in children. This study analyzed the data from the 1997 National Health Interview Survey in children aged 2 - 17 years to examine the prevalence of depression and its correlates. Among 14,290 children participating in the survey, 9,547 were administered a questionnaire with depression information, and 9,464 (99%) provided valid data. The proportion of races and the prevalence of self-reported depression were shown below. Native American children had the highest depression rate (p < .001). Race Caucasians African Americans Latinos Native Americans Asian Americans Other % ofTotal Population 54.4 16.8 20.3 1.2 3.3 4.0 % of Depression Prevalence 22.9 18.5 19.7 36.0 16.2 22.0 Though similar between boys and girls, depression increased as age increased, with a peak between 16-17 years (28.6%). Children from low income families (<$20,000) were more likely to report being depressed than children from families with higher incomes. The western region showed slightly higher depression rates. Multivariate analysis revealed that race was an independent risk factor for depression even after adjusting for 'lge, family income, parents' education and geographic region. Compared to Asian merican children who had the lowest depression rate, the risk of depression increased 5 fold (p < .001) for Native American children. The results suggest an urgent need to improve mental health education, to screen for depression, and to provide necessary treatment for depression among Native American children. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 23 Catharine Maria Sedgwick's 'Patient Investigation' of America's Past FOSTER, Ellen A. (F), ellen.foster@sru.edu, English Over the past two decades, many Amencan literary scholars have engaged in "recovery'' efforts: re-introducing the works of American writers little known in the late twentiethcentury but widely known and respected among their contemporaries. Catharine Maria Sedgwick, the focus of my research, is one such author - credited, with James Fenimore Cooper and William Cullen Bryant, for establishing an American literature in the early nineteenth century; reduced to a footnote in literary dictionaries by the early twentieth century. The earliest efforts to "recover" Sedgwick emphasize the sentimental or didactic aspects of her works and categorize her as a "literary domestic," a term coined by literary historian Mary Kelley in her influential study of female authorship, Private Woman, Public Stage (1984). The strengths and the limitations of the literary and historical scholarship of the late 1970s and early 1980s provide the foundation for subsequent studies, yet they often suggest the need for current scholars to engage in more systematic and thorough investigations of both primary and secondary sources. Kelley's own introduction to the 1987 re-issue of Sedgwick's Hope Leslie suggests just such a re-focused investigation and interpretation, and it perhaps also reflects important shifts in feminist and cultural criticisms. More recent scholarship continues to provide yet more rigorously documented and contextualized understandings of Sedgwick and her work. Sedgwick is now recognized as a professional, not accidental, author, one who purposefully participated in the powerful national discourse of the historical romance. My intertextual study of Sedgwick's historical romances, Hope Leslie (1827) and The Linwoods (1835), is based on primary research conducted in the Sedgwick Family and the C. M. Sedgwick Papers, held in the Massachusetts Historical Society collections. My reading of Sedgwick's correspondence and my documentation of Sedgwick's own research in the available historical records provide the foundation for my analysis of her fictionalized representations of the Puritan settlements of seventeenth-century New England and of the American Revolutionary period. Further, this analysis opens up new avenues of inquiry into the importance of the historical romance to American literature and especially to that literature's project of expressing a distinctively American national identity. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 24 Response of Human Erythroleukemia Cells to Retinoic Acid Analogues FOX, Susan (U), smf739l@sru.edu, WEINSCHENK, Sarah (U), BIRCKBICIIl.,ER, Paul J. (F), Chemistry and Physics Retinoids are analogues of Vitamin A that show promise as pharmaceuticals for cancer and other diseases, but have limitations due to toxicity. Heteroarotinoids, retinoids with one aromatic ring and at least one heteroatom (0, N, or S) show significant biological activity and are less toxic to cells than retinoids. Tissue transglutaminase (TGase) is widely used as a marker for programmed cell death and cellular differentiation in cells in culture. In previous studies, we observed that both pathways might be operable in human embryonic lung fibroblasts after exposure to sodium butyrate. In a separate study, we found that treating human erythroleukemia cells with 10 µM all-trans-retinoic acid resulted in cell differentiation accompanied by a 9-fold increase in TGase activity. However, we could demonstrate no evidence of programmed -:ell death in these cells. These observations suggest the importance of TGase in more than one functional pathway in cells. To further elucidate the role of TGase and the t>iological activity of heteroarotinoids in erythroleukemia cells, HEL (differentiation:ompetent, programmed cell death-incompetent) cells and K-562 (differentiationincompetent, programmed cell death-competent) cells were examined for their response to heteroarotinoids. Cells were treated with a specific chemical (all trans-retinoic acid or heteroarotinoid) or vehicle alone, allowed to grow for two days, then were assessed for growth rate, viability and TGase. All the heteroarotinoids inlnbited cell growth, but the degree of inhibition varied among the heteroarotinoids. None of the heteroarotinoids demonstrated cell toxicity greater than 13% at the concentration used in the studies (10 µM). Thus, the heteroarotinoids inlubit cell growth rather than kill cells that are already present With but a few exceptions, the heteroarotinoids successfully increased the tissue TGase in the cells. None of the compounds was as active as all trans-retinoic acid, but several of the compounds increased the TGase activity 2-4-fold. The increase in TGase activity following exposure to heteroarotinoids suggests that the heteroarotinoids are stimulating similar pathways in the erythroleukemia cells as all-trans-retinoic acid. The exact mechanism(s) of activation of the TGase system remains to be elucidated. -"fowever, we know from previous results that programmed cell death was not one of the msequences of addition of all-trans-retinoic acid to the HEL cells. 1 \ \ I SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 25 Soil Capabilities of Decreasing Growth: Inhibiting Effects of Coumarins GAUGER, Michele (G), gaumich@hotmail.com, BORSARI, Bruno, (F), Parks &Recreation/Environmental Education, KEFELI, Valentine, Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition, Cranberry, PA 16066 This investigation focused on the biological properties of soil and its role as a cleansing medium by decreasing concentrations of toxic phenolic substances, such as coumarins. Phenolics are known to be inimical compounds to seed germination. Prelimiruuy investigations began in 2001 with a study of biological properties of topsoil and performance of biological tests using seeds of cultivated crops of the most represented botanical families (mustard, lettuce, wheat, and clover). Water extracts from decomposing sumac leaves (Rhus typhina) were later utilized for similar biological testing and paper chromatography. Direct examinations of the chromatograms with UV-B light helped identify which molecular group of phenolic coumarins contained in the extracts were key factors in inhibiting seedling growth. Macoskey agrosol, a fabricated soil, was selected as growth medium for more biotests, while varying water dilutions of coumarins (: 10, :50and:100 dilutions) were added to soil and seeds. Biotesting and chromatography showed that wheat and lettuce seeds were most inhibited, with a mean stem length of 12.8 ± 5.lmm and 14.4 ± 3.0 mm respectively. Mustard and clover growth was least inlul>ited with mean stem lengths of 22.3 ± 5.5 mm and 20.3 ± 3.3 mm. Cournarin dilutions were then tested with soil and without soil in order to evaluate soil effectiveness of decreasing toxicity. Results showed a prominent difference in growth if soil was present with coumarin dilutions compared to no soil. Even undiluted coumarin in soil had mean seedling lengths of76.3 ± 7.4 mm, compared to only coumarin and water with no soil having a mean of 53.0 ± = 4.8 mm. Similar results were found for all dilutions in soil having higher growth means than those with no soil. These observations lead to conclude that phenolics may become inactivated by soil and allow for seedling growth. In water alone these phenolics were toxic to seeds and no growth occurred. Coumarin displayed selectivity similar to pre-emergence chemical herbicides by killing only targeted species, which could direct coumarins into use as a natural herbicide. Unlike most synthetic herbicides, coumarins can be denatured and absorbed by soil as they lose their initial toxicity. However, more research needs to be conducted to identify which molecular coumarin forms are more potent in inhibiting seed germination. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 26 A Comparison of the Activities-Specific Balance Confid~nce Tool, Multidirectional Reach and Berg Balance Score in Elderly Residents of a Catered Living Facility. HOLBEIN-JENNY, M.A. (F), Graduate School of Physical Therapy, BILLEK~ SAWHNEY, B (F), Graduate School of Physical Therapy, BECKMAN, E. (G), ebeckman@angelfire.com, ClllCHY, J. (G), GRUVER, K. (G), MEEK, K. (G), SMITH, T. (G). The population in the United States is growing most rapidly for people over age 65. Subsequently, alternative housing arrangements are being developed throughout the country. One such setting is described as a catered living and/or pef8?nal car~ home environment Residents at these settings live in their own apartment, which coDSists of a living space, bedroom, handicap accessible bathroom, and a small kitc~en area. Th~e is a community dining room in which residents are given meals. Depending on the resident need, as&stance is provided with either or both basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs) in order to enable them to live outside an institutional setting. The purpose of this study was to assess balance of residents in a catered living/personal care home residential setting, a previously uninvestigated community population of elderly. Using the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC), the Berg Balance Score and the Multidirectional Reach Test with this specific population of older adults, the test-retest reliability of the balance tests and correlation between them was quantified. Methods: Twenty-six males and females of at least 60 years of age were recruited from a local catered living facility. Each participant was asked to attend two testing sessions, and at the conclusion of the study, was invited to a falls risk assessment workshop. During the testing sessions, each individual performed the Multidirectional Reach (MDR) Test, the Berg Balance Test, and given the ABC questionnaire focusing on their perceived risk of falling. At a significance level of0.01, test-retest correlation and correlation among the three balance tests were determined from the preliminaty data analysis. Results: The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to quantify the relationship among the three balance tests. Dependant t-tests, as well as ~ measures ANOVA were used to investigate test-retest reliability between sessi.on .1 and 2. The test-retest reliability indicated no difference between any of the tests, wtth the exception ofMDR in the right direction. All of the tests (ABC, MDR and Berg ~ce Score) ~ere quantified together to determine the comparability of all three tests, which resulted m a strong correlation (r=4) within the sessions. The ABC and MD~ correlation were strong (p> 0.08), ABC and Berg Balance Score correlation in ~on to the MOR and Berg Balance Score were also high (p> 0.17). Conclusion: Usmg the ~C ~~estionnaire, Multidirectional Reach Test and the Berg Balance Score, test-~est reliability was found to have no difference with the exception of reaching to the nght The 7°rrelati?n ~twe_en balance tests demonstrated that when used together they can detemune fall risk m residents of catered living/personal care home settings. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 27 Examining the Prevalence of Drug Use Among College Students HOPWOOD, Amanda A. (U), rnandarin80@hotmail.com. FORREST, Kimberly Y-Z. (F), Allied Health, STUHLDREHER, Wendy L. (F), Allied Health, RYAN, William J. (F), Exercise and Rehabilitative Sciences The university setting should foster academic learning; however; it also provides an opportunity to "learn" about behaviors that may be detrimental to health such as drug use. The Student Health Assessment Project (SHAP) is a cross-sectional study of college student health behaviors. One of the health behaviors that was investigated was drug use patterns among SRU students. To assess drug use a self-administered questionnaire was given to undergraduate students (N=326) enrolled in a required Personal Physical Fitness course (PE 141) in Spring of 2001. Since this course is required of all students, it provides a means to obtain a cross-sectional representation of the entire student body. This report describes patterns of drug use including marijuana, cocaine, and inhalants. SPSS was used for statistical analysis with a significance level set at < .05. The prevalence of any drug use in the past six months was 9% for females and 1S°/o for males. The most frequently used drug was marijuana with significantly (p<.01) more males (19%) than females (5%) reporting past six months use. Prevalence of cocaine and inhalant use in past six months was lower for males (cocaine 9°/o & inhalants 1%) than for females (cocaine 2% and 2% inhalants). The overall prevalence of drug use did not differ between athletes and non-athletes (~13%), however, the prevalence of inhalant use showed that 5% of athletes had used inhalants in the previous six months as compared to only 0.5% of non-athletes (p <.01). Examination of inhalant use among athletes by gender revealed that 8% of female athletes had used inhalants in the past six months, as did 4% of male athletes. There were no significant differences in patterns of drug use between members of fraternities/sororities and those who were not. Examination of drug use by class standing did not reveal any significant variation in patterns. These results suggest that while less than 10% of students use cocaine and inhalants, many more have deemed marijuana use acceptable. This is of concern to health professionals because marijuana use is not without serious health risks. These results can be shared with health professionals on campus, with peers and with others interested in reducing the use of drugs on campus in hopes of promoting better health habits among the college population. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 28 Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (CETP)-PA: Scholarship, Pedagogy, and an Increasingly ScientificaJly-Literate Citizenry JOHNSON, P.A. (F), Secondary Education, BURKHART, P.A. (F), patrick.burkhart@sru.edu, Geography, Geology and the Environment, GRABNER, E.M. (F), Math, BUCHERT, E.R. (F), Elementary Education, CAMPBELL, M.L. (F), Academic Services, DECARLO, C.L. (F), Elementary Education CETP-PA is a SSHE initiative that is funded by the National Science Foundation to enhance the education of pre-service teachers. It is a collaborative that involves faculty from the SRU College of Education and the College of Health, Environment, and Science; Commmrity Colleges; and K-12 teachers from the surrounding community. The thrust of the initiative is to enhance the preparation of teachers in the areas of science, math, engineering, and technology through the enrichment of courses in content areas and pedagogy (the art or method of teaching). A multi-faceted approach is used to bolster the preparation of tomorrow's teachers. The central theme is to incorporate more science content into the required educational methods courses, while simultaneously promoting student-centered, inquiry-based methods in science courses. To promote this synergy, the following tactics are used: (1) team teaching is occurring in SRU classrooms by professors of content and methods disciplines, (2) work groups are assessing the state of science and math education at elementary, secondary, and university levels to collect data, make recommendations, and develop mechanisms to address recommendations, (3) a Center for Math, Science, and Technology Education is active at SRU in Room 212 MacKay, as at other SSHE schools, (4) the newly adopted Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Academic Standards for Science and Technology, as well as for Ecology and the Environment, were reviewed, and (5) interaction amongst faculty and teachers from all levels is promoted through workshops and conferences, locally and state-wide, that encourage continuing professional development A panel of faculty will discuss these activities with the intent of raising awareness and encouraging increased involvement The motive for involvement lies in the circular Dature of education, whereby improving the educational experience for a current pre;ervice teacher produces a better teacher, who one day delivers a better-prepared firstyear college student for matriculation into the SRU classroom. We assert that this scholarly evaluation of pedagogy and content is a proactive attempt to develop a bettereducated citizemy through the means of invigorating classrooms. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 29 Researching Our Roots: Writing Our Stories - Writing in the Fourth Genre KELLY, Priscilla (F), priscilla.kelly@sru.edu, DILLON, Cynthia (G), MULLER, Jacquelyn (G), English This poster presentation is intended to showcase the autobiographical and biographical research and writing done by SRU students in various sites including genealogical websites, family histories and Ellis Island. It shows how Dr. Priscilla Kelly's research into this branch of creative non-fiction provides a theoretical framework for the research writing students do in this genre. The challenge of auto/biographical writing becomes the task of researching, clarifying and interpreting one's past and then presenting it convincingly to a reader. The theoretical and psychological underpinnings of the class will be outlined. Research argues for the importance of expressive "writing that stays close to the speaker'' as the basis for the development of writing ability in all genres. Theory indicates ii movement from an intimate to a more public audience as students write more and more 1 perform transactional or poetic functions. James Kinneavy characterizes the self ~ consisting of combinations of the different aspects of the self: "Being-for-Itself, BeinL for-Others, and Being-in-the World." Psychological theory supports the importance of autobiographical writing in rooting one's language in one's own self-awareness, and from this source developing a personal voice in our own writing, one that should survive as identifiably ours even when we take on more impersonal topics. Knowing where you come from helps you know where you want to go. Research of personal histories is based on oral family stories that are passed from generation to generation, supported by picture albums, heirlooms, and other memorabilia. It is important that personal family stories be researched and written down and then shared with others. Investigating the authenticity of the stories is important. For many, a journey to Ellis Island, New York, offers a beginning for validating family folklore. Those who travel by ferry to Ellis Island in search of their ancestors find that the experience is very much as it might have been when their families first arrived on the shores of the United States. A scheduled "search session" at "The American Family Immigration History Center" can be arranged · in advance, on.line at http://www.cllisisland.org. A login name and password arc assigned, and "your personal" Ellis Island file is established on the Center's database. Instructions on researching ancestors are provided. Upon arrival to the facility the researcher is shown to a private booth and given further instructions. The database consists of ship manifests that provide names of passengers, places of residence, a range of demographic and other information, and the person's eventual destination in the United States. SRU Symposium for Resc;:arch and Scholarship 2002 30 Rotation, Translation, and Vertical Displacement of Supraglacial Clasts during Summer Ablation, Matanuska Glacier, Chugach Mts., Alaska KOWALCZUK, Ranae (U), drradical@hotmail.com, STRASSER, Jeffrey, Geology, Augustana College, Rock Island, IL 61201, EVENSON, Edward, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh Unviersity, Bethleham, PA 18015, BURKHART, Patrick (F), Geology, Geography, and the Environment, ENSMINGER, Staci, Geology and Geography, Northwest Missouri State Univ., Maryville, MO 64468, and LAWSON, Daniel, CRREL, US Anny, Fort Richardson, AK Research at the Matanuska Glacier during an NSF sponsored REU program, operated by Augustana College and CRREL, revealed several phenomena associated with supraglacial clasts. Depending upon their thickness and surface area, clasts were observed to move across the ice surface and either became inset into the glacier surface or elevated on a pedestal of ice. Experiments measured clast movements over a threeweek period, and explored factors controlling movement. Fifty-one dark, phyllitic cobbles and boulders displayed translations between 3.7 cm (0.18 cm/d) and 26 ~ (1.24 cm/d). and a maximum clockwise rotation of285°. Ten clasts built pedestals up.to 6 cm, six remained at grade, and 35 melted into the ice downward to 9 cm. Other experiments investigated the intriguing debris tails present behind tmnslating clasts. Debris tails were spray painted to monitor the movement of sediment, which was observed entering the tail as a boulder slides off a pedestal, across debris-covered ice. Azimuths of 60 debris tails. taken from random boulders on clean and transition ice near the medial moraine, revealed a mean azimuth of 210°, indicating movement towards the southwest. Another experiment placed 21 boulders and cobbles on constructed sediment beds. Simulated tails revealed a mean azimuth of 213°, a maximum translation of 32 cm (1.5 cm/d), and a maximum pedestal height of 15 cm Additional experiments detennined the effect of sediment thickness on ablation rates. The mean ablation for clean ice during the study period was 184.8 cm. A .5 mm thick cover increased ablation another 7.8 cm. At l cm of cover, a threshold is approached; mean ablation exceeded clean ice by 1. 7 cm, but positive relief features (reflecting redll<:ed ablation) grew to 12 cm in height. A 2 cm cover increased ablation by 5.1 cm beyond the mean, but also produced positive relief features up to 15 cm tall. Boulders translate towards the southwest, as they slide off their pedestal at an angle of repose affected by the path of the sun. The mechanism entrapping debris into the tail remains debatable, with hypotheses involving sheetwash, spallation, or incorporation by over-riding being considered. This research helps to explain ice surface microtopography and the mechanisms degrading the surficial expression of debris bands, medial moraines, or colluvium. The REU Program covered expenses and provided a stipend for six-weeks of unforgettable, exciting, adventurous, and educational science on a picturesque glacier. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 31 Characterization of Pseudokarst in Badlands National Park, South Dakota KOWALCZUK, Ranae (U), SANDER, Kirk (U), kxs9569@sru.edu, BURKHART, Patrick (F), Geography, Geology, and Environment The sod tables of the White River Badlands of South Dakota exist as remnants of Quaternary alluvial-colluvial fans deposited during the erosion of the adjacent "castles' of the Tertiary Brule and Sharps formations. Using surveying teclmiques during field mapping, we determined that at least four levels of sod tables can be mapped as stepped surfaces ranging in height from 0.5 to 10 m above channel bottom in adjacent washes. Sod Table One (STl) is about 0.5 m high, ST2 is at 1.3 m, ST3 is at 3 m, and ST4 is at 5 m. Evidence suggests another surface, ST5, is rarely observed at about 10 m above adjacent active channels. Mapping was completed in an area paralleling the major escarpment (which runs nearly E-W) for a distance of about eight kilometers and within about one kilometer both north (above) and south (below) of the cliff band. Resolution of large 1: 10,000 aerial photos was sufficient to discriminate most sod tables and to record their attributes upon overlays. These data will be entered into a GIS package to query additional spatial relationships regarding proximity to the escarpment. Difficulties encountered in discriminating between sod table levels include (1) some tables appear to be sourced from adjacent higher tables, in contrast to being sourced from Tertiary 'castles', (2) selection of the principle channel within a catchment to base vertical measurement and sod table numbering upon can be tricky due to the obstructed views of the rugged topography, and (3) individual sod tables can be observed to undulate or sag abruptly in a fashion conflicting with the anticipated original depositional grade, typically existing on these fans. These difficulties suggest that additional study involving stratigraphic correlation and the use of various dating methods would assist in categorizing individual tables. We postulate that the sod tables that exist at various distinct levels may reflect multiple generations of alluvial-colluvial fan development. This assertion would further imply that the balance between sediment supply delivered from the 'castles' and it removal has varied to produce periods of net aggradation and the building of fans, froIJ periods of net degradation, incising into and producing fan remnants, which exist as SOI tables today. Changing paleoclimate may have driven this dynamicism, but such remaills conjecture. We thank the Provost, Dr. Robert M. Smith. for granting the generous opportunity to conduct research in Badlands National Pmk, South Dakota by funding Faculty/Student Research Grants that provide invaluable opportunity to undergraduates. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 32 The Design of the "I-CARE" Community Garden in New Castle, PA LAUZON, Jennifer (G),jallOll@sru.edu, REYNOLDS, Thomas J. (S) This project involves the development of a community garden in New Castle, PA. A vacant lot of downtown New Castle was chosen as the site for the development of a community garden This resulted from a project envisioned by Slippery ~~ University's Institute for Commwri.ty, Service-Learning, and Nonprofit Leadership m cooperation with the Robert A. Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research (RAMC), the City of New Castle, and Lawrence County. The ~C was given the role of developing a design and implementation plan for the commuruty garden system. The current site consists of three abandoned lots (1/4 acre total) in an older residential area that had been taken over by the city. A comprehensive site analysis was done that took into consideration soil properties (drainage, structure, etc.), precipitation, wind data, temperature data, and solar geometry. A design for the proposed garden was created based on the site analysis, respect for sustainability criteria, and the needs of community residents. Originally, only the availability of the southern-most lot was secured for the implementation of the commwri.ty garden project. In addition, the number of people participating in the garden endeavor was yet to be detennined. Thus, the project was separated into two distinct phases. The first phase concerns the development of the southernmost lot. It includes a tool/potting shed, a shaded gatherin~picnic area, a children's garden. an informational bulletin board, compost bins, rainwater catchment barrels, a community hero gatden. and several individual plots for community gardeners. The second phase entails the development of the remaining lots; providing additional garden plots, an orchard of fruit and nut trees, a second tool shed, and a stage area for small-scale musical and theatrical performances. Included in the design of the garden are aspects that exhibit a concern for ecological systems and long-term sustainability. The built environment components of the project are being developed with a bias towards materials with a low embodied energy (i.e. salvaged and/or locally sourced) and non~toxic finishes. RespoDSl'ble on-site water management will be accommodated by roof-collected rainwater. The garden areas will be managed organically (without chemical pesticides and/or herbicides) to reduce impacts on neighbors and non-pest species, as well as protecting the integrity of local water~ ~ activi1ies are incorporated into the design to help close the local. DDtii~ loop and. eliminate o~c waste from the site. Ornamental plantings will ~mainly of species that are native to Pennsylvania in order to reduce maintenance and provide habitat for native wildlife. Phase I of the garden is to be implemented in the spring of 2002. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 33 Studies on a New Animal Model for Type 2 Diabetes MAJCHER, Megan (U), meejy@yahoo.com, WEINSCHENK, Sarah (U), BIRCKBICHLER, Paul J. (F), Chemistry and Physics, GUBERSKI, Dennis L., Biomedical Research Models, Inc., Worcester, MA 01606 Diabetic nephropathy is the most common cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). ESRD affects both Types 1 and 2 diabetes patients and the incidence is increasing. Recently, a new strain of rat (ILAR Designation BBZDR/Wor) was developed by genetically eliminating autoimmunity from the BBZDP strain. Male obese BBZDR rats spontaneously develop diabetes that mimics human Type 2, on the average, at 74 days of age. Obese female BBZDR rats have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), while lean BBZDR rats (male and female) evidence neither diabetes nor IGT. The focus of our studies is to document whether or not the kidney pathologies in BBZDR/Wor animals are similar to the kidney pathologies seen in humans who develop the disease. Demonstrating a correlation between the two species will validate these animals as a model for human diabetes and testing preventive modalities. Our preliminary results demonstrated that non-diabetic animals had essentially normal appearing kidneys, whereas the kidneys of the diabetic animals contained many of the features described for diabetic nephropathy. In general, the differences were more pronounced in animals with longer duration of diabetes. Diabetic animals also had larger glomeruli than non-diabetic animals. The amount and distribution oftrichrome stain (a chemical method to detect collagen) are acceptable methods of the degree of renal sclerosis. Over thirty percent of the kidney area measured in the diabetic animals with duration times in excess of 200 days of diabetes was positive for collagen. The stain was concentrated in both the glomerular and tubulointerstitial regions of the kidney. Four percent of the area was positive in control animals without diabetes, and essentially all of the stain was in the glomeruli. Most of the collagen was found in the glomerulus of the animals with diabetes duration times less than 200 days. Little or no collagen was observed in the tubulointerstitial area of these animals. Increased tissue transglutaminase (fGase) expression, a biomarker for kidney sclerosis, was also evident in diabetic kidneys after 200 days of diabetes. TGase appeared to be expressed constitutively in tubule cells of kidneys from non-diabetic animals. Expression within the glomerulus was generally weak to non-existent and appeared to be associated with the endothelial cells when it was detected. In contrast, TGase expression in kidneys from diabetic animals was observed not only in the tubule cells, but also within the glomeruli. In the diabetic animals examined thus far, the TGase positivity appeared to be associated with both the mesangium and the endothelial cells within the glomeruli. Additional animals must be examined to support or refute these initial observations. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 34 Distributed Architecture Solutions to Vehicle Routing Problems with Time Windows MATLACK, Adrian (U), axm4197@sru.edu, THANGIAH, Sam R. (F), Computer Science Vehicle Routing Problems with Time Windows (VRPTW) involve visiting a set of customers while minimizing the number of trucks required and the total distance traveled by the trucks. Bounds exist on the capacity and range of each truck and on the earliest and latest times a customer can be visited. This problem is NP-Complete, meaning that the time required to find the optimal solution grows exponentially with the problem size. As a result heuristic solutions are used to find solutions to the problem in polynomial time. Researchers have been working on such problems for more than two decades. The heuristic solutions that have been proposed to solve such problems have been sequential in nature. That is, the problem is solved in a sequential manner by breaking the problem down into a nwnber of layers and solving one layer completely before solving the next Jayer. Due to the computationally intensive natme of VRPTW, it would be advantageous to solve the problem in a parallel manner over a distributed set of computers. This can be accomplished by running multiple instances of a client program over several computers and dividing the work among them. Each client program represents a truck in the solution of the problem. Pairs of clients communicate and exchange customers in an attempt to produce an optimal solution between the two trucks. This communication occurs repeatedly in a pattern that is determined by a central server program until it is determined that the solution will not improve further. In this paper we will present the SY.stem that has been developed to solve such problems. In addition the solutions obtained using this system will be compared with those using sequential methods. I SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 35 A Proposal for a Campus Sustainability Initiative for Slippery Rock University McDONALD, Andy (G), andyboeke@yahoo.com, DOHERTY, Steven (F), Parks and Recreation/Environmental Education Slippety Rock University's mission statement and academic programming have made it a nationally recognized leader in campus environmental stewardship. This strong foundation presents an opportwlity to establish SRU as one of the nation's pre-eminent higher education institutions dedicated to environmental sustainability. A comprehensive "Campus Sustainability Initiative" (CSI) may provide leadership and coordination to carry SRU to the next level of environmental Service and excellence. This project involves research, planning, and coordination necessary to develop this initiative at SRU. First, a CSI framework is proposed and related to the university's mission statement and strategic plan. The next phase of research into this topic involves a needs assessment and stakeholder analysis, soliciting input from people throughout the university community, to further ground the CSI concept in its local context. Research reveals a multitude of benefits that can result from "campus greening" initiatives. The University at Buffalo in New York has an energy conservation program that bas saved the university over $60 million in the past 20 years. This highly successful program led to the creation of the UB Green Office for environmental affairs, and an Environmental Task Force that develops policy and programs for environmental stewardship. Research into other campus greening initiatives (e.g. Columbia University, Tufts University, Oberlin College) identifies activities, benefits and management approaches relevant to the campus greening process at SRU. These initiatives demonstrate that the greening of a campus and curriculum requires representation and participation from the full university community. Furthermore, they have resulted in multiple substantial benefits, in terms of education, economics, prestige, campus qualityof-life, and environmental protection. Experiences at other universities suggest the following key elements can move SRU to the next level of envirorunental excellence. First, top-level administrative support is essential to long-term institutional change. Second, a full-time staff-person dedicat~. to leading and coordinating campus greening activities is necessary to ensure that pohcies become translated into actions and programs. Third, an Environmental Task· Force comprised of faculty, staff, administrators and students is needed to ~ the university's relationship to the environment, and to develop strat~gie~ _and ~~~es ~~ enhance those relationships. This proposal for a Campus Sustamab1lity Iru~atJ.v_e ~­ offered as a starting point for dialogue on how to best fulfill Slippeiy Rock UruveTSity"! commitment to environmental stewardship and education. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 36 Factors Related to Distorted Body Image in College Women NIXON, Shawna (U), shawna2405@zoomintemet.net, RYAN, William J. (F), Exercise and Rehabilitative Sciences, STUHLDREHER, Wendy L. (F), Allied Health, FORREST, Kimberly, Y.-Z., Allied Health. Satisfaction with body image is an important health indicator that has been associated with negative health behaviors among females. The purpose ofthis study was to identify factors associated with distorted body image among female college students attending Slippery Rock University. Stunkard et al. body image figures and the BECK depression inventoiy were part of a health survey administered to 157 female students in a required personal fitness course at Slippeiy Rock University. To categorize body image distortion (BID), three variables were computed from responses to Stunkard et al. body image .figures: 1) SWAF indicated satisfaction with actual body figure; 2) ATOPSEX: indicated perceived attraction to males; 3) W.AN11IlN: indicated desire to be thinner than what men find attractive. All 3 measures of BID were significantly associated (p<0.05) with some degree of depression as measured by BECK depression inventoxy scores. SWAF was significantly associated (p<0.05) with self-reported overall stress. SWAF and ATOPSEX were significantly associated (p<0.05) with using diet, exercise and diet pills to lose weight. In addition, the BECK depression inventoxy includes a question about satisfaction with overall appearance (APPEAR) that was also significantly associated (p<0.05) with some degree of depression and the ~ of dieting, diet pills, and vomiting/laxatives to lose weight. Dissatisfaction with body image was associated with various behaviors associated with weight loss in this sample of college women. Depression also appears to be a key factor associated with BID. These results focus on issues of BID and mental and physical health among female college students. This continues to be an important health concern that should be included in the newly developed Healthy Campus 2010 initiative. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 37 "'The Desert of the Real': Baudrillard's Hyperreality, Sun Tzu's Taoism, and The Matrix as Romantic-Postmodern Film" PERMENTER, Rachela (F), English, WAGNER, Corrie (G), corriegirl@hotmail.com The Wachowski brother's popular film The Matrix (1999) is valorized in intellectual circles for its subtle references to Jean Baudrillard's treatise on hyperreality, Simulacra and Simulation. The film is best known for its groundbreaking special effects, especially the bending of time and space in "bullet time," and for its crowd-pleasing crossing of science fiction and martial arts genres. This popular action adventure film pulls its unsuspecting audience into a deeper layer of philosophical inquiry, however, causing them to question what is real and what is artifice. This paper argues that the parallels of Baudrillard's hyperreality and the Taoist/Buddhist basis of the martial arts are much more detailed in the film than is widely believed and the seeming contradiction of the two is the paradox at the heart oflate postmodemity. Not only does the Keanu Reeves character Neo pull a hollow copy of Simu/acra and Simulation from his shelf early in the film, but "Welcome to the desert of the real" moves straight from Baudrillard's pen to Laurence Fishburne's mouth. Finally, Neo's training as a martial artist leads him to defy gravity, time, and physical reality. In a cyberpunk mood, the film uses the martial arts to see life as a complex of interacting forces and demonstrates the current interaction among scientific, technological, and philosophical discussions about physicality, reality, and mental and societal constructions. According to Sun Tzu, a warrior's biggest enemy is not the opponent, but the mind's inability to see that all is movement Similarly, Baudrillard lays out the provocative contention that what we view as reality is actually a hyperreality - something that is more real to us than reality itself, a world of media implosion For Baudrillard, Sun Tzu, and The Matrix, we have all been "living in a dream world" This paper clearly draws out the parallels found between the works of Baudrillard and the Wachowski brother's masterpiece, The Matrix, showing how Baudrillard's words and ideas are brought to life on the screen. In addition, the paper argues that fragmentation and artifice do not tell the whole postmodern story. Through the catalyst of the martial arts, the Wachowski brothers connect the nonduality of Taoism and Buddhism to what is commonly classified as postmodernism. This addition emphasizes the film's and the era's concurrent Romantic shadow, adding light and flight to its darkness. 38 SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 Germination Tests of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L) Seed in Red Sumac (Rhus typhina) Leaves Water Extracts and Phenolics Isolation through Paper Chromatography REUSTLE, Theresa (G), territbl9403@yahoo.com, BORSARI, Bruno (F), Parks & Recreation/Environmental Education, KEFELI, Valentine, Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition, Cranberry, PA 16066 The decomposition of sumac leaves is part of the naturally occurring caibon cycle, which determines for this species the release of phenolic compounds that are leached through the soil. Phenolics are potent allelochemicals that at high concentration levels may inhibit plant growth and seed germination. The purpose of this study was to isolate through paper chromatography (in a 15% acetic acid solution) various groups of phenolic substances from sumac leaves (Rhus typhina) water extracts and to evaluate their effect in regulating seed germination and seedling growth. The examination of the chromatogram under UV-B light determined a clear separation of phenolic.s into three distinct, colored groups (brown, blue and yellow). The different colored portions of the chromatogram were cut and later utiliz.ed to test seed germination and seedling growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. ), over a week timeframe. Stem lengths were measured mean values with the corresponding standard deviations were calculated from the control and the three different treatment groups. The control yielded a mean value of 16.5 ± 1.6 mm. The treatment conditions yielded a mean of 15.3 ± 2.9 mm for the brown colored phenolics; whereas, the mean for the growth conditions with phenolics in the blue spot of the chromatogram was 12.4±1.1mm;and20 ± 0.0 mm were the statistics obtained from the yellow part of the chromatogram. Phenolics isolated in the brown and blue spots appeared to inhibit lettuce growth; whereas, those associated with the yellow colored spot of the chromatogram promoted growth. Further research needs to be accomplished to better understand the mode of action of these natural molecules in relation to seed gennination and growth. Certainly, practical applications deriving from this, and similar efforts, may lead to a better knowledge in controlling unwanted vegetation without using synthetic herbicides. and SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 39 Acute Dexamethasone or Corticosterone Treatment Enhances Prepulse Inhibition in Rats REYES, Genara (U), irisreyes99@yahoo.com, STOCKTON, Steven (U), ADAMCZVK, Jennifer (U), PORT, Richard (F), Psychology Stress hormones appear to have short term excitatory effects on central nervous system function and long term effects of neurological damage. Prepulse inlubition (PPI), a decreased response to a stimulus when a lesser warning stimulus is present, is known to be disturbed in schizophrenic patients. Since schizophrenic populations show distmbed patterns of stress hormone levels, it is unclear as to whether the deficit is due to acute effects of elevated stress hormones or long tenn damage incurred as a product of chronic exposure. The present study evaluates acute effects of treatment with dexamethasone, a potent synthetic glucocorticoid that suppresses endogenous corticosterone, or elevation of corticosteroids via delivery of exogenous hormone. Adult male rats were randomly assigned to dexamethasone (40ug), corticosterone (l.6 mg), vehicle or non-injected control conditions. Subcutaneous injections were given 90 minutes prior to standardized testing in acoustic startle and prepulse inlnbition (69 trials over a 12 minute period). The amplitude of force exerted in response to the stimulus was recorded by a computer program. Preliminary results on prepulse inhibition occurring to an 80 dB prepulse were examined for 20 subjects. Results of an analysis of variance approached significance for fuis initial sample, f(3,16)=2.78; p=.07. Dexamethasone treated subjects averaged 204, and corticosteroid subjects averaged 117. Vehicle injected controls (309) and noninjected controls (316) were more responsive to the test stimulus (failed to inlubit as greatly). The inclusion of additional subject data is currently in progress and should yield significant differences. Enhanced sensorimotor function via suppression or elevation of corticosteroids is not inconsistent with acute effects of the honnone on neurological function. In the case of suppression, an enhanced signal to noise ratio (decreased background neuronal activation by the honnone) may improve registration of the signal sti~us. In the elev_at~ condition, a generally enhanced magnitiude of neuronal signal (stimnlus re~ed ~cttvlt_: superimposed on background) may facilitate general efficacy of the warmng stimulU:: Ultimately, acute manipulation of corticosteroids do not impair PPI and the c~... effects of stress related hormones would appear to be the byproduct of an accumulation of damage to neurological structures subserving sensorimotor function. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 40 Use of RAPD PCR Analysis in Studying the Biogeographical Relationships among Members of the GenusAntennaria RODGERS, Scott A. (U), sar4712@sru.edu, CHMIELEWSKI, Jerry G. (F), STRAIN, Steven R. (F), Biology A genus of perennial herbs, Antennaria occurs predominantly throughout the cold temperate and arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Only three species, A. chilensis Remy, A. linearifolia Wedd., and A. s/eumeri Cabrera, occur in the Southern Hemisphere, specifically, the Andes of South America. Antennaria likely originated in the southern parts of western North America, subsequently spreading into a variety of habitats including, but not restricted to, limestone talus, chy~moist arctic or alpine tundra, montane or lower elevation coniferous forests, prairies, and diy sagebrush steppe throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The genus has achieved its greatest morphological diversity in western North America. The dearth of species in Eurasia, but more so in South America, may be indicative of recent migrations to the respective regions, thus insufficient time for significant speciation to occur. Antennaria chi/ensis Remy, a tetraploid (2n=56), apomictic species, consisting of vars. chilensis and magellanica (Sch. Bip.) Reiche, occurs in the southern tip of South America in the Tierra del Fuego region of Argentina and Chile, north to approximately 45° S latitude. The species was previously believed to resemble A. dioica (L.) Gaertner in inflorescence characters, but at the time, A. dioica also included what we currently refer to as A. rosea, a morphologically diverse polyploid agamic complex with an extensive North American distribution. Antennaria magellanica Sch. Bip., which differs from A. chilensis in its papillate versus glabrous achenes was initially considered to be related to A. a/pina and A. carpatica. Because it is not clear whether classifying these various taxa (alpina, chi/ensis, dioica, magellanica and rosea) as separate species accurately reflects their phylogeny, genomic DNA from herbarium specimens was isolated and subjected to analysis using polymorphic DNA matkers amplified by the polymerase chain reaction with the goal of determining the extent of genetic variability within and between the species. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 41 Teaching Science us~ng Research-Based Pedagogy in a Conceptual Physics Course for Pre-Service Elementary Education Majors - Early Results from the Assessment Program SHAEVITZ, Ben Alan (F), ben.shaevitz@sru.edu, Chemistry and Physics In January 2002 the Department of Chemistry and Physics received a Program Initiative Grant from the Office of the Chancellor to institute a research-based curriculum in the Concepts of Science I course. This three-semester project is based on the premise that the teac~ers of tomorrow need explicit models in their college classes of the pedagogy and cumcula they are expected to employ. The project design is a synthesis of three elements shown in the research literature to positively affect teaching practice: the learning environment. the pedagogy, and the curriculmn. Grant and University funds allowed for the renovation of a physical science laboratory in Vincent Science Hall into a contemporary "Studio" classroom. Pioneered at Dickinson College in the early 1990's, Studio classrooms integrate lecture and laboratory into a single physical space. The physical arrangement is conducive to collaborative learning. The classroom is also technology-rich, having hardware and software for a computer-based text., computerbased data collection, and simulated laboratory experiments. The pedagogy employed in this project is termed constructivism. In constructivism the emphasis is placed on the learner rather than the teacher, the learner is given the opportunity to build on prior knowledge, and learning occurs by fitting new information together with what they already know. The pedagogy stresses conceptual understanding, is inquiry-based and hands-on, and makes extensive use of active learning. The curriculum, entitled Constructing Physics Understanding, is adapted from a National Science Foundation sponsored project developed at San Diego State University and the University of Minnesota, is research-based and class tested, meets the content of National Science Education Standards, and is based on a learning cycle model of instruction. Common items and simple apparatus are extensively used to demonstrate to pre-service teachers the utility oftbis curricular approach for their future classroom. This poster will present the early assessment results of the Teaching Science PT?ject. Two outcomes measured are: student attitudes about science and college-level SCience courses (measured pre-course and post-course and benchmruked against data gathered the summer before the project began), and enrollment trends (benchmarked against da~ from the traditional Concepts of Science I course). The assessment results at the conclUSion of the first semester of the project were mixed. Some possible reasons for ~e mixed results, aspects of the assessment program designed to identify causes ~ the ~ed results, and refinements to the curriculum from the second semester of the project will be presented. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 42 Maize Crosses to Illustrate Epistatic Ratios of Kernel Colors in Maize SHOTWELL, Mark A. (F), mark.shotwell@sru.edu, Biology, ANDREWS, Richard I. (G), Grove City Senior High School, Grove City, PA 16127 Epistasis, the nonreciprocal interaction between nonallelic genes, is an important concept in genetics, but one that students often struggle to master. Understanding of this concept is greatly aided by laboratory exercises in which examples of epistasis are examined. Kernel color in maize is an ideal phenotype for illustrating epistasis in the teaching lab. Not only are there a variety of independently assorting genes that influence pigment accumulation, but the large number of kernels on each ear allows for the calculation of statistically meaningful phenotype ratios. One lab in the Genetics course at SRU is devoted to epistasis, with the exercise centering on kernel color in maize. Over the years, I grew dissatisfied with the quality of the ears I acquired from commercially available sources. The colors were often indistinct, and in some cases the phenotype ratios were not as advertised. I therefore decided to do my own crosses to produce cars that illustrated four epistatic interactions: (1) dominant, (2) recessive, (3) duplicate recessive, and (4) dominant and recessive. Of the 12 crosses that I completed, only four will be e:\.-plained. These involved parental lines acquired from the Maize Genetics Cooperation Stock Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. I was assisted in planning these crosses by Dr. Phil Stinard of the Stock Center. The parental lines were crossed in 1999, and the F1 plants were self-fertilized in 2000 to give F2 ears. These crosses were done in Grove City, PA. Owing to the small size of the F2 ears, the F 1 crosses were re-done in 2001 by Dr. Jeff Habben at Pioneer Hi-Bred International in Johnston, IA, under ideal growing conditions. The F2 ears that resulted were much larger; these are the ears that will be described. TI1e F2 ears showed the four expected epistatic ratios of kernel colors: (1) 9:3:4 (recessive epistasis), (2) 9:7 (duplicate recessive epistasis), (3) 12:3:1 (dominant cpistasis), and (4) 13:3 (dominant and recessive cpistasis). These F 2 cars are superior to tl1osc commerially available, and are now being used in the Genetics labs at SRU. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 43 Chronic Corticosterone Elevation Impairs Prepulse Inhibition in Rats STOCKTON, Steven (U), sds5579@sru.edu, PORT, Richard (F), Psychology Stress and related hormones, such as corticosteroids, are implicated in a variety of psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia Exposure to a variety of stressors, prenatally, perinatally or in adulthood, appears to be a potential contributor to the development of the disease, and clearly plays a role in exacerbation of symptoms. Behaviors affected by the disorder include a disruption of sensorimotor function as revealed by impaired prepulse inhibition (PPI), a response decrement normally seen when an acoustic startle stimulus is preceded by a weaker warning signal. However, we have found that acute elevation of corticosteroids enhances the inhibition elicited by a prepulse. Consequently, it would appear likely that the failure to inhibit the response by schizophrenic patients may be a result of chronic insult on brain systems by elevated levels of stress honnones. The present study evaluated PPI in animals exposed to long term elevation of corticosteroids. Young male rats (n=24) were assigned to control, low dosage (250 ug/ml) or high dosage (500 ug/ml) corticosterone conditions at 30 days of age. Corticosterone was administered through their drinking water for a period of 60 days prior to testing. Corticosterone treatment was then halted and animals were tested again one week after termination of treatment Testing consisted of 69 random startle and PPI trials delivered over an 11.5 minute session in a computerized startle system (San Diego Instruments). Average response amplitudes for PPI trials with an 80 dB prepulse were analyzed with a twoway analysis of variance. Results indicated a significant effect of group, f(2,64)=6.64, p<.01. Effects of week and the interaction were not significant. Application ofTukey's HSD test revealed greater inluoition in the control group (80.2%) than in the low dosage (72.8%) or high dosage (67.3%) groups. These results indicate that chronic elevation of corticosteroids produces a deficit in PPI that persists after treatment is halted. Consequently, the deficit appears to be the result of chronic insult to the nervous system by the elevated levels of stress hormone. Attempts to attenuate this disturbance in sensorimotor gating will require pharmicological nonnalization of neuronal functioning as well as control of stress hormone levels. SRU Symposium for Research and Scholarship 2002 44 The Impact of an Integrated Learning Community Cluster and Freshman Seminar on Academic and Social Integration, Academic Performance, and Student Persistence for First Year Students, Special Admits, Students of Color, and Specific Majors YALE, Amanda (F), amanda.yale@sru.edu, CASHDOLLAR, Matthew (S), Enrollment Services, LONGWELL, April (F), BRINJAK, Cathy (F), Academic Services This study investigated the relationship between participation in an integrated learning community cluster and one-credit freshman seminar on student retention, cumulative grade point average perfonnance, academic credits earned, and academic and social integration. The variables investigated were derived from the following theoretical constructs: student departure (Tinto, 1993), student involvement (Astin, 1993, 1984), and academic and social integration (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1980, 1991). Pascarealla & Terenzini's (1980) institutional integration scales were used to examine five dimensions of academic and social integration: peer groups interactions, faculty interactions, academic and intellectual development, institutional and goal commitment, and faculty concern for student development. Academic and social integration was further operationalized into the following sub-scales: use of student services, retention through the third semester, academic perfonnance, and credits earned. The institution implemented a combined Leaming Community Cluster and Freshman Seminar in an effort to positively impact a student's academic and social integration. Twenty-seven (27) learning community clusters in the fall of 2000 comprised of both liberal studies and major program clusters were offered to students. Using a multidimensional research design, data for this study were gathered through two procedures: Institutional database files were used to collect retention, academic performance, and credits earned, while survey methodology was used to collect information on the dimensions of academic and social integration. Results from the analyses of data revealed significant relationships between participation in the learning community cluster/freshman seminar and peer group interactions, faculty interactions, perceived academic and intellectual development, and 'lSe of student services. Results from the analyses did not produce significant results on irst-to-second year retention, freshman cumulative grade point average, and credits :amed. Generally, seminar participants had higher observable mean scores on each of the .'ariables, but the analyses did not produce statistically significant results when studied after the third semester. Third semester persistence was reported at 5.4 percent higher for cluster participants. Further, several retention factors were found significant for specific student sub-groups and cluster groupings (special admits, students of color, and major clusters). The results from this study suggest that significant relationships exist between participation in the cluster and seminar effort and several academic and social integration variables, particularly for student sub-groups and specific types of clusters. 5 April2001 Inaugural Plenary Address 45 Dr. Carl 0. Moses Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, Lehigh University Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences It talces time and patience to build a culture that values scholarship. It's not something that American culture naturally fosters. We are conditioned to have it our way, to just do it, to schedule just-in-time deliveries, and to fill our DayTimers with meetings, appointments, and activities for every evening. Where in our modern lives is the time or even the motivation to carefully gather information, sift it and sort it, create new knowledge with it, and communicate what we've learned to other curious minds? Anti-intellectualism is the norm in America. Fortunately there are counter-examples, and we are some of the counter-examples, but modern America remains a tough audience for scholarship. America loves to promote education and learning, but that often does not extend to scholarship, which is the most advanced form of learning. All of us are bucking the trend, and we need-in fact, we crave-events like this as a form of fellowship and as a way to hold scholarship up to the community as a valued and worthwhile enterprise and validate the scholar as a valued member of the community. If you will look around, you'll see some experienced, practicing scholars among us today. Regrettably, most of them will be white and male, but that's an artifact of our society. There's nothing about the work of scholarship that should exclude or discourage the non-white or female persons who have an itch for knowledge that needs scratching. In fact, the scholarly arena is one where people can come to be judged on the basis of their ideas, their creations, and the knowledge and understanding they contribute to humankind's quest for wisdom. It is an arena where gender, race, and all those characteristics of us as individuals give way to the humanness that unites us all. What's really exciting to me as I look around is that we also see newcomers to scholarship-students who are learning the craft of scholarship. Why should they seek to do so, especially when the mainstream culture attaches little value to it? The cynic among us might say that getting involved in an activity like this looks good on a resume, but come on. That might be an incentive to start, but this is difficult, lonely work; it requires discipline and sacrifice. Nobody follows through and completes a work of scholarship without a genuine affinity for it. So I say that, in these students, we are looking at direct evidence of a drive to explore nature, to seek answers to permanent questions, to create something that responds to our surroundings or expresses our mnermost feelings-to scratch an itch that just won't go away. I'm saying that we're humans, and we just have to explore and push outward on the boundaries of knowledge. Discovery is a lifealtering experience-it's really one of the highest forms of human achievement. A story: Niccolo Paganini was one of the greatest violinists-maybe the greatest violinist-of a time. He lived in the early l 9u' century and entertained thousands across Europe. He constant!, worked at developing new techniques for making the violin do things no one had ever before hell!'d· One night, he cmne on the stage after his introduction and lifted the violin to his chin only to realize that it was not his. He had left his own beloved instrument backstage and picked up another by mistake. It was too late to go off, switch violins, and return to the stage, so with hi.s heart in his throat, Paganini proceeded to give one of his most enchanting performances. Wl_len 1t was ov~r, a friend greeted him backstage with exuberant congratulations. Pag~ thanke? ~ and the fiiend asked Paganini how he had managed to play so wondrous!y that ru~t. .Pagamm resP.retation. It isn't necessarily easy to check and ~heck your information or to do that 'one more' experiment that clarifies your results. Sometimes your really have to struggle and persevere to get your method right and build the confidence that you need to move forward . .This scholarship stuff is hard work! Only after we have the information and have ~yzed }t ~ we begin to say what it means, and this is the high-order task that requires a human mmd. This lS where new knowledge and understanding is created. This is the fun part! 47 . Let me take a moment to be clear about something. If you don't think artists are scholars, I think you're wrong. Art is way too intentional to be random or accidental. Artists have method fill:d an understanding of method. Their work requires discipline. They observe, they reflect, and I think any artist would understand the difference between information and knowledge. . That said, how does knowledge grow from information? Why do we need a human mmd to cr~te knowledge? That's the clue-create. Creativity is an essential element of scholarship. We ~eed tt at many stages, actually-when we recognize the problem, when we articulate the problent m a w~y that lends itself to a solution, when we select the methods for probing the problem and for gathenng and analyzing the information, and · when we inteIJ>ret our results to make new know~edge. Most of us who are experienced scholars-and I bet a lot of the newcomers, too--have expen~ced blocked creativity. The understanding just won't come. The information is there, the analysts looks thorough, but we haven't fashioned those parts into new knowledge. So we talce the dog for a walk, watch a basketball game, work in the garden, play the piano, or read to the kids. Just when we least expect it, a little thought intrudes, and then another. If you're receptive to those thou~ts, the ni:xt thing you know, you're thinking things no one ever thought before, )'.ou're maki?~ connections no one ever made before-you're creating totally new knowledge. Wt~<;>Ut creativity, I actually don't know how scholarship would work-how would we make that cogrutive leap from information to knowledge? I don't believe non-human animals are creative. Maybe there's some evidence to the contrary, but I haven't ever heard it. And despite all our advances with computers, I don't believe we've codified creativity. Creativity is innately human. . There are different types of creativity. I'm not musically creative, but I was lucky to discover a field of science where I do have some ability to create. I don't know if everyone has a creative domain, but I suspect that we do. Unfortunate~y, a lot of creative talent goes unrecognized. All of us should be thankful that our talents are recogruzed. I'm going to ask you to pause a moment and think about how you got here. We frequently hear people moan 'Why me?' when something goes wrong, but did you ever stop to W?nder 'Why me?' when something good happens? I think participating in this symposium is a nughty fine thing-so what did you do to earn the privilege of being here? Why you? For each one of you, there is a unique record of accomplishments that reflects your efforts and your talents, but I want to remind you that your accomplishments also reflect your opportunities. Your families and your communities gave you opportunities to develop skills and demonstrate your abilities. They gave you schools, soccer teams, orchestras, dance lessons, swimming pools, trips, museums. art studios, libraries, chemistry sets, karate, computers with on-line access-all the life experiences that led to you being here today. Frankly, you didn't do much to earn those OJ?Portunities-your families loved you and provided for you as best they could, and your communities entrusted you with the future. So, while your accomplishments are remarkable, you are not only what you have made of yourself You are a person who had the good fortune to be bom with talent into a caring family, a forward-looking community, and a prosperous society. With bad luck, you might have been born with the same talent into a broken family that abused you, into an oppressive conununity bound to uphold tradition and stifle innovation, or into a society without the means to help you advance. Why you? And why not someone else? I'm not putting you down-I celebrate what you've done with your talent and your opportunities. But I do want you to remember that you didn't create your talent or your opportunities. What's yours is only what you've created. One of your good fortunes-and mine, too-is the existence of universities. Let me 1 you a little bit about the University. I don't just mean Slippery Rock University, I mean ·u University Enteiyrise more generally. Universities are pretty cool places. Tuer are usuall pleasantly attractive and they are populated by dynamic, interesting people. But what s really goinE;, on here? It's not supposed to be a secret, but it's commonly misunderstood. Those of us who work in a University are producing knowledge and understanding. Society pays us to do that by giving Universities tax breaks, providing special funding for University programs, and sending us students to educate. We are ultimately accountable to society for the quality of the job we do. We fulfill our mission-we deliver our product-in three chief ways. 48 First, we generate new knowledge and understand.ll:tg. We are scholar~., University faculties that profess the liberal arts and sciences include }?taCti~1oners of the hUll1i;t1llties, the arts, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. Despite that divers1ty, we have mucl~ m common: we make observations, we analyze our observations, we respond to our observations 1hr?1:1gh our creative yet disciplined energies, and we subject the work of <_>Ur collea~es to cntical yet constructive scrutiny. This is really exciting stuff-we are channelmg humankin.d's eternal quest for the knowable. Tue basic motivation is human curiosity. There are, of course, differences among our fields having to do with subject matter, methods of ana~ysis, and ~ You just did something that no other animal can do. It's called self-awareness, which is one of your uniquely human endowments. You used your imaginationanother human endowment, which is the root of creativity-to visualize a world you can't really see. You do it all the tiine, really. Your mind is capable of amazing things. . Our minds ~ve ~y functi~, and those functions operate from different parts of our mmds. We can be ~ogical, think sequentially, collect and analyze observations, reduce complex s~ to constitu~. parts, expre~s ourselve~ verbally. We can also be intuitive, think ~tmultaneously 8;lld hC?Ple your age will chan~e jobs three or f~ur times dilling their careers. Even 1f you manage to stay m one field for your entire career, you will need to learn new things. As you develop relationships with ?ther peop~e and raise your chil