Student Symposium Program 2005

Transcription

1 0 t h
a n n u a l
April 9-10, 2007
steven galovich memorial
Artwork by Kim Bobier ’10
student symposium
1
To the Lake Forest College Community:
I am delighted to welcome you to the spring Student Symposium. This annual event is a highlight
of the academic year at Lake Forest College and illustrates the breadth and depth of our intellectual
community. Students from every academic discipline present the fruits of many hours of research
and scholarship to audiences of their peers and mentors in an inspiring display of talent.
This year’s student presentations will feature art exhibits in various media, musical performances,
a documentary on illegal immigration, a study of the Daley administration in Chicago, innovative
scientific research projects, and still other panel discussions and individual presentations.
I eagerly look forward to this year’s presentations and to seeing you in the audience.
Stephen D. Schutt
President
2
Steven P. Galovich
1945 – 2006
A little more than a decade ago, Dean of Faculty, Provost, and Professor of Mathematics
Steven P. Galovich proposed an idea that would highlight his passion for the academic work
of students. He believed that Lake Forest College should devote a day during the academic
year to showcase students and their research. He was so committed to the idea that he
recommended the cancellation of classes so students could freely attend and participate in
all the events.
The First Annual Student Symposium was held April 7, 1998. Nearly 1,000 members
of the College community attended 118 student presentations, poster sessions, music
concerts, and other events throughout the day and evening. Never one to stay in his
office, a beaming Dean Galovich made a point to go to as many sessions as possible.
Ten years later the Student Symposium — which has since stretched to two days to
accommodate growing interest and participation — is stronger than ever. This year, more
than 350 students and campus groups will present, perform, demonstrate, and share their
scholarship with the College community.
While he would have never taken credit for the idea, Steven Galovich’s mark on this event
is undeniable. When he died unexpectedly in December, Lake Forest College decided to
honor his legacy by renaming an occasion that has become an integral part of the College.
We dedicate the 10th Annual Steven Galovich Memorial Student Symposium for his
contributions to academic discourse and his commitment to celebrating student research.
1 0 t h
a n n u a l
student symposium
April 9-10, 2007
April 9
4 p.m.
Opening of the Student Art Exhibit with Gallery Talks and Reception
Experimental Music Group
Hugo L. Sonnenschein & Albright Art Galleries, Durand Art Institute
Deerpath Gallery, Deerpath Hall
8 p.m.
Sesquicentennial Lecture Series event:
Ruth Winter Community Lecture
Danielle Allen, University of Chicago Professor
and Dean of Humanities
“On Democracy and Knowledge”
Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel
9 p.m.
Reception in Wood Lounge, Reid Hall
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April 10
9:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Student Symposium
Presentations on Middle Campus
4:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Percussion Ensemble
Middle Campus and Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel
4:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.
Red & Black Closing Ceremony
Alexandra Hales ’07
History and Politics major
Yugoslavism: An
Opportunistic Political
Construct or a Timeless
Pluralistic Framework?
Shannon Buckley ’07
English and Education
major
Sean O’Casey’s The
Plough and the Stars:
Educational Programs
Michael Zorniak ’07
Biology Major
In Parkinson’s Disease,
What Happens to Your
Brain Cells When the
Energy Generators
Crash?
Tracey Swanson ’07
French and International
Relations major
Responsibilities and
Methods in Modern
Literary Translation
6:15 p.m.
5
Lake Forest College Student Symposium Schedule
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
9:00 a.m.–4:15 p.m. Welcome Center, Donnelley and Lee Library, First Floor Lobby
Envisioning Chicago Exhibit
Donnelley and
Donnelley and Donnelley and
Donnelley and Donnelley and
Lee Library 203 Lee Library 205 Lee Library 211 Lee Library 221
Lee Library
First Floor
Donnelley and
Lee Library
Reference
Hotchkiss
Hall 101
McCormick
Auditorium
Donuts in Dorms 7:00–8:00
Sesquicentennial Breakfast 7:30–9:00
9:30
SESSION
9:45
Evolution of
College Values
10:00
10:15
10:30
9:30-10:30
SESSION
SESSION
SESSION
PANEL
SESSION
SESSION
Politics, Local
and Global
Leadership at
Lake Forest
College: Past,
Present, and
Future
The Economics
of Education,
Health, and
Currencies
Word Slam!
Psychology in
our Lives
Dramaturgy
and
Playwriting:
Teaching and
Writing
10:00–12:00
10:45
10:00–12:00
SESSION
10:00–12:00
Lake Forest’s
Rich Architectural History
10:00–12:00
10:00–12:00
11:00
10:00–12:00
10:30-11:30
11:15
11:30
SESSION
11:45
Communication
in our Daily Lives
11:35-12:15
12:00
Lunch 12:00–1:00 Ethnic Chicago Menu
1:00
SESSION
SESSION
1:15
Social and
Urban History
Revealed
Perspectives
on Religion,
Philosophy,
and Film
1:30
12:40-2:00
SESSION
SESSION
SESSION
Reflections on
Literature and
Life
Public Sites:
Social History
and Critiques
Math, Music
and
Motherboards
1-2:20
1:00-3:00
Theater in
Practice:
Poetry and
Playwriting
1:00–3:00
1:00–3:00
1:45
2:00
SESSION
1:00-3:00
SESSION
SESSION
2:15
Power and
Protest
2:30
2:00–3:00
Envisioning
Chicago
2:00-2:20
Freedom and
Speech
2:45
2:30-3:15
Break 3:00–3:15 • Ice Cream Social 2:45–3:30 (sponsored by GA) Mohr Café
3:00
3:15
3:30
3:45
4:00
SESSION
SESSION
SESSION
SESSION
SESSION
Secrets
Revealed in
Lake Forest
History
College Radio
is not Dead!
The Rhetoric
of Lincoln
3:15–4:00
3:15-4:15
Theater in
Practice:
Musical
3:15-4:15
3:15–3:55
4:15
4:30
4:45
5:00
4:00-4:30 Music Performance: Percussion Ensemble, Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel
4:30-6:15 Closing Event: Red and Black Closing Ceremony, Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel
6:15 p.m. Reception in Wood Lounge, Reid Hall
6
Lake Forest College Student Symposium Schedule
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
9:00 a.m.–4:15 p.m. Welcome Center, Donnelley and Lee Library, First Floor Lobby
Envisioning Chicago Exhibit
Reid Hall
100
Pierson Rooms
Mohr
A,B, C
Student Center
Café & Stage
Mohr
Mohr
Student Center Student Center
Skybox
Hallway
Calvin Durand
Hall
Meyer
Auditorium
Johnson
100 & 300
Donuts in Dorms 7:00–8:00
Sesquicentennial Breakfast 7:30–9:00
9:30
SESSION
9:45
Biological
Frontiers:
Cells, Birds,
and Brains
10:00
SESSION
Illegal Immigration
Under a Microscope
9:30-10:00
SESSIONS
9:30-10:50
10:15
10:30
The Amazing
World of
Fingerprinting
10:45
10:00-12:00
Mohr Stage
Biological
Frontiers:
Yeasts, Drugs,
and Bird
Migration
11:15
11:30
10:00-12:00
PANEL
Remarkable
Reads I
10:00–10:45
Our
Extraordinary
Brain
10:00-12:00
Mohr Café
SESSION
Protecting the
Environment
PANEL
Remarkable
Reads II
11:00-12:00
11:00–11:45
10:50-12:00
11:45
PANEL
Extraordinary
Experiences:
Scholarship
in a Non-native
Land
SOCIETY OF
PHYSICS
DEMONSTRATION
Johnson 100
10:00-11:00
10:00-11:00
SESSION
11:00
POSTER
PRESENTATIONS
Extraordinary
Experiences:
Europe
STUDENT
AFFILIATES OF
THE AMERICAN
CHEMICAL
SOCIETY CLUB
DEMONSTRATION
11:15-12:00
Johnson 300
PANEL
11:00-12:00
12:00
1:00
1:15
1:30
Lunch 12:00–1:00 Ethnic Chicago Menu
SESSION
SESSION
SESSION
SESSION
The New
Diabelli
Variations
Neurofrontiers:
Students
Learning
Science
Through
Acting
Chinese
Culture in
Action
Reforming
Education
1:00-1:45
1:45
SESSION
2:00
2:15
2:30
POSTER
PRESENTATIONS
1:00-3:30
1:00-2:00
1:00-2:00
Mohr Stage
Knowledge,
Justice, and
Medicine
PANEL
Extraordinary
Experiences:
Asia, Africa, and
Australia
1:00-2:40
1:00-1:45
SESSION
1:00-3:00
Songwriting,
History, and
Composition
SESSION
PANEL
Lake Forest
College’s
International
Internships
Cooking
Techno With
Logic Pro
1:45-3:00
2:00-3:00
2:45
2:15-3:00
Break 3:00–3:15 • Ice Cream Social 2:45–3:30 (sponsored by GA) Mohr Café
3:00
SESSION
3:15
3:30
SESSION
3:45
Students as
Songwriters
4:00
3:30-4:15
SESSION
SESSION
Eukaryon: A
Life Science
Journal by and
for Students
Helping
Hands:
Children and
Homes
3:15-4:15
3:15-3:55
Master of
Liberal Studies:
Culture and
Politics
3:00-4:15
PANEL
Humanitarian
Crises Around
the World–Take
Responsibility!
3:15-4:00
4:15
4:30
4:45
5:00
4:00-4:30 Music Performance: Percussion Ensemble, Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel
4:30-6:15 Closing Event: Red and Black Closing Ceremony, Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel
6:15 p.m. Reception in Wood Lounge, Reid Hall
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steven galovich memorial Student Symposium
Monday, April 9
Opening Event: Student Art Exhibit with Gallery Talks and
Reception
Middle Campus
4:00-4:30
Percussion Ensemble
4:00-5:30
Hugo L. Sonnenschein, Albright, and Deerpath
Art Galleries
Moderators: Professors Tom Denlinger, Karen
Lebergott, Christopher Reed, Eli Robb, and
Ann Roberts
5:30-7:00
Dinner: Ethnic Chicago
8:00
“On Democracy and Knowledge” by
Danielle Allen, University of Chicago
Session:
Moderators:
Power and Protest
Professor Carol Gayle
Katie Danklefsen ’10
2:00-2:20
David Cantor-Echols
Two Swords: Abbot Suger’s Notion of French Royal
Power
2:20-2:40
Dylan Davis
The Soviet Writer in the 1930s: Mikhail Bulgakov
and His Novel
2:40-3:00
Leah Jurevicius
They Met in the Desert: Interfaith Nonviolent Protest
at the Nevada Test Site, 1981–2006
3:00-3:15
Break
Donnelley and Lee Library Room 205
Session:
Tuesday, April 10, 9:30 a.m.
Welcome Center, Donnelley and Lee Library First Floor Lobby
Moderators:
10:00-10:40
Chantell Benjamin
Josh D’Angelo
Derek Atchley
Natalie Elsasser
Aleksa Dutko
Andrew Crawford
Amy Chappuis
A Peek Into the Past: Presidential Leadership at
Lake Forest College
10:40-11:20
Mura Dominko
Susan DuMont
Alexandra Hales
Casey Malsam
Hannah Michal
Caitlin Paluska
Justin Stenger
Presidential Leadership of the Present Era at
Lake Forest College
11:20-12:00
Irina Bartnovsky
Sabrina Crowder
Stacy Nadelhoffer
Angela Pritchard
Brad Rahal
Heather Steward
Kim Zafiriou
Better Than a Crystal Ball: Leadership Styles in
Light of Lake Forest College’s Future
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Session:
Moderators:
Politics: Local and Global
Professor Siobhan Moroney
Danielle Marler ’10
10:00-10:20
Samantha Hartwig
Michael Halusek
Law and Disorder: Evaluating the Administration of
Justice in the Lake County Courthouse
Leadership at Lake Forest College:
Past, Present and Future
Beth Tyler
Clarissa Thiessen ’10
10:20-10:40
Matthew Blumenfeld
The Daley Dynasty and the Evolution of Chicago
Machine Politics
10:40-11:00
Rebecca Bride
Taming the Dragon: How Problems at Home are
Affecting China’s Rise as a Global Power
11:00-11:20
Matthew Fernholz
The Power of Principles: Neo-conservatism and the
Remaking of American Foreign Policy
11:20-11:40
Rich Lopez
The Prospects and Present State of Mining in
Tanzania
12:00-1:00
Lunch
Session:
Moderators:
Social and Urban History Revealed
Professor Holly Swyers
Katie Danklefsen ’10
12:00-1:00
Lunch
12:40-1:00
Cheryl-Lynn May
A Seal upon Thy Heart: The Social and Subversive
Significance of Escudos de Monjas
Session:
Perspectives on Religion, Philosophy and
Film
Professor Ronald Miller
Austin Stewart ’10
1:00-1:20
Megan French
Christopher Hartley
Rhetorical Strategies for Writing Social History
1:20-1:40
1:40-2:00
Moderators:
1:00-1:20
Ellen Jeffreys-White
Islam: The Sunni and Shiite Conflict
Megan French
Writing American Social History: The Narrative and
the Analytic
1:20-1:40
Valentina Galli
Anno Domini: The Development of the Christian Era
by Dionysius Exiguus
Maulik Vaishnav
Comparative Urban History: A Global Perspective
1:40-2:00
Diliana Ovtcharova
Kristof Kieslowski: film director or philosopher
8
2:00-2:20
Ben Warren
Philosophy and film: “Jules and Jim”
Session:
Moderators:
2:20-2:40
Mike Abramson
Rules, Ethics, and Nonsense—the Perfect Language in
Wittgenstein’s Tractatus’
Reflections on Literature and Life
Professor Carla Arnell
Ashlee Norton ’10
1:00-1:20
Mary Joe Norero
Chance Kieslowski
Christopher Shirley
Queering the Machine: The History and Practice of
Camp
1:20-1:40
Chelsea Ledoux
Different Uses of the Absent Parent Device in Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre
and Jane Austen’s Emma
1:40-2:00
Ethan Helm
Fighting Demons to Fighting Cancer
3:00-3:15
Break
Session:
Moderator:
College Radio is not Dead!
Professor Dave Park
3:15-4:00
Cate Cryder
Meghan Grosse
Eric Murphy
Nick Rennis
Caitlin Stephan
College Radio: Saving a Dying Medium
Session:
Moderators:
Evolution of College Values
Professor Lou Lombardi
Nick Williams ’07
9:30-10:30
Jennifer Bond
Rob Flot
Alexandra Hales
Tara Haskins
Corey Howe
Kylie McGonigal
Kevin Smith
James Zender
The Evolution of the College’s Values
Session:
Moderators:
Lake Forest’s Rich Architectural History
Professor Chris Reed
Ed Vrtis ’07
10:30-11:30
Lydia Dodge
Dustin Magill
Alma Princip
Christopher Shirley
Neal Van Winkle
Ashley Ware
Lake Forest College Campus History
Session:
Moderators:
Communication in our Daily Lives
Professor David Charbonneau
Nicki Larson ’10
11:35-11:55
David Kuriniec
Cracking the Framed Pictures in Our Heads: An
Analysis of Portrayals of Disability in Television and
Film
11:55-12:15
Allison Weiner
Rhetorical Theory: A Rhetorical Critique of Modern
Argument
12:00-1:00
Lunch
2:40-3:00
3:00-3:15
Break
Session:
Moderator:
Secrets Revealed in Lake Forest History
Jim Cubit
3:15-3:35
Emily Capettini
Tusitala: Lake Forest Writing, 1935–2007
3:35-3:55
Joshua Anderson
Wild Lake Forest: Surprises in 150 years of history
Session:
Moderators:
10:00-10:20
The Economics of Education, Health and
Currencies
Professor Rob Lemke
Christopher Janjigian ’10
Deepti Sharma
Characteristics, Causes, and Consequences of Informal
Economic Activities
10:20-10:40
Asa Reynolds
Dollarization in Latin America and Europe
10:40-11:00
Clayton Roche
Eat Your Utils: The Economics and Philosophy of
Obesity
11:00-11:20
Mariyana Zapryanova
Accounting for the Differences in PhD Creation Rates
across Liberal Arts Colleges
12:00-1:00
Lunch
Panel:
Moderators:
Word Slam!
Professor James Barilla
Kim Bobier ’10
10:00-11:00
Irina Bartnovsky
Jacqueleen Hale
Michal Sorensen
The Power of Words
11:00-12:00
Evan Bell
Emily Capettini
Erin Doughty
Nicholas Forte
Joanne Kim
Nick Leland
Marie Madel
Ruth Maynie
Nicole Nodi
Michal Sorensen
Beanbags and Blindfolds—the non-English Major’s
Guide to Poetry
Donnelley and Lee Library Reference
12:00-1:00
Lunch
9
Session:
Moderators:
Public Sites: Social History and Critiques
Professor Virginia Stewart
1:00-2:20
Elizabeth Brandon
Laura Desjarlais
Katherine Eckley
Leah Jurevicius
Cheryl-Lynn May
Alec Tessler
Chicago: History and Public Memory
Session:
Moderators:
Freedom and Speech
Professor Linda Horwitz
Julie Maskulka ’10
2:30-3:15
Amber Gehring
Thomas Johns
Devin McGuire
Rhetorical Criticism: An Analysis of Speeches by
Douglass, Lincoln, and Gandhi
3:00-3:15
Casey Tompkins
Maulik Vaishnav
Really Big Numbers
1:20-1:40
Alexander Monahov
Quantitative (il)Literacy and Lake Forest College
1:40-2:00
David Malec
Quantum Computers
2:00-2:20
Dimitar Nikolov
Applying Data Mining and Information Retrieval
Techniques to Automatic Plagiarism Detection in
Papers
2:20-2:40
Syed Karim
Why Not Search Kindly: An Adventure in Online
Altruism and Social Entrepreneurship
2:40-3:00
Christopher Hartley
The Search for Music in the Brain
3:00-3:15
Break
Break
McCormick Auditorium
Session:
Moderators:
3:15-3:30
Session:
Lincoln
Professor Linda Horwitz
Julie Maskulka ’10
Moderators:
Amy Leyh
The Rhetoric of Abraham Lincoln
3:30-3:45
Jennifer Larsen
3:45-4:00
Lindsey Woodard
4:00-4:15
Juliane Chalabi
10:00-10:30
Victoria Henson
Justine Hunter
Meredith Knoff
Ashlee Norton
Terry Hands Directs Hamlet
10:30-11:15
Charlie Alves
Walker Barnes
Ashley Brant
Katy Burroughs
Caitlin Fergus
Ashley Hall
Robert Hendler
Carl LaMark
Sarah Lowery
Molly Mullen
Anna Powell
Alex Seabrook
Lauren Scheuer
Hannah Schlotterbeck
Dramaturgy in Action: Sophocles’ Electra and
Charles Mee’s Big Love
11:20-11:40
Katy Burroughs
Process of Playwriting
11:40-12:00
Elizabeth Derry
Melanie Meyer
Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars:
Dramaturgy
Hotchkiss Hall 101
Session:
Moderators:
Psychology in Our Lives
Professor Nancy Brekke
Natalie Talbert ’10
10:00-10:20
Stella Nisenbaum
The Role of Race in Capital Punishment
10:20-10:40
Jenny Riddle
Deceptive Accuracy: A Look into Criminal Profiling
10:40-11:00
Diane Reynolds
Learning Disabled Students and their Label: What
Effect does Being Labeled have on Students’ SelfConcepts?
Dramaturgy and Playwriting: Teaching and
Writing
Professor Richard Pettengill
Ashley Hall ’10
11:00-11:20
Julia Hogan
Juveniles’ Capacity to Understand Miranda Warnings
11:20-11:40
Stephani Nicholas
The Effectiveness of Violence Prevention Programs in
Reducing School Violence
11:40-12:00
Bryan Kratz
Cross-Cultural Comparison of Brain Activity
12:00-1:00
Lunch
12:00-1:00
Lunch
Session:
Moderators:
Theaters in Practice: Poetry and Playwriting
Professor Dennis Mae
Mario Mazzetti ’10
Session:
Moderators:
Math, Music and Motherboards
Professor DeJuran Richardson
Ali Vetter ’10
1:00-2:20
1:00-1:20
Pavel Ondreicsik
Kristin Panella
Benjamin Bienia
Brett Byron
Justin Carrero
Stephany Del Cid Mendoza
Anne Demere
10
Brittany Ferrin
George Ginakais
Sarah Jones
Damian Mika
The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti; Poetry
Reading
2:20-3:00
Lindsay Britts
Katy Burroughs
Emily Capettini
Chloe Goya
Ashley Hall
Mario Mazzetti
Elizabeth Milligan
Molly Mullen
Alex Seabrook
Playwrights in Progress XXVI Discussion Panel
3:00-3:15
Break
Session:
Moderators:
Theater in Practice: Musical
Professor Dennis Mae
Mario Mazzetti ’10
3:15-3:45
Charles Alves
Julianna Hincks
Jin-Huon Jou
Melanie Meyer
Stephan Young
The Goblin Market; a musical theater performance
Session:
Moderators:
Students as Songwriters
Professor Donald Meyer
Meg Golembiewski ’10
3:30-4:15
Heidi Anderson
Vicky Ano
Merrick Fagan
Aidan Gilbert
Julie Harber
Matt Kistler
Justin Lansing
Angie Ma
Michael Meek
Devin McIntyre
Kelly McNutt
Nathan Rhodes
Doug Rank
Ami Stellatos
Joseph Yeo
John TerMaat
Sudhir Upreti
Taylor Wright
Students on Songwriting
Session:
Moderators:
Biological Frontiers: Cells, Birds and Brains
Professor Douglas Light
Max Meltser ’10
9:30-9:50
Michael White
The Newest Parkinson’s Disease Causing AlphaSynuclein Mutant is Selectively Toxic to Yeast
Pierson Rooms A, B and C
Reid Hall 100
9:50-10:10
Panel:
Moderators:
The New Diabelli Variations
Proefssor David Amrein
Matt Kistler ’10
Alina Spivak
Calcium and Cell Volume Regulation in Alligator Red
Blood Cells
10:10-10:30
1:00-1:45
Molly Auer
Mike Carpenter
Grace Dunford
Zak Engel
Aidan Gilbert
Meg Golembiewski
Olivia Gray
Brian Kedzorski
Angie Ma
Devin McIntyre
Natalie Molina
Nick Rennis
Lorraine Scanlon
Chelsea Bueter
Cospeciation of Catharus thrushes and their parasitic
chewing lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera)
10:30-10:50
Nengding (Julie) Wang
Chaperoning the Protein Fold: Heat Shock Proteins
and α-Synuclein Toxicity in Parkinson’s Disease
Session:
Biological Frontiers: Yeasts, Drugs and Bird
Migration
Professor Caleb Gordon
Michael Fiske ’10
Moderators:
10:50-11:10
Benjamin Larsen
Income versus capital-based migration fueling in
North American Songbirds
11:10-11:30
Session:
Moderators:
Songwriting, History and Composition
Professor David Amrein
Matt Kistler ’10
Stephanie Valtierra
Exploiting Yeast for the Study of RNA interference
11:30-11:50
1:45-2:05
Tracey Swanson
On Musical Composition as a Representative Art:
La Via Girona
Jenny Riddle
Neurobiology of Drug Addiction: Evaulation of
AMPA Receptor Composition in the Brain
11:50-12:10
Anne Haas
An Examination of Sex-related Differences in
Songbird Migratory Strategy
12:00-1:00
Lunch
Session:
Neurofrontiers: Students Learning Science
Through Acting
Professor Nicole Sleiter
Timila Dhakhwa ’10
2:05-2:25
Angie Ma
Muse: Songwriting in the Chicago Arts Program
2:25-2:45
Stephan Young
Beethoven’s Archaic Progressivism
3:00-3:15
Break
Moderators:
1:00-1:30
11
Krista Kusinski
Knowing Your Nose: Discovering How we Smell
1:30-2:00
Andrew Ferrier
Tale of Two Proteins: Tau and α-Synuclein
Session:
Moderator:
Helping Hands: Children and Homes
Professor Gizella Meneses
2:00-2:30
Stephanie Valtierra
Williams Syndrome: The Costs and Benefits of
Chromosomal Deletions
3:15-3:35
2:30-3:00
Joshua Haas
History Tends To Repeat: FMR-1 Silencing in
Fragile-X Syndrome
Bita Dadfar
Sara Jensen
Audia Reggie
Zorie Valchev
Child Care Center at Lake Forest College
3:35-3:55
Doug Adolph
Erin Black
Natalie Elsasser
Robert Ericson
Megan French
Kathleen O’Mary
Hadley Skeffington-Vos
Megan Vercellino
Habitat for Humanity on the Local, National, and
International Level
3:00-3:15
Break
Session:
Eukaryon: A Life Science Journal by and for
Students
Professor Pliny Smith
Mohammed Ejaz Ali ’10
Moderators:
3:15-3:35
3:35-3:55
3:55-4:15
Chelsea Bueter
Alina Spivak
Michael Zorniak
Eukaryon’s Trilogy: Pioneering Selectivity and New
Traditions
Calvin Durand Hall
Mithaq Vahedi
Degrading α−Synuclein: Is the Lysosome Wreaking
Havoc in Parkinson’s Disease?
Panel:
Moderators:
Remarkable Reads I
Professor Michael Ebner
Taylor Tuscherer ’10
10:00-10:45
Shruti Pore
Remarkable Read: Unraveling The Double Helix
Lokesh Kukreja
Synuclein Aggregation and Membrane Association in
Fission Yeast Model: Implications for PD Pathogenesis
Christopher Hartley
Remarkable Read: Stretching Historiography:
Responsible Imagination in Alfred Young’s
Masquerade
Mohr Skybox
Rich Lopez
Remarkable Read: The Dharma Bums
Session:
Moderators:
Protecting the Environment
Professor Benjamin Goluboff
Terese Noe ’10
11:00-11:20
Greg Reger
Unleash Your Inner Treehugger!
11:20-11:40
Nicholas Primrose
The Environmental State of Lake Erie
11:40-12:00
Graham Melbourne
New York’s Environmental Issues
Panel:
Moderators:
Remarkable Reads II
Professor Janet McCracken
Victoria Henson ’10
11:00-11:45
Lital Silverman
Remarkable Read: The Effect of The Emerging
Mind on an Emerging Mind
Mithaq Vahedi
Remarkable Read: A Chronicle of a Disease that
Changed the Central Dogma of Biology: Deadly
Feasts
12:00-1:00
Lunch
Session:
Moderators:
Reforming Education
Professor Shelley Sherman
Ryan Glowacz ’10
1:00-1:20
Elizabeth Milligan
Student Activism: Educating Participants in the
Global Society
12:00-1:00
Lunch
1:20-1:40
Natalie Elsasser
Reforming Education: Insights from the
Homeschooling Movement
Session:
Moderators:
Knowledge, Justice and Medicine
Professor Rachel Whidden
Michelle Seabury ’10
1:40-2:00
Alyssa Huff
Educational Reform: The Rise and Fall of Open
Education
1:00-1:20
Michael Ojdana
Scientific Ethos in Medicine: Doctors, Pharmaceutical
Companies, and the Patient’s General project information
1:20-1:40
Session:
Moderators:
Cooking Techno With Logic Pro
Professor Shelley Sherman
Ryan Glowacz ’10
Jonathan D’Angelo
The Public Understanding of Nutritional
Supplements: How a Controversy is Born
2:00-2:30
Mark Fancher
1:40-2:00
Meghan Grosse
Nanobots and “Grey-Goo”: Discussions of
Nanotechnologies in the Technical and Public Spheres
3:00-3:15
Break
2:00-2:20
Kendra Casey
Genetically-Modified Food and the Public
Understanding of Science
Tracy Schwartz
Remarkable Read: I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom
Wolfe
12
2:20-2:40
Ethan Helm
Tuberculosis and Social Injustice
Panel:
Moderators:
3:00-3:15
Break
Session:
Master of Liberal Studies: Culture and
Politics
Professor Dan LeMahieu
Moderatos:
3:00-3:25
Wendy Rhodes
Devon Dreaming: Intercultural Model or Anomaly?
3:25-3:50
Carol Jones
Realizing the Dream: Barack Obama and the
Movement from Protest to Politics
3:50-4:15
Wendy Rhodes
The Black-Jewish Alliance and the Civil Rights
Movement: Past, Present, Future
1:00-1:45
Extraordinary Experiences: Asia, Africa and
Australia
Professor Catherine Benton
Christine Dobies ’10
Marius Geykman
Nehon
Anna Sobieski
A Forester in the Australian Bush
Muna Gurung
Basking in Tanzania
Panel:
Moderators:
2:00-3:00
Meyer Auditorium
Extraordinary Experiences: Lake Forest
College’s International Internships:
New Horizons
Professor Lois Barr
Christine Dobies ’10
Rebecca Bride
My Life in China
Shruti Pore
Falling Into Paris
Session:
Moderator:
Illegal Immigration Under a Microscope
Professor James Marquardt
9:30-10:00
Dan Kolen
Justin Lansing
Illegal Immigration and Deportation, a Documentary
3:00-3:15
Break
Panel:
Extraordinary Experiences: Scholarship in a
Non-native Land
Professor Cynthia Hahn
Abby Carney
Panel:
Madalina Serban
Mithaq Vahedi
Global Education: Intellectual Engagement of LFC
International Students
Humanitarian Crises Around the World –
Take Responsibility!
Professor Chad McCracken
Jerrica Krcywicki ’10
3:15-4:00
Moderators:
10:00-11:00
Elaina Komala
Melanie Quall
Student Perspectives on Chile in the XXI Century
Moderators:
Daniel Reiter
Foresters in the Cloud Forest: Conducting Costa Rican
Field Research in Lake Forest College’s Tropical
Ecology Class
Lavinia Sinitean
Vocational Exploration in International Setting
Johnson 100
Alexander Honnet
The Daudi Bohra in Pune: Deconstructing the
Muslim Stereotype
Demonstration: Society of Physics Demonstration
Moderator:
Professor Nathan Mueggenburg
10:00-11:00
Panel:
Moderators:
Extraordinary Experiences: Europe
Jan Miller
Allysa Huff ’10
11:15-12:00
David Cantor-Echols
A “Europeanizing” Spain: Changing Trends in the
Spanish Countryside
Carolyn Lowry
The European Union: How the Economic and Political
Policies Affect the People and Culture
Jason Ashman
Juliana Boelen
Mark Fancher
Matt Nelson
Amit Shrestha
Kyle Wendt
Fun With Physics
Johnson 300
Demonstration: Student affiliates of the American Chemical
Society Chemistry Club Demonstration
Professor Elizabeth Fischer
Moderator:
Tara Haskins
The Peripatetic Classroom
11:00-12:00
Molly Mullen
A Tale of Two Cities: My Semester Abroad
12:00-1:00
Tenzin Dolker
Rob Flot
Ethan Helm
Rich Lopez
Melanie Quall
Kevin Smith
Social Justice as Responsibility
Lunch
13
Rachel Alter
Jennifer Brown
Jennifer Ciesielski
Shaun Davis
Kenneth Finch
Alex Grenning
Chelsea Ledoux
Emily Pospiech
Annada Rajbhandary
Katie Rice
Ruja Shrestha
Iulia Strambeanu
Laura Thilgen
Mithaq Vahedi
Flames, Fumes, and Flashes: Students Fired Up
About Chemistry
Mohr Café
Session:
Moderator:
Our Extraordinary Brain
Professor Shubhik DebBurman
10:00-12:00
Andrew Ferrier
Josh Haas
Lokesh Kukreja
Krista Kusinski
Ben Larsen
Solmaz Shadman
Stephanie Valtierra
Michael White
The Astonishing World of our Brain
Mohr Stage
Session:
Moderators:
The Amazing World of Fingerprinting
Professor Nicole Sleiter
Professor Jed Stone
10:00-12:00
Elizabeth Behrmann
Katherine Benetatos
Erin Bomberg
Ashley Bunning
Peter Cahill
Dana Capaccio
John Caracciolo
Jessica, Chiou
Christina Condon
Erin Doughty
Justin Ellerman
Krista Evans
Valentina Galli
Andres Gomez
John Kellogg
Alexander King
James Kite
Danielle Koutsopanagos
Jerrica Krzywicki
Kyle Lephart
Allison Malia
Phillip Miatkowski
Damian Mika
Stephen Moss
Stephani Nicholas
Lauren O’Neil
Shruti Pore
Naa Quaye
Nandi Rease
Jennifer Riddle
Troy Thomas
William Todd
Erika Torres
Michael Watman
James Werner
Claire Wilson
Loops, Whorls, and Arches: The Inside Scoop on
Fingerprinting
12:00-1:00
Lunch
Session:
Moderator:
Chinese Culture in Action
Professor Rosa Yeh
Donnelley and Lee Library First Floor
2:00-2:20
Gabriella Panayotova
David Ristau
Envisioning Chicago
Cafeteria
Moderator:
12:15-12:45
Jazz Ensemble
Michael Sorenson
David Cantor-Echols
Jin-Huon Jou
Dan Kolen
Angie Ma
Devin McIntyre
Michael Meek
Monday, April 9
Moderator:
6:00-6:30
Aikido
Dimitar Nikolov
Chloe Goya
Robert Hendler
Kamil Madejski
Sara Miles
Dimitar Nikolov
Aikido Demonstration
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Mohr Hallway
10:00-12:00
Moderators:
Professor Matthew Kelley
Chelsea Wade ’08
First-Year Studies
Alexandra Ayala
The Third Annual Brain Awareness Week at Lake
Forest College: A Community Outreach Project
Kumiko Akiyama
Kyuma Asami
Rebecca Bride
Anthony Do
Max Falaleyev
Chloe Goya
Spenser Hicks
Stephani Nicholas
Nikki Nguyen
Phuc Phan
Quincy Roberts
Lindsay Ross
Emily Shanahan
Chinese Performing Arts and Period Costume
Demonstration
Benjamin Bienia
Viridiana Del Bosque Castro
Lauren Stants
Robert Turner
Peter Wisnieff
FIYS106 Medical Mysteries: Dissecting the Sleeping
Brain
Mohammed Ali
Kedryn Samson
FIYS106 Medical Mysteries: Sex on the Brain
Paige Keasler
Sreeja Reddy
FIYS106 Medical Mysteries: Drugs and the Brain
14
Social Sciences and Humanities
Whitney Atkins
James Kite
Lisa Ralph
Argentina: Anxious for Appraisal
Student Organizations
Kimberly Levinson
Ava Phisuthikul
Objections and Hearsay and Judges! Oh My! The
Exciting World of Collegiate Mock Trial
Richard Baynes
Elizabeth Bauer
Justin Ellerman
Elizabeth Mabs
Nicole Rivera
South Africa: A Developing Nation Helped or Hurt
by Globalization?
Lubko Berezowsky
Morgan Easter
Rob Flot
Rich Lopez
Elizabeth Martinez
Justin Messmore
Elizabeth Milligan
Levi Paul
Melanie Quall
Reuben Sanyika
Kevin Smith
Deepti Sharma
Jennillee Wallace
Challenging Human Rights Abuses
Katherine Benetatos
Walter Echeverry
Robert Madi
China: An Emerging Powerhouse?
Nicholas Benoit
Tyler Canal
Brian Lee
Alex Minicucci
Globalization and India
1:30-3:30
Moderators:
Emily Blegan
Dustin Koch
The Generation Effect
Jacob Elperin
Art Mandel
Ukrainian Economic Development after the fall of
Communism
Professor Lori Del Negro
Levi Paul ’09
First-Year Studies
Magdalena Bartolik
Backyard Inequalities: A Comparison of Lake Forest
and Waukegan High Schools
Caroline Fitz
“Knowing” What You Don’t Know and Forgetting
What You Do: The Phenomena of False Memory and
the Forgot-It-All-Along Effect
Ashley Hall
Kelly McNutt
Nicholas Primrose
Evaluating and Preserving the Fine Arts in Public
Education
Dean Fox
Lawrence Lukoma
Matthew Patek
Vito Regalado
Brandon Smart
What can Botswana do when the diamonds stop
shining?
Tracy Schwartz
Ensuring the Future of Vocational Education
Taylor Tuscherer
The Role of States in Providing Equitable Funding for
Public Education
Brittany Goldman
Gretchen Yehl
“Knowing it all with No Recall” — The Fan Effect
Natural Sciences
Rachel Alter
Modeling enantioselectivity in the chelate-controlled
synthesis of ansa-Zirconoocenes: a comparison of DFT
and empirical force field methods
Daniel Hankosky
Patrick Hartman
Rachel Stickney
Trevor Thomas
Troy Thomas
A Cry for Economic Liberation
Anne Haas
Karina Nikogosian
Optimal Temperature Response in the Lizard
Sceloporus malachiticus Across an Elevation Gradient
in a Costa Rican Cloud Forest
Jessica Jester
Exploring Verbal Overshadowing in Memory
for Order
Jennifer Ciesielski
Catalytic Palladium Coupling of Ethynyl Compounds
to Aromatic Heterocycles
Stacey Parrott
Cejay Roman
Gender Stereotypes
Shaun Davis
Emily Pospiech
The Sherlock Holmes of DNA: Identification of
Bacterial Species by Polymerase Chain Reaction
Elsi Rodriguez
Asfar Siddiqui
The Impact of Globalization on Saudi Oil
Laney Shaler
Kriti Shrestha
Globalization and Poverty in Bangladesh
Ryne DeBo
Benjamin Larsen
Distribution and Diversity of Epigaeic Fauna in a
Montane Costa Rican Cloud Forest
Claire Smith
Exploring the Classic and Emotional Stroop Tasks
Andrea Durante
Matt Johnson
Change in Species Richness, Abundance, and
Composition across an Elevation Gradient and
Between Forest Types
15
Kenneth Finch
Ionic liquids for materials synthesis: preparation and
characterization of [EMIM]7[Ni4P13S36] (EMIM =
1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium)
Student Organizations
Douglas Adolph
Margaret Bower
Allison Chao
Alexandra Hales
Peter Harbert
Sheiva Jahanban
Mackenzie Knowling
Kelly Lardner
Brittany MacLeod
Lisa Ralph
Chloe Salzmann
Shep Washburn
Michael Winand
Greek Life: Rediscovering Roots and Reaffirming
Greatness
Alexander Grenning
Hexamethylenetetramine as a Blocking Group in
Organometallic Cross-Coupling Reactions
Matthew Nelson
Casey Tompkins
Granular Compaction
Karina Nikogosian
Carly Stickles
Bromeliad Stress across an elevation gradient in a
Costa Rican cloud forest
Jillian Olejnik
Follow The Leader: Effects of Female Responsiveness
on Mate-Choice Copying
Frank Pierri
Analysis of Benzene in Chicago’s Ambient Air by Solid
Phase Microextraction and Gas
Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry
Daniel Reiter
Costa Rica’s Avifauna: Disturbed or Intact Primary
Rainforest on the Pacific Coast of the Talamanca
Mountains
Katie Rice
Solvothermal Synthesis: An Inorganic Chemist’s
Approach to Baking
Ruja Shrestha
Palladium Catalyzed Ethynylation of Haloacetanilides
Lavinia Sinitean
Iodine Status in Individuals from a Rural and Urban
area in Bolivia
Tulaza Vaidya
Sonagashira Reactions with the PEPPSI-IPr Catalyst
System
Kyle Wendt
Electron-Molecule Collisions: The Collision Cross
Section of Chlorine
Social Sciences and Humanities
Hannah Schlotterbeck
Change Detection and Change Blindness
Molly Beste
Margaret Bower
Ashley Caja
Neal Carr
Peri Kepraios
Danielle Koutsopanagos
Anna Mahar
Graham Melbourne
Leah Scull
Roman Shklover
Carly Stickles
Chris Wilson
Kimberly Zafiriou
Case Studies of Wildlife Reintroduction Projects
16
Monday, April 9
Opening Events:
4:00-5:30
Student Art Exhibit with Gallery Talks and
Reception
Hugo L. Sonnenschein, Albright, and Deerpath
Art Galleries
Moderators: Professors Tom Denlinger, Lebergott,
Reed and Roberts
8:00 p.m.
“On Democracy and Knowledge” by
Danielle Allen, University of Chicago
9:00 p.m.
Student Artists
Ejaz Ali
Kelly Allen
Kristine Andreassen
Marly Ashworth
Alexandra Barnes
Jade Bartlett
Kelly Begley
Jessica Birecki
Elizabeth Birnbaum
Kim Bobier
Jemere Bohnert
Rebecca Bride
Lindsay Britts
Matthew Brodeur
Caitlin Brown
Lauren Brunswick
Marzena Brzakala
Gabby Burrage
Ben Cady
Emily Capettini
Kristen Carpenter
Ross Chapman
Jessica Chiou
Theresa Cissell
Stacy Coman
Clare Conlisk
Ana Constantinescu
Therese Conway
Melissa Cooper
Megan Craig
Maria Crane
Lizmarie Davila
Laura Desjarlais
Lydia Dodge
Marin Dornseif
Ericka Edwards
Julia Eisenberg
Michelle Everst
Caitie Fergus
Sarah Foley
Jarad Fox
Andrew Fretter
Colby Friedeman
Christopher Georgen
Brittany Goodrich
Kendra Grant
Shannon Green
Jon Gudmundsson
Iva Gueorguieva
Maria Hansen
Sam Hansen
Paul Hastings
Brianna Hayes
Valerie Hecktman
Kahki Heusner
Miku Horimoto
Lizzie Johnson
Sarah Jones
Laura Kashian
Sana Kazmi
Kerstin Klein
Danielle Koutsoanagos
Jerrica Krzywicki
Jake LaFollette
Samantha LePicier
Angelica London-Johnson
Kamil Madejski
Dustin Magill
Clare Mannion
Sarah Marrinan
Cheryl-Lynn May
Kelly McCollum
Devin McGuire
Andrew Meador
Ross Mires
Allison Molloy
Joaquin Nava
Mia Newlands
Samantha Newman
Katy Nielsen
Andrew Nieman
Sadie Norwick
Michael Ojdana
Kathleen O’Mary
George Ossorgin
Heidi Ostendorf
Kaoruko Ozaki
Sarah Parfet
Dana Parisi
Lauren Parker
Rachel Pasdo
Timothy Paulsen
Ashleigh Pembroke
Jaime Perez
Tricia Pignotti
Amanda Pogatschnik
Shruti Pore
Jeffrey Raffaelli
Sarah Rayani
Patricia Ruckebeil
17
Mark Riesterer
Hayley Roberts
Amy Runyon
Stephanie Rymsza
Ace Sabau
Nadia Sarkarat
Doni Savino
Lauren Scheuer
Ryan Schuette
Harrison Sherrod
Christopher Shirley
Lital Silverman
Lavinia Sinitean
A. J. Skinner
Jason Skiouris
Michelle Smith
Alexandra Sobo
Jenya Sonkina
Scott Sparks
Kate St. Laurent
Craig Stalowy
Katherine Stankiewicz
Brittany Stone
Amy Stout
Jonathan Tani
Aya Tasaki
Clarissa Thiessen
Marjorie Thomas
Sarah Thompson
Claire Tibbs
Timothy Tierney
Whitney Turner
Pragya Upadyaya
Crystal Vaccaro
Carol Vander Velde
Jessica Voth
Amalia Vriend
Joshua Vriend
Ellen Wang
Ashley Ware
Erin Watts
Nicholas Williams
Nicholas Winkelblech
Hayley Wolfcale
Sarah Woodbury
Chelsea Yannello
Sophea Yath
Amitcar Ybarra-Rojas
Kim Zafiriou
Tuesday, April 10
4:00-4:30
Percussion Ensemble
Middle Campus and Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel
Closing Event:
Red and Black Closing Ceremony
4:30-6:15
Moderators:
David Amrein
Kalani Mann ’09
4:30
Presentation of Awards
4:35
5:00
2007 Red & Black Student
Symposium Scholars:
2007 Red & Black Student Symposium
Scholars Honorable Mention
Shannon Buckley ’07
English and Education major
Matt Blumenfeld ’07
English and Politics major
History and Politics major
Yugoslavism: An Opportunistic Political Construct
or A Timeless Pluralistic Framework?
David Cantor-Echols ’07
History and Spanish major
5:25
Tracey Swanson ’07
French and International Relations major
Responsibilites and Methods in Modern Literary
Translation
5:50
Michael Zorniak ’07
Biology Major
In Parkinson’s disease, what happens to your brain
cells when the energy generators crash?
Closing
Remarks:
6:15
Chelsea Bueter ’07
Biology major
Dylan Davis ’07
English and Area Studies major
Daniel Kolen ’07
Independent Scholar and Politics major
Justin Lansing ’07
Sociology and Anthropology and Spanish major
Christopher Shirley ’07
English and Art major
President
General Assembly
Reception inWood Lounge
(First Floor Reid Hall)
18
PARTICIPANTS AND ABSTRACTS
(Coauthored and group projects at the end)
(arranged alphabetically by title)
Accounting For The Differences In PhD
Creation Rates Across Liberal Arts Colleges
Aleatoric, As Such
Aleatoric, As Such is an original experimental music composition, to be played by a small to medium-sized ensemble of
performers. Using the methods of chance operation and indeterminacy promulgated by John Cage, it consists of the
rolling of two six-sided dice to determine a set pitch from a
pentatonic scale and an accompanying rhythm for that player.
The combination of several combinations of pitch/rhythm
motives among several players and their permutations
throughout the piece results in a vast variety of sonic possibilities, within certain pre-ordained guidelines. Although it is
possible for non-pitched percussion instruments to participate, at least half of the instruments should be pitched. Since
the pitch die is six sided and there are but five pitches available, a performer rolling a six on that die shall have the option
to conduct dynamics and tempo, or to rest silently, and need
not roll a second die.
Faculty Sponsor: Don Meyer
The most recent data suggests about that 5.3 percent of all
graduates from the best liberal arts colleges eventually earn
PhDs, while only 2.2 percent of all graduates from the best
universities do so. There is also a substantial difference across
liberal arts colleges with the best colleges producing PhDs at
three times the rate of lower ranked colleges. We examine differences in faculty background and scholarship, student abilities, college characteristics and curriculum, and the role of the
career centers in order to determine why some liberal arts
colleges are consistently more successful than other institutions at producing graduates who go on earn PhDs.
Faculty Sponsor: Robert Lemke
Mariyana Zapryanova, 2009
Major: Economics and Business
A “Europeanizing” Spain: Changing Trends
in the Spanish Countryside
Merrick Fagan, 2008
Little Rock, Arkansas; Major: Music
Although news coverage of Spain focuses on the changes confronting major cities, which are experiencing problems
related to rapid immigration from North Africa and Eastern
Europe, one of the biggest changes the country faces in coming decades is the “graying” of its disproportionately large
elderly population. While young Spaniards are moving to
cities in droves, thousands of small, rural towns are shrinking,
their ancient ways of life preserved only by a dwindling older
population. For this presentation, I will discuss my experiences with cultural difference during five months of study in
Salamanca, Spain. In particular, I will share my observations
of Spaniards’ perceptions of the pointed divisions between the
agrarian folk culture existing in the countryside and the
“Europeanizing” character of Spain’s cities. Specifically, I will
talk about my travels in the remote Las Hurdes-Sierra de
Francia region located just south of Salamanca.
Faculty Sponsor: Janet Miller
Analysis of Benzene in Chicago’s Ambient Air
by Solid Phase Microextraction and Gas
Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry
Benzene is analyzed in ambient air for a 50-mile transect from
the city of Chicago to the northern suburbs. Solid phase
microextraction
(SPME)
is
used
with
gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to analyze
benzene concentration. Gas standards were prepared by
diluting a standard calibration mixture with zero air using a
stainless steel gas manifold. Ambient air was collected by
evacuating a standard dilution bottle and allowing it to fill in
the desired sampling location to ambient pressure. SPME
fibers were introduced to the ambient air samples for approximately 20 minutes to selectively collect and preconcentrate
the target molecule. SPME fibers were then desorbed into
the GC/MS inlet. The data is compared with ambient concentrations of benzene modeled by the EPA in 1996. Point
and area source are investigated using wind velocity.
Faculty Sponsor: Lori Del Negro
David Cantor-Echols, 2007
Savannah, Georgia; Major: History
A Forester in the Australian Bush
Frank Pierri, 2007
Chicago, Illinois; Major: Chemistry
While studying in Australia during the Spring 2006 semester,
I participated in a three-day volunteer project in the
Australian bush with a conservation volunteer organization,
CVA. I learned about the important conservation movements
on Tambourine Mountain and developed relationships with
the people who are supporting it. Everything from the twonight stay on the floor of an old abandoned home, to bathing
in waterfalls, to interactions with the local “snake man” made
my three days anything but an ordinary volunteer experience.
An Examination of Sex-related Differences in
Songbird Migratory Strategy
It is well established that male songbirds arrive at the breeding grounds before females in spring, presumably to gain an
intrasexual advantage by claiming better quality territories,
and therefore mates. Three possible mechanisms have been
proposed to explain this early arrival of males. I tested the
“males migrate faster” hypothesis for four species of sexable
warblers migrating through northeastern Illinois in spring.
Three pieces of evidence refute this hypothesis: (1) males do
not gain ground on females between the gulf coast and
Chicago, (2) males and females arrive in comparable physio-
Anna Sobieski, 2007
Mahtomedi, Minnesota; Major: Economics and Business
19
to the nun’s clothing just beneath their chins. Escudos de
monjas predominantly portrayed images of the Virgin Mary
and the Immaculate Conception. The images were rendered
on vellum or copper sheets. Documentary and visual sources
tell us that nuns used these objects for both public and personal devotion. I wish to demonstrate that the escudos de
monjas evolved to represent both the institutional identities
of the nuns and convents within a hierarchical colonial society as well as a subversive conventual challenge to religious
authority. This interpretation is grounded in a close examination of the social history of colonial Mexico.
Faculty Sponsor: Ann Roberts
logical condition at an Illinois stopover site, and (3) both sexes
follow similar weather-related flight decision rules en route.
Therefore, males of these species must arrive before females
by either wintering farther north or by initiating their spring
migration sooner.
Faculty Sponsor: Caleb Gordon
Anne Haas, 2007
South Berwick, Maine; Major: Environmental Studies
Anno Domini: The Development of the
Christian Era by Dionysius Exiguus
Ever since the beginning of history, human beings have
divided time into periods through a process called periodization. Periodization is a means of keeping a record of our history and how the world has progressed. For this research
project, I studied the history of Christian periodization, most
commonly known today as BC, before Christ, and AD, anno
domini. The Christian periodization has been the most powerful and influential time periodization, and has even influenced our method of dating today. Though many history
books today use the terminology BCE (before the Common
Era) instead of BC, and CE (Common Era) instead of AD, the
terminology has its roots in the use of anno domini. In
researching its history, it was very important to explore the
genius behind this periodization: Dionysius Exiguus.
Through Dionysius’ work and the history of anno domini,
one can understand the foundation for how we know and
understand time and the dating of time in the present day.
Faculty Sponsor: Herbert Bronstein
Cheryl-Lynn May, 2008
Skokie, Illinois; Major: Other
A Tale of Two Cities: My Semester Abroad
Last spring, I had the great fortune to study abroad on the
ACM London/Florence program. This program focused on
“Arts in Context,” with emphasis on the art history of both of
the cities where we lived for two months each. Instead of sitting in a classroom all day, listening to lectures, our group of
twenty students met our professors at various locations
around the two cities where we lived and examined the visual
text (art, architecture and people) of our environment. My
semester in Europe was a life-changing experience in which I
was taken way out of my comfort zone and gained an appreciation for a field of study I hadn’t previously considered: art
history.
Valentina Galli, 2009
Buffalo Grove, Illinois; Major: Education
Molly Mullen, 2007
Chicago, Illinois; Major: American Studies
Applying Data Mining and Information
Retrieval Techniques to Automatic Plagiarism
Detection in Papers
Backyard Inequalities: A Comparison of Lake
Forest and Waukegan High Schools
A few miles apart, but worlds away, Lake Forest and
Waukegan High Schools are the training grounds for future
doctors, lawyers, military officials, and McDonald’s employees. These two institutions are not merely college training
grounds, but they represent political and social battlefields.
Comparative data, derived primarily from 2005 Illinois school
report cards published by the Illinois State Board of
Education, exposes the backwardness of the public school system in America. Comparative analysis of student populations,
per pupil expenditures, the level of academic achievement,
and No Child Left Behind measures of adequate yearly
progress reveals blunt inequalities. The racial and socioeconomic stratification of American society is depriving
Waukegan High School students of quality education.
Unfortunately, the high level of reliance upon local property
taxes will continue to perpetuate this injustice. Relocation of
state funding and novel sources of revenue could alleviate discrepancies in the quality of education.
Data Mining is a body of knowledge that combines ideas from
computer science, statistics and linear algebra, and applies
them to the problem of finding patterns in very large bodies
of data. Information Retrieval, like data mining, is also concerned with finding patterns in large volumes of data, but in
the specific context of document databases. In my project, I
combine different techniques from these two disciplines and
apply them to the creation of a software system for automatic
plagiarism detection in papers. I will discuss how techniques
such as web crawling, keyword extraction, similarity ranking
and efficient string matching, can be combined to detect plagiarism in local document repositories as well as on the World
Wide Web.
Faculty Sponsor: David Yuen
Dimitar Nikolov, 2007
Sofia, Bulgaria; Major: Computer Science
A Seal upon Thy Heart: The Social and
Subversive Significance of Escudos de Monjas
Magdalena Bartolik, 2010
Waukegan, Illinois
Contemporary art historiography on the representations of
colonial Mexican nuns has primarily focused on the religious
nature of these conventual images. Sparse attention has been
paid to their escudos de monjas, or nun’s shields. The escudos
de monjas are small, circular images that were worn fastened
Basking in “Third Worldiness”
I did not expect to find “home” in a country so far away from
home when I left for Tanzania to participate in the College’s
study abroad program in Dar es Salaam. Living within the
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precincts of the University of Dar es Salaam with the family
of a physics professor home is exactly what I found. My house
at Darajani 12B was the last on the street, with two dogs and
a pink hammock in the yard. Other than gorgeous beaches,
great food, interesting classes, world famous safari routes and
the warm Indian Ocean, everyday life and customs in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania is very similar to everyday life in my home
city of Kathmandu, Nepal. Greeting our elders with respect,
acting as a community in times of sorrow and happiness (I
attended both Tanzanian weddings and funerals), easily trusting others, commuting in packed dala dalas (little mini-buses
that pass for public transportation), and living in the literal
timelessness marked by the phrase “no hurry in Africa” were
familiar to me. Despite my dislike of the term “Third World,”
I realized that we, the Third World dwellers, share a close and
unique kinship and an undeniable bond in our third worldliness.
Faculty Sponsor: Jan Miller
Catalytic Palladium Coupling of Ethynyl
Compounds to Aromatic Heterocycles
Muna Gurung, 2007
Kathmandu, Nepal; Major: English
The Sonagashira reaction is a sensitive coupling reaction,
which can be used as a synthesis method for the Pd catalyzed
ethynylation of various substituted heterocyclic compounds
such as pyridine, pyrimidine, etc., and are the major forms in
this study. Pyridine substrates are important synthetic precursors that vary in stability and reactivity. Halopyridines, such as
chloro, bromo, and iodo, at the two, three, and four positions
have been coupled with phenyacetylene and 3-phenyl-1propyne using a ferrocene catalyst. Gas chromatography and
mass spectrometry have been used to determine the relative
purity of the compounds. Techniques such as thin layer chromatography, preparative thin layer chromatography, and funnel flash chromatography have been used to separate and
isolate the various coupled products. The products were characterized using 13C-NMR and 1H-NMR. This is an ongoing
study that will continue to explore the synthetic preparation
of these unknown compounds.
Faculty Sponsor: William Martin
Beethoven’s Archaic Progressivism
Jennifer Ciesielski, 2007
Naperville, Illinois; Major: Chemistry
Ludwig van Beethoven’s late string quartets exhibit a style of
music writing that helped to establish Romanticism. These
quartets are innovative, though not fully deserting, of his earlier styles. Beethoven diverges from his mastery of received
styles, consequently creating a personal, progressive style of
his own. Through the analysis of individual sections in the
third movement of his String Quartet in A Minor Op.132,
this presentation illuminates archaism and deviation from
musical norms of Beethoven’s time by exposing confirmation
of the old styles and the features that are distinct from these
styles.
Faculty Sponsor: Kirk-Evan Billet
Change Detection and Change Blindness
The current study explores how humans process visual information and, specifically, how they detect changes in a visual
scene. Often, people exhibit change blindness—a phenomenon in which they fail to detect changes in the scene. In short,
people seem to see what they expect to see and do not process
all of the details in a visual scene. Using the “flicker” paradigm, participants viewed a scene on a computer screen for
two seconds. On half of the trials, the original scene was followed by a brief masking screen, and then the same scene
with a slight change in one stimulus (flicker condition). On
the remaining trials, no mask appeared in between the scenes
(no flicker condition). As predicted by previous research,
reaction time was faster and more accurate for the no flicker
condition. The presence of a mask (flicker) resulted in poorer
and slower change detection.
Faculty Sponsor: Matthew Kelley
Stephen Young, 2009
Memphis, Tennessee; Major: Music
Calcium and Cell Volume Regulation in
Alligator Red Blood Cells
Maintenance of proper cell volume is critical for cell survival
and proliferation, and animal cells routinely regulate their
volume in response to routine perturbations. For instance, it
has been well established that cell swelling associated with
hypotonic shock is followed by a regulated volume decrease
(RVD) resulting from the efflux of specific solutes. However,
the signaling mechanisms of RVD are ill defined. Because calcium is a common intracellular messenger, the effect of this
ion on RVD was studied. This was accomplished using
American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) red blood cells
(RBCs) and measuring their volume. Studies using different
extracellular concentrations of calcium showed that low concentrations of this ion inhibit RVD. Additional studies were
conducted to determine the mechanism(s) by which calcium
ions cross the plasma membrane. In conclusion, my experiments indicate that extracellular calcium is indeed necessary
for RVD, and it likely enters cells via stretch-activated and/or
purinoreceptor channels.
Faculty Sponsor: Douglas Light
Hannah Schlotterbeck, 2008
Auburn, Maine; Major: Psychology
Chance Kieslowski
This presentation is a deep cinematographic look into Polish
film director Krzysztof Kieslowski. By viewing clips from
some of his films, including “Blind Chance,” “The Double
Life of Veronique,” and “Red,” it demonstrates the unique
way in which Kieslowski begins his films. Each of these films
includes explorations into emotions and movements that
demonstrate the great power of motion pictures. The dialogue will include an analysis of the aesthetics of the introductions of these films and what each of these introductions
implies about the main theme of chance in Kieslowski’s cinematic career.
Faculty Sponsor: Abba Lessing
Mary Joe Norero, 2009
Henderson, Nevada
Alina Spivak, 2007
Prairie View, Illinoi; Major: Biology
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Chaperoning the Protein Fold: Heat Shock
Proteins and α-Synuclein Toxicity in
Parkinson’s Disease
Add 2 cups of bass, 4 tablespoons of melody, diced beats, and
mix to taste... I will race against the clock to reproduce an
excerpt of electronic music from one of my own compositions
on Apple’s professional music production platform, Logic Pro
7. From scratch, I will produce live, demonstrating Logic’s
power as well as my personal mastery of the program. I will
walk through, describing the basic process to my audience,
from beat sequencing to synthesizer design, then finish up
with audio effects processing and mastering. All of this will be
done using my own portable recording studio linked to an
overhead projector, for the ultimate audiovisual experience.
Faculty Sponsor: Donald Meyer
Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by loss of midbrain neurons. The misfolding and
aggregation of α-synuclein is thought to kill these neurons.
Thus, finding ways to prevent α-synuclein misfolding may
have therapeutic potential in treating PD. Chaperones are proteins that helps other proteins fold and heat shock proteins are
specific stress-activated chaperones. An attractive hypothesis
says chaperones can prevent α-synuclein misfolding and, therefore, toxicity. For my Richter project, I focused on two major
chaperones, Hsp26 and Hsp42. I used yeast as the model system to evaluate if the absence of either of these chaperones
would increase α-synuclein aggregation and/or toxicity. My
results indicate that absence of Hsp26 increased α-synucleindependent toxicity without increasing aggregation, but this
toxicity was specific to only one mutant, and not all forms, of
α-synuclein. In the future, I plan to test the effects of other
chaperones on α-synuclein aggregation and toxicity in PD.
Faculty Sponsor: Shubhik DebBurman
Mark Fancher, 2007
Wisconsin; Major: Physics
Cospeciation of Catharus thrushes and their
parasitic chewing lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera)
I tested for cospeciation between Catharus thrushes and their
chewing lice by constructing phylogenies for the two genera
of lice, Brueelia (Ischnocera) and Myrsidea (Amblycera), and
comparing them to a published phylogeny for the thrushes.
Lice were collected from five species of North American
thrushes captured or collected in northeastern Illinois in the
spring of 2006. I extracted DNA from the lice, amplified and
then sequenced three genes: CO1, 12s (mitochondrial), and
EF1_ (nuclear). I then created a louse phylogeny from these
DNA sequences, plus sequences provided by Kevin P.
Johnson, using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood,
and Bayesian analyses. Brueelia lice from thrushes do not
appear to have speciated, much less cospeciated with their
hosts. Myrsidea show a greater degree of diversification than
Brueelia, but also do not appear to have cospeciated with
thrushes. The lack of differentiation and/or cospeciation suggests that host switching is rampant in this system.
Nengding (Julie) Wang, 2009
Chongqing, China; Major: Biology
Characteristics, Causes, and Consequences
Of Informal Economic Activities
In many countries of Africa and Latin America, the informal
economy can account for over 50 percent of business activities. To better understand the role of street vendors, push
carts, and temporary stores, an analytic framework has been
developed. To enhance the awareness of informal economic
activities in these regions, a variety of photos will be presented. Finally, consideration will be given the future implications of these alternative economies.
Faculty Sponsor: Les Dlabay
Deepti Sharma, 2009
Kathmandu, Nepal; Major: International Relations
Chelsea Bueter, 2007
Swisher, Iowa; Major: Biology
Comparative Urban History: A Global
Perspective
Costa Rica’s Avifauna: Disturbed or Intact
Primary Rainforest on the Pacific Coast of
the Talamanca Mountains
“Global cities” customarily prompts thoughts of New York
City, London and Tokyo. North America and Europe dominated the urban world during the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. Since the Industrial Revolution, London, Paris,
New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, among others, became
the metropoli of the world. In the twenty-first century we
hear more about the burgeoning cities of the Third World.
The spread of globalization has rejuvenated many cities of
Asia, Latin America and Africa. Shanghai, Hong Kong,
Bangkok, Mumbai, Nairobi, Cairo, Sao Paulo and Rio de
Janeiro are some examples of the cities of the future – the
hope for millions who migrate from rural areas to these
mega-cities. This presentation will focus on the historical
development of the cities of developing countries to compare
and contrast them with each other and with American cities.
It will also examine the impact of globalization and the
increase of slum populations in Third World cities.
Faculty Sponsor: Michael Ebner
I used three years of mist netting data to compare bird abundance, species richness and species composition in order to
determine whether the avifauna indicates a highly disturbed
or largely intact primary rainforest. The biodiversity of avifauna is extremely high when traveling to cloud forests of
Costa Rica. A longitudinal study was done on odd years from
2003-2007 by the Tropical Ecology and Conservation class of
Lake Forest College. Mist netting was conducted in the primary and secondary rainforest on the Pacific Coast of the
Talamanca Mountains. By using the data gathered in the field
and comparing it to information gathered from other sources,
the avifauna will be used as an indicator. Based on the large
number of species captured in previous years, the avifauna
will most likely indicate a largely intact primary rainforest.
Daniel Reiter, 2008
Major: Biology
Maulik Vaishnav, 2008
Bhuj, India; Majors: Independent Scholar and
Mathematics
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Degrading α-Synuclein: Is the Lysosome
Wreaking Havoc in Parkinson’s Disease?
Cracking the Framed Pictures in Our Heads:
An Analysis of Portrayals of Disability in
Television and Film
The history of people with disabilities in the United States is
replete with countless examples of senseless prejudice, and the
examples keep showing up today. But why? Influential political commentator Walter Lippmann effectively argued that
people respond not to the world around them, but to the pictures in their heads. Most people do not have experience with
the disabled, which is problematic because the media portray
disability in particular frames which form the pictures in our
collective head. This presentation will examine four specific
frames. The Labor Day Telethon shows its subjects as pitiful
and pathetic. In a movie like My Left Foot, the main character
is only accepted by his family after functioning normally.
Batman shows the Joker becoming evil after his injury. People
with disabilities can also be shown as ordinary. This presentation will illustrate the reasons these representations exist and
their importance in our daily lives.
Faculty Sponsor: Leslie Harris
a-Synuclein is implicated in Parkinson’s, a neurodegenerative
disease that destroys midbrain neurons. The misfolding and
subsequent aggregation of this protein is the likely cause of
cell death. A major hypothesis is that increasing a-synuclein’s
rate of degradation may prevent its aggregation and toxicity.
Our cells use two organelles for protein degradation: lysosome and proteasome. Current evidence demonstrates that
the proteasome does degrade a-synuclein, but lysosome influences are unclear. We hypothesized that the lysosome also
degrades a-synuclein. To test it with a budding yeast model,
we asked if a-synuclein would accumulate and increase its toxicity in yeast that lacked factors essential to targeting proteins
to the lysosome. I focused on several proteins, each important
for a specific step in the endosome-lysosome sorting pathway
in yeast: Vps4, vps24, vps27, vps28, vps34 and vps60. I found
that the absence of vps34 was toxic to yeast and this toxicity
was severely exacerbated in the presence of a-synuclein.
David Kuriniec, 2008
Deerfield, Illinois; Major: Politics
Mithaq Vahedi, 2008
New Delhi, India; Major: Chemistry
Cross-Cultural Comparison of Brain Activity
Devon Dreaming: Intercultural Model or
Anomaly?
The purpose of this presentation is to show that the culture in
which a person lives directly influences the development of
memory, perception, smell, and cognitive abilities. Using four
research articles from around the world, evidence is provided
to support the notion that brain activity and function are inseparable from the influence of cultural behaviors and customs.
No matter who you are or where you live, your culture is
impacting and directing every decision you make in ways that
most people could not imagine. With the integration of classical survey methods and sophisticated apparatuses that monitor
and image the brain, these influences have been brought to
light and examined. CULTURE IS EVERYTHING.
Faculty Sponsor: Burt Krain
Ever stroll down Devon Avenue to sample the Indian or
Pakistani culinary delights or check out the Hebrew bookstore? Ever wonder what makes this Chicago neighborhood
so very special? Ever notice that, in many respects, Devon
Avenue is a global marketplace with not only Indian and
Pakistani restaurants and stores, but also stores and residents
representing people of Bangladeshi, Russian, Mexican,
Syrian, Iraqi, Iranian, Croatian, Greek, Korean, and Chinese
origins with multiple religious backgrounds? Devon Avenue
is different. In fact, it is an anomaly among Chicago neighborhoods because it is not segregated. But, Devon Avenue is
also an intercultural model for the twenty-first century
because it demonstrates how people from different ethnicities
can work effectively together in pursuit of commercial success. That intercultural model is strengthened on Devon
because the majority of people come from minority groups.
Field study and secondary research, combined, validate how
extraordinary this neighborhood truly is.
Bryan Kratz, 2007
Kildeer, Illinois; Major: Chemistry
Deceptive Accuracy: A Look into Criminal
Profiling
If, like millions of Americans, you are a Law & Order fan, you
may be familiar with the art of criminal profiling. Fictional profilers routinely use clues left at the crime scene to compile a list
of offender characteristics that the police then use to help track
down criminals and bring them to justice. Have you ever asked
yourself whether this can actually be done? Is criminal profiling a valid investigative technique or simply a Hollywood
invention? A review of empirical research on the underlying
assumptions, accuracy, and uses of criminal profiling suggests
that profiling techniques are less accurate than many people
assume. Although profiles are commonly used by law enforcement officials and are often perceived to be helpful, scientific
support for their validity is actually quite scant. Reasons for this
mismatch are discussed and suggestions are made for future
research into the workings of the criminal mind.
Faculty Sponsor: Nancy Brekke
Wendy Rhodes, 2008
Deerfield, Illinois; Major: Other
Different Uses of the Absent Parent Device
in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Charlotte
Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Jane Austen’s Emma
This paper will explore why and how three early British novelists made use of absent parents in their works. Even though
the novels of Mary Shelley, Charlotte Bronte, and Jane
Austen are traditionally considered to be representative of
distinct literary genres, they do share at least one unifying
thread: the lack of parents. As opposed to being simply coincidental in Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, and Emma, the absence of
parents is used as a literary device. Shelley uses this device to
explore the negative moral and psychological consequences of
negligent parenting on the Monster’s behalf so as to provide
Jenny Riddle, 2007
Bloomington, Illinois; Major: Biology
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open education and its widespread endorsement by educational experts? Secondly, why did the movement quickly lose
its momentum given its seemingly strong base of support?
These questions are addressed through an examination of the
origins of the movement, literature regarding the movement,
and a discussion of the problems facing it, including the
events taking place during the time period in which it
occurred.
Faculty Sponsor: Shelley Sherman
a parenting critique. Moreover, Bronte employs this device in
a more equivocal manner in that she investigates Jane Eyre’s
traumatic childhood, yet she also attributes both her individualistic, self-sufficient character and her dynamic relationship
with Rochester to her being an orphan. By contrast, Austen
actually utilizes Emma’s motherless status for a wholly positive end, since it allows her greater liberation from the stifling
demands of stereotypical femininity. Thus, these novelists
share conflicting opinions about the effects of absent parents
upon their protagonists. The consequences of this authorial
spectrum will be better explained through an insightful discussion about the “parentless” protagonists in Frankenstein,
Jane Eyre, and Emma.
Faculty Sponsor: Carla Arnell
Alyssa Huff, 2010
Savannah, Missouri; Major: Politics
Electron-Molecule Collisions: The Collision
Cross Section of Chlorine
Chelsea Ledoux, 2007
Salt Lake City, Utah; Major: Chemistry
An electron collision cross section is a measure of the likelihood of an interaction between electrons and a target atom or
molecule. These cross sections yield information about the
structure of the target and this knowledge can be used in
many technological applications such as smog abatement,
lighting, or in the case of chlorine, plasma processing for
making integrated circuits. To study this, an electron beam
with known characteristics is shot through a stream of chlorine gas. The electrons “collide” with the chlorine, giving
some of their energy to the chlorine. The chlorine gives this
energy off as light, which is detected and analyzed as a function of wavelength and electron energy.
Faculty Sponsor: Scott Schappe
Dollarization in Latin America and Europe
Dollarization is the use of one country’s currency by another
country. Some countries in Latin Amerca use the U.S. dollar
as their official currency. In contrast, in Europe, a monetary
union has been created with the ”euro” as the official currency of most EU members. This presentation compares
these approaches to currency value stability.
Faculty Sponsor: Les Dlabay
Asa Reynolds, 2009
Bethesda, Maryland; Major: Economics and Business
Kyle Wendt, 2007
Major: Physics
Eat Your Utils: The Economics and
Philosophy of Obesity
Ensuring the Future of Vocational Education
Economics takes it for granted that people maximize their
happiness as rational agents, through their purchases. If this is
the case, why is it that obese people who report being
unhappy with their weight will make choices contrary to this
statement? Is it that they value the pleasure of food in the
present, and discount the future at a greater level than others?
In this presentation of my senior thesis, I discuss different
models of choice and behavior and attempt to more properly
explain what we see happening around us with regard to obesity. I also look at the philosophical side of this issue by understanding free will, self control, and what makes a “good” life.
Economics is the study of unlimited wants amidst scarcity. In
a world where food is far from scarce for most of us, how do
we address eating?
Vocational Education (VE) is an important and necessary
component of any high school education. For those students
who don’t plan on attending college, VE provides basic skills
that are vital to being a productive citizen upon graduation.
As the federal government restricts funding and places more
regulations on how state VE programs are to be run, the
future and benefits of VE programs are in jeopardy.
Accountability standards have been raised, asking states to do
more, without providing additional resources. Recent
accountability standards associated with No Child Left
Behind limit the range of VE programs and are restricting
each state’s ability to create programs that are important to its
students, firms, and economy. To ensure that VE continues to
have positive effects on student lives, employment, and the
economy, the federal government needs to return to previous
policy by trusting states to design and implement their own
VE programs.
Clayton Roche, 2007
Idaho Springs, Colorado; Major: Economics and
Business
Educational Reform: The Rise and Fall of
Open Education
Tracy Schwartz, 2010
Elk River, Idaho
The time period between the 1960s and 1970s was among the
most tumultuous periods in American history; it included the
war in Vietnam, the anti-war movement, the civil rights
movement, and the Watergate scandal. Amidst these historical events, proponents of an educational movement known as
‘open education’ attempted to implement progressive educational reform. My research project examines two questions
regarding the movement. First, how did the scholarly educational literature of the 1960s-1970s reflect the popularity of
Exploiting Yeast for the Study of RNA
interference
This research project was conducted as part of the
Northwestern Summer Research Opportunity Program
2006. I worked with Dr. Erik Sontheimer, whose lab studies
RNA interference (RNAi), a fundamental mechanism by
which cells use RNA to silence specific genes. While the
RNAi pathway has thoroughly examined, how cells finely
24
control it is unclear. To gain genetic insight into this regulation, I participated in a long-term project to introduce RNAi
into yeast, a model for studying cell biology and discovering
new regulatory factors. As my first step, I chose to introduce
the well-studied RNAi protein R2D2 in yeast. Next, I amplified this gene and engineered it so that it could be tagged with
a fluorescent marker for easy visualization in yeast. In the
future, once it is fluorescently tagged, this gene will be
expressed in yeast to make the protein R2D2. The yeast’s own
genome will then be genetically manipulated to potentially
uncover yeast genes that impact R2D2 function in yeast.
Faculty Sponsor: Shubhik Debburman
Falling Into Paris
I studied abroad the fall semester of my junior year with the
Lake Forest College Paris Internship program. It was a threeand-a-half-month program that consisted of a month-long
intensive language course, a history course and a two-credit
internship. I interned at the International Herald Tribune. I
worked mostly in the newsroom. I also attended the editors’
meetings where they discussed news that would appear in the
next day’s paper. I worked with the features and the web
departments of the IHT as well. I lived with a host family
during my time in Paris and gained some firsthand experience
of life in France. The purpose of this program is to engage
students to participate as functional members of the French
society albeit for a short period of time. It was an educational
and rewarding experience.
Faculty Sponsor: Cynthia Hahn
Stephanie Valtierra, 2008
Libertyville, Illinois; Major: Biology
Exploring the Classic and Emotional Stroop
Tasks
Shruti Pore, 2008
Major: Biology
Two experiments attempted to replicate findings established
by the classic and emotional Stroop experiments. Typically,
the classic Stroop test displays an increase in reaction time
when participants name a color word when the word is displayed in a color that is incongruent with the actual color of
the word (e.g., the word “RED” displayed in the color blue)
compared to a congruent word-color pairing (e.g., RED in
color red). Generally, participants in the emotional Stroop
test are slower to identify the color of emotionally salient
words than neutral words. In our experiment, emotionally
salient words were those related to objects or situations that
participants identified as fear-evoking (e.g., spiders, dirtiness,
crowds, death). Twenty Lake Forest College students replicated the classic Stroop results but failed to replicate the emotional Stroop results. Implications are discussed.
With each click of the mouse, I hurled fireballs at approaching demons. As my mother came in to rub my shoulders, I
tried to ignore her. I did not want to be disrupted from purging the evil on my monitor. Moments later, my mother discovered another sort of demon on my neck. At the age of
fifteen, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease stage IV. I
endured nine months of treatment including chemotherapy
and radiation. Seven years after treatment, I am still in remission. In this reading, I will share my thesis, a memoir describing the impact of cancer on my life, and why I consider the
disease to be among the best things that has ever happened to
me.
Faculty Sponsor: Davis Schneiderman
Claire Smith
Flossmoor, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Ethan Helm, 2007
Mabelvale, Arkansas; Major: Biology
Exploring Verbal Overshadowing in Memory
for Order
Follow the Leader: Effects of Female
Responsiveness on Mate-Choice Copying
Verbal overshadowing is the phenomenon whereby verbally
describing stimuli subsequently diminishes identification
accuracy for those stimuli (Schooler & Engstler-Schooler,
1990). Verbal overshadowing research has explored how verbalization affects recognition memory performance. The current research is the first to explore how verbal overshadowing
influences memory for the order. In two experiments, participants were shown eight sequentially presented faces and
completed a description task either following the final face
(Exp 1) or following every face (Exp 2). Half the participants
were asked to describe the face(s) (Verbal Overshadowing
condition), while the others described completed an unrelated
verbal description (Control). After three minutes of distracting activity, the original pictures were then shown in a new
random order and the participants placed them back into
their original order of presentation. Results from both experiments showed no influence of verbalization on memory for
order. Thus, although verbalization adversely affects item
recognition, order retention is unaffected.
Darwin suggested two mechanisms for sexual selection: intrasexual competition, in which males compete with one
another, and the more socially influenced female choice. My
experiment takes a closer look at the social factors affecting
female mate-choice copying in the guppy, an ideal model for
sexual selection due to the large variation in male color patterns and the males’ frequent mating attempts. In matechoice copying, a male becomes more attractive to a female
after he has been seen with a “model” female. Different factors affecting this behavior have already been studied, such as
female size, hunger and predation risk. I studied the effects of
differences in model female responsiveness to male courtship
behaviors. I found that when females are shown two model
female/male pairings, they increase their preference for the
male paired with the more responsive female, regardless of
previous preference. Therefore, female responsiveness is an
additional factor influencing mate-choice copying.
Faculty Sponsor: Anne Houde
Fighting Demons to Fighting Cancer
Jillian Olejnik, 2009
Rockford, Illinois; Major: Biology
Jessica Jester, 2007
Hot Springs, Arkansas; Major: Psychology
25
Reaction using urotropin revealed that the urotropin not only
terminates undesired side reaction, but stops formation of the
desired cross-coupled product as well. Formations of long
chain, ridged, and sterically hindered acetylenic urotropins
were synthesized to assess this complication.
Foresters in the Cloud Forest: Conducting
Costa Rican Field Research in Lake Forest
College’s Tropical Ecology Class
In the years 2003, 2005 and 2007, Lake Forest College’s
Tropical Ecology and Conservation Biology class, taught by
Assistant Professor of Biology Caleb Gordon, has provided
upper-level biology and environmental studies majors with an
opportunity to conduct tropical ecology field research projects in Costa Rica. Two semester-long research projects, one
involving bird mist-netting, and one on a topic of students’
choosing, comprise the laboratory component of the class.
These studies are centered around field work conducted during a nine-day trip to a cloud forest lodge/research station on
the pacific slope of Costa Rica’s Talamanca Mountains.
Students research these projects prior to the trip, and then
spend lab periods after the trip analyzing, interpreting, and
writing up their results. The experience of the Costa Rica trip
deepens and enriches the learning experience, reinforcing the
concepts covered all semester in the classroom, and giving
students valuable first-hand fieldwork experience to sharpen
their scientific investigation skills.
Alexander Grenning, 2007
Hawthorn Woods, Illinois; Major: Chemistry
History Tends To Repeat: FMR-1 Silencing
in Fragile-X Syndrome
This research project was undertaken in the BIO 346
Molecular Neuroscience Neurofrontiers workshop. I roleplayed Dr. Stephen Warren of Emory University and
described his tale of scientific discovery. My symposium presentation is a reenactment of this exercise. Dr. Warren discovered the gene and protein associated with Fragile-X
syndrome and has been a leader in the area of mental retardation research to date. Fragile-X syndrome is the most common form of inherited mental retardation being twice as
prevalent in males than females. He discovered that the most
common forms of this syndrome are caused by a repeat
expansion of the tri-nucleotide sequence, CCG, on the x
chromosome at a gene locus known as the FMR-1 gene. In
cases where this repeat expands to greater than 200, FragileX syndrome is observable. The repeats cause translational
silencing of a gene through RNAi, de-acetylation, and a
process known as hyper-methylation. The protein product of
this gene is essential to normal patterns of neuronal and various other tissue development in model organisms and
humans.
Daniel Reiter, 2008
Major: Biology
Genetically Modified Food and the Public
Understanding of Science
In this paper I explore the positive and negative effects of
genetically modified food. By applying the theory of the public understanding of science, I analyze numerous scientific
web sites and scholarly articles to determine whether or not
the public understanding of science was effective in communicating to the general public in these web sites that target the
general public. By critiquing the web sites with the help of the
Democratic Model and the Deficit Model, I conclude that the
public understanding of science is communicating through
the Democratic Model of Communication and discuss some
ways to increase the general public’s understanding of genetically modified food.
Faculty Sponsor: Rachel Whidden
Joshua Haas, 2008
Dunlap, Illinois; Major: Biology
Income versus capital-based migration
fueling in North American Songbirds
Migration presents birds with enormous energy demands, yet
little is known about birds’ strategies for accumulating and
replenishing migratory fuel. I gathered information from an
intensive bird banding station in northeastern Illinois and
from published literature to characterize the spring migration
fueling strategies of over thirty North American songbird
species. Mass change trends and visible fat deposit patterns
revealed a general dichotomy in fueling strategies among
species. In the capital-based strategy, exemplified by thrushes,
birds accumulate large fat reserves prior to migration, thus
avoiding the need to refuel at each stopover site. In contrast,
many species of warbler employ an income-based strategy,
relying on frequent refueling en route in lieu of fat deposits.
This disparity carries important conservation implications;
maintaining high quality stopover habitats may be particularly important for species implementing income-based
strategies.
Kendra Casey 2007
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin; Major: Communication
Hexamethylenetetramine as a Blocking
Group in Organometallic Cross-Coupling
Reactions
Amines readily undergo various reactions in organic synthesis, including formation of primary, secondary, tertiary, and its
quaternary salt when reacted with alkylhalides. Due to their
reactivity, they also account for various side reactions that are
undesired. Hexamethylenetetramine (urotropin) provides a
pathway for exclusive formation of primary amines in organic
synthesis. It also makes the amine substantially inert, which is
desired in organocmetallic synthesis. Urotropin as a blocking
group can be applied in Sonogashira cross-coupling and other
organometalic reactions when the desired product is a primary amine. Suzuki cross-coupling with urotropin proved to
be successful, but the same cannot be said for the Sonogashira
Reaction. Exhaustive investigation of the Sonogashira
Benjamin Larsen, 2007
Wisconsin; Major: Biology
26
medium. This compound contains large, disk-shaped
[Ni4P13S36]7- anions surround by nearly flat [EMIM]1+
cations. (EMIM = 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium). Each anion
contains customary Ni-S bonds as well as an unexpected NiP bond.
Faculty Sponsor: Jason Cody
In Parkinson’s disease, what happens to your
brain cells when the energy generators crash?
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is caused by the selective death of
human midbrain neurons. The misfolding and aggregation of
the protein alpha-synuclein, and accumulation of damaging
oxygen molecules called ROS, somehow kills these cells.
Whether these two events are independent or cooperative in
generating toxicity is unresolved. Our lab has developed yeast
models to study alpha-synuclein aggregation and toxicity.
Dysfunctions of the mitochondria (the cells’ energy generator) create ROS. Last year our lab published that the absence
of a mitochondrial gene (sod2), that normally reduces ROS
accumulation, coupled with excess alpha-synuclein was deadly
to yeast. For my thesis, to further examine the hypothesis that
too much ROS accelerates alpha-synuclein aggregation and
toxicity, I tested the cellular responses in yeast to alpha-synuclein, when key ROS-regulating mitochondrial genes (kgd1
and glo4) were absent. Such mitochondrial insults advanced
alpha-synuclein aggregation, but did not aggravate toxicity.
My talk will explain how this discovery of unexpected complexity in mitochondrial dysfunction may further help us
understand PD.
Kenneth Finch, 2007
Littleton, Colorado; Major: Chemistry
Islam: The Sunni and Shiite Conflict
It is hard not to be aware of the sectarian conflict of Sunni
between Shiite in Iraq. Everyday we are bombarded by the
media with images of violence and mob scenes. The world is
seeing the emergence of a Shiite geographical stronghold, the
“Shiite Crescent,” a development that is making the surrounding Sunni majority nervous. Many project a grim future of perpetual Sunni and Shiite violence; however, very little attention
is paid to the basis of this conflict. The presence of violence in
the Middle East is taken for granted and the reasoning behind
it remains unexamined. The historical interaction of Shiite and
Sunni is long and varied. Around the world, the two sects of
Muslims coexist and conflict in countless ways. This presentation is going to discuss the differences and similarities of the
two sects focusing on the cultural and scriptural aspects with
particular attention on how it relates to our modern world.
Faculty Sponsor: Khalil Marrar
Michael Zorniak, 2007
Chicago, Illinois; Major: Biology
Iodine Status in Individuals from a rural and
urban area in Bolivia
Ellen Jefferys-White, 2008
Arden Hills, Minnesota; Major: Economics and
Business
Iodine Deficiency (ID) is a prevalent preventable cause of
mental impairment. Iodine is important for normal development because it is an essential component of thyroid hormone, which is indispensable for growth and metabolism.
Although recent attempts have been made to eradicate ID,
the threat still persists, especially in developing countries.
The urinary iodine concentration of a population in Santa
Cruz, Bolivia, was evaluated because certain parts of Bolivia
are thought to be mildly iodine deficient, but previously
lacked detailed data. This past summer, I went to Bolivia and
collected urine and blood samples from approximately 189
rural and 114 urban patients. Currently, at a Northwestern
Memorial Hospital lab, I am determining the iodine concentrations using the Sandell-Kolthoff Method. For samples with
low iodine levels, thyroid stimulating hormone will be analyzed from dry filter paper samples to better define the exact
thyroid status. A discussion of these results will be presented
at the Symposium.
Juveniles’ Capacity to Understand Miranda
Warnings
The law has adopted an inconsistent stance toward juveniles
who become involved in the criminal justice system. Juvenile
witnesses and crime victims are often accorded special treatment in recognition of their presumed cognitive, psychosocial, and moral immaturity. Juveniles who are suspected of
committing crimes, however, are often subjected to the same
legal policies and procedures as their adult counterparts.
Which approach to juveniles makes the most psychological
sense? This paper reviews the available research literature on
juveniles’ understanding of Miranda warnings. Results indicate that juveniles often misunderstand their rights, which can
produce adverse consequences for both juvenile suspects and
the legal system as a whole. The reasons that juveniles tend to
misunderstand their Miranda rights are examined, and recommendations are made for changes to the legal system that
will help ensure that juveniles understand their rights and are
able to either waive them or uphold them knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily
Lavinia Sinitean, 2008
Ionic liquids for materials synthesis:
preparation and characterization of
[EMIM]7[Ni4P13S36] (EMIM = 1-ethyl-3methylimidazolium)
Julia Hogan, 2007
Boulder, Colorado; Major: Psychology
“Knowing” What You Don’t Know and
Forgetting What You Do: The Phenomena
of False Memory and the Forgot-It-All
Along Effect
The quest for technological breakthroughs often begins with
new materials that have unexpected properties. We made a
small advancement in this field by preparing a new compound
containing nickel, phosphorus, and sulfur. The recipe used to
make this never-before-seen substance is unusual because it
employed a room temperature ionic liquids as the reaction
The many luxuries afforded to us by our memory have not
come without costs. In the endeavor to produce valid memo27
ries, we often mistake the false as true and are vulnerable to
forgetting memories, such as childhood abuse, until that crucial point in time when they are rediscovered. These muchdebated topics have significant implications for the
testimonies heard throughout the court systems of America.
To empirically assess these phenomena, two experiments were
performed. The first simulated false memories via word associations, while the second task aimed at producing the forgotit-all-along effect by means of a cued-recall model. It was
predicted that in the former experiment, participants would
“remember” words that were never included in the word association task, while in the latter test, subjects would forget
instances that they, in fact, accurately remembered. Results
indicative of these memory slips may offer solutions to the
many dilemmas faced by our courts.
Learning Disabled Students and their Label:
What Effect does Being Labeled have on
Students’ Self-Concepts?
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
requires that every state provide special education services for
children with disabilities. This entails identifying students
with disabilities, and either assisting them within the regular
classroom or placing them into separate classrooms where
they can receive more specialized instruction. Presumably
this helps educators meet the needs of learning disabled (LD)
students, but how does it make those students feel? Does
labeling students ‘learning disabled’ and placing them into
special education classrooms detrimentally affect those students’ self-concepts? Studies that have examined these questions empirically were reviewed. The best studies suggest that
labeling is not detrimental, as indicated by an absence of significant differences between mainstreamed LD students and
special education LD students on measures of self-concept.
All of the existing studies, however, used correlational
designs. I will discuss the need for sound experimental
research and offer suggestions for policy makers.
Caroline Fitz, 2008
Westlake, Ohio; Major: Psychology
Knowing Your Nose: Discovering How
We Smell
The research project was for BIO 346 Molecular Neuroscience
Neurofrontiers Workshop, where I role-played the 2004
Nobel laureate, Linda Buck whose work increased our knowledge of the most mysterious of the senses: smell. The olfactory
system is activated during eating and tells us if something tastes
good or bad. All living organisms can detect and identify specific odors and this is an important survival mechanism.
Without the sense of smell you would not be able to detect
danger signs such as smoke in our environment, or rancid food
for example. During the Student Symposium I will be explaining the amazing discovery process of Dr. Buck’s discovery of a
family odorant receptors, composed of approximately 1,000
genes that are responsible for 1,000 olfactory receptors types
located on the upper area of the nasal epithelium. In several
impressive studies Dr. Buck increased our knowledge of the
organization of the olfactory system.
Diane Reynolds, 2007
Northbrook, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Lincoln’s Moral Imperative
If astute and wise, one can, and possibly should, learn from
history. Abraham Lincoln understood the importance of
political integrity and stability, concepts relevant to today’s
political leaders. My paper focuses on Lincoln’s rhetoric and
political motivations. Specifically, I use rhetorical criticism to
argue that Lincoln’s religious and moral rhetoric was primarily driven by Lincoln’s intention to maintain the Union
rather than by any moral imperative to free black slaves. In
order to prove my thesis I briefly describe and give the historical background of six of Lincoln’s most well-known
speeches before I examine each text’s tone, phrasing and context. Lastly, I discuss what is conspicuously absent throughout
these respective speeches. Abraham Lincoln was a strong
political leader, no less relevant today than he was 150 years
ago; political leaders today should look to Lincoln for lessons
concerning domestic and global stability.
Faculty Sponsor: Linda Horwitz
Krista Kusinski
Newbury, New Hampshire; Major: Biology
Kristof Kieslowski: film director or
philosopher
Are our lives a game of chance, or do we have any choice in
what our lives should and will be? This among many others is
one of the fundamental questions which arise in Kristof
Kieslowski’s films. His films float atop a metaphysical cloud
and linger in your soul with the powerful musical accompaniment from Zbigniew Preisner. By closely analyzing “Blind
Chance,” “No End,” “Double Life of Veronique,” “Blue,”
and “Red” along with film reviews, academic journals, and
full-length books, one comes to realize how Kieslowski was
not only a major film director but also a philosopher. In my
presentation I hope to introduce others to Kristof Kieslowski
by showing a few short scenes from his film “Double Life of
Veronique.” This film in particular captures the power of
music, the metaphysical world we are at times unaware of, and
the idea of chance and fate.
Jennifer Larsen, 2007
Lake Bluff, Illinois; Major: Communication
Modeling enantioselectivity in the chelatecontrolled synthesis of ansa-Zirconoocenes: a
comparison of DFT and empirical force field
methods
Ansa-zirconocenes are a versatile class of catalysts of interest
to the chemical industry for their use in asymmetric synthesis.
Asymmetric syntheses are reactions that selectively form products called enantiomers rather than a mixture of products that
include enantiomers and diastereomers. Selective formation of
one enantiomer is called stereocontrol. We previously
reported that computational modeling can accurately predict
the diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity in Richard
Jordan’s (U. Chicago) chelate-controlled synthesis of select
ansa-zirconocenes. While the reported computational method
Diliana Ovtcharova, 2009
Albuquerque, New Mexico; Major: Philosophy
28
in the public sphere. To a great extent, the reaction to nanotechnology has been divided across different discursive communities. Not surprisingly, discussion of nanotechnology
began with scientists—representatives of the technical sphere.
This discussion was largely focused on the properties of nanotechnology itself, often neglecting important potential
results of the implementation of nanotechnology. Eventually,
speculation regarding these potential results began to blossom among the broader, non-specialist public. This new discussion has involved a broader sense of nanotechnologies
capacities for dystopian and utopian results. This paper analyzes the assumptions that undergird the scientific and public
aspects of this controversy.
accurately predicts the stereochemistry for some zirconocenes
(called bis-indenyl systems), it has not been evaluated for other
types of zirconocenes. We will report the results of computational modeling using molecular mechanics (UFF) and DFT
methods to predict stereocontrol in the synthesis of new zirconocenes. We will also report a comparison of the strengths
and limitations of UFF vs DFT to predict enantiocontrol in
the chelate-controlled synthesis of ansa-zirconocenes.
Faculty Sponsor: Dawn Wiser
Rachel Alter, 2007
Windfall, Indiana; Major: Chemistry
Muse: Songwriting in the Chicago Arts
Program
Meghan Grosse, 2008
Fox River Grove, Illinois; Major: Communication
Though songwriting is a compact artistic medium, its process
of creation can be just as elusive as other art forms. My time
spent in the ACM Chicago Arts Program in Fall 2006 allowed
me to discover and hone my process for writing songs. The
first song I wrote, Muse, was an especially educational experience. Muse was inspired by an array of specific textual and
musical influences. The song developed through several
stages: writing the lyrics, setting them to music, polishing its
musical arrangement, and interpreting the song through performance. While revision played a significant role in each of
these stages, its techniques varied widely: traditional pen-onpaper composition, intuitive aural critique through performance, and producing and recording a progressive series of
drafts. My approach to writing this first song was creatively
experimental, and included many failed attempts and struggles, but in the end, successes. Muse has helped to define my
songwriting process, which I have further enhanced and developed through later songs.
Faculty Sponsor: David Amrein
Nehon
The Japanese, or Nehonjin, have many stereotypes associated
with them, from the negative to the positive. One cannot be
completely sure which can be claimed as urban myths and
which have a long history of truth and reason behind it. But
once you step into Japan and live among the populous, you
start to see how these homogenous people live their daily lives
and where and why some myths arise, and you’re sometimes
even surprised at how untrue some others are. While being in
Japan for the fall semester of 2006 and living with a Japanese
family, commuting to school everyday, and studying in a
Japanese university, I have only scratched the surface of the
daily life of a Japanese citizen. From the extraordinary customer service to the kindness of random people, I believe I
have gotten somewhat of a grasp of what and why Japan is
such a country that one can say that going to Japan is like visiting an entirely different planet.
Faculty Sponsor: Cathy Benton
Angie Ma, 2008
Major: Music
Marius Geykman, 2008
Highland Park, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
My Life in China
In the spring of 2006, I journeyed to Beijing, China. I went
from living in a community of 1,300 at LFC, to a city with 15
million. I would wake up to an army brigade doing marching
drills outside my window and go to sleep with the sound of
construction next door. During my stay, I attended school at
Peking University, through the American University program; interned for an American newspaper bureau; interacted
with Chinese and foreign students by playing soccer and
going to lounges in the evening; personally experienced the
traditions and the cultures in China such as their New Year
and discovered places that would baffle the average
Westerner. Moreover, the people, places, and culture, speak
of society’s will for survival against the onslaught of globalization. And for these reasons, China has become a place for
enriched learning and understanding of the human spirit.
Neurobiology of Drug Addiction: Evaulation
of AMPA Receptor Composition in the Brain
This project was conducted at Rosalind Franklin University
of Medicine and Science in Dr. Marina Wolf’s lab. Genetic
variation is thought to determine our differential ability to
succumb to complex behavioral disorders, such as addictions.
Addiction is a form of neuronal learning. Neurons learn by
changing the strength of their synapses, which can occur by
rearrangement of special proteins called AMPA receptors.
These receptors are made from any combination of four proteins, GluR1-GluR4, each with specific properties. Recently,
neurons in the hippocampus, a major site of learning, were
found to contain GluR2. The GluR composition in addiction
neurons is still unknown. My project was to help determine
this composition and assess if it changed as animals became
addicted. In summer 2006, I focused on adapting and refining
the protocols used in the published hippocampal study so that
it can serve as a reliable control for the proposed addiction
research, and I will present these protocols at the Symposium.
Rebecca Bride, 2007
Wilmot, New Hampshire; Major: International
Relations
Nanobots and “Grey-Goo”: Discussions of
Nanotechnologies in the Technical and
Public Spheres
Jenny Riddle, 2007
Bloomington, Illinois; Major: Biology
Nanotechnology has been met with both fear and excitement
29
ability of para-substituted haloacetanilides with acetylenic
compounds that differ in structure.
New York’s Environmental Issues
New York is at the forefront of action in its response to the
ecological assaults on four of its distinct environmental
ecosystems. This presentation examines the areas of Lake
Ontario, Adirondack Park, New York’s agriculture, and Long
Island both in terms of their current environmental problems
and possible reactions and solutions. Issues such as pollution,
invasive species, and dependence on foreign oil define these
areas. Solutions such as active management efforts, public
education, conservation, and the development of alternative
fuels provide possible ways to redress New York’s environmental imbalance. New York is important not only to the US
but the world, and with its influence, solutions to these problems become all the more important.
Faculty Sponsor: Julie Fiske
Ruja Shrestha, 2007
Kathmandu, Nepal; Major: Chemistry
Philosophy and film: “Jules and Jim”
The presentation will be a study of the film “Jules and Jim”
and will consist of a critical analysis of the film from a number of different angles, including philosophical, historical, and
aesthetic readings of the film. The presentation will include
about five clips of varying length from the film, and will
therefore require a television or projector. The presentation
will begin with an overview of the entire body of work of
“Jules and Jim” director Francois Truffaut, and will attempt to
identify the director’s understanding of film, and its philosophical implications. Ultimately the presentation will use
“Jules and Jim” as a means to exemplify the philosophical
nature of film as an artistic medium.
Graham Melbourne, 2007
Belleville, Ontario Canada; Major: Environmental
Studies
On Musical Composition as a Representative
Art: La Via Girona
Ben Warren, 2009
Baltimore, Maryland; Major: Communication
How can one represent reality through music? This presentation will attempt to answer this question from the perspective
of an aspiring composer with his as-of-yet unperformed piece,
La Via Girona. The advantages and limitations of music’s
abstract nature, compared to more concrete art forms, have
fostered certain musical solutions to express reality. Among
the solutions utilized in this piece is the concept of “program”—using music alone to tell a concrete story, in this case
reflections on the composer’s travels through Barcelona. The
composer attempts to balance the time-tested devices of form
and tonality—which give substance to this most transient of
artistic experiences—with the whimsy of inspiration, which
provides the emotional basis for the work. These decisions
will be demonstrated and explained through an audio presentation of La Via Girona by the composer, Tracey Swanson.
In the study of literature, students from the elementary to
collegiate levels often encounter play scripts. These scripts
range from the well-known and frequently-performed pieces
by William Shakespeare to the more theoretical texts and
experimental works of Samuel Beckett. Playwrights combine
the art of the theatre with the discipline of writing to create
literary form. The text to be performed and discussed is a
work in progress exploring both a play as literature and the
playwriting process.
Faculty Sponsor: Richard Pettengill
Tracey Swanson, 2007
Berthoud, Colorado; Majors: International Relations
and French
Quantitative (il)Literacy and Lake Forest
College
Process of Playwriting
Katy Burroughs, 2007
Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Major: English
A primary interest of the late Professor Steve Galovich was a
subject most of us explicitly agree merits discussion on the
Lake Forest College campus, but is often neglected: quantitative reasoning ability among our students. The world of the
twenty-first century is awash in numbers: from headlines
describing large increases in gasoline prices, recent changes in
SAT scores, and risks of dying from colon cancer, to advertisements trumpeting cell-phone contract deals. Yet, there is
evidence to suggest that students are not sufficiently equipped
to adequately process such information. This presentation
will focus on how Lake Forest College and its curriculum is
addressing this issue and what methods for further improvement should be developed. In addition, the need for development of a curriculum that will provide students with more
opportunities to be involved in abstract thought and practical
problem solving will be debated.
Faculty Sponsor: DeJuran Richardson
Palladium Catalyzed Ethynylation of
Haloacetanilides
The research investigates a synthetic pathway for a small
organic molecule kynuramine which is a substrate to an
important physiological enzyme monamine oxidase. The synthetic approach involves Sonogashira coupling of ortho, meta
and para-substituted haloacetanilides with an acetylenic compound containing an aminophthalimide protecting group.
Para isomers are expected to couple better than ortho and
meta isomers because of the least steric hindrance on the ring.
Experiments have been run with various parameters. The
experimental results contradict the hypothesis and show difficulty in coupling para isomers. The reason for the contradiction has not yet been elucidated. However, an attempt is
being made to understand the coupling chemistry of these
para-substituted compounds. The research is ongoing now
exploring a different coupling reaction; namely, the Suzuki
reaction rather than the Sonogashira reaction. Further studies use different blocking groups and investigate the coupling
Alexander Monahov, 2010
Peoria, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
30
Quantum Computers
Reflections on Mererani, Tanzania
Quantum computation is a relatively new area of computer
science which harnesses the theory behind quantum mechanics to produce a framework for computation significantly different from current models of computation. Despite its
relatively recent development, the field of quantum computation has already produced algorithms in important problem
domains. Two such algorithms will be considered; namely,
Shor’s factoring algorithm and Grover’s search algorithm.
While the current state of availability of hardware implementations of platforms for quantum computation limits the
application of these algorithms, their development has significant implications for computer science in general. In each
case they solve the problems they address more efficiently
than any currently known algorithms within current models
of computation, and the problems they address have importance to real-world issues such as internet security and data
mining. We will discuss both the nature of these algorithms
and issues pertaining to their implementation.
Four months, 150 pages of journaling, 800 pictures, 4 safari
days, and a keen taste for well-made Ugali (a staple of a traditional Tanzanian meal), this presentation reflects on my semester abroad in the small town of Mererani in Northern
Tanzania. When I arrived there I knew not one person and got
mobbed at the bus station by people who have never seen a
Mzungu, or a foreigner, in their lives. A man from the bus took
me under his wing and, over a week’s time, fed me in an outdoor kitchen and helped me conduct my research. I visited the
mining camps, distributed my surveys, and used my elementary
Swahili to converse with miners. I also went into a small mine
— so small, in fact, that it can accommodate only one person at
a time. My week in Mererani ended up being the backbone of
the research I conducted for my independent study paper.
Rich Lopez, 2007
Major: International Relations
Reforming Education: Insights from the
Homeschooling Movement
David Malec, 2007
Gurnee, Illinois; Major: Computer Science
Christopher Shirley, 2007
In recent decades, homeschooling has become a more distinguished and widely accepted form of education in the United
States, accounting for roughly 2% of the school aged population. Homeschooled children all over the country are exhibiting success in post-secondary education and beyond. Why is
this? Are there aspects of homeschooling that make homes
more conducive to learning than traditional schools? What
can traditional schools learn from the homeschooling movement to make traditional education more effective? In this
presentation, special attention will be given to differences
between how knowledge is constructed in the home versus
the way it is constructed in many schools and the role parents
play in the education of children who are homeschooled.
Faculty Sponsor: Shelley Sherman
Realizing the Dream: Barack Obama and the
Movement from Protest to Politics
Natalie Elsasser, 2010
Woodbury, Minnesota; Major: Sociology and
Anthropology
Queering the Machine: The History and
Practice of Camp
This presentation will use social and critical theory to show
how the techniques of camp allow queer people to open space
in an essentially hostile social milieu in which to constitute
their own identities and to critique heteronormativity. To this
end, it will demonstrate how two major figures in twentiethcentury queer history, Andy Warhol and William S.
Burroughs, used camp to structure their work in visual art and
literature.
Faculty Sponsor: Davis Schneiderman
Presidential candidate and Illinois senator Barack Obama has
been described in the press as a political phenomenon. For
much of the country unfamiliar with the freshman senator, he
has come from “nowhere” to create a grassroots movement
based, in large part, on his charismatic personality. Identified
as an African American of mixed heritage, many political writers have struggled to place Obama in the context of past civil
rights and African American leaders. This paper examines the
progression of American attitudes about racial identity, politics, and the legacy of the civil rights movement on Barack
Obama’s presidential bid in 2008. It places Obama directly in
the context of civil rights progression from the philosophy of
Alain Locke through Bernard Rustin and Martin Luther
King. Obama, one can argue, symbolizes the realization of
the dream Martin Luther King immortalized in his famous
1963 speech.
Faculty Sponsor: Catherine Weidner
Remarkable Read: A Chronicle of a Disease
that Changed the Central Dogma of Biology:
Deadly Feasts
Deadly Feasts by Richard Rhodes is about a great scientific discovery; the disease causing agent in Transmissible
Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), better known as MadCow Disease. This book links many similar diseases (TSEs),
like Scrapie in sheep, Mad-Cow disease in cattle and
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. All of these diseases affect the brain, literally making holes in it like a sponge.
Through years of painstaking research, scientists showed that
the disease causing agent was not a virus, or a bacterium! But
rather an infectious protein: a prion. Ignoring scientific data
or interpreting results subjectively, can lead to disease outbreaks like the Mad-Cow outbreak in the UK in the 1990s.
Deadly Feasts has strengthened my goal of preventing epidemics by assessing scientific evidence objectively and compelling authorities to take immediate action. This book
affected me deeply as it showed the importance of treating
scientific data objectively and seriously. In the laboratory I am
much more aware of the importance of interpreting results
Carol Jones
Lake Forest, Illinois; Major: Graduate Program in
Liberal Studies
31
with the least possible bias, especially if my results might have
broad consequences on people’s lives.
Remarkable Read: The Effect of The
Emerging Mind on an Emerging Mind
Vilyanur Ramachandran’s The Emerging Mind raises theories
relevant to everybody. Connecting philosophical, abstract
concepts such as free will to concrete, testable hypotheses in
neurobiology, the novel’s engaging conversational style is
only surpassed by the mind-altering concepts it presents.
Ramachandran studies neurological syndromes and phenomena such as phantom limbs, synesthesia, and even laughter to
acquire original insights into the functions of the healthy
brain. He then uses these scientifically-acquired conclusions
to conjecture the why of things from an evolutionary standpoint. Through this, he presents theories—such as the possibility of laughter originating as a group signal for “false
alarm”—that change the way one thinks of daily activity. As
can be seen in his “10 suggested universal laws of art,”
Ramachandran’s innovative theories span many fields, not
only neuroscience. The Emerging Mind has altered my own
thinking in significant ways, and inspired me further in my
goals of neuroscientific research.
Mithaq Vahedi, 2008
Remarkable Read: Holy Feast and Holy Fast
In her work Holy Feast and Holy Fast, historian Caroline Walker
Bynum explores religious food practices for women in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Europe. She looks at her subjects with a different perspective from many other historians
and comes to unprecedented conclusions. Bynum argues that
women, far from hating their bodies and internalizing widespread female-hatred/discrimination, exalted in the close relation between the female body and the body of Christ. Her work
focuses on a particular place, time, and group of people, yet it
offers several larger lessons for the everyday reader and historical thinker. This book changed my ideas about the past and how
I view history. I share my insights on Bynum’s piece and explain
why this book deserves the title of a “Remarkable Read.”
Faculty Sponsor: Tracy McCabe
Lital Silverman, 2008
Major: Biology
Christine Dobies, 2010
Newton, Massachusetts; Major: Foreign Languages and
Literatures
Remarkable Read: Unraveling The Double
Helix
Remarkable Read: I am Charlotte Simmons by
Tom Wolfe
I read The Double Helix for my Cell Biology class. The book
is an account of the discovery of the structure of DNA by
James D. Watson. It is a concise, well-written narrative that
documents the journey of one man from humble beginnings
to fame and of course, the Nobel Prize. What I like most is
that this book is a completely biased view of a very important
event of our times and no claims have been made to the contrary. The book talks about workplace politics, competition
between individuals and institutions, deception as well as
gender politics. It is a book with universal appeal.
Collaboration and competition are the two biggest themes in
this book. I began reading this book with some preconceived
notions, but I came out the other end with a better understanding of the scientific process and the importance of collaboration. As a student of science this book helped me
understand that the process of discovery can be just as exciting as the final outcome.
Charlotte Simmons is not your average college student. She
is smarter than most, socially awkward, and has lived a sheltered life. While I would consider myself of average intelligence, socially normal, and far from sheltered, Charlotte and
I have a lot in common. She is on a quest to discover who she
is, and sees college as the perfect opportunity to make this
discovery. Like her, I have spent the last semester of college
searching for the real me. In the 738 pages of the Tom Wolfe
novel, Charlotte went through change after change in personality, values and morals. Luckily, I have been able to find
the real me without compromising my beliefs, values, and
morals. I have come to realize and except, with the aid of this
book, that I am, and always will be, Tracy Schwartz, no matter what I do on the outside to be different.
Tracy Schwartz, 2010
Elk River, Idaho
Shruti Pore, 2008
Major: Biology
Remarkable Read: The Dharma Bums
Although Jack Kerouac is often given credit only for promoting drunken road trips through On the Road and the books
that followed this classic novel, he is also the source of some
profound wisdom. He teaches his readers about how the
world looks from sitting in a train car with hobos, from
exploring Zen shanties in the Berkeley Beat scene, and from
living in the desolated mountains of the Northwest. His
novel, The Dharma Bums, represents these later lessons as he
distanced himself from his crazed and indulgent debauchery
to spend a summer living in wilderness solitude. The Dharma
Bums reveals an often overlooked side of this author, poet, and
quintessential icon of the Beat Generation.
Faculty Sponsor: Ron Miller
Responsibilites and Methods in Modern
Literary Translation
A translated literary work should have the same effect on its
targeted audience as the source work had on its own audience.
Translation is always a combination of finesse and luck.
Despite the apparent leeway given to literary translators, they
still bear a heavy burden of fidelity to the original text. The
translator must take into account peculiarities that exist
between the source and target languages, issues of style, culture, and the author’s previous works and translations. The
ultimate goal of any translator is to allow the target audience
to appreciate a work as much as he or she did in the original
language. This goal is demonstrated with examples from passages of an original translation of the novel Cosmetic of the
Rich Lopez, 2007
32
Heart Disease and Sudden Cardiac Death,” by Dr. John S.
Banas from the American Society of Hypertension 2006
Annual Scientific Meeting Satellite Symposium. I use this lecture to investigate how a patient, with growing concerns of
doctors with extensive relationships with pharmaceutical
companies, may decide whether their doctor maintains their
scientific ethos. I conclude that Dr. Banas’ lecture is lacking
scientific ethos because he only reported on two drugs used
against sudden cardiac death, which happen to be products of
companies who financially support his research. This raises
the question for patients: “Are these the best drugs for me or
the ones my doctor is receiving gifts to promote?”
Enemy, by contemporary Belgian author Amélie Nothomb.
Faculty Sponsor: Cynthia Hahn
Tracey Swanson, 2007
Berthoud, Colorado; Majors: International Relations
and French
Rhetorical Theory: A Rhetorical Critique of
Modern Argument
The power of rhetoric is undeniable and unrelenting. Now,
more than ever, people rely upon the lingering effects of
speech, the most recognized form of rhetoric, to send a message or prove a point. By the ancient rules of Plato, argument
that resides under the title of rhetoric can only do so if the
argument itself is a truth of some kind. According to Aristotle,
an argument may be deemed rhetoric if the arguer is of virtuous character. During this study, I investigated two non-traditional forms of rhetoric through an intense rhetorical critique
of modern photography and performance art. I applied both
Aristotelian and Platonic theories of rhetoric to the aspect of
digital manipulation in photography, the subject of androgyny
in photography, and the objective of performance art while
referring to Platonic philosophical concepts of truth and
beauty in order to analyze each case from a rhetorical standpoint. This is a face-off between Platonic and Aristotelian theory though they are similar and equally influential; we find
that Aristotle’s lenience better suits rules of modern argument.
Michael Ojdana, 2008
Cincinnati, Ohio; Major: Art
What if you had to choose between your country and your
family? How far can you be pushed—physically or emotionally—before breaking? Questions like these are explored in
Sean O’Casey’s play The Plough and the Stars (1926), set in
Dublin during the 1916 Easter Uprising. This talk presents a
critical methodology that exposes the universal issues and rich
historical context of this play. The methodology utilizes dramaturgy, a field of study in the theater that illuminates plays by
researching historical context, biographical information on the
author, past productions, textual glosses, and related imagery.
An English/secondary education major with a theater minor
will discuss the creation of educational materials from dramaturgical research for Waukegan High School teachers and
students preparing to see Lake Forest College’s production.
She will also present the results of her assessment of the impact
of these materials on the students’ experience of the play.
Allison Weiner, 2008
Dallas, Texas; Major: Communication
‘Rules, Ethics, and Nonsense—the Perfect
Language in Wittgenstein’s Tractatus’
Cora Diamond, a notable Wittgenstein scholar, argues for a
particular—what she calls ‘austere’ understanding of nonsense
statements—and believes that this understanding has important implications for the Tractarian conception of ethics. In this
presentation I will attempt to describe Diamond’s view, defend
its internal consistency against her contemporary critics—
specifically, those leveled by Ben Vilhauer—and present my
own amended, Diamond-influenced reading that, by my lights,
is closer to the text of the Tractatus, and better reflective of its
author’s original intentions. Why is this significant? I hope to
show, through a close consideration of some rather technical
philosophical-linguistic concepts what the Tractarian conception of philosophy is: a way of eliminating the logical possibility of philosophical problems through a clarified understanding
of language; a way of obviating the necessity for a metaethics or
metaphysics through a ‘re-organized’ way of thinking—rather
than a rational search for ‘first principles’.
Faculty Sponsor: Chad McCracken
Shannon Buckley, 2007
Major: Education
Solvothermal Synthesis: An Inorganic
Chemist’s Approach to Baking
The properties of new materials are the key to everything
form plasma televisions to cell phones. The goal of this
research was to make completely new materials using brass
(Cu3Zn), phosphorus, and sulfur through solvothermal synthesis. Before the future uses of these new molecules can be
determined they first must be made so that their properties
can be measured. Solvothermal techniques facilitate preparation of meta-stable materials by combining reactants with a
solvent in a Teflon-lined pressure reactor and then heating
the mixture at elevated temperatures. Unfortunately, during
this research period no new brass compounds were isolated.
However, EDAX (Energy Dispersive Analysis by X-ray)
results confirmed that various thermodynamically stable
products such as ZnS and Cu2S were formed. Ultimately, this
research will continue by varying the molar ratios of copper,
zinc, phosphorus, and sulfur in the various solvents to reach
the goal: formation of a new material.
Faculty Sponsor: Jason Cody
Mike Abramson, 2007
Wilmette, Illinois; Major: Philosophy
Scientific Ethos in Medicine: Doctors,
Pharmaceutical Companies, and the Patients
In this research paper, I explore how doctors’ relationships
with pharmaceutical companies can affect their scientific
ethos with patients and the patients’ health. By applying the
theory of scientific ethos established by Aristotle and
advanced by future theorists, I analyze the lecture, “Coronary
Katie Rice, 2009
Centennial, Colorado; Major: Chemistry
33
at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museums’ Committee on
Conscience has shaped my education in an entirely new way.
Additionally, I will explore how student participation and leadership in rallies, conferences, and on campuses throughout the
United States continues to affect policy toward Sudan. I argue
that such activism is an opportunity to shape my generation as
active participants in both domestic and international affairs.
Faculty Sponsor: Rachel Ragland
Sonagashira Reactions with the PEPPSI-IPr
Catalyst System
The reactivity of the new Pd-NHC catalyst PEPPSI-IPr
(Pyridine-Enhanced Precatalyst Preparation Stabilization and
Initiation prepared from 2,6-diisopropylphenyllimidazolium
chloride) has been exploited by others in a variety of
organometallic cross-coupling reactions such as the Suzuki,
the Buchwald-Hartwig amination, the Kumada, and the
Negishi reactions. The Sonagashira coupling with this robust,
moisture and air stable catalyst was not known, with only one
example being reported. Successful couplings of a variety of
functionalized aromatic halides with acetylenes under the
Sonagashira conditions have been carried out to produce synthetically useful products. The efficacy of PEPPSI-IPr has
been compared to that of a well-known ferrocene catalyst system. Analysis of the oxidative addition step of the Sonagashira
reaction mechanism for iodo, bromo, and chloro aromatic
moieties has been completed. Also, the effects of electronreleasing and electron-withdrawing substituents on ortho,
para, and meta isomers of aromatic halides for the
Sonagashira coupling have been examined.
Elizabeth Milligan, 2008
Westminster, Colorado; Major: History
α-Synuclein Aggregation and Membrane
Association in Fission Yeast Model:
Implications for PD Pathogenesis
Parkinson’s is an incurable brain disease that fatally afflicts
over a million Americans. The misfolding and aggregation of
a protein, α-synuclein, plays a ruinous role in this disease, but
how the protein becomes toxic is unclear. We developed a fission yeast model to better understand α-synuclein misfolding,
aggregation, and toxicity. Past evidence in test tube studies
suggest α-synuclein aggregation follows the nucleation polymerization model. To evaluate this hypothesis in live cells, we
expressed α-synuclein in increasing concentrations in yeast. In
strong support for the model, α-synuclein formed cytoplasmic
aggregates in a concentration- and time-dependent manner.
Contrary to hypothesis, however, α-synuclein was neither
toxic nor targeted the plasma membrane of fission yeast. The
toxicity may require membrane binding. Thus, we stimulated
overall phospholipid content of yeast, but α-synuclein’s localization to the plasma membrane and toxicity still remained
absent. Overall, fission yeast sheds provocative insight into αsynuclein’s role in Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis.
Tulaza Vaidya, 2007
Stretching Historiography: Responsible
Imagination in Alfred Young’s Masquerade
Alfred Young’s Masquerade explores the life of a lesser-known
American heroine who served in the Revolutionary Army, and
the society she rebelled against. As he reconstructs the forgotten life of Deborah Sampson, Young brings fresh insight
to the interaction between history and public culture. So lacking is the body of evidence for Sampson’s life, that no historian until Alfred Young has attempted the writing of its
history. Simply put, Young used his imagination when evidence was missing. But Young’s imagination is responsible in
such a way that historiography—the rhetoric and methodology of historical writing—is challenged to reconsider its
requirements for evidence. Indeed, Young retells Sampson’s
true story with limited historical evidence in a way that begs
historians to reopen inquiries long abandoned. For its
description of a unique woman, her society, and the nature of
public culture, Masquerade entertains, educates, and asserts
the importance of imagination in intellectual pursuits.
Lokesh Kukreja, 2008
Highland Park, Illinois; Major: Biology
Tale of Two Proteins: Tau and α-Synuclein
This research project was completed for the Fall BIO346
Molecular Neuroscience Neurofrontiers Workshop, where I
role-played a leading neurodegenerative disease researcher
named Virginia M.-Y. Lee. For the Symposium, I will replay
this role and provide insight into the function and dysfunction of three proteins whose misfolding respectively cause
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and
Frontotemporal Dementia with Parkinsonism-17 (FTDP17). Each disease attacks the human brain by causing hallmark proteinaceous inclusions within distinct areas that
degenerate. AD and PD affect millions worldwide and are
thought to be caused by the protein tau and α-synuclein,
respectively. FTDP-17 accounts for 5 percent of cases of
dementia and is caused by mutations on the tau gene. The
protein tau accumulates into abundant filamentous tau
lesions in both AD and FTDP-17, while the signature inclusions of PD are a result of the fibrilization of α-synuclein.
Because of significant molecular advances, promising
avenues for treatment are now being tested.
Christopher Hartley, 2008
Uniontown, Pennsylvania; Major: History
Student Activism: Educating Participants in
the Global Society
For four years now, the world has witnessed an estimated
400,000 civilian deaths in Darfur, a Western region in Sudan.
In 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush declared the crisis to
be “genocide,” and under the 1948 United Nations Genocide
Convention, the international community was thus obligated
to intervene. Three years later, the student community is taking the burden of the words “Never Again,” words we frequently use to commemorate the Holocaust, into its own
hands. My presentation will examine how my experience in
Washington, D.C. as a student of foreign policy and an intern
Andrew Ferrier, 2008
Stratford, Prince Edward Island, Canada; Major:
Biology
34
the office of mayor, how they executed policy to hold
together coalitions with competing interests, details the
changes in Chicago, and proves that certain intangible political elements remain the same which has allowed the
machine to live to this day.
Faculty Sponsor: Paul Fischer
Taming the Dragon: How Problems at Home
are Affecting China’s Rise as a Global Power
This presentation discusses how China’s domestic transformation is affecting its rise as a superpower. With nearly 25
years of sustained annual GDP growth of eight percent,
China has shown without a doubt that it a force to be reckoned with on the world stage. China is asserting itself abroad,
using its new economic power to cultivate allies and intimidate potential adversaries in East Asia and beyond, and to
speak with a louder and more forceful voice in international
organizations and other multinational fora. Yet a rapidly
growing economy has unleashed civil and political unrest
throughout the country. These and other internal problems
will occupy much of the country’s attention for years to come
and hinder the Communist party’s efforts to achieve its foreign policy ambitions. Therefore, China’s rise to global power
and influence will not be as dramatic as many expect.
Faculty Sponsor: James Marquardt
Matthew Blumenfeld, 2007
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; Major: Politics
The Daudi Bohra in Pune: Deconstructing
the Muslim Stereotype
Muslims as a people and Islam as a faith is often misunderstood and misrepresented. The goal of this report is to show
Islam as a world religion, existing in areas other than the
Middle East and practiced by people other then Arabs. I spent
fall semester of 2006 on the ACM India program in Pune,
Maharashtra, where I researched a little-known sect of Islam
called the Daudi Bohra. While there I was welcomed into the
lives of a handful of Bohra families who shared their lives with
me. They brought me to religious functions, introduced me
to their friends, and even traveled with me to a number of pilgrimage sites. Through my experiences with these families
and my academic research on site I wrote a study on the community in Pune, and Daudi Bohra’s as whole. This presentation seeks to share a view of Islam which is different from the
commonly held stereotypes of many Americans, in the hopes
that understanding the multi-faceted nature of Islam will help
break down unfair stereotypes.
Faculty Sponsor: Catherine Benton
Rebecca Bride, 2007
Wilmot, New Hampshire; Major: International
Relations
The Black-Jewish Alliance and the Civil
Rights Movement: Past, Present, Future
The American black-Jewish alliance has deep roots. Despite
a rich tradition of shared activism, the alliance fragmented
during the heyday of the civil rights movement, with ongoing issues since then. That dissolution was the topic of extensive debate in the eighties and nineties, with varying theses
on the rationale behind the break-up and future prospects.
The first decade of the new century has yielded a dearth of
additional analysis. The circumstances behind the alliance,
its dissolution, its status, and its possibilities have been misunderstood. By analyzing the alliance through a contemporary lens and acknowledging the key issues, future prospects
can be stronger. With enhanced understanding, blacks and
Jews should be able to engage in ongoing and broader dialogue propelling a second, much-needed civil rights movement for the twenty-first century--addressing homelessness,
poverty, discrimination, broader equality, and other like
causes that both groups care so passionately about. Imagine
the possibilities!
Faculty Sponsor: Catherine Weidner
Alexander Honnet, 2008
Newton, Massachusetts; Major: Sociology and
Anthropology
The Effectiveness of Violence Prevention
Programs in Reducing School Violence
In the spring of 1999, the Columbine High School massacre
horrified the nation and catapulted the issue of school violence into the national spotlight. Since then, school officials,
parents, legislators, psychologists, and law enforcement officials have been scrambling to find solutions to this very serious problem. Many schools have implemented violence
prevention programs, which target students’ behaviors, attitudes, perceptions, and/or personalities in an effort to reduce
aggressive tendencies and foster nonviolent responses to life
difficulties. What, exactly, do such programs entail? Are they
effective? A comprehensive review of the published empirical
literature revealed considerable variation in program design
and some evidence of program effectiveness. Surprisingly, few
controlled studies have been conducted, and many have been
fraught with methodological problems. The implications of
these findings for researchers and policy makers are discussed.
Wendy Rhodes, 2008
Deerfield, Illinois; Major: Graduate Program in Liberal
Studies
The Daley Dynasty and the Evolution of
Chicago Machine Politics
The name Daley is synonymous with Chicago. Though the
city has undergone massive social, economic and political
change in the last fifty years, somehow Daley has managed to
hold the mayoralty for nearly the whole time. While Richard
J. Daley rose to power because of his strict adherence to the
old Democratic machine that based itself on patronage, his
son has taken a different route. Richard M. Daley has created
his own system out of whole cloth; one that has allegiance
only to the mayor’s office. Both men have held near imperial
power over the city despite the government in place that is
meant to curtail the clout of the executive. This project
examines the ways in which the father and son came to hold
Stephani Nicholas, 2007
Madison, Wisconsin; Major: Psychology
The Environmental State of Lake Erie
Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River have seen horrible environmental conditions throughout the past 40 years. After the
river caught fire in 1969, local, state, and federal governments
have taken strides towards cleaning up the area. Both Lake
Erie and the Cuyahoga River play important roles for the
35
economy and social workings for Cleveland and the entire
coast of Ohio. This presentation reviews some of the significant anti-pollution legislation that has been passed and the
clean-up progress of both bodies of water. Despite the legislation there are still many precautions and actions that need
to take place to restore the area. The Great Lake Regional
Collaboration has been the biggest activist for restoring Lake
Erie and the other Great Lakes. The environmental state of
the Lake Erie region depends on the efforts of the legislature
and concerned citizens.
Faculty Sponsor: Julia Fiske
The Peripatetic Classroom
To me, the Lake Forest program in Greece is synonymous
with “hands on.” By traveling around to the different sites, I
became an active participant in the learning process. I
touched temples, gazed upon the work of Phidias, and stumbled upon newly-developed archeological sites. Nine months
after the end of the program, my memory is deeply imprinted
with the culture, history, and beauty of Greece. The most
fleeting of moments have earned the value of a lifetime as my
comrades and I are still able to recall the legacy of the
Mycenaeans and the symbolic meaning of Areopagus at the
drop of a hat. My experience in Greece, which I will share on
this panel, has brought to light the importance of bringing
learning to life. Books and pictures presented before the trip
could not do justice to the vivid historicity of Greece and certainly did not teach me as much about the Greeks, both
ancient and modern, as the Greece program did.
Nicholas Primrose, 2008
Mayfield Heights, Ohio; Major: Politics
The European Union: How the Economic
and Political Policies affect the People and
Culture
Many people are not familiar with the European Union. Why
was the EU established? Is it a federation? How does the EU
affect trade, fiscal, and economic policies of its member
states? How do the almost 500 million EU citizens feel about
the institutions, policies, and benefits? These questions and
more will be addressed based on knowledge acquired during
classes, field study, travel, and daily interactions last semester
while on the IES – European Union study abroad program.
The combination of education both in and out of the classroom allowed me to see the European Union from different
perspectives. The material taught in class became more comprehensible as we traveled to a dozen countries, both new and
old members, to see the EU at work.
Tara Haskins, 2008
St. Louis, Missouri; Major: Philosophy
The Power of Principles: Neo-conservatism
and the Remaking of American Foreign
Policy
American foreign policy has never hewed to a strict pattern.
Unlike the traditional foreign policy establishments in
Europe that relied on balancing and great power politics,
America has always believed that you cannot remove morality
from foreign affairs. By making foreign policy about more
than just a narrow set of “strategic interests” the United
States has been able to make itself a force for good in changing the international structure. Yet it is these very principles
that are under attack today as many Americans are reconceptualizing what our role in the world should be. What America
is facing today is nothing less than the greatest crisis in foreign policy since our entry into World War I. It must then
seem a bit fantastical to the early scholars who first were
labeled neoconservative that their unique political ideology
would someday become the epicenter of a growing hotbed of
controversy. So how did a small group of Jewish intellectuals
primarily concerned with stopping the advances of the counterculture come to have their names attached to the dirtiest
word in 21st century American politics?
Faculty Sponsor: James Marquardt
Carolyn Lowry, 2008
Ripon, Wisconsin; Major: Economics and Business
The Newest Parkinson’s Disease Causing
Alpha-Synuclein Mutant is Selectively Toxic
to Yeast
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common fatal
neurodegenerative disorder and results from death of
dopamine-producing neurons in the human midbrain. Upon
autopsy, the PD brain is characterized by fibrillar inclusions,
Lewy Bodies, composed of the protein α-synuclein, which
indicates that misfolding of this protein is integral to the disease. Though ~90% of PD cases are sporadic, familial forms
result from specific mutations A30P, A53T, or recently discovered E46K in α-synuclein. Little is known about this latter mutant. Therefore, my senior thesis characterized E46K
in our budding yeast model. In order to accomplish this, the
mutants E46K/A53T, A30P/E46K, and A30P/E46K/A53T
were also synthesized. These mutants were then expressed in
several yeast strains. Growth and viability assessment of these
strains revealed selective E46K toxicity for one strain only.
Interestingly, each strain demonstrated a different α-synuclein expression pattern and intracellular localization. The
E46K mutation must alter the shape of α-synuclein in a manner such that it induces toxicity.
Matthew Fernholz, 2007
Wilmette, Illinois; Major: Politics
The Prospects and Present State of Mining in
Tanzania
During my semester abroad at the University of Dar es
Saalam in the beautiful and the mineral rich country of
Tanzania, I conducted a three-month long investigation of
Tanzania’s mining industry. My study investigates both the
macro-economic policy issues surrounding the mining industry in this poor East African country and the daily life of the
average Tanzanian miner. I researched current news reports
on the mining industry and reviewed periodicals. I also stayed
five days in the Tanzanian mining town of Mererani where I
distributed surveys and collected observational records. My
data led me to several explanations for the mining industry’s
Michael White, 2007
Westminster, Colorado; Major: Biology
36
political leaders. My paper focuses on Lincoln’s rhetoric and
political motivations. Specifically, I use rhetorical criticism to
argue that Lincoln’s religious and moral rhetoric was primarily driven by Lincoln’s intention to maintain the Union
rather than by any moral imperative to free Black slaves. In
order to prove my thesis I briefly describe and give the historical background of six of Lincoln’s most well-known
speeches before I examine each text’s tone, phrasing and context. Lastly, I discuss what is conspicuously absent throughout
these respective speeches. Abraham Lincoln was a strong
political leader, no less relevant today than he was 150 years
ago; political leaders today should look to Lincoln for lessons
concerning not just domestic but also global stability.
shortcomings. I also recommend that the government reconsider its policies towards large-scale mining projects. In doing
so, the government should acknowledge and address the
unsafe and deplorable living conditions in mining towns like
Mererani and encourage small-scale artisan mining.
Faculty Sponsor: Ghada Talhami
Rich Lopez, 2007
The Public Understanding of Nutritional
Supplements: How a Controversy is Born
America’s weakness is vanity. Her obsession is health. Her
chosen method is anything with speed and ease. Put these in
a pot, pour in the standard American bulk quantities of media
and science, turn on the heat, and what do you get? America’s
multi-billion dollar nutritional supplement industry. Today,
the safety and necessity of nutritional supplements has
become a topic of public debate. In this paper I explore this
debate through the theoretical lens of the public understanding of science. This view suggests that the controversy is not
born out of the products of science itself, but rather in how
the public learns about them through a number of different
sources.
Jennifer Larsen, 2007
Lake Bluff, Illinois; Major: Communication
The Rhetoric of Abraham Lincoln:
Gary Wills’ Lincoln—Beyond Gettysburg
Within “Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade
America,” Gary Wills describes Lincoln’s speech as “transforming the ugly reality into something rich and strange.”
Wills is unclear on what he exactly meant by this statement.
My paper, “Gary Wills’ Lincoln: Beyond Gettysburg,” examines the meaning of Wills’ words. It breaks the sentence into
three components; the ugly reality, rich, and strange. After
the meaning of Wills’ statement is studied, I explain how it
not only describes Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but it is a
lucid description of many Lincoln speeches. The Lincoln and
Douglas Debates, Cooper Union Address, First Inaugural
Address, and House Divided Speech are among the many
speeches analyzed to prove that Lincoln’s rhetoric universally
transformed the ugly reality into something rich and strange.
Jonathan D’Angelo, 2007
Ann Arbor, Michigan; Major: English
How His Use of Textual Authority
Undermines His Consistency
Throughout his political career, Abraham Lincoln has been
viewed as an honest and trustworthy man. However, after
examining his Young Men’s Lyceum Address, the Cooper
Union Address, his First Inaugural, the Gettysburg Address,
and his Second Inaugural, it is clear that this reputation is
false. Lincoln’s opinion concerning the U.S. Constitution and
the Declaration of Independence changed throughout his
career and varied from speech to speech. He used each of
these documents as textual authority in his speeches, changing his preference based on the social or political climate of
the time. My paper, “Abraham Lincoln: How His Use of
Textual Authority Undermines His Consistency,” proves that
Lincoln was more concerned with pleasing his audience and
using the appropriate founding document than stating his
true views. Critics are left uncertain as to which document
Lincoln found to be the most important, so I have tried to
find the cause of this inconsistency. After studying Lincoln’s
most important speeches, the speeches which are well known
and often quoted, Lincoln’s true opinions on substantive topics such as race equality and universal suffrage are still
unclear.
Amy Leyh, 2007
Harvard, Illinois; Major: Communication
Just One of Us
Ethos reflects the “character” of a speaker. According to
Aristotle, ethos is represented in three forms: moral goodness, competence, and trustworthiness. “For Aristotle, ethos
was about building the credibility of a speaker before an
audience, not about the speaker’s inherent worth” (Hyde 5).
In order to build this credibility before an audience, one
must achieve the moral goodness, competence, and trustworthiness that Aristotle preaches. Abraham Lincoln has
proven to be one of the most well-known and influential
rhetoricians of all time. This presentation will present the
argument that Abraham Lincoln used ethos as a way of relating with his audience, just as Aristotle preached. Through
the examination of several of his speeches, it will become
clear that through his rhetoric, he constructs himself as a
peer to his audience members by using pronouns, appealing
to the religious sensibilities, and providing humor that they
can all share.
Juliane Chalabi, 2007
Los Angeles, California; Major: Communications
Lincoln’s Moral Imperative
Lindsey Woodard, 2007
Westwood, Massachusetts; Major: Communication
If astute and wise, one can, and possibly should, learn from
history. Abraham Lincoln understood the importance of
political integrity and stability, concepts relevant to today’s
37
The Role of Race in Capital Punishment
The Soviet Writer in the 1930s: Mikhail
Bulgakov and His Novel
Criticisms of capital punishment in the United States are
extensive and wide ranging. One especially controversial issue
has been the possible role of race in death penalty cases. Are
some defendants more likely than others to be charged or
convicted of a capital offense? Are these decisions dependent
upon the race of the defendant? The victim? The jury? Or are
all people treated equally by the law as intended? These questions have been brought to the Supreme Court on several
occasions, resulting in a national shift towards more specific
regulation. Have the actions taken by our judicial system been
sufficient or does racial bias still play a role in capital punishment today? The existing social scientific literature on this
topic is reviewed and implications of scientific findings for
death penalty policy are discussed.
The Master and Margarita reflects the experiences of its author
Mikhail Bulgakov. In a most extraordinary manner, the novel
tells the reader what it means to write in a society in which
writing itself is frequently considered a crime. The Master and
Margarita is a love story between a madman and a witch. It is
set in a Moscow being tested by the devil and encapsulates a
rather unusual gospel. Bulgakov wrote the novel over the
period of two decades, and once completed it remained in a
desk drawer for many more. The novel is a writer’s story
about writing, specifically during the 1930s, the most terrifying period of Josef Stalin’s rule. This presentation will draw
from my senior thesis, which studies Bulgakov’s life and works
and focuses on The Master and Margarita’s a multilayered
study of the role of the writer in Soviet Russia.
Faculty Sponsor: Carol Gayle
Stella Nisenbaum, 2007
Buffalo Grove, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Dylan Davis, 2007
Rock Island, Illinois; Major: Area Studies
The Role of States in Providing Equitable
Funding for Public Education
The Third Annual Brain Awareness Week at
Lake Forest College: A Community Outreach
Project
Certain inequities in society are carried out or perpetuated by
law. Funding of public education is one such de jure inequity.
My research explores the relationship between local and state
funding of education and the roles these governments play in
funding education inequitably. Using data from all 50 states
and local school districts, my research finds that unequal distribution of funding by state and local governments is the
rule, not the exception. At the same time, funding equity is
positively correlated with students’ performance and schools’
efficiency. To provide America’s children with the best education possible, states must play a larger role in funding education and do so in a more equitable manner. Additionally, local
governments must ensure that their schools are kept on par
with surrounding public schools and that intra-district funding is equitably disbursed.
During Brain Awareness Week 2006 at Lake Forest College,
FIYS106 Medical Mysteries and BIO346 Molecular
Neuroscience students partook in a public outreach campaign
that informed the student body about current neuroscience
research and mysteries of the brain. In its third year, this educational experience taught students how to research and communicate on scientific topics and achieve success through
collaboration and mentoring. After months of demanding
preparation, a group of first-year and upper-level students
took turns publicly displaying their work throughout the
week. In this presentation, as the FIYS peer teacher, I will
specifically discuss in and out-of-classroom strategies that
strengthened both learning and teaching. I will also discuss
my role in helping students work together to produce an array
of presentations, exhibits, and teach-ins. I will explain how
guest seminars and other interactive programs promoted
brain awareness by attracting a diverse and engaged audience.
Taylor R. Tuscherer, 2010
Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Major: Psychology
The Search for Music in the Brain
The purpose of this research is to build a system for acquiring and analyzing differences in voltage in the brain produced
by the post-synaptic potentials of neurons. This process is
also referred to as the study of “brain waves” or electroencephalography. The essential principle from neuroscience is
that out of the electro-chemical activity of the brain arises an
analog signal. Digital Signal Processing (DSP) theory suggests that this analog signal can be converted to a digital signal by the process of transduction. Once digitized, these
“brain waves” can be analyzed and manipulated mathematically as desired. Here, the computer’s processing power is
crucial. The LabView software platform is used to perform a
harmonic analysis of digitized “brain waves.” To determine if
this system can digitize analog signals and if it can detect harmonies in these signals, I have used musical instruments.
Faculty Sponsor: Robert Glassman
Alexandra Ayala, 2009
Caracas, Venezuela; Major: Biology
They Met in the Desert: Interfaith
Nonviolent Protest at the Nevada Test Site,
1981–2006
Sixty miles north of glittering Las Vegas lies the most devastated piece of earth on the planet—the Nevada Test Site.
Over 900 full-scale nuclear bombs were detonated there
between 1951 and 1992. Most large-scale protest ceased as
the Cold War ended and the comprehensive nuclear test
moratorium took effect, however. Only the Nevada Desert
Experience (NDE), an interfaith alliance of Franciscans and
members of the Western Shoshone Nation, continues to
demand a complete peace in a world devoid of nuclear
weapons. Drawing on the previously unavailable NDE
archives, I will analyze protest as pilgrimage and explore
many aspects of the “woundedness” participants seek to heal,
including the human, biological, and ecological toll of fallout
38
vision of royal power as it is presented in his DEEDS OF
LOUIS THE FAT. Specifically, I will assess the abbot’s discussion of Louis’ military expeditions undertaken in the service of Saint-Denis, focusing on his recapture of property
belonging to the abbey.
Faculty Sponsor: Anna Trumbore Jones
and the unlawful occupation and spiritual violation of the
sacred Western Shoshone homelands.
Faculty Sponsor: Virginia Stewart
Leah Jurevicius, 2007
Libertyville, Illinois; Major: History
David Cantor-Echols, 2007
Savannah, Georgia; Major: History
Tuberculosis and Social Injustice
Tuberculosis is a silent killer. In the early twenty-first century,
millions of people are suffering from the disease. Moreover,
the World Health Organization has announced that less than
half of all tuberculosis cases worldwide are diagnosed, and
among those that are, fewer than 60% are cured. Of the millions who have died from tuberculosis in recent years, a striking 98% of the deaths are in developing countries. Yet, in the
middle of all these deaths, even multiple drug resistant tuberculosis is extremely treatable using biomedicine and followup regimens. Traditionally, anthropologists and physicians
have blamed the patients for noncompliance of medical care.
However, many of these anthropologists have not considered
that treatment often costs more than the average annual
income. As such, I have found that poverty is a surprisingly
overlooked variable in considering non-compliance of medical treatment for tuberculosis.
Faculty Sponsor: Jeff Bass
Writing American Social History: The
Narrative and the Analytic
Social history lends itself to two schools of thought: the synthetic and the analytic. While both are important in writing
social history, there are some key differences. Synthetic history is involved in the creation of one cohesive, all-encompassing history that is linear. In contrast, there is analytic
history which focuses on the parts of history. Social history
shifts synthetic history into analytic and allows historians to
see more depth to synthetic history by looking at the stories
of common people. Once these stories are identified, it is the
social historian’s duty to make these common stories into a
narrative in the larger context of history. I wish to explore
these concepts by explaining the works of social history I have
constructed through a class project in History 355 and an
independent research project. The latter is a study of the life
of Leonard W. Johnson, my grandfather, in twentieth-century
Chicago.
Ethan Helm, 2007
Mabelvale, Arkansas; Major: Biology
Tusitala: Lake Forest Writing, 1935-2007
Tusitala. It’s a familiar word to the Lake Forest College community: the Samoan word for “teller of tales” and the title of
the college’s literary and visual art magazine, published annually. Tusitala, first published in 1935, is a staple to the Lake
Forest College community. Initially biannual and including
prose and poetry only, Tusitala switched between biannual,
triannual, and even quarterly, evolving into the annual visual
art and literary magazine the college knows. Tusitala has been
a fluid fixture on campus, changing appearance and contents
with each publication and new generation of writers, even
finding itself in hot water over a dispute about an “obscene”
cover in 1968. The history of Tusitala will be presented as well
as selections of prose, poetry, short fiction, and cover art from
the seventy years of publication.
Faculty Sponsor: Arthur Miller
Megan French, 2008
Elk Grove Village, Illinois; Major: History
Emily Capettini, 2009
Batavia, Illinois; Major: English
Vocational Exploration in International
Setting
Two Swords: Abbot Suger’s Notion of French
Royal Power
I have been interested in scientific research since high school.
I have since continued my exploration of research as a way to
explore career paths that best fit my interests and talents. In
this panel, I will discuss how such quests led me to conduct
scholarship outside of the U.S. Since freshman year, I have
conducted research on iodine deficiency at Northwestern
Feinberg School of Medicine, a common health issue in many
developing nations. To experience field research firsthand in
one such nation, I spent six weeks in summer 2006 in Bolivia.
There, I was able to also better understand the difficulties
that face researchers and health care providers. In fall 2006,
when I studied in Seville, Spain, I volunteered as a research
assistant in an ecology lab with a project on plant-bacteria
relationships. This activity provided the familiarity of home
Unleash Your Inner Treehugger!
LEAP, the League for Environmental Awareness and
Protection, explores the various ways in which students can
be more environmentally friendly their everyday lives. The
presentation focuses on the notion of “sustainability” and
offers tips on how student can live in more environmentallysustainable ways. It also discusses the organization’s goals and
accomplishments toward a more sustainable future.
Faculty Sponsor: Benjamin Goluboff
Greg Reger, 2008
Overland Park, Kansas; Major: Economics and Business
My senior thesis explores one twelfth-century French abbot’s
notions of how royal power should be created and wielded.
Suger, who served as abbot of Saint-Denis, a monastery just
north of Paris, and the French king, Louis VI “The Fat,” saw
an opportunity to reclaim the prestige their realm enjoyed
under Charlemagne. While Louis fought tirelessly to quell
his kingdom’s warring nobles, Suger brokered agreements,
spearheaded an ambitious program of architectural renovation and economic reform at Saint-Denis, and wrote a number of texts on power and order, all of which was meant to
aggrandize both the abbot’s monastery and the monarchy. My
presentation will explore one particular aspect of Suger’s
39
WSTF, and GTF21. The impact of the less common gene
deletions is poorly understood, thus future work continues to
focus on the relationship between genetics, the brain and cognition in relation to WS syndrome.
while abroad, relieving homesickness. Importantly, I learned
about Spain’s ecology and its scientific culture.
Lavinia Sinitean, 2008
Libertyville, Illinois; Major: Biology
Why not Search Kindly: An Adventure in
Online Altruism and Social Entrepreneurship
Yugoslavism: An Opportunistic Political
Construct or A Timeless Pluralistic
Framework?
What kind of person is mostly likely to give away someone
else’s money? This is precisely my question. The objective of
my research is to investigate the variables that shape altruistic
action with respect to my personal venture in social entrepreneurship, SearchKindly.org. Search Kindly is a not-for-profit
corporation that I founded in September of 2006 which
allows users to passively contribute to charity at no personal
cost. The idea is to take a very common and uneventful task,
such as surfing the Internet, and turn it into a meaningful
action at the cost of a very minor behavior modification. As a
result of this collective, virtual altruism, Search Kindly has
been able to raise over $1000 to date. As the title states, if
you’re going to search, why not search kindly?
Faculty Sponsor: David Boden
Yugoslavism is an interpretation of the past and the future of
the South Slavs. The concept of Yugoslavism was transformed
over time, by different proponents, taking a new place in each
era of the region’s history. My thesis traces these changes
from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, focusing on
the roots of the Yugoslav ideal, the creation of the first
Yugoslavia, the partition of Yugoslavia during WWII and its
reconstruction as a communist state. I conclude with the disintegration of communist Yugoslavia, the wars of the 1990s
and the reality of the region today. It focuses on the relationship between Yugoslavism and the nationalism of component
regions. I consider whether the concept of a Yugoslav ideal is
the region’s ultimate challenge or its best hope. Is it an opportunistic political construct that enables violence to escalate or
a timeless pluralistic framework that restores hope and renews
resolve after tragedy?
Faculty Sponsor: Carol Gayle
Syed Karim, 2007
Chicago, Illinois; Major: Independent Scholar
Wild Lake Forest: Surprises in 150 years of
history
It seems as though most students and people in the Lake
Forest community don’t know a great deal about the rich history of Lake Forest College and the surrounding city. There
is, however, a great deal of extremely interesting information
regarding some of the colorful individuals involved in the
school’s 150-year history. Through working with Dr. Arthur
Miller in the special collections department, I have dug up
some interesting stories about the school’s history involving
such notable people as President Woodrow Wilson and the
McCormick family. Some of these events have shaped
national history and some are simply of interest to those of us
who live in Lake Forest and can see the school’s history every
day.
Faculty Sponsor: Arthur Miller
Alexandra Hales, 2007
New Iberia, Louisiana; Major: History
A Cry for Economic Liberation
Characterized among the lower middle-income countries of
the world, Indonesia has a market-based economy in which
the government plays a significant role. Indonesia has experienced a substantial financial and economic crisis beginning in
the middle of 1997. The end result followed in the government taking custody in a large portion of private sector assets.
Indonesia still grapples with high poverty and unemployment, widespread corruption, a poor investment climate, a
flimsy banking sector, inadequate infrastructure, and unequal
resource distribution. Economic reformers introduced new
policy packages to improve Indonesia but translating them
into reality has not been easy. Keys to future growth are left
in the hands of internal reform, building up the confidence of
international and domestic investors, and strong global economic growth. Globalization has given the government a
strong explanation for undertaking market-oriented reforms
that can help maintain high and sustainable rates of exports
necessary for strong economic growth. Unless markets are
opened to Indonesian products in general, it is unlikely that
Indonesia can generate the wealth in order to establish an
effective social and welfare system.
Faculty Sponsor: Carolyn Tuttle
Joshua Anderson, 2010
Fort Pierce, Florida; Major: History
Williams Syndrome: The Costs and Benefits
of Chromosomal Deletions
This research project was done for the Fall 2006 BIO346
Molecular Neuroscience Neurofrontiers Workshop in which
I role-played Dr. Ursula Bellugi, one of the leaders in the
study of Williams Syndrome. At the symposium, I will reenact this role. Williams Syndrome (WS) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by vascular and heart
disease, mental retardation, and characteristic personality and
facial features. WS affects ~ 1 in 20,000 births and is caused
by a particular deletion of DNA in chromosome 7. Dr.
Bellugi’s lab mostly focused on the anatomical and cognitive
basis for WS, but significant advances have also helped elucidate the molecular aspects of the disease. Up to 28 genes are
deleted in WS, most common being LIM kinase, elastin,
Daniel Hankosky
Patrick Hartman
Rachel Stickney
Louisiana
40
Trevor Thomas
Illinois
Argentina: Anxious for Appraisal
Once one of the world’s wealthiest nations, recent pictures of
Argentina lend the impression of a country frozen in time.
After gaining independence from Spain, Argentina trod
through a lengthy history of various leaders who entertained
a plethora of goals and interests. The withdrawal of foreign
investment after World War I decimated the nation and left it
unable to purchase capital goods, maintain profits, and stabilize savings rates. Accumulated fiscal deficits, deteriorating
gross domestic product, and inflation paved the course to an
economic collapse in 2001. The International Monetary Fund
made the risky decision to grant over $21 billion in emergency finances to alleviate the nation’s state of depression…
only to discover the funds irresponsibly squandered by
President Fernando de la Rua—a corrupt deviation from the
IMF’s intentions.. Argentina soon committed the most substantial default in history with a failure to settle its $155 billion in foreign debt payments. Today Argentina is faced with
the arduous task of fashioning itself as a viable and advantageous global entity and participant in the economic market.
Hampered by a lack of financial credibility, Argentina struggles to disaffiliate itself from its blemished reputation, recuperate its economic state, and once again earn a sound and
inviting position as player in the global market.
Troy Thomas
Illinois
Aikido Demonstration
The Japanese martial art of Aikido is a comprehensive system
of throwing, joint-locking, striking and pinning techniques,
coupled with training in traditional Japanese weapons such as
the sword, staff and knife. Traditional Aikido is non-competitive and promotions do not come through besting an opponent, but through demonstrating understanding of basic
exercises and techniques, which become more demanding
and/or difficult as rank increases. In Aikido we strive to work
in cooperation with a partner, still employing effective technique against an energetic and realistic attack, yet doing so by
blending with the attack and redirecting its energy back to the
attacker. These and other Aikido principles will be demonstrated by the members of the Lake Forest College Aikido
club in a special Symposium demonstration.
Faculty Sponsor: Beth Pier
Chloe Goya
Robert Hendler
Kamil Madejski
Whitney Atkins, 2007
River Forest, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Sara Miles
Dimitar Nikolov
James Kite, 2008
Grenoble, France; Major: Economics and Business
A Peek Into the Past: Presidential Leadership
at Lake Forest College
Lisa Ralph 2007
Vernon Hills, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Our presentation will focus on how the past Lake Forest
College presidents helped shape the College through the use
of specific leadership styles discussed in the Psychology of
Organizations: A Sesquicentennial of Leadership. Special
emphasis will be placed on the group of founders, Reverend
James McClure, and William Graham Cole, each of whom
utilized their unique leadership styles to bring about significant changes at the College. The success of these presidents
was dependent upon their use of dynamic leadership skills
which contributed to significant academic and structural
changes within Lake Forest College.
Beanbags and Blindfolds — the non-English
Major’s Guide to Poetry
Beanbags and blindfolds—you’ve never had it this good. This
year, Writing Club is pulling out all the stops. In our game, a
beanbag toss will determine which set of random words your
team receives. Then you’ll have a limited amount of time to
make the best poem you can...while blindfolded. Think you
can handle it? Winners will get prizes and losers will get a lesson in poetry they’ll never forget. Thought darts and balloons
were fun last year? “Well you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”
Faculty Sponsor: Carla Arnell
Derek Atchley, 2010
Monroe, Michigan; Major: Psychology
Evan Bell
Major: English
Chantell Benjamin
Major: Sociology and Anthropology
Emily Capettini
Batavia, Illinois; Major: English
Amy Chappuis, 2009
Ann Arbor, Michigan; Major: Psychology
Erin Doughty, 2008
Illinois; Major: Politics
Andrew Crawford, 2008
Lake Forest, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Nicholas Forte
Minneapolis, Minnesota; Major: English
Josh D’Angelo, 2010
Ann Arbor, Michigan; Major: English
Joanne Kim, 2010
Aleksa Dutko, 2009
Round Lake, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Michal Sorensen, 2008
Libertyville, Illinois
Natalie Elsasser, 2010
Woodbury, Minnesota; Major: Sociology and
Anthropology
Nick Leland, 2008
Dallas, Texas; Major: English
Marie Madel, 2009
Illinois; Major: English
41
projects are being developed to reintroduce species into areas
where they were historically present. A species reintroduction
is an interdisciplinary project which needs to address issues
from biology, ecology, economics, politics, and sociology, as
well as other disciplines. These posters examine specific
wildlife reintroduction projects, evaluating their history and
progress to date and discussing the various factors likely to
lead to their eventual success or failure.
Faculty Sponsors: Benjamin Goluboff and Jeffrey Sundberg
Ruth Maynie, 2010
Major: English
Nicole Nodi, 2009
Chicago, Illinois; Major: English
Better Than a Crystal Ball: Leadership Styles
in Light of Lake Forest College’s Future
Have you ever wanted to know what the future holds for Lake
Forest College? We’ve already looked into it. Drawing upon
our research from leadership and organizations, we have
examined theories to predict the leadership styles of future
Lake Forest College presidents. Proposing what leadership
styles would be best for the College’s future, potential case
scenarios will be applied to appropriate leadership styles to
best serve the prospective needs of Lake Forest College.
Molly Beste, 2009
Plymouth, Minnesota; Major: Environmental Studies
Margaret Bower, 2008
Lake Bluff, IL: Major: Environmental Studies
Ashley Caja, 2010
Waukegan, Illinois; Major: Biology
Neal Carr, 2008
Sylvania, Ohio; Major: Philosophy
Irina Bartnovsky, 2007
Skokie, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Peri Kepraios, 2009
Chicago, Illinois; Major: Environmental Studies
Sabrina Crowder, 2009
Lake Forest, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Danielle Koutsopanagos, 2008
Arlington Heights, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Stacey Nadelhoffer, 2007
Evergreen Park, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Anna Mahar, 2010
St. Paul, Minnesota; Major: Environmental Studies
Angela Pritchard, 2008
Britt, Iowa; Major: Psychology
Brad Rahal, 2007
Glenelg, Maryland; Major: Psychology
Belleville, Ontario, Canada; Major: Environmental
Studies
Heather Steward, 2007
Wood River, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Roman Shklover, 2008
Fox Point, Wisconsin; Major: Chemistry
Kim Zafiriou, 2009
Buffalo Grove, Illinois; Major: Communication
Carly Stickles, 2008
Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada; Major: Environmental
Studies
Bromeliad Stress across an elevation gradient
in a Costa Rican cloud forest
Chris Wilson, 2009
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Because epiphytes are not rooted in the soil, they may be subject to high levels of physiological stress from fluctuations in
nutrient, water, and exposure conditions. In many epiphytes
in the bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae), leaf redness is an
indication of physiological stress. I measured leaf redness in
bromeliads across an elevation gradient of high to low levels
on tree trunks, from 2000m to 3000m in a Costa Rican cloud
forest near San Gerardo de Dota, to test the hypothesis that
bromeliads experience more stress at high, than at low elevations, based on the rationale that plants experience increased
exposure to stress at high elevations. Bromeliads which reside
higher on the tree trunks are subject to more light, less nutrients and more desiccating conditions therefore experiencing
more stress than those at lower levels.
Kimberly Zafiriou, 2009
Challenging Human Rights Abuses
The Amnesty International Chapter of Lake Forest College
works to promote and campaign for “internationally recognized human rights.” We foster awareness on campus of past
and current human rights issues that affect the United States
and the international community. We write urgent action letters every week, which urge leaders around the world to
uphold the standards of basic human rights, such as freedom
of speech, right to a fair trail, and freedom to assemble. At our
annual Letter Writing Party, members of the campus community are invited to learn about human rights abuses around
the world and speak out on pending cases against prisoners of
conscience by writing letters to the authorities concerned. At
the Symposium we will present posters that describe the campaigns we will address at this spring’s Letter Writing Party.
Faculty Sponsor: Louis Lombardi
Karina Nikogosian, 2007
Round Lake, Illinois; Major: Biology
Studies
Lubko Berezowsky
Case Studies of Wildlife Reintroduction
Projects
Morgan Easter
As we recognize both the importance of wildlife and the damage done to the populations of some species, more and more
Rich Lopez
Rob Flot
42
Elizabeth Martinez
Leah Jurevicius, 2007
Justin Messmore
Cheryl-Lynn May, 2008
Elizabeth Milligan
Alec Tessler
Levi Paul
Child Care Center at Lake Forest College
Melanie Quall
Swan (Student for Women’s Awareness Network) is presenting its idea for the establishment of a child care center on the
Lake Forest College campus. Due to the growing demand for
babysitting from faculty and staff the creation of this facility,
which will accommodate the needs of staff, faculty, and students with children, would be beneficial. Swan will present
recently completed survey statistics and demographic information compiled from Lake Forest College student, staff, and
administrators as well as from colleges and universities across
the country that will show the demand and beneficial qualities
of having a child care center on campus. Swan hopes to promote a child care center on campus to further the advancement of women in the work force and in higher education. In
order to do this it is important that affordable convenient
child care is offered to women who find themselves balancing
the role of motherhood with their studies and careers.
Faculty Sponsor: Heidi Vrankin
Reuben Sanyika
Zimbabwe
Deepti Sharma
Nepal
Kriti Shrestha
Nepal
Kevin Smith
Jennillee Wallace
Change in Species Richness, Abundance, and
Composition across an Elevation Gradient
and between Forest Types
Tropical biotas are known to exhibit marked changes across
elevation gradients and in response to disturbance. We used
nets and visual observations to census butterflies attracted to
rotting fruit baits in disturbed and undisturbed forest at
2000m and at 3000m in order to determine the effect of elevation and forest type on the abundance, species richness and
composition of a Costa Rican cloud forest butterfly community. We conducted this study in March 2007 near the Savegre
Lodge in San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica. According to
Rapoport’s elevation rule which supports the theory that
species richness and abundance are correlated negatively with
elevation, we expected to find lower species richness, abundance, and composition at higher elevations. We anticipated
finding some similar species at different elevations because
taxa that inhibit high elevations have comparatively larger climatic tolerance. Also, we predicted that we would find some
degree of species overlap between forest types.
Bita Dadfar, 2009
Japan; Major: Communication
Sara Jensen, 2008
Illinois
Audia Reggie, 2008
California; Major: Politics
Zorie Valchev 2008
Illinois; Major: International Relations
China: An emerging powerhouse?
During the last quarter century, China’s economy has shifted
from a centralized system that was closed to international
trade to a market-based economy, making it one of the major
players in the world. Since 1978, China has seen an increase
in GDP by ten times due to their restructured economy and
efficient market systems. In 2006, China was ranked second,
after the United States, in economic prosperity. Despite the
great success China has seen in the past years, the Chinese
economy still faces a great deal of problems. With an overall
population of over 1.3 billion people (about one-fifth of the
world’s population) many Chinese still fall below international poverty lines. Although China’s GDP is second in the
world, its extremely large population drops their GDP per
capita rank down to 87th among countries. A 17% unemployment rate is another issue that plagues the Chinese economy. This can be considered a threat to long-term growth,
along with their “one child” policy, causing China to be considered one of the most rapidly-aging countries in the world.
As a developing country, China must address these issues in
order to continue growing and make its way to becoming one
of the economic powerhouses in the world.
Andrea Durante, 2007
Bloomingdale, Illinois; Major: Biology
Matt Johnson, 2008
Mendota Heights, Minnesota; Major: Biology
Chicago History and Public Memory
Based on original research and site visits by students in
History 363, “Chicago History and Public Memory,”
“Talking Back” presents case studies of historical monuments
and markers as specific narratives placed on the landscape for
public consumption. Each student presents the social history
of a public site, critiques its explicit and implied messages, and
suggests appropriate revisions using the analytic strategies
employed by historian James E. Loewen in his book Lies
Across America (New York, 1999). The presentation format is
based on annotated Google maps, with possible podcast narration.
Faculty Sponsor: Virginia Stewart
Katherine Benetatos, 2007
Lincolnwood, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Elizabeth Brandon
Walter Echeverry, 2007
Glenview, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Laura Desjarlais
Katherine Eckley, 2007
43
floor leaf litter in different locations. We investigated the
diversity and abundance of epigaeic fauna in a tropical cloud
forest near Savergre Lodge, in central Costa Rica. We used
pitfall traps to sample the epigaeic fauna, focusing on amphibians in different ecological microhabitats. Individual specimens were identified based on phenotype and physiological
measurements. After documentation, herepetofauna were
released back into the wild. Our research aided the continuing effort to understand how the structural complexity of the
tropical rainforest as it relates to biodiversity distribution.
Robert Madi, 2007
Morton Grove, Illinois; Majors: Business and
International Relations
Chinese Performing Arts and Period
Costume Demonstration
Chinese performing arts such as Chinese opera, music and
dance will be demonstrated through a series of story telling
performances from “Happy Buddha,” “Ribbon dance” and
“Flag dance.” In addition, Chinese history and culture will be
introduced through a period fashion show covering from
1027 B.C. to A.D. 1911.
Faculty Sponsor: Rosa Yeh
Ryne DeBo, 2008
Major: Biology
Benjamin Larsen, 2007
Oconomowoc, Wisconsin; Major: Biology
Kumiko Akiyama
Kyuma Asami
Rebecca Bride
Dramaturgy in Action: Sophocles’ Electra and
Charles Mee’s Big Love
Max Falaleyev
In this session, students in Richard Pettengill’s THTR 255
Dramaturgy course will present the fruits of their research
into both Sophocles’ Electra and Charles Mee’s Big Love in
preparation for the planned Garrick Players productions of
the plays in Spring 2008. These student dramaturgs have
researched pertinent historical, cultural, and social backgrounds of the plays, the biographies of both authors as they
shed light on the plays, relevant criticism and commentary by
other artists or critics, significant past productions, images
(paintings, photographs) intended to inspire the imaginations
of the director and designers. In addition, they are producing
study materials designed to help high school teachers prepare
their students to see and fully appreciate the plays. Together,
they will discuss the challenges and rewards of this intensive,
collective research process.
Chloe Goya
Spenser Hicks
Nikki Nguyen
Stephani Nicholas
Phuc Phan
Quincy Roberts
Lindsay Ross
College Radio: Saving a Dying Medium
Radio has been called a ‘dead medium.’ To a great extent, this
is because potential creativity in radio has been sapped by the
surprising amount of control that a small number of large
corporations maintain over the AM and FM bands. At the
same time, the corporate control of music production is held
in thrall to tremendously similar (and sometimes overlapping)
corporate forces. For decades college radio has distinguished
itself as a more liberated part of the radio dial. College radio
has provided a way for listeners to break away from corporate
programming, and to allow college students to expose the
public to otherwise unheard music and other programming.
This panel will feature student presentations concerning the
promise of college radio as it is exemplified at WMXM-FM.
Faculty Sponsor: Dave Park
Charlie Alves, 2008
Lake Forest, Illinois; Major: Undecided
Walker Barnes, 2007
Charleston, South Carolina Major: Theater
Ashley Brant, 2007
Newport, Rhode Island; Majors: Communication and
Theater
Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Majors: English and Theater
Cate Cryder, 2009
Plainfield, Illinois; Major: Communication
Caitlin Fergus, 2008
Avon, Ohio; Major: Theater
Meghan Grosse, 2008
Fox River Grove, Illinois; Major: Communication
Ashley Hall, 2010
Moreland Hills, Ohio; Major: Undecided
Eric Murphy, 2008
Vernon Hills, Illinois; Major: Independent Scholar
Robert Hendler, 2010
Nick Rennis, 2008
Grayslake, Illinois; Major: Independent Scholar
Carl LaMark, 2010
Major: Undecided
Caitlin Stephan, 2008
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Majors: Business and French
Sarah Lowery, 2008
Phoenix, Arizona; Majors: English and Theater
Distribution and Diversity of Epigaeic Fauna
in a Montane Costa Rican Cloud Forest
Molly Mullen, 2007
Chicago, Illinois; Majors: American Studies and
Theater
Studies have examined the density and composition of the
reptile, amphibian, and arthropod faunas inhabiting forest
Anna Powell, 2010
Centennial, Colorado; Major: Undecided
44
Lauren Scheuer, 2008
Long Grove, Illinois; Majors: Communication and
Theater
Alina Spivak, 2007
Prairie View, Illinois; Major: Biology
Hannah Schlotterbeck, 2008
Auburn, Maine; Major: Psychology
Michael Zorniak, 2007
Alexandra Seabrook 2010
Major: Undecided
Evaluating and Preserving the Fine Arts in
Public Education
Envisioning Chicago (Photography Exhibit)
Fifteen freshmen in their first semester at Lake Forest College
embarked on a creative writing and photographic journey in
an attempt to discover the landscape of Chicago in the FirstYear studies class “Envisioning Chicago: Photographing and
Writing the Chicago Landscape.” During the class, the students traveled to various landmarks and sites throughout the
Chicago area, such as Fort Sheridan and the Chicago Botanic
Garden, for interactive learning experiences in which each student was able to interact with the scenery and gain inspiration
into the spirit of the land Sandburg coined “the land of the big
shoulders.” The class pursued such questions as “What makes
a landscape beautiful or ugly? What gets left out of the frame?
How do images tell a story? Is it possible to generalize/characterize a place like Chicago? The class worked with various
styles of writing, such as poetry, short story, and nonfiction,
and used peer and teacher discussion critiques to help improve
each student’s writing pieces. For a final project each student
was able to showcase one piece of creative writing combined
with a set of pictures that he/she had been working on
throughout the semester. Through the use of these works each
student was able to vividly depict his/her personal view of what
makes Chicago, Chicago.
Faculty Sponsor: James Barilla
The fine arts – music, theatre, and visual arts – are important
and beneficial components to public school education. Along
with reading, writing, and arithmetic, the fine arts are considered core academic subjects according to No Child Left
Behind. Unfortunately, the fine arts are usually the first to be
cut when schools’ budgets are reduced. This is an important
problem to resolve, because the arts provide knowledge and
skills that help to improve students’ abilities both in and out
of school. The fine arts allow students to utilize creativity and
imagination which promotes a desire to learn; they also
encourage tolerance and a better understanding of the world.
The funding that supports subjects like reading, writing, and
arithmetic should also support the fine arts. The arts increase
comprehension of mathematics, produce higher standardized
test scores, and enhance students’ overall academic achievement, and are therefore a vital component of education that
should be preserved.
Ashley Hall, 2010
Moreland Hills, Ohio
Kelly McNutt, 2010
West Bend, Wisconsin
Gabriella Panayotova, 2010
Bulgaria; Major: Economics
Experimental Music Group
The Experiment Music Group is a new music department
ensemble that performs works composed by its members and
from the experimental music cannon. The group experiments
with sounds and group dynamics through structured improvisation that blurs the boundaries between composing, conducting, and performing.
David Ristau, 2010
West Chester, Ohio; Major: English
Eukaryon’s Trilogy: Pioneering Selectivity
and New Traditions
Eukaryon is a student-run online journal of life science scholarship at Lake Forest College. Eukaryon publishes a variety of
scientific and journalistic articles written by undergraduates
in any sub-discipline of the life sciences. Following its launch
in 2005, a group of biology students formed an editorial
board to make it a self-governing student organization. This
talk will include information on how the 2007 issue differs
from its two predecessors in three ways: selectivity, maturation, and new traditions. Due to an exponential increase in
article submissions, new review guidelines were implemented
to achieve greater selectivity. Copy-editing also became
exclusively computerized. Additionally, Eukaryon addressed
its past weaknesses by creating hard-copy archives of the
review and publication process and maintaining better communication with student authors and faculty. Lastly,
Eukaryon launched two new traditions: the co-publication of
print issues and the public Eukaryon seminars to foster “science discovery for the public.” Eukaryon is continually
expanding its sphere of influence among students and the
campus alike.
Merrick Fagan
Mark Fancher
Jin-Huon Jou
Elaina Komala
Angie Ma
Tracey Swanson
FIYS106 Medical Mysteries: Dissecting the
Sleeping Brain
This research project was completed for the 2006 Brain
Awareness week, a public outreach event for the college community organized by students of the course FIYS106 Medical
Mysteries: Neuroscience in Chicago. Our group researched
the biology of how our brain controls sleep, as well as the neurobiology of sleep disorders. During Brain Awareness week,
we conveyed our findings through educational posters, pamphlets, hand-on activities at the student center, and a public
anatomy lab in the Johnson science center. At the Symposium,
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we will re-create our educational poster and 1) strive to generate an overall awareness of our brain using sleep as a tool to
understand brain’s control of behavior; 2) demonstrate that the
anatomy of the brain and the regions that control sleep; and 3)
educate on the mysteries of sleep disorders and the advances in
current research for better treatments.
Mohammed Ali, 2010
Kedryn Samson
Flames, Fumes, and Flashes: Students Fired
Up About Chemistry
The members of the Lake Forest College SAACS (Student
Affiliates of the American Chemical Society) have been
nationally recognized by the American Chemical Society as
an award-winning chapter because of their continuing dedication and involvement in the community. SAACS will
demonstrate central chemical principles through a series of
attention-grabbing experiments, including freezing roses
with liquid nitrogen, explosive hydrogen balloons, and a colorful ammonia fountain. Audience members will also be
invited to join in a hands-on demonstration to make their
very own “slime.”
Faculty Sponsor: Elizabeth Fischer
Benjamin Bienia, 2010
Lemont, Illinois; Major: Biology
Viridiana Del Bosque Castro, 2010
Rockford, Illinois; Major: Mathematics
Lauren Stants, 2010
Niskayuna, New York; Major: Pre-Health
Robert Turner, 2010
Memphis, Tennessee; Major: Psychology
Peter Wisnieff, 2010
Cary, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Rachel Alter, 2007
Windfall, Indiana; Major: Chemistry
FIYS106 Medical Mysteries: Drugs and the
Brain
Jennifer Brown, 2008
Fenton, Missouri; Major: Chemistry
This research project was undertaken for the 2006 Brain
Awareness Week, a public outreach event for the College
community organized by students of the First-Year Studies
course, “Medical Mysteries: Neuroscience in Chicago.” Our
group researched the neurobiology behind drugs and their
effects on the brain. For Brain Awareness Week, we presented
our research through visual posters, brochures, an interactive
hands-on activity at the student center, and a public neuroanatomy exhibit at the Johnson Science Building. For the
Student Symposium, we will reconstruct and present our
posters to demonstrate the following: (1) most of the drugs
that affect behavior act on the brain; (2) drugs typically act
either to excite or inhibit existing neuronal synapses: and (3)
the cellular mechanism of chemical warfare and neurotoxins
on the brain. For overall conceptual understanding, we will
also discuss specific drugs and their effects on well-being.
Jen Ciesielski, 2007
Naperville, Illinois; Major: Chemistry
Shaun Davis 2009
Shoreview, Minnesota; Major: Chemistry
Kenneth Finch, 2007
Littleton, Colorado; Major: Chemistry
Alex Grenning, 2007
Chelsea Ledoux, 2007
Salt LakeCity Utah; Major: Chemistry
Emily Pospiech, 2009
Annada Rajbhandary, 2010
Katie Rice, 2009
Centennial, Colorado; Major: Chemistry
Paige Keasler
Sreeja Reddy
Ruja Shrestha
FIYS106 Medical Mysteries: Sex on the Brain
Mithaq Vahedi, 2008
This research project was completed for the 2006 Brain
Awareness week, a public outreach event for the college community organized by students of the FIYS106 course, Medical
Mysteries: Neuroscience in Chicago. Our group researched
the mechanism through which our brain controls sex development, as well as the biology behind contraceptives. During
Brain Awareness week, we conveyed our findings through educational posters, pamphlets, hands-on activities at the Mohr
Student Center, and a public anatomy lab in the Johnson
Science Center. At the Symposium, we will re-create our educational poster and 1) strive to generate an overall awareness
of our brain using sex as a tool to understand brain’s control of
behavior; 2) demonstrate the anatomy of the brain and the
regions that control sex; 3) educate about the neurobiology
behind menstruation and contraceptives; and 4) highlight current research on explaining reproductive behavior.
Iulia Strambeanu, 2008
Major: Chemistry
Laura Thilgen, 2009
Batavia, Illinois; Major: Chemistry
Tulaza Vaidya, 2007
Gender Stereotypes
This study was designed to replicate the findings of Banji and
Hardin (1999), which provided evidence for automatic gender
stereotypes. In the present experiment, 20 Lake Forest
College students viewed 10 trials consisting of 7 series: a computer screen displayed a gender associated word in the middle
of the screen (i.e., Peter, Donna, children, boss). The task of
the participant was to correctly associate the presented word
46
a positive, or negative thing for India. Socially, India is still
behind other developed countries as their ever-prevalent caste
system creates a clear division between classes. Globalization
can potentially help extinguish the separation of classes and
allow for a fair and united India.
with its corresponding gender category (i.e., man, woman,
family, career) by pressing one of two previously indicated
keys. This experiment replicated the classic results by demonstrating an automatic gender stereotype as indicated by significantly faster reaction times to words in gender consistent
categories in comparison to words in gender inconsistent categories. The implication of these results is further validation
of the presence of an automatic gender stereotype, which in
turn, should be used to inspire other ideas, such as investigating possible moderating variables that could affect this phenomenon.
Nickolas Benoit, 2007
Bell Island, Newfoundland, Canada; Major: Economics
and Business
Tyler Canal, 2007
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada; Major: Economics and
Business
Stacey Parrott, 2009
Major: Psychology
Brian Lee, 2007
Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Major: Economics and
Business
Cejay Roman, 2008
Major: Psychology
Alex Minicucci, 2007
Brookville, New York; Major: Economics and Business
Global Education: Intellectual Engagement of
LFC International Students
Globalization and Poverty in Bangladesh
It is a privilege for us to talk about the quest for excellence,
and how this element ties international students no matter
how different their academic domains might be. During this
presentation you will first hear from a Romanian freshman,
youngest member of the Romanian Writers’ Union—sharing
her story of becoming a popular Romanian author and the
opportunity of donating her Textomycin to Donnelley and
Lee Library. If the title of the book reminds you of
Streptomycin or any another antibiotic you have taken for
your illnesses, this is because Madalina’s book heals its readers instantly… The second half of the panel grounds on the
poetics of healing, but features Mithaq, a successful junior
from India who studies chemistry and biology. He has been
engaged in “James Parkinson’s Research” from his freshman
year when, as a Richter Scholar, he studied proteins involved
in the lysosomal pathway of the cell’s garbage disposal system,
and tried to answer the question, “Is the Lysosome wreaking
havoc in Parkinson’s Disease?.” This study helped him gain
valuable insight, as he will be a doctor in the ever-changing
world of the 3rd millennium—a fortunate age of humankind
when Poetics and Medicine go hand in hand to yield mesmerizing results.
Faculty Sponsor: Heidi Vrankin
Globalization has had a major impact on developing nations
around the world. Bangladesh, being a leader in developing
nations, has been able to reap the benefits and costs of this
increase in international interdependency. But to what extent
is this rise in living standards of Bangladeshis a contribution
of foreign direct investments and not that of the megaNGOS like BRAC and Proshika? What part will the lowgrade rivalry between Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina
Wajed play in obstructing further economic and social developments? The Indian presence is more than felt by the population of 144 million in the form of the Ganga diversion at
the Farraka Barrage. With a level of poverty that has been
unable to stop labor migration, coupled with the burden of
the homeless Bihari community, how much farther can
Bangladesh take South Asia? What we plan to investigate are
the economic indicators of Bangladesh to determine whether
the general population has benefited from the increase in foreign investment by way of multinational corporations locating in the major cities. To further our investigation, we will
divide the general population into various demographic features such as age and gender to highlight the impact of globalization on women and children.
Madalina Serban, 2010
Ploiesti, Romania
Margaret Bower, 2008
Lake Bluff, Illinois; Major: Environmental Studies
Mithaq Vahedi, 2008
Ashley Caja, 2010
Waukegan, Illinois; Major: Biology
Neal Carr, 2008
Syvania, Ohio; Major: Philosophy
Globalization and India
In the past sixty years, globalization has been responsible for
the ever-booming IT (information technology) industry
within India. Even though increased globalization results in
more jobs and higher wages for some of India’s workers, there
has been speculation as to whether or not globalization is
beneficial to India. These workers must operate in accord
with the U.S. companies, and as a result employees face awkward shift times and disrupted sleeping patterns.
Furthermore, India’s markets have been victims of uninhibited exploitation at the expense of India’s agriculture, industry
and even traditional handicrafts. With these factors in mind,
it is quite difficult to conclude whether or not globalization is
Peri Kepraios, 2009
Chicago, Illinois; Major: Environmental Studies
Danielle Koutsopanagos, 2008
Arlington Heights, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Anna Mahar, 2010
St. Paul, Minnesota; Major: Environmental Studies
Belleville, Ontario, Canada; Major: Environmental
Studies
47
Leah Scull, 2009
Newport, News Virginia; Major: Environmental Studies
Douglas Adolph, 2007
Arlington Heights, Illinois; Major: Communication
Laney Shaler
Margaret Peggy Bower, 2008
Lake Bluff, Illinois; Major: Biology
Roman Shklover, 2008
Fox Point, Wisconsin; Major: Chemistry
Allison Chao, 2008
Wildwood, Missouri; Major: Psychology
Kriti Shrestha
Studies
Peter Harbert, 2007
Omaha, Nebraska; Major: Chemistry
Chris Wilson, 2009
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Kimberly Zafiriou, 2009
Sheiva Jahanban, 2008
Hoffman Estates, Illinois; Major: Sociology and
Anthropology
Granular Compaction
Mackenzie Knowling, 2007
Lafayette, Indiana; Major: Economics and Business
Granular materials is a field of physics that we all come in
contact with everyday. Whether you pour salt on your food or
open a bag of potato chips you can easily observe the everyday effects of how things pack. Our research has helped us to
understand why a new bag of potato chips is only half full and
why the larger unbroken chips are on top and the crumbs collect at the bottom. Experiments performed over the past summer show how the density of a granular pack of small glass
beads changes as it is shaken in a plastic cylindrical tube. In
addition to the compaction of the system, we observe the mixing and de-mixing of differently sized particles. With the aid
of new equipment, software, and programs developed this
summer we looked at the density of the mixture over a period
of time. We observed high densities when particles of different sizes are mixed together and lower densities after the particles spontaneously separate over a long period of time.
Faculty Sponsor: Nathan Mueggenburg
Kelly Lardner, 2007
Barrington, Illinois; Majors: Art History and
Elementary Education
Matthew Nelson, 2008
Ottawa, Illinois; Major: Physics
Habitat for Humanity on the Local, National,
and International Level
Casey Tompkins, 2008
Wheeling, Illinois; Major: Mathematics
In 1976 an amazing organization, Habitat for Humanity, was
founded by Millard and Laura Fuller. Habitat for Humanity
is an organization that focuses on the building of or rehabilitation of housing for the economically challenged. The
organization runs on a local, national, and international level.
On the local level, volunteers from surrounding communities
come together to build homes, or work in the restore (a
department store that is the heart and soul financially for the
organization). On the national level, the organization goes
into areas that have been damaged severely by natural disasters, for example New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Lake
Forest Habitat for Humanity Club will be involved in a
national-level mission this spring when they take a trip to
New Orleans to help with the recovery. Finally, on the international level, Habitat for Humanity goes into countries of
various regions that are in desperate need of help in poverty
stricken areas. Habitat for Humanity is one of the strongest
and most prolific aids to the poverty stricken community of
our world, and with the help of everyone, will be able to continue on in their great mission
Brittany MacLeod, 2008
Gorham, Maine; Major: English
Lisa Ralph, 2007
Vernon Hills, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Chloe Salzmann, 2007
Elgin, Illinois; Major: Sociology and Anthropology
Shep Washburn, 2007
Mission Hills, Kansas; Major: Foreign Languages and
Literatures
Michael Winand, 2007
Glenview, Illinois; Major: Communication
Greek Life: Rediscovering Roots and
Reaffirming Greatness
Social fraternities developed among university students in the
late 18th century with the intentions of promoting personal
growth and leadership qualities, creating strong and enduring
relationships and networking bonds, dedicating time and
effort to community service and philanthropic causes, and
achieving academic excellence. A variety of external factors
over the past centuries and decades have effectively drawn
focus away from these core beliefs and aspirations. Fraternity
and sorority life became stereotyped as “drinking clubs”—its
members disrespectful to others and authority figures, earning low marks in classes, and excessively partying. The implementation of national governing organizations on the Lake
Forest College campus has been an integral participant in
advocating reaffirmation of the initial values of fraternities
and sororities. These organizations are determined to continue their quest to dispel typecasts that haunt social fraternities and sororities, as well as continuing to promote their
fundamental and time-honored ideals.
Faculty Sponsor: Jennifer Lindsay
Doug Adolph
Erin Black
48
Participants viewed a series of sentences that contained either
one person paired with a location (e.g., the typist is at the airport), two people paired with a location, or one person paired
with two locations. After memorizing the sentences, the participant completed a recognition memory test through a
matching task in which they were asked to recall the specific
location(s) of the person/people. Based on previous research
with the fan effect, we predicted that participants will produce
slower reaction times when presented with a person at two
locations or two people at one location. Hence, the more
knowledge a person has about a topic causes the person to
take longer to retrieve the information. This demonstrates
that the mind has to go through layers of processing to
retrieve information and facts.
Natalie Elsasser
Robert Ericson
Megan French
Kathleen O’Mary
Hadley Skeffington-Vos
Megan Vercellino
Illegal Immigration and Deportation, a
Documentary
There are currently some 12 million illegal immigrants living
in the United States. A large percentage are from Mexico. We
are co-producing a feature-length documentary film based on
one man’s deportation story. Octavio Salazar twice overstayed
travel visas to the United States and once illegally entered the
country. He found work at a factory in Northern Illinois and
eventually married and American citizen. While his wife was
pregnant with their second child, Salazar came to the attention of immigration officials and was taken into custody and
eventually deported. Late last year, we interviewed his wife at
her home in Rockford, Illinois. Over the break, we traveled to
the northern Mexican city of Aguascalientes to interview
Salazar, who works at a Toyota assembly plant. We also interviewed a recent head of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service’s Chicago office and the Head of the Illinois
Minuteman Group, a grassroots organization fighting for
stricter immigration policy enforcement. The film also has
footage of the pro-immigration rights rally held in Chicago
last spring. In addition to this joint film project, we are also
conducting separate senior research projects on illegal immigration.
Faculty Sponsor: Jim Marquardt
Brittany Goldman, 2009
Las Vegas, Nevada; Major: Psychology
Gretchen Yehl, 2009
Sugar Land, Texas; Major: Psychology
Lake Forest College Campus History
Other than the College’s own publication of 30 Miles North,
little investigation on Lake Forest College’s architectural history has been presented to its students, faculty, and the city of
Lake Forest. During spring 2006, Professor Christopher
Reed offered a class, “Lake Forest College Cultural
Landscape,” in which students worked with experts in architectural history and preservation to author a Tour Guide
Book for Lake Forest College. The group learned that Lake
Forest College’s architecture and landscape was crafted by
some of this country’s important architects and landscape
designers: Almerin Hotchkiss, a renowned rural cemetery
designer from the mid-nineteenth Century; Ossian Cole
Simonds, who worked with William Jenney and was one of
the founders of the Prairie School of Landscape Gardening;
Henry Ives Cobb, an architect who blended Beaux-Arts and
late Gothic-Revival into the University of Chicago; Perkins
& Will, a firm that was at the forefront of our country’s modern architectural movement; and Edward Dart, the designer
of Chicago’s own Water Tower Place. For the 2007 Student
Symposium, the panel discussion entitled “Lake Forest
College Campus History” will describe the extent of the class’
process and discuss the outcome of our investigation on the
history of Lake Forest College.
Faculty Sponsor: Christopher Reed
Dan Kolen, 2007
Iowa City, Iowa; Majors: Independent Scholar and
Politics
Justin Lansing, 2007
Denver, Colorado; Majors: Sociology and Anthropology
and Spanish
Jazz Ensemble
The Lake Forest College Jazz Ensemble plays jazz standards
and features student soloists.
Faculty Sponsor: Mitch Paliga
David Cantor-Echols
Lydia Dodge, 2007
Jin-Huon Jou
Dan Kolen
Dustin Magill
Canada
Angie Ma
Alma Princip
Devin McIntyre
Christopher Shirley, 2007
Michael Meek
Ashley Ware, 2008
“Knowing it all with No Recall” —
The Fan Effect
Neal Van Winkle, 2007
Law and Disorder: Evaluating the
Administration of Justice in the Lake County
Courthouse
Often, people have difficulty retrieving information or facts
quickly when they hold abundant knowledge of the topic.
The aim of our research was to determine whether this finding, known as the fan effect, was present when one had to
retrieve information about people and their locations.
This project chronicles our summer project in the Richter
Scholar Program. We worked with Jed Stone, a defense attor-
49
range of Sceloporus malachiticus in Costa Rica is an enigma.
We tested thermal sensitivity of sprint speed in S. malachiticus from high (3000 m) and low (2000 m) elevations near
Savegre Lodge in San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica. To test
the hypothesis that lizards from low elevations have narrower
thermal envelopes than lizards at high elevations we conducted temperature controlled sprint trials on noosed lizards
brought from both elevations to a central location near the
lodge. Differences in thermal envelopes between elevations
would indicate that there may be genetic differences or phenotypic plasticity between the lizard populations.
Alternatively, no difference in thermal sensitivity may indicate
behavioral coping strategies.
ney in Lake County, evaluating the effectiveness of the criminal court system in Lake County, IL. We sat in on court proceedings and interviewed judges, defense attorneys, and
prosecutors. Our project dealt with the issues of efficiency,
fairness, and an attempt to define justice. Overall, we have a
wide range of ideas on these issues from the various points of
view of the courtroom. This gave us insight into the general
way the justice system works, especially in Lake County, IL
and our evaluation of its effectiveness.
Faculty Sponsor: Jed Stone
Michael Halusek, 2009
Riverside, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Samantha Hartwig, 2009
Belvidere, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Loops, Whorls, and Arches: The inside scoop
on fingerprinting
Anne Haas, 2007
South Berwick, Maine; Major: Environmental Studies
Have you ever wondered exactly what fingerprints are? Or
why we have them? Or why they were developed as a means
to identify individuals? Do you know what AFIS is? Do you
know how fingerprint evidence is used in trials? Join the
Introduction to Forensics students (Biology 205/Politics 205)
as they guide you through the world of fingerprinting. We
will answer all these questions and more. You will be able to
classify your fingerprints as loops, whorls or arches. You will
be able to determine your Henry classification scores. You
will be able to identify individual characteristics on your fingerprints using minutiae. Come learn about the current fingerprinting technology, where it is headed and what it means
in the context of the courtroom.
Faculty Sponsors: Nicole Sleiter and Jed Stone
Karina Nikogosian, 2007
Round Lake, Illinois; Major: Biology
Percussion Ensemble
The Percussion Ensemble will strap on their drums and
march around middle campus as Lake Forest College’s own
group of Pied Pipers in anticipation of the Red and Black
Ceremony.
Faculty Sponsor: Debbie Knowles
Kristina Damisch
Jin-Huon Jou
Matt Kistler
Taylor Wright
Objections and Hearsay and Judges! Oh My!
The Exciting World of Collegiate Mock Trial
Playwrights in Progress XXVI Discussion
Panel
Objections! Hearsay! Impeached Witnesses and Closing
Statements! These are a few of the exciting elements that
comprise the Mock Trial competitions. Teams compete to
strategize a courtroom performance that is unassailable by the
opposing counsel. Similarly, teams scrutinize their opposition’s performance to find that unprotected chink in their
armor that allows them to dismantle their case. Lake Forest
College’s Mock Trial team, a student organization, practices
fall semester in anticipation of the Regional Competition in
Joliet in February. This presentation 1) introduces the basic
rules of courtroom procedure; 2) presents the specific elements of the 2007 case; and 3) summarizes the February 2007
Regional Competition in Joliet.
Faculty Sponsor: David Boden
Kimberly Levinson
For the twenty-sixth year, Lake Forest College student playwrights are teaming up with student directors and the Garrick
Players to produce a festival of original one-act plays that are
being put on stage for the first time. Through collaboration
with Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, these student playwrights work with a team of creative minds to make their
vision come to life. The professionals from Victory Gardens
advise the students to help them improve the plays and help
bring out the playwright’s meaning. This year features four
plays written by Elizabeth Milligan ‘08, Katy Burroughs ‘07,
and Emily Capettini ‘09. Their plays are being directed by
Alex Seabrook ‘10, Mario Mazzetti ‘10, Chloe Goya ‘08 and
Lindsay Britts ‘08.
Faculty Sponsor: Dennis Mae
Ava Phisuthikul, 2010
Major: Psychology
Lindsay Britts, 2008
Medina, Ohio
Optimal Temperature Response in the Lizard
Sceloporus malachiticus across an Elevation
Gradient in a Costa Rican Cloud Forest
Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Majors: English Literature and
Theater
Emily Capettini, 2009
It is well known that activity, including sprint speed, is highly
temperature dependent in ectothermic organisms. Because
temperature changes across elevations, the wide elevational
Chloe Goya, 2008
Boulder City, Nevada
50
Ashley Hall, 2010
Moreland Hills, Ohio; Major: Theater
Rhetorical Criticism: An Analysis of Speeches
by Douglass, Lincoln, and Gandhi
Mario Mazzetti, 2010
Lake Zurich, Illinois; Majors: Theater and English
Devin examines the convincing rhetoric of Frederick
Douglass’ What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? She determines that Douglass’ speech is a great rhetorical piece
because, through his ability to portray the roles of insider and
outsider, he gains the trust of his audience and speaks to them
as an outsider. He then reveals the irony and hypocrisy of
American slavery. Amber’s paper explains how Abraham
Lincoln took on the role of Jesus in his first public speech to
the Men’s Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois. Both figures consistently used metaphors, promotion of law, and expressed
themselves as the leader for their cause. Consequently,
Lincoln’s argument for law is strengthened. In Tom’s paper he
examines the rhetoric of Gandhi in his speech to the
Suppressed Classes Conference. The topic of Gandhi’s speech
is untouchability, which Tom explores as a prime example of
Gandhi’s rhetoric on the subject at large. Tom looks at
Gandhi’s rhetoric and how it makes his speech successful.
Elizabeth Milligan, 2008
Westminster, Colorado; Major: History
Molly Mullen, 2007
Chicago, Illinois; Major: American Studies
Alex Seabrook, 2010
Paducah, Kentucky; Major: Theater
Presidential Leadership of the Present Era at
Lake Forest College
An investigation of the role of recent Lake Forest College
presidents, Hotchkiss, Spadafora, and Schutt, illuminates
leadership traits and styles that have defined the last thirty
years of the College’s life. In the recent past, higher education
has experienced many fundamental changes. These presidents
have led and continue to lead Lake Forest College through
the transitions by utilizing a variety of leadership traits. We
have analyzed these traits and styles by using applicable leadership theories, as learned through The Psychology of
Organizations: A Sesquicentennial of Leadership.
Faculty Sponsor: Burton Krain
Amber Gehring, 2008
Northbrook, Illinois; Major: Communication
Thomas Johns, 2009
Major: Communication
Devin McGuire, 2008
Truro, Massachusetts; Major: Communication
Mura Dominko, 2010
Cakovec, Croatia (Hrvatska); Major: Psychology
Susan DuMont, 2007
St. Louis, Missouri; Major: Chemistry
Rhetorical Strategies for Writing Social
History
Alexandra Hales
Historiography—the body of methodologies for the exposition of history—concerns two broad subjects: people and
their circumstances. Admittedly, some history dwells singularly on one or the other, but most history considers both, as
they are so reciprocally related. A challenge facing almost
every historian is directionality. Do men and women shape
their circumstances, or do circumstances shape them? Both
must indeed be true. Struggling with this directionality is an
intense intellectual labor, and success in this effort represents
high achievement in history. Synthetic history tends to focus
on individuals, using them to characterize their circumstances—the directionality here is people-to-circumstances.
On the other hand is the circumstances-to-people approach:
analytic history begins with circumstances, and finds a specific
group of individuals who exemplify them.
Hannah Michal, 2009
Lake Villa, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Caitlin Paluska, 2007
East Peoria, Illinois; Major: Biology
Justin Stenger, 2010
Cincinnati, Ohio; Major: Politics
Really Big Numbers
What is the largest number you can think of? Scientists suspect there are about 10^80 particles in the universe. But
everyone can come up with a larger number than that. From
the Greek philosopher Zeno to modern computer scientists,
people have pondered very large numbers and their applications. We will discuss how large numbers come about in modern research and ways of representing them.
Megan French
Kristin Panella, 2008
Major: Mathematics
Dramaturgy
Pavel Ondreicsik, 2009
Major: Computer Science
Dramaturgs illuminate plays by researching historical context, biographical information on the author, past productions, and critical essays on the work. They also clear up
textual obscurities, provide images designed to inspire the
production team, and ask lots of questions about what they
are seeing. Their research is shared with theater artists during
the production process, and ultimately audience members as
Casey Tompkins, 2008
Wheeling, Illinois; Major: Mathematics
Maulik Vaishnav, 2008
Bhuj, India; Majors: Mathematics and Independent
Scholar
51
well, in order to deepen their perception of the play. The two
dramaturgs from Lake Forest College’s production will speak
about their dramaturgical work on this play. They will discuss specific ways in which their textual analysis and research
illuminated the dramatic text during the production process
for the director, designers, and actors, while also heightening
the comprehension and appreciation of the work for audience members.
in this theatre went forth the fame of Synge. Equally, the fame
of O’Casey born here tonight. This is his apotheosis…”
Faculty Sponsor: Maggie Speer
Charlie Alves, 2008
Brett Byron, 2008
Chris Feurig, 2008
Ali Hoefnagel, 2008
Kayla Lord, 2010
Elizabeth Derry, 2009
Major: History
Mario Mazetti, 2010
Molly Mullen, 2007
Melanie Meyer, 2009
Major: English
Social Justice as Responsibility
Currently, genocide is ravaging Darfur, Sudan; hundreds of
thousands of people have already lost their lives. The Lord’s
Resistance Army in Uganda and the Tamil Tigers in Sri
Lanka threaten to add to their already large army of children.
Additionally, China still has not given Tibet back to its people. The world is full of humanitarian crises. This year, Lake
Forest College students have spent much time and effort to
try to raise awareness about events such as these. In this panel,
students will discuss their motivation for being involved in
social justice, and why the world needs to start caring about
atrocities in the third world.
Faculty Sponsor: Lou Lombardi
What if you had to choose between your country and your
family? How far can you be pushed—physically or emotionally—before breaking? Questions like these are explored in
Sean O’Casey’s play The Plough and the Stars (1926), set in
Dublin during the 1916 Easter Uprising. This talk presents a
critical methodology that exposes the universal issues and rich
historical context of this play. The methodology utilizes dramaturgy, a field of study in the theater that illuminates plays by
researching historical context, biographical information on the
author, past productions, textual glosses, and related imagery.
An English/Secondary Education major with a theater minor
will discuss the creation of educational materials from dramaturgical research for Waukegan High School teachers and
students preparing to see Lake Forest College’s production.
She will also present the results of her assessment of the impact
of these materials on the students’ experience of the play.
Tenzin Dolker, 200
Skokie, Illinois; Major: International Relations
Rob Flot, 2009
Chicago, Illinois; Major: International Relations
Ethan Helm 2007
Mabelvale, Arkansas; Major: Independent Scholar
Shannon Buckley, 2007
Western Springs, Illinois; Major: English
Rich Lopez, 2007
Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and The Stars:
Scandalous For Its Time
Melanie Quall, 2009
Lake Forest, Illinois; Majors: International Relations
and Latin American Studies
Join the Garrick Players as they perform a portion of the rambunctious pub scene from Irish playwright Sean O’Casey’s
tragic masterpiece, The Plough and The Stars. When the play
was premiered in 1926, the audience rioted, in part because of
this scene. Shocking and scandalous for its time, the scene not
only includes a couple of on-stage brawls, but features Rosie
“a daughter of the Digs” (a prostitute). Rosie’s presence on
stage as a silhouette of Republican martyr Padraig Pearse
delivered excerpts from some of his more famous and inflammatory speeches evoked a violent response from the audience.
Nineteen years earlier, the poet W.B. Yeats had found himself
in a similar situation when J. M. Synge’s The Playboy of the
Western World had caused riots for its portrayal of rural
Ireland and mention of Irish women in their “shifts.” This
time, Yeats was prepared and according to one of the actors,
took to the stage “like an ancient Roman senator” and amid
the riot gave his famous speech condemning the ignorance of
the audience: “You have disgraced yourselves again. Is this to
be an ever-recurring celebration of the arrival of Irish genius?
Synge first and then O’Casey. The news of the happenings of
the past few minutes will go from country to country. Dublin
has once more rocked the cradle of genius. From such a scene
Kevin Smith, 2007
Normal, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Songwriting Forum
A presentation of original songs written in Music 220,
“Songwriting.”
Faculty Sponsor: Don Meyer
Heidi Anderson, 2008
Sycamore, Illinois; Major: Music
Vicky Ano, 2010
Merrick Fagan, 2008
Little Rock, Arkansas; Major: Music
Aidan Gilbert, 2008
Northbrook, Illinois ; Major: Music
Julie Harber, 2008
Chesterfield, Missouri; Major: Communication
Matt Kistler, 2010
Crystal Lake, Illinois; Major: Music
52
Justin Lansing, 2007
Denver, Colorado; Major: Sociology and Anthropology
Justin Ellerman, 2007
Chicago, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Angie Ma, 2008
Major: Music
Elizabeth Mabs, 2007
Crete, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Michael Meek, 2010
San Diego California; Major: Music
Nicole Rivera, 2007
Chicago, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Devin McIntyre, 2010
Roscoe, Illinois; Major: Music
SPS Physics Demonstrations
Physics is a study of how the world works. Many aspects of
physics are described by very simple principles that quickly
become very complicated when used to describe an event. Yet
the simple intuitive answer is often correct, but this is not
always the case. This year’s demonstrations from the Society
of Physics students will give the audience a chance to test
their intuition with a personal response system. There will be
demonstrations that have intuitive results, as well as many
that will boggle the mind. The demonstrations will then be
explained in ways that are accessible to all interested. Being a
physics major is not a requirement to understand and enjoy
these great demos.
Faculty Sponsor: Nathan Mueggenburg
Kelly McNutt, 2010
Doug Rank, 2008
Des Plaines, Illinois; Major: Physics
Nathan Rhodes, 2009
Okemos, Michigan; Major: Politics
Ami Stellatos, 2008
DeKalb, Illinois; Major: Music
John TerMaat, 2009
Naperville, Illinois; Major: Computer Science
Sudhir Upreti, 2008
Taylor Wright, 2010
Williams, California; Major: Music
Jason Ashman
Juliana Boelen
Joseph Yeo, 2010
Skokie, Illinois; Major: Spanish
Mark Fancher
Matt Nelson
South Africa: A Developing Nation Helped or
Hurt by Globalization?
Amit Shrestha
Kyle Wendt
Over the past two decades, South Africa has been characterized as a developing country. With the end of Apartheid in the
early 90s, the country has set high economic goals in hopes of
emerging as a world power. The country has averaged an economic growth rate of 3.5% since the late 90s. Extensive
efforts have been made towards a strong economy, but there
are still many problems that plague the country. South Africa
has been marred with extreme income inequality. The country has the second largest Gini coefficient in the world, indicating how dramatic the income inequality truly is. This large
disparity among incomes attributes directly to South Africa’s
high poverty rates. Another worrying figure is the outrageously high unemployment of 26%. The country is also trying to survive the worst HIV/AIDS outbreak ever. These
problems are stunting the growth of South Africa and keeping them from reaching their potential. The IMF and World
Bank have approached the country with a neo-liberal policy.
The program known as GEAR, Growth Employment and
Redistribution, started in 1996. This has commercialized and
privatized public companies and services. It has created a
growth rate of 3%, which is not enough to solve the unemployment problem. South Africa has a trade agreement with
the EU, which is largely slanted to provide for the EU. The
country still faces many challenges on the way to being a fully
developed economy that globalization may not be able to
solve.
Student Art Exhibit
The Student Symposium/Art participants are from a number
of different Art Department classes. Working in a variety of
media from basic drawing and design to painting, photography and video, the art students present a panoply of formal
and conceptual creative endeavor. Although difficult to contain within any one category, these students are nonetheless
all engaged in an ongoing exploration of the intersection of
critical thought and formal invention. They are involved in
navigating arenas of aesthetic experience that necessarily
demand different ways of thinking, and of being in the world
in general. This engendering of new perspectives invigorates
students’ participation in the campus community and energizes their interaction with the greater social environment,
changes that are reflected in the art work presented in this
exhibition.
Student Perspectives on Chile in the XXI
Century
Chile is a country separated by the Andes from its Latin
American neighbors. Despite its isolation and relatively small
size, it has become an increasingly important player in the
political and economic activity of the continent. Elaina
Komala and Melanie Quall participated in the College’s fall
program in Santiago. The program’s professional internship
component and living with host families exposed them to subtleties of Chilean society and day-to-day life in the country’s
financial capital. Melanie will share her experience with an
organization of young professionals and college-aged volunteers who are confronting extreme poverty in Latin America.
Elaina will discuss her experiences working with the inde-
Richard Baynes, 2008
Overland Park, Kansas; Major: Economics and Business
Elizabeth Bauer, 2007
Madison, Wisconsin; Majors: Business and
Communication
53
pendent film production agency, Chilechitá, designing the
press book for the recent Chilean comedy production, “The
King of Fools.” They will also reflect on being present for
historical events such as the death of Augusto Pinochet and
the first year of President Michelle Bachelet.
Faculty Sponsor: Lois Barr
Solmaz Shadman, 2008
Illinois; Major: Biology
Highwood, Illinois; Major: Biology
Michael White, 2007
Westminster, Colorado; Major: Biology
Elaina Komala, 2008
Illinois; Major: Foreign Languages and Literatures
The Evolution of the College’s Values
Melanie Quall, 2009
Illinois; Majors: International Relations and Latin
American Studies
In Philosophy 281, The Evolution of Institutional Values:
Lake Forest College, 1857-2007, students have been
researching various aspects of the College’s transformation
from its local and traditional Presbyterian roots to its current
status as a national and secular liberal arts institution. After a
semester developing an overview of the process, students have
now been focusing on two points: (1) the period in the midtwentieth century in which emphasis on Christian education
was replaced by a more diverse and secular outlook and (2)
the reformulation of academic values, with greater emphasis
on academic freedom and research and new efforts to emphasize academic integrity, that evolved roughly in the second
half of the twentieth century. Student participants will present their research on these issues as well as their reflections on
the process of examining the College’s evolution.
Faculty Sponsor: Lou Lombardi
Terry Hands Directs Hamlet
Under the subtle but masterful guidance of celebrated British
director Terry Hands, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s
production of Hamlet offered fresh perspectives on
Shakespeare’s frequently produced masterpiece. Hands’
impressive achievement, taking into account the familiarity of
the text, was so skilled in its execution that it invited audiences
to reevaluate their interpretation of the play. With a minimalist set, lighting, costume, and sound design, Hands
emphasized textual clarity and the virtuosic skill of his cast
members. Hands also highlighted areas of the play that have
the potential to yield multiple interpretations. In Lindsay
Gould’s controversial performance as Ophelia, for example,
we saw the possibility of a mental handicap, while Ben
Carlson’s acclaimed portrayal of Hamlet suggested the onset
of a deteriorating psychological dementia. Hands’ production
revealed to Chicago audiences a number of new potentialities
in this iconic work.
Jennifer Bond, 2008
Antioch, Illinois; Major: Psychology
Rob Flot, 2008
Chicago, Illinois; Major: International Relations
New Iberia, California; Major: History
Victoria Henson, 2010
Littleton, Colorado; Major: English
Tara Haskins, 200
St. Louis, Missouri; Major: Philosophy
Justine Hunter, 2010
Phoenix, Arizona; Major: English
Corey Howe, 2007
Garland, Texas; Major: Philosophy
Meredith Knoff, 2010
Algonquin, Illinois
Kylie McGonigal, 2008
Omaha, Nebraska; Major: Sociology and Anthropology
Ashlee Norton, 2010
Kevin Smith, 2007
Normal, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
The Astonishing World of our Brain
James Zender, 2009
Indianapolis, Indiana; Major: Economics and Business
Our brain is composed of millions of neurons that form a
complex circuit responsible for our personalities, reflexes,
sensations and perceptions. This exhibit will use microscopy
to examine a variety of different human neurons and learn of
their functions. It is presented by Beta Beta Beta, Lambda Phi
Chapter, National Biology Honor Society.
The Generation Effect
The current study attempted to apply the generation effect to
lyrical censorship. The generation effect refers to the finding
that people tend to remember information better when they
are actively involved in generating that information (e.g., generate frog from frog). When people encounter lyrical censorship, they often can determine what words were missing from
the song (i.e., they generated the missing information).
Ironically, the act of censorship might actually improve memory for censored items relative to non-censored items. In two
experiments, participants listened to a song that contained
partially or fully censored items. As they encountered a censored item, participants judged whether they could identify
the missing item. Data will be analyzed for the overall data
and conditionalized on successful generation of the item.
Results and implications will be discussed.
Andrew Ferrier, 2008
Major: Biology
Josh Haas
Dunlap, Illinois
Lokesh Kukreja, 2008
Highland Park, Illinois; Major: Biology
Krista Kusinski, 2008
Major: Biology
Ben Larsen, 2007
Oconomowoc , Wisconsin; Major: Biology
54
Emily Blegen, 2007
Elk River, Minnesota; Major: Psychology
Brendan O’Hara
Fairfield, Connecticut
Dustin Koch, 2009
Carmel, Indiana; Major: Psychology
The Impact of Globalization on Saudi Oil
Oil has been the major driving force of the global economy in
the contemporary era. Most if not all business activities in the
world are highly dependent on this source of energy. Despite
its high demand and depleting resources, even the most
developed nations have not yet found an alternative to this
natural resource. Having 25% of the proven petroleum
reserves in the world, Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest
exporter of oil. The petroleum sector accounts for roughly
75% of budget revenues, 45% of the GDP, and 90% of export
earnings. Globalization is primarily responsible for Saudi
Arabia’s large current account surplus. It has expanded Saudi
Arabia’s oil market to an astounding level.
The Goblin Market; a musical theater
performance
Polly Pen’s musical adaptation of the Christina Rosetti poem
of 1862 has been variously perceived as a fairy tale for children, a religious allegory, and an examination of Victorian
sexuality and eroticism. This performance stars Julie Hincks
’10 as Lizzie and Melanie Meyer ’09 as Laura. It is designed
by Charlie Alves ’08, incorporating innovative digital image
projection and traditional scenic design techniques. Musical
direction is by Lori Sundberg and staging is by Dennis Mae.
The play also features musicians Jin-Huon “L” Jou ’10 and
Stephen Young ’09.
Elsi Rodriguez, 2007
Highwood, Illinois; Majors: Latin American Studies and
International Relations
Charles Alves, 2008
Lake Forest, Illinois; Major: Theater
Asfar Siddiqui, 2007
Pakistan; Major: Economics and Business
Julianna Hincks, 2010
Oak Lawn, Illinois; Major: Theater
Jin-Huon Jou, 2010
Melanie Meyer, 2009
Middleton, Wisconsin; Major: English
Benjamin Bienia
Lemont, Illinois
In 1819, Anton Diabelli, an Austrian music publisher and
amateur composer, sent a short waltz he had written to most
living Austrian/German composers and invited each to write
his own variation on the theme to be published in a volume
titled “Patriotic Association of Artists.” By 1824, Diabelli had
received fifty variations from professional composers ranging
from the historically insignificant to celebrity hard-hitters
like Franz Schubert and Franz Liszt. Beethoven was so
astounded at the publisher’s gall that he responded furiously
by composing not one, but a prolific thirty-three variations of
deeply inspired music—many of which actually poke fun at
Diabelli’s tame waltz. The students of Music Theory II
Spring 2007 have responded to Diabelli’s call, each writing
his/her own variation on the waltz. In each variation, pieces of
the original theme can be heard alongside musical expressions
of each student composer’s individual artistic voice.
Brett Byron
Highland Park, Illinois
Molly Auer, 2009
Savanah, Georgia; Major: Music
Justin Carrero
Richton Park, Illinois
Mike Carpenter, 2009
Stephen Young, 2009
The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti;
poetry reading
In this performance, students in the theater course “Voice &
Diction” explore the possibilities of oral interpretation in
Victorian poetry. “ The Goblin Market,” a 1862 poem by
Christina Rosetti, has been variously perceived as a fairy tale
for children, a religious allegory, and an examination of
Victorian sexuality and eroticism.
Grace Dunford, 2009
Los Altos, California; Major: Music
Los Angeles, California
Zak Engel, 2010
Bolton, Massachusetts
Anne Demere
Savanah, Georgia
Aidan Gilbert, 2008
Northbrook, Illinois; Major: Music
Brittany Ferrin
Bolingbrook, Illinois
Meg Golembiewski, 2010
Chicago, Illinois
George Ginakais
Mettawa, Illinois
Olivia Gray, 2010
New York, New York
Sarah Jones
Chicago, Illinois
Brian Kedzorski, 2009
Damian Mika
Mundelein, Illinois
Angie Ma, 2008
Major: Music
55
nomic growth. The biggest concern for the country of 47 million has been its allegiance to regional hegemony Russia and
the newly opened Western nations. Initially after independence, Ukraine’s nation building was widely perceived as separate from market economic reform, and many tendencies
drove Ukraine in the wrong direction leading to a total
decline in GDP of about 53 percent from 1989 to 1998. This
decline was due to the fact that Ukraine depends on imports
of energy, especially natural gas, to meet some 85% of its
annual energy requirements. The key factors in determining
the direction of Ukraine’s economy are its choice of a leader,
its interpretation of nation building, and the nature of the
political elite. To the country’s credit, it has been improving
dramatically in the last couple of years with a more market
approach to its economic system.
Devin McIntyre, 2010
Roscoe, Illinois
Natalie Molina, 2009
Henderson, Nevada; Major: Music
Nick Rennis, 2008
Grayslake, Illinois; Major: Independent Scholar
Lorraine Scanlon, 2008
Zion, Illinois; Major: Music
The Power of Words
Words connect us, but they can also misrepresent, conceal and
mislead. This symposium will focus on how words can be used
(or abused) as we try to form relationships with others. We’ll
begin with a presentation on the language of life and death. In
life, we use and abuse the words that are given to us, and in
death loved ones cling to them for lingering memories of the
departed. This will be followed by the presentation of a segmented piece, in which snippets of narrative, emails, phone
conversations, and memories describe one girl’s response to
failing a calculus class and how this strains her relationship
with her family while enhancing her friendship with a friend
abroad. The panel will conclude with the presentation of a
humorous take on the difficulties of a bridesmaid, especially
when a bride says one thing and does another!
Faculty Sponsor: James Barilla
Jacob Elperin
Highland Park, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Art Mandel, 2007
Northbrook, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
What can Botswana do when the diamonds
stop shining?
Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana
adopted its new name upon independence in 1966. Mineral
extraction, principally diamond mining, dominates economic
activity, though tourism is a growing sector due to the country’s conservation practices and extensive nature preserves.
The countries leaders are searching for ways to expand the
economy and attract greater foreign direct investment to
increase employment and continue growth. As a result of
Botswana’s lack of alternative mineral resources, and its arid
climate, there are few options of diversification in terms of
agriculture or mining. The low population density will also
not allow the development of a manufacturing sector.
Agriculture provides employment for 80% of the population
but accounts for just 3% of the GDP and the country is still
forced to import 50% of its food needs. Tourism, however,
does offer a viable alternative source of income which could
benefit a larger proportion of the population. Tourism will
stimulate the development of a variety of allied infrastructure
and facilities, such as hotels, lodges and camps, airports,
restaurants and the establishment of wholesale and retail businesses.
Irina Bartnovsky, 2007
Skokie, Illinois; Major: English
Jacqueleen Hale, 2007
Chicago, Illinois; Major: English
Michal Sorensen 2008
Libertyville, Illinois; Major: English
The Sherlock Holmes of DNA: Identification
of Bacterial Species by Polymerase Chain
Reaction
Citrobacter is a common gram-negative bacteria often found
in soil, water, and wastewater as well as the human intestinal
tract. Though it is often not harmful, it can be an opportunistic pathogen. If infected it would be beneficial to have a
rapid identification method. In this study, we examined the
16S rRNA gene of three species of Citrobacter: C. freundii,
C. rodentium, and C.sedlakii to design species-specific
primers as a means of identification. We designed parameters
for the Polymerase Chain Reaction and used gel electrophoresis to visualize isolated DNA fragments. From our
results, we concluded that species-specific primers could be
made based on differences observed in the 16S rRNA gene
for these three species.
Faculty Sponsor: Karen Kirk
Dean Fox, 2007
Keene, New Hampshire; Major: Economics and
Business
Lawrence Lukoma, 2007
Gaborone, Botswana; Major: Economics and Business
Shaun Davis, 2009
Shoreview, Minnesota; Major: Biology
Matthew Patek, 2007
Park Ridge, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Emily Pospiech, 2009
Vito Regalado, 2007
Franklin Park, Illinois; Major: Economics and Business
Brandon Smart, 2007
St. Louis, Missouri; Majors: Economics and Business
Ukrainian Economic Development after the
Fall of Communism
Since 1991, The Republic of Ukraine has attempted to stabilize the political system while at the same time encourage eco56
57
58
1 0 t h
a n n u a l
student symposium
April 9-10, 2007
Symposium Committee:
David Amrein
Instructor in Music
(847-735-6024)
James Marquardt
Assistant Professor of Politics
(847-735-5126)
Lindsay Beller
Spectrum Editor and
Communications Coordinator
(847-735-5019)
Dimitar Nikolov ’07
Computer Science Major
(847-735-5582)
Levi Paul ’09
Computer Science Major
(847-735-5561)
Karen Blocker
Academic Technology Specialist, LIT
(847-735-6218)
Michal Sorensen ’08
English Major
(847-816-4533)
Shubhik DebBurman
Associate Professor of Biology
Committee Chair
(847-735-6040)
Mithaq Vahedi ’08
Biology and Chemistry Major
(847-735-5497)
Harriet Doud
Department Supervisor
Academic Support
(847-735-5121)
Chelsea Wade ’08
Communication Major
(847-735-5566)
Kalani Man ’09
History Major
(847-735-5329)
Special Thanks
Aramark
General Assembly
Leadership and Community Involvement
Library and Information Technology
Mohr Student Center Committee
Red and Black
Visual Communications
59
60

Student Symposium Program 2005

Transcription

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