Library Award for Undergraduate Research
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***Submissions are accepted 11 December - 29 March by noon each year***
The University of Maryland Libraries and the Maryland Center for Undergraduate Research have partnered to showcase and reward undergraduate research projects. The Library Award for Undergraduate Research aims to promote the value and use of library services and information resources.
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Item Effects of Surburbanization on Carbon Emissions from 1970 to 1990 in Montgomery County, Maryland(2011) Elovitz, Hannah; Freyman, Neal; O'Connor, Alexander; Shiau, Yvonne; Friedel, Robert; Otis, LaraItem A Biofuel-Capable Wetland with Optimal Nitrate Uptake from Chesapeake Bay Waters Affected by Agricultural Runoff(2011) Agarwal, Arsh; Bradford, Allie; Cheng, Kerry; Dewan, Ramita; Disla, Enrique; Goodley, Addison; Lim, Nathan; Liu, Lisa; Place, Lucas; Ramadorai, Raevathi; Shankar, Jaishri; Wellen, Michael; Ye, Diane; Yu, Edward; Tilley, David; Kackley, RobertHarmful algal blooms caused by nitrates and phosphates negatively affect estuarine ecosystems, such as the Chesapeake Bay. These blooms release toxins and block sunlight needed for submerged aquatic vegetation, creating hypoxic areas of the Bay. Artificial wetlands have been utilized to reduce the amount of nitrate pollution. This project will test the Typha latifolia (cattail), Panicum virgatum (switchgrass), and Schoenoplectus validus (soft-stem bulrush) for denitrification potential. In order to amplify the differences between the plants, we will use a carbon-based denitrification factor to be found through testing. We plan to use the ANOVA test in order to determine the significance of our findings. Based on our data, future environmental groups can better choose the species they will plant in artificial wetlands.Item The Influence of Political Orientation on Opinion of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy(2011) Merkle, Melissa; O'Briant, Lisa; Roman-Ramos, Claudia; Yun, Esther; Fanflick, Patricia L.; Family SciencePrior to the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, many individuals questioned whether such a policy was appropriate for today's military. As of 2005, 12 years after implementation, it is estimated that the United States Government had spent nearly 95 million dollars to replace the nearly 13,000 service men and women who were discharged under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy (Bender, 2005). While this policy was being debated, and the Obama administration was considering the repeal of this law, the authors of this study asked if support for this policy went beyond traditional political parties and relied more on the respondent's views and beliefs in general. Using a survey methodology, this study examined student perceptions of the law and personal belief regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender individuals. The results suggest that student views do make a difference in distinguishing whether someone supports the policy or not. On average, respondents with more conservative views do seem to have more support for the DADT policy, while, conversely, those with more liberal views appear to show less support overall.Item Bisphenol A Use in Consumer Products and Proposals for Change(2011) Namugayi, Deborah; Goger, Joanna B.; Agricultural & Resource EconomicsItem An ‘Economic Man’ in Every Society: An Overview of Economic Anthropology and its Cross-cultural Development as a Discipline as it Relates to the Notion of the ‘Economic Man’(2011) D'Ippolito, Michelle; Stuart, William Taft; AnthropologyThis paper will give an overview of economic anthropology both in terms of the history of ideas and the philosophy of science. It will look at how the field has developed from several distinct philosophies in economics to the multifaceted approaches within the field today. The first section will look at the roots of the field and the major philosophies and proponents of those philosophies. The second section will look at the more recent trends in terms of how they draw on the earlier philosophies and the new elements they incorporate. The final section will look at how the multifaceted approaches in the field have allowed for new avenues of study. In particular, this section will look how these multifaceted approaches have made the definition of the “economic man” more cross-cultural.Item Do Dreams Really Come True? The Creation of Foer's 9/11 Fairytale(2011) Kostyukovsky, Faina; EnglishItem The Possibility of a Pigovian Crash Tax(2011) Andrews, Michael; Winett, Michael; EnglishThis paper explores the possibilities of using Pigovian taxes to internalize the costs of automobile crashes. Automobile crashes cause significant externalities. This would seem to provide a justification for a Pigovian tax. This paper constructs a model in which drivers calculate costs of crashes as a fraction of their ability to pay. Under this model, Pigovian taxes will not be able to influence behavior once a driver’s expected costs equal everything he or she can pay.Item SNAP Redemption at Farmers’ Markets: Assessing the Home Nutrition Environment and Healthy Food Accessibility for Maryland SNAP Families(2011) Aguiar, Carolina; Caplan, Valerie; Chang, Emily; Chang, Sophia; Kuo, Jennifer; Lahey, Moses; Pandya, Rutvij; Richard, Katherine; Schexnayder, Kelci; Thornton, Monique; White, Rachel; Grutzmacher, StephanieCurrently, 35.5 million Americans live in a state of food insecurity. To address this insecurity in impoverished households, the federal government has created programs to provide low-income citizens with monetary assistance to purchase food for their families, and achieve a more healthful diet. One such example is SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). To better understand the effects of SNAP availability in farmers’ markets, Team Food Deserts will conduct a mixed-methods research project in stages: first, a market analysis after the implementation of a SNAP redemption program in four area farmers’ markets; second, a cross-sectional survey of SNAP shoppers at the market investigating the relationship between self-efficacy and the home-nutrition environment; and third, evaluating a nutrition education program. At the conclusion of our study, we intend to establish a relationship between a parent’s self-efficacy to provide for their family and their home-nutrition environment, as well to show the economic feasibility of bringing SNAP to farmers’ markets on a wider scale.Item "Ballparking" Baseball's Sweet-Spots: Analyzing High-Power Hitting Locations on Various Types of Baseball Bats(2011) Bedi, Mandeep; DeWitt, Michael; Gadani, Aashish; Okoudjou, Kasso A.Item Human Trafficking(2011) Fitzgerald, Amanda; Haufler, Virginia; Government & PoliticsItem Exocytosis of Lung Surfactants(2011) McGucken, Anna; Varner, Mark; Animal & Avian SciencesItem Human Trafficking Through Film(2011) Tinch, Kiara S.; Alarcon, JavieraItem Arigatou Gozaimasu, Mr. Ninagawa: Yukio Ninagawa’s Shakespeare Contributions(2011) Bane, Pallas; Hildy, Franklin J.; Theatre, Dance & Performance StudiesItem The Transformations of the Bodhisattva of Compassion in Early Asian Art(2011) Khanna, Shefali; Merritt, Rebecca Hansom; Art History & ArchaeologyItem Shanghai Noon? An Analysis of China’s Role in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization(2011) Gibbons, Alexander; Pearson, Margaret; Government & PoliticsItem Worker and Kolkhoz Woman: From Propaganda to Nostalgia(2011) Kojoyan, Levon; Hargrove, June; Art History & ArchaeologyItem Exploring Immigration Politics in Frederick County, MD: A Preliminary Review(2011) Rosenberg, Michael; Koulish, Robert; Government & PoliticsItem Auto-Ignition of Cooking Oils(2011) Buda-Ortins, Krystyna; Sunderland, Peter B.; Fire Protection EngineeringThe ignition of cooking oils plays a large role in the problem of residential fires. Past experiments were researched to give insight into the temperature ranges at which cooking oil will auto-ignite. Experimental procedures were designed to test the auto-ignition temperatures of liquid cooking oils, butter, and margarine. The auto-ignition temperatures were determined to be as follows: canola oil, 424˚C; vegetable oil, 406˚C; and olive oil, 435˚C. The flame point of canola oil was at 379˚C. The auto-ignition temperature for Smart Balance was 432˚C, and the butter did not auto-ignite.Item The Effect of Personalized Online Nutritional Analysis on the Diets of College Students: Team Research Proposal Draft(2011) Cunningham, Britni; Dols, Amanda; Dumm, Emily; Eng, Angelica; Franke, Kate; Gross, Alison; Helinek, Jonathan; Indig, Jonathan; Leibowitz, Joshua; O'Connor, Alexander; Russell, Timothy; Sharma, Aroon; Yan, Alyson Min; Jacob, BruceObesity in the United States is often referred to as an epidemic, and countless nutrition intervention studies have been done to examine possible preventative measures. Most of these studies involve self-reporting by participants, and many suggest that the best age to target eating habits is college since these students are just beginning to live on their own. We seek to examine how a nutritional intervention without self-reporting will affect the eating habits of our student participants by developing and implementing an interactive diet tracking tool in the form of a website. The website will use the student ID swipe system in the diner to record individual food purchases, and report the healthfulness of the student’s choices on a daily basis. We hope to find that our research will contribute to the literature of the field through testing the impact of a new type of intervention on a fairly unexplored demographic.Item South African Jewish Involvement in the Anti-Apartheid Movement(2011) Rothenberg, David; O'Sullivan, Sibbie