The Office of Student Research Presents:

The Office of Student Research
Presents:
The Third Annual
Summer Research Conference
August 30th– 31st, 2016
Summer Research Program
2016
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Table of Contents
Welcome………………………………………………………………………………………..……..4
Agenda………………………………………………………………………………………………..5-6
Guest Speakers
Dr. Liliana Gallegos……………………………………………………………………….…..7
Dr. Joseph Wellman……………………………………………………………………….….8
Abstracts
College of Arts & Letters………………………………………………………………..….9
College of Business & Public Administration………………………………………….…...10-11
College of Education………………………………………………………………….……..12
College of Natural Sciences……………………………………………………….………...13-18
College of Social & Behavioral Sciences………………………………………………….....19-20
About the Office of Student Research……………………………………………………………..21
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Welcome
Dear colleagues and student scholars,
Summer research programs have proven to be quite successful during the summer term when both
faculty and students have fewer obligations. During the summer, students are able to collaborate more
closely with a faculty mentor, these students are reporting better collaboration and leadership skills,
increased confidence in conducting research, enhanced understanding of their discipline, improved
preparation for future career and education plans, and an increased positive attitude towards responsibility, learning, and working (Tatum and Schwartz, 2009).
The OSR summer program is now ending with a summer undergraduate research conference to offer
students the experience of presenting their work to their peers and mentors.
The Summer Research Conference is organized by discipline-specific discussions:
•Students groups present their research with one or more faculty members serving as
moderators.
•Each group has 15 minutes to present their research followed by a 7 minute discussion session.
•At the conclusion of the conference, all participating students will be awarded a certificate as a
research scholar.
The Office of Student Research thanks you for participating in the Summer Research Program and
looks forward to you participating in other OSR activities. Please subscribe to OSR on Orgsync.com,
where you can find updated information regarding upcoming OSR events.
Dr. Jeffrey Thompson
Dr. Francisca Beer
Associate Provost for Research &
Director of OSR &
Dean of Graduate Studies
Interim Dean of Graduate Studies
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Agenda
August 30th, 2016
9:30 AM
Registration, SMSU Theater
10:00 AM
Welcoming Remarks
Dr. Francisca Beer, Interim Dean of Graduate Studies and Director of OSR
College of Arts & Letters
10:20 AM
CBA Prison Arts Collective Comprehensive Certificate and Facilitator Training
Dr. Annie Buckley with Jessica Agustin, Lindsey McDonald and Diana Hernandez
Discussant: Dr. Timothy Usher’s Team
10:45 AM
El Santo, el Enmascarado de Plata v. The Perverse Logic of Coloniality
Dr. Liliana Gallegos with Sofia Benitez
Discussant: Dr. Monideepa Becerra’s Team
College of Social & Behavioral Sciences
11:10 AM
Conflicting Motivations: Understanding Latinos’ Responses to In-Group Members Claims of
Discrimination
Dr. Joseph Wellman with Delaine Barania, Gia Macias and Ramiro Ferreyra
Discussant: Dr. Nancy Acevedo-Gil’s Team
11:35 AM
The Cumulative Effect of Subtle Sexism
Dr. Mark Agars with Daniella Lockhart
Discussant: Dr. Liliana Gallego’s Team
12:00 PM
Break
College of Education
12:15 PM
Navigating the Developmental Education Labyrinth: Examining the Experiences of Community
College STEM Students who begin below College-Level Math
Dr. Nancy Acevedo-Gil with Edit Cebreros, Carol Castillo, Elisa Sequeira, and Jaclyn Contreras
Discussant: Dr. Alexandru Roman’s Team
12:40 PM
Guest Speaker, Dr. Joseph Wellman
1:00 PM
Lunch, Lower Commons Panorama Room
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Agenda
August
August31st,
31th,2016
2015
8:00 AM
Breakfast, Lower Commons Panorama Room
9:30 AM
Registration, SMSU Theater
10:00 AM
Guest Speaker, Dr. Liliana Gallegos
College of Business & Public Administration
10:20 AM
Sustainability: Developing A Model of Practice
Dr. Alexandru Roman with Brenda Ochoa and Ambre Marie-Starzyk
Discussant: Dr. Marc Fudge’s Team
10:45 AM
What Have California Cities Learned as a Result of the Great Recession? The Impact
of the Local Option Sales Tax on Rainy Day Stabilization Funds
Dr. Marc Fudge with Mary Bucayu and Fatimah Safari
Discussant: Dr. David Rhoads’ Team
College of Natural Sciences
11:10 AM
Detection and Cultivation of Novel Archaea from a US Great Basin Hot Springs
Dr. Jeremy Dodsworth with Lizett Gonzalez, Marlene Noriega and Joshua Dimapilis
Discussant: Dr. Nicole Bournias’ Team
11:35 AM
Skin Deep: Potential Thermoregulatory Role of Osteoderms in Alligators
Dr. Tomasz Owerkowicz with Melissa Aldana, Patrick Bryan and Karina Vega
Discussant: Dr. Joseph Wellman’s Team
12:00 PM
Break
12:15 PM
The Use of Drosophila Melanogaster as a Model to Investigate Underlying Cellular and
Molecular Basis of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)
Dr. Nicole Bournias-Vardiabasis with Ivan Silva, Taj Rai and Hector Villa
Discussant: Dr. Jeremy Dodsworth’ s Team
12:40 PM
Determining Patterns of Altered Gene Expression Directed by Plant Mitochondria During
Heat Stress
Dr. David Rhoads with Margarete Englert, Crystal Litak and Zachary Hackworth
Discussant: Dr. Tomasz Owerkowicz’ s Team
1:05 PM
Realizing Dreams of Becoming a Scientist
Dr. Timothy Usher with Beverly Abadines, Oswaldo Loya, Jose Loya and Estefania Padilla
Discussant: Dr. Mark Agar’s Team
1:30 PM
Mental Health, Academic Performance, and Food Insecurity: The Role of Sleep Apnea
Among College Students
Dr. Monideepa Becerra with Rochelle Granados, Brittny Bol and Tarah Hernandez
Discussant: Dr. Annie Buckley’s Team
1:55 PM
Closing Remarks
Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, Associate Provost of Research and Dean of Graduate Studies
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Guest Speakers
Dr. Liliana Gallegos
Dr. Liliana Gallegos is an Assistant Professor for the Department of Communication Studies at
CSUSB. She specializes in digital media, transdisciplinary, race, gender and representation, as well as
the presence and influence of Latinos in US mass media. Dr. Gallegos obtained her Ph.D. from
UC Santa Barbara in Hispanic Languages and Literatures with an informal emphasis on Media, Arts
and Technology, her Masters in Border Literature from SDSU, and a Rhetoric and Writing B.A.
from UC Berkeley.
Dr. Gallegos has studied and taught in universities around the world such as, Universidad Nacional
Autónoma of Mexico City, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares in Madrid, Spain, Universidade
Estácio de Sá in Río de Janeiro, Brazil and Seoul University in South Korea. She has presented her
research internationally in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Paris, France, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In addition, she is a radio DJ/ talk show host for "Coyote Radio en Español" at CSUSB. Her most recent
research projects led to the formation of two student run organizations:
The Transcultural Commons Collective: a group that seeks to rescue hidden history of Native
Americans and Native Mexicans in the United States by conducting interviews and researching
journalist archives and then translating this information to new media formats (theatre pieces, art
e x p o s i t i o n s , r a d i o s h o w s , d i g i t a l n a r r a t i v e s , a n d m i n i - d o c u m e n t a r i e s ).
Mass Production: a digital multimedia music club which purpose is to collaborate and network with
other music tech/audio/film members and gain knowledge to prepare students within multiple formats of musical experimentation as it relates to diverse disciplines.
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Guest Speakers
Dr. Joseph Wellman
Dr. Joseph Wellman is a Social Psychologist who received his Ph.D. from the University of Maine in
2012. He completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Wesleyan University prior to joining the Psychology Department. Dr. Wellman’s research program focuses on the social psychological processes of
stigma and discrimination and their implications for psychological wellbeing, health, and intergroup
interactions. His work has examined a variety of stigmatized populations including racial minorities,
low SES individuals, the overweight, gay men, and lesbian women. Dr. Wellman has published his
findings in several prominent professional journals including the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Psychology of Men and Masculinity, and the European Journal of Social Psychology. In addition, he is a regular presenter at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and the Association for Psychological Science.
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College of Arts & Letters
CBA Prison Arts Collective: Comprehensive Certificate and Facilitator Training
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Annie Buckley
Student Team: Jessica Agustin, Lindsey McDonald and Diana Hernandez
This research project will continue and expand the work of Community--‐based Art (CBA), with an emphasis on the three programs in prisons. In CBA, students, alumni, and volunteers facilitate art
throughout the local community at sites that don’t otherwise have access to it, including three state
prisons. This research proposal is to investigate and design two areas within CBA’s prison work: a) a
comprehensive certificate program in the prison program, whether a BA or certificate, and b) a facilitator training for those interested in teaching in the prison art program.
Discussant Team: Dr. Timothy Usher’s Team
El Santo, el Enmascarado de Plata vs. the Perverse Logic of Coloniality
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Liliana Gallegos
Student Team: Sofia Benitez
Lucha libre films were highly influenced by the first Mexican horror film, El Vampiro (1957) directed
by Fernando Mendez. In his book Cinema: A Critical History of Mexican Vampire, Wrestler, Ape-Man
and Similar Films, 1957-1977, Doyle Green tells the story of El Vampiro (1957). The film never made it
to the US until K. Gordon Murray dubbed it in 1968. The film was shown during late night television
and in the drive-in circuit. “Due to its old appearance, budget limitations, dubbed dialogue … El vampiro was dismissed as a cheap Mexican knock-off of the very Hammer Dracula films it had inspired.” For
this research project we will, in a first step, trace and analyze the elements found in El Vampiro as a
response to both a failed attempt to impose the ideals of “modernity” in Mexico and the presence of a
powerful logic of colonialist. In a second step, we will identify Mendez’s influences in the UK’s Horror
of Dracula (1958) and Mexican lucha libre/Horror/Science fiction films like Santo contra cerebro del
mal (1958). In a third step we will begin a dialogue with previously made studies of lucha libre films,
first by questioning the label of Mexploitation, second by addressing the assumption that they were
just cheap knock-offs of American films. We plan to prove this with in-debt cinematic critique and
analysis.
Discussant Team: Dr. Monideepa Becerra’s Team
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College of Business & Public Administration
Sustainability: Developing a Model of Practice
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alexandru Roman
Student Team: Brenda Ochoa and Ambre-Marie Starzyk
This project is a survey-based (perception) research study on sustainability practices in California. The
project has a three-fold scope. First, it seeks to establish a cross-sectional evaluation (snapshot) of
sustainability practices by mid-size and large organizations/companies/agencies located in California.
Second, the project intends to develop a comprehensive list of challenges and best practices as they
pertain to sustainability. Finally, the project seeks to test two hypotheses as they relate to organizational size and organizational leadership vectors.
Discussant Team: Dr. Marc Fudge’s Team
What Have California Cities Learned as a Result of the Great Recession? The Impact of the Local
Option Sales Tax on Rainy Day Stabilization Funds
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Marc Fudge
Student Team: Mary Bucayu and Fatimah Safari
The current fiscal environment continues to place tremendous pressures on local governments’ operating budgets. To ameliorate fiscal stress and stabilize revenue, governments deploy a variety of
budgeting strategies including increasing tax rates, decreasing expenditures, or simply borrowing
funds from the public. Contingency funds, commonly referred to as rainy day stabilization funds
(RDSF), are also used to combat fiscal stress (Marlowe, 2005; Hou, 2004). An RDSF is one countercyclical budget management strategy that allows excess revenue during strong economies to be saved
for and spent during weak economies in an effort to reduce budgetary volatility (Rodríguez-Tejedo,
2012). Another strategy to address fiscal stress is the local option sales tax (LOST), which many states
allow their local governments to impose (Burge & Piper, 2012; Sjoquist et al., 2007). At present, thirty-six states, including California, authorize their local governments to levy a LOST (Afonso, 2015).
While the literature on both RDSF and LOSTs is robust, it has thus far failed to consider that
the two may be related. LOSTs have been found to prompt an increase in local expenditures (Afonso,
2014), but scholars have yet to investigate where the marginal dollar is spent. By further diversifying
its revenue stream, local governments could save surplus LOST for future use. Therefore, one way
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the marginal LOST dollar could be spent is on future expenditures or for offsetting future tax increases. This possibility yields a testable hypothesis with a strict falsification test: Do California local
governments with more LOST revenue save more than local governments with less LOST revenue?
An answer in the negative falsifies the hypothesis, thereby indicating that LOST revenue serves only to finance current obligations rather than some portion of it being reserved for a rainy day. The
hypothesis is tested using a panel of California cities sales tax revenues between 2008 and 2012.
The revenue data are obtained from the California State Board of Equalization. The study uses a
fixed effect ordinary least squares estimator that corrects for correlated errors across panels and
within panels over time.
Discussant Team: Dr. David Rhoads’ Team
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College of Education
Navigating the Developmental Education Labyrinth: Examining the Experiences of Community College
STEM Students Who Begin Below College-Level Math
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nancy Acevedo-Gil
Student Team: Edit Cebreros, Carol Castillo, Elisa Sequeira, and Jaclyn Contreras
This mixed methods research project focuses on the experiences of community college students of color who intend to pursue STEM bachelor degrees but must first enroll in developmental math courses.
As found by Grandy (1998), students of color are less likely to complete STEM degrees when enrolled
at a two-year college, compared to a four-year college. Considering that, 85 percent of California
Community College students will place below college-level math and only 18 percent will complete
transfer math within three years (Solorzano, Datnow, Park, & Watford, 2013), developmental math may
be a key gatekeeper in the STEM degree pipeline. This summer research project will address a dearth
in the literature by examining the influence of self-efficacy, mentoring, and math pedagogy on STEM
pathways for community college students (Crisp, Nora, & Taggart, 2009). After receiving IRB approval, the project will entail student-level quantitative and qualitative data. In collaboration with the Norco
Community College Office of Institutional Research, the quantitative component will analyze studentlevel data from Norco Community College to examine the postsecondary pathways of STEM students
who began in developmental math courses. In addition, oral history interviews (Yow, 2014) with approximately 40 students from the Norco Community College will complement the quantitative findings. As such, the study will provide an in-depth understanding of the challenges and opportunities
that students experience in their pursuit of a STEM degree when they first have to take developmental
math courses. Findings will inform policies and practices to support the community college pathways
of STEM students.
Discussant Team: Dr. Alexandru Roman’s Team
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College of Natural Sciences
Detection and Cultivation of Novel Archaea from a US Great Basin Hot Spring
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jeremy Dodsworth
Student Team: Lizett Gonzalez, Marlene Noriega and Joshua Dimapilis
Despite 140 years of cultivation-based microbiology, the vast majority of microbes have yet to be isolated and studied in the laboratory, and thus their metabolic functions and ecological roles remain unknown. Perhaps the biggest knowledge gap is represented by members of candidate phyla, where no
members within the entire phylum-level group have been cultivated. Candidate phyla represent a biological “black box”, because essentially nothing can be inferred about their function based on comparison to cultivated relatives. Cultivation-independent genomics techniques have allowed access to the
genomes of members of several candidate phyla, providing a window into their possible metabolic
functions and a basis to attempt to cultivate them in the laboratory and test hypotheses regarding
their physiological potential and ecological roles. This project focuses on the “Aigarchaeota”, a candidate phylum in the domain Archaea. Members of this candidate phylum are present in geothermal and
hydrothermal systems worldwide, and are particularly abundant in some systems, including sediments
and in situ cellulolytic enrichments in Great Boiling Spring, NV (~80 °C). Genomic data derived from
metagenomes and single-cell genomes from several members of the “Aigarchaeota” in Great Boiling
Spring will be leveraged to design media and attempt to maintain members of the “Aigarchaeota” in
laboratory enrichment cultures. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) will be
used to assess the presence and abundance of “Aigarchaeota” in natural samples and in enrichment
cultures to determine whether members of this candidate phylum can be maintained and enriched in
the laboratory.
Discussant Team: Dr. Nicole Bournias’ Team
Skin Deep: Potential Thermoregulatory Role of Osteoderms in Alligators
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tomasz Owerkowicz
Student Team: Melissa Aldana, Patrick Bryan and Karina Vega
This project investigates the potential thermoregulatory role of osteoderms (bony plates growing under the scales in many vertebrates). Various functions have been proposed for osteoderms: biomechanic protection, visual communication, ion buffering, thermoregulation. Depending on the species,
support exists for all of these functions, except thermoregulation. Recent analyses of fossil osteoderms, associated with taxa such as non-avian dinosaurs, have discussed their probable thermoregulatory function based on bone microstructural characters, such as a dense network of blood vessels
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supplying osteoderms. Lack of experimental data from living animals, however, means that such claims
are just speculative. After all, many bones of the skeleton are well vascularized, but do not necessarily
participate in heat exchange. We propose to study rates of warming and cooling through specific skin
regions with and without osteoderms in juveniles of the American alligator subjected to a range of
ambient temperatures. Alligators are close relatives of dinosaurs, which means that our conclusions
can be used to make inferences about biology of these extinct taxa. Our project will be the first to
quantify and compare heat transfer rates through the skin with and without osteoderms.
Discussant Team: Dr. Joseph Wellman’s Team
The Use of Drosophila Melanogaster as a Model to Investigate Underlying Cellular and Molecular
Basis of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nicole Bournias-Vardiabasis
Student Team: Ivan Silva, Taj Rai, and Hector Villa
The proposed summer research project will engage three students (all three are currently doing other
research projects in my lab) to establish the protocols and carry out the research project whose main
mission is to establish a model for identifying the cellular and molecular basis of TBI. Traumatic brain
injury happens when a strong hit to the head causes damage to brain cells, resulting in immediate and
long term consequences including physical, behavioral and cognitive problems. More than 1.7 million
TBls occur each year in the United States. It has been shown that over time, impacts may lead to neurodegeneration and other symptoms including memory loss, severe depression or Alzheimer's like
dementia. In recent decades, several animal models have been developed and modified to mimic the
clinical consequences of TBI. In our case we will be using an Alzheimer's strain and specifically looking
how TBI affects the health span and lifespan of these flies. Health span analysis will include a variety of
behavioral assays that we have already developed and utilized in other projects in my lab. We will also
be dissecting the fly brains and assessing damage both at the gross morphological level and also neuronal cell loss by flow cytometry. Key advantages of flies are (i) large numbers can be raised very
quickly and they are very inexpensive to feed and test (ii) we have many molecular and genetic tools
to investigate the molecules and pathways that underlie these injuries (iii) the fly brain is encased in a
hard cuticle (like the skull) and the basic mechanisms affecting nervous system function are the same.
Discussant Team: Dr. Jeremy Dodsworth’ s Team
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Determining Patterns of Altered Gene Expression Directed by Plant Mitochondria During Heat Stress
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Rhoads
Student Team: Margarete Englert, Crystal Litak and Zachary Hackworth
Heat stress is a major detrimental environmental stress on plants. It results in substantial decreases in
crop productivity annually. With increasing temperature spikes due to climate change, the frequency
of detrimental heat stress events is expected to increase. Plants respond to heat stress by, among
other responses, greatly increasing production of heat shock proteins (HSPs), which help protect
other proteins from denaturation due to high temperatures. The focus of this project is to study increased expression of small HSPs (sHSPs) in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis). We
have previously shown that an Ara-bidopsis line, AtHSP23.6CE, that has constitutive (constant)
expression of a mitochondrial small HSP (sHSP) called AtHSP23.6 shows increased thermotolerance.
We will study the effects that constitutive expression of this gene has on the expression of several
other sHSP genes when plants are exposed to heat stress. We previously demonstrated that constitutive expression of the AtHSP23.6 gene results in super-induction (very high increases in expressionmuch more than in typical plants) of ONE other sHSP gene (AtHSP17.4C-CI, At1g54050), but must
determine the effects on other genes to demonstrate the importance of this response for publications and grant proposals. Establishing that mitochondria can affect nuclear gene expression, referred
to as mitochondrial retrograde regulation, during heat stress is potentially a new, transformative angle on our understanding of how gene expression is controlled during heat stress and could contribute to the development of more thermotolerant crops.
Discussant Team: Dr. Tomasz Owerkowicz’ s Team
Realizing Dreams of Becoming a Scientist
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Timothy Usher
Student Team: Beverly Abadines and Oswaldo Loya, Jose Lopez, Estefania Padilla
Beverly:
Our primary objective is to create an inexpensive scanning tunneling microscope with a materials
costs on the order of $200 which can be constructed using simple hand tools. We envision the final
product as approximately a $1000 commercial instrument, or a kit that could be used to assemble
such a microscope from scratch by anyone with basic mechanical, electrical, and programming skills.
This may open up Scanning Tunneling Microscopy as a technique that can be introduced to students
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at the high school level.
Our prototype design uses only a single piezoelectric actuator instead of the normal three due to the
high cost of these items. We have decided to do the lateral actuation using magnetic forces instead. We
have designed a series of construction jigs as part of the process, refining the design systematically. We
now have a jig capable of the precision we desire for the device.
The critical component in our design is the magnetic cross. This structure allows us to deflect the scanning tip in the x and y directions using the coupling between inexpensive rare-earth magnets built into
the cross, and the current that we drive through coils. By adjusting the current in the coils, we can deflect the tip on sub-micron scales; this allows us to scan the tip across a surface, creating an image of
the surface at the atomic scale.
One of our initial tasks has been designing construction jigs to assemble and solder the magnetic cross.
We are doing this with simple tools and techniques so that it can be reproduced with minimal shop facilities.
Oswaldo:
1,2- Dihydroxycyclopententrione or referred to as Croconic Acid, has shown to have a high ferroelectric
properties (about 20 μC cm−2 ) due to its hydrogen bond movement (Horiuchi et al.). For these purposes we attempt to synthesize and modify one of the side carbonyls in its structure and replacing it
with an imine group. Initially using a methyl protecting group of the hydroxyls to prevent possible rearrangements. Previous computations have shown that replacing one of the hydroxyls with an imine will
improve its ferroelectric properties.
Jose:
The purpose of our research is to find ferroelectric organic materials. Ferroelectric materials, are materials that when they are applied an Electric field they remember it. We applied a bias voltage by using an
Atomic Force Microscope (known as AFM). There are ferroelectric materials that are inorganic, but
they are pricy and not environment friendly. In the other hand organic ferroelectric materials are not
very pricy to make and are environmental friendly. During this summer my team and I have worked in
two promising ferroelectric organic materials; Diisopropylammonium Cobalt (denoted as “blue”), and
melamine. Ferroelectric materials are also piezoelectric materials. Piezoelectric materials are part of ferroelectric materials. Piezoelectric materials extend when they are applied an electric field; this is called a piezo response. As far as today we have determined that “blue” gives piezo responses. We have not been
able to determine if “blue” is a ferroelectric material; that is, we have applied electric fields with the
atomic force microscope and they do not stay, when “blue” is read to see if the electric field stayed.
We are going to perform more tests on “blue” to determine if its piezo responses are because it is a ferroelectric material, or because of a chemistry reaction. For melamine, which is the other promising inorganic material we have worked on, we have got piezo responses as well and we also have got results
from the radiant system, it’s a system to test for ferroelectricity, that makes us believe its ferroelectric.
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Estefania:
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are super-massive black holes whose gravitational effects on their surroundings cause them to give off significant amounts of light, allowing students and researchers to observe and study them. One of the most difficult characteristics of studying AGN is determining the
mass of the black hole by using only the light received from the surrounding areas of the black hole.
Measuring the mass of black holes is important for determining how they were originally formed. This
project will be observing a sample of black holes over the course of a few months. Additional objects
will be observed over many months as part of a multi-institution collaboration. Each night images are
taken in multiple sections of the visible spectrum (taken in different filters typically B V R and I), also
known as wavebands. By comparing the distinctions in these wavebands to one another, we will be able
to determine the magnitude of the region producing the light surrounding the black hole. Once the
size of the light-emitting region is determined, one can calculate the mass of the black hole by utilizing
the theory of gravity.
The main focus for students is to learn to plan an observing campaign, to operate the telescope, and
to reduce and analyze data. The unique abilities of our observatory allow us to add new targets to our
observing campaign as others prove successful.
We expect to have some partial light curves by the end of the summer, although the project will not
be complete.
Discussant Team: Dr. Mark Agars’ Team
Mental Health, Academic Performance, and Food Insecurity: The Role of Sleep Apnea Among College
Students
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Monideepa Becerra
Student Team: Rochelle Granados, Brittny Bol, and Tarah Hernandez
Objective: Healthy People 2020, which sets national objectives for U.S., have recently identified sleep
health has a major public health issue. While studies on sleep deprivation among college students have
shown high prevalence, little epidemiologic studies exist to evaluate the health and social outcomes associated with low sleep. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between sleep health to that of academic performance, psychological distress, and food insecurity.
Methods: An existing database on health and behavioral outcomes of college students was utilized to
conduct analyses. First, descriptive statistics was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of poor sleep
health, followed by each outcome: academic performance, psychological distress, and food insecurity.
Sleep health was assessed through the validated Berlin sleep health questionnaire. Academic performance was measured using grade point average. Kessler 6-scale was used to measure levels of psychological distress, while USDA questionnaire was used to assess food insecurity among college students.
Next, bivariate analyses were conduct to evaluate the relationship between sleep health and each of the
aforementioned outcomes.
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Results: Major results demonstrated that 76% of college students reported feeling tired, fatigue, or
daytime sleepiness, while 88% reported less than 8 hours of sleep. Mean GPA was significantly higher
among those who reported feeling tired/fatigue/daytime sleepiness (3.24 vs 3.04, p < .001), compared
to those who did not report such sleep health. There is a significant relationship between students
who cut meals, did not have enough food to last, went hungry, could not afford food and the average
hours of sleep during school week. Prevalence of such poor sleep health also increased with psychological distress (no distress = 62%, mild-moderate = 87%, serious = 96%, p < .05). Conclusion: Our
study results demonstrate that poor sleep health is a major public health issue among college students
and is negatively associated with mental health, food security, and academic performance among college students.
Discussant Team: Dr. Annie Buckley’s Team
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College of Social & Behavioral Sciences
Conflicting Motivations: Understanding Latinos’ Responses to In-Group Members Claims of
Discrimination
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joseph Wellman
Student Team: Delaine Barania, Gia Macias and Ramiro Ferreyra
Previous research has found that both group identification (GID) and status legitimizing beliefs (SLB) predict individuals’ responses to claims of discrimination. Among low status individuals, GID is associated
with more positive evaluations and support for in-group members who claim discrimination; however,
SLBs among low status individuals are associated with decreased support for in-group claimants, as their
claims threaten the stability of the status hierarchy. Across two studies, we examine the interaction between these conflicting motivations and reactions to in-group members who claim discrimination. In
Study 1, we find that GID predicts support for the claimant only when SLBs are low. In Study 2, we
prime SLBs and find that GID is only predictive of support when SLBs are not primed. Results suggest
that SLBs override GID among Latinos in response to discrimination claimants. Implications for group
identification and status legitimacy are discussed.
Discussant Team: Dr. Nancy Acevedo-Gil’s Team
The Cumulative Effect of Subtle Sexism
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mark Agars
Student Team: Daniella Lockhart
The project at the center of the proposed collaboration is a set of psychology research studies examining the cumulative effect of exposure to subtle sexism on the perceptions of women in the workplace.
Although there is no question that sexism in the workplace has decreased substantially over the last several decades, much of this change has been due to the identification of direct and obvious forms of discrimination as either legally or socially inappropriate. Forms of subtle sexism however, which are less obvious and often not immediately identified as harmful, remain quite common. Also referred to as microaggressions, the impact of these various forms of subtle sexism is not well understood. Some in the literature, including myself, have argued that the negative and discriminatory impact of subtle sexism can only be understood when examined cumulatively. That is, that the negative (i.e., discriminatory) impact of
subtle sexism emerges as it is repeated or as we are exposed to it more frequently. Consequently, studies
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that look at single event incidents of subtle sexism are not likely to find an effect. These studies are
flawed, however, because they fail to consider that real-world social contexts (in which one might experience subtle sexism) are not isolated events but rather culminations of a long-term series events,
many of which may repeat over and over again. Therefore, if we are to understand the effects of subtle sexism, we need to examine it in a manner more consistent with its repetitive and persistent nature. To address this, the project we are designing will test this cumulative effect of subtle sexism.
Discussant Team: Dr. Liliana Gallegos’s Team
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About the OSR
The Office of Student Research (OSR) was established in September 2011 by Provost Dr. Andrew R.
Bodman and Associate Provost for Research, Dr. Jeffrey M. Thompson. Dr. Bodman and Dr. Thompson created the OSR to facilitate the engagement of students in scholarly and creative activities related
to their disciplines by providing resources that support both student scholars and their faculty mentors.
The Office of Student Research (OSR) aspires to be known as a clearing house for all the research and
creative activities undertaken at CSUSB. The OSR mission is to enrich the academic experience of all
CSUSB graduate and undergraduate students by providing research and scholarly experiences in their
chosen fields. Our vision is that the OSR will be regarded as the CSUSB entity that best encourages
and supports students’ inquiry, discovery, and creativity in all disciplines through faculty student relationships, research, and creative activities. By doing so, the OSR will contribute to CSUSB’s mission to
offer a challenging and innovative environment to retain graduation rates, driven by teaching and research excellence, intellectual interaction and creativity.
How to Get Involved
The OSR offers many services and programs for students to get involved in research and creative activities throughout the year.
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Student Research and Travel Program (ASI & IRP)
Internships
Workshops
Student Research Journal
“Meeting of the Minds” Symposium
CSUSB Student Research Competition
Faculty and Student Grants
Peer Lab Program
Peer Research Consultant Program
Summer Research Program
Peer Statistician
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Office of Student Research
CH 123
(909) 537-5058
Osr@csusb.edu
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Summer Research Program 2014-2015
Summer Research Program 2013-2014
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