Students Working on Student-Designed Scholarship Under Carleton Faculty Supervision
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Burr-McNeal, Mahal '12
Leading Every Day: A Child Abuse Prevention Leadership Program
Mahal Burr created and implemented a child abuse prevention leadership project for teen mothers. The project aimed to empower young mothers to become leaders on child abuse prevention both for their children and other children in Memphis. The participants were treated as community organizers. They recieved a small stipend, were given professional training on child abuse (including prevention techniques, sign recognition, response and reporting skills and much more) from six leading organizations on child abuse prevention and recovery in Memphis. In addition the participants received leadership training and put these skills to the test with an accumulative community event. Following the program, Mahal Burr is working to create a child abuse prevention week-long curriculum that will be implemented into a Memphis City School starting in Spring 2012.
This work was supervised by Anita Chikkatur
Denny, Adam '12
Geochemistry of the Eocene Crescent Formation Basalt, Washington State: Implications for Mantle Plume Activity
The Coast Range Basalt provinces of Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Island consist of an estimated 250,000 cubic kilometers of extrusive lavas generated between 62 and 50 Ma. Although previous studies have linked this Large Igneous Province (LIP) to subduction of a mid-ocean ridge (Haeussler et al., 2003) or accreted seamounts potentially associated with a mantle plume (Duncan, 1982), unambiguous evidence concerning the origin of Coast Range volcanism remains elusive. Ongoing investigation of the trace element and isotope compositions of the Crescent Formation basalts of Washington State demonstrates a range of basalt compositions consistent with an enriched mantle source. Compositional heterogeneity of the Crescent Formation requires the tapping of multiple mantle reservoirs as volcanism progressed. This study presents an expanded geographical survey of Crescent Formation compositions in an e_x001E_ffort to further constrain the origins of the Coast Range LIP.
This work was supervised by Bereket Haileab
Foran, Rachel '12
Made and Making: The Construction of Somali Muslim Selves in Rural Minnesota
Existing scholarship has largely overlooked the role of religion in the formation and maintenance of Somali selves in the diaspora. This project seeks to address the lack of scholarship on Somali Islam. Rachel conducted extended fieldwork with the Somali Muslim immigrant community in Faribault, Minnesota. Based on conversations and observations from the field augmented by with theoretical analysis, this study looks at the formation of Somali Muslim identities for Somali female youth in rural Minnesota.
This work was supervised by Shana Sippy
Gupta, Lipi '12
So You Want to Start an NGO?: Why "Empowering" People Takes More Mentors and Time Than You Might Think
This series of qualitative case studies of three NGO programs investigates how the organizations' "empowerment" strategies simultaneously undermine and enhance the quality of their impact in ways that that are not fully revealed or obvious at a glance. This study comprises independent and faculty-supervised fieldwork at Jagori in Delhi, Indi;, the Esilalei Women's Cultural Boma in Esilalei, Tanzania; and Project Why, in Delhi, India. Research in Esilalei was co-conducted with Emily Houser '12. Gupta concludes that interventions aiming to "empower" seem to require a great deal of face-to-face time within a set of new relationships; and these relationships in the NGO spaces take years to influence individuals' broader roles and abilities in daily life. Further analysis will be complete spring term.
Kelati, Beserat '12
Polarization of Memory in the Eritrean Diaspora
As a Mellon Mays Fellow Beserat Kelati is studying the development of the Eritrean identity and community cohesion, both in the nation-state and in the context of the Houston diaspora experience. Kelati's research questions are: How has politics in the Eritrean nation-state affected community cohesion in the Houston Eritrean diaspora? And what role has the sociopolitical disjunction between Eritrea's political fronts played in fostering or impeding cultural cohesion with the Houston's Eritrean community? To determine community cohesion in the Houston Eritrean diaspora, she used a multi-method approach. Life histories, participant observation and interviews were conducted in the form of a qualitative approach. Kelati hopes historical memories, personal experiences, community dynamics and emotion will provide alternative narratives that have been excluded from recent literature due to the complexity that exists between the Eritrean diaspora community and the nation-state.
This work was supervised by Van Dusenbery
Kunkel, William '12
Lamp Tag: Building a Safe, Cheap Alternative to Commercial Laser Tag
Lamp Tag is a game of virtual paintball that is played with electronic equipment designed by a group of Carleton physics majors. In the game, each player is equipped with an infrared "lamp gun" emitter and a set of sensors that enable communication along line of sight for distances up to 60 m. While commercial laser tag equipment typically costs over $3000 per set, we have developed a laser-free substitute that can be assembled at a cost of $40 per set.
Link: http://www.people.carleton.edu/~kunkelm/Lamp_tag_report.pdf
This work was supervised by Marty Baylor
Lopez, Paulina '12
The Relevance of Mexican Political Printmaking
This project investigates the relevance of Mexican printmaking as a sociopolitical tool in the 20th and 21st centuries. Paulina researched the historical and social contexts that surround Mexican prints from both eras, and conducted formal analyses of primary sources from art institutions and conferences in the mid-west and along the El Paso-Juarez border. Her research focuses on the way contemporary Mexican artists are embracing form over content in order to preserve the medium's relevance in the digital age. She is incorporating the traditional and contemporary Mexican printmaking methods studied from primary sources into a series of artist's books that document the experiences of Mexican immigrants living in southeastern Minnesota. Paulina collected the oral histories of these immigrants as part of the project during the summer of 2010. Professor Fred Hagstrom assisted Paulina on the studio aspect of this project, which is funded by the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program.
This work was supervised by Fred Hagstrom
Cushing, Benjamin '12
What’s Worth Knowing? A Quantitative Approach to the Debate Over What Fills Young Americans’ Minds
Borrowing tools from sociology, this paper challenges generational arguments made by popular writers about the essential knowledge that every American must have. These critics, including recent bestseller Mark Bauerlein, overlook the possibility that definitions of essential knowledge change over time and are particular to a historical moment. Through surveying members of the Carleton College and Northfield, MN communities, we set out to find whether peoples' perceptions of essential knowledge and skills are affected by certain sociodemographic or behavioral characteristics. The results of our study provide evidence that older people value categories of academic-content knowledge more strongly than younger people do. The results also show that as people value their education more, they increasingly value these categories of knowledge. The only type of knowledge that younger people valued more than older people did was proficiency in foreign languages. These results demonstrate that the effects of age and generation play important, but perhaps different, roles in shaping an individual’s educational values.
This work was supervised by Bill North and Annette Nierobisz
Bellos, Nicholas '12
What’s Worth Knowing? A Quantitative Approach to the Debate Over What Fills Young Americans’ Minds
Borrowing tools from sociology, this paper challenges generational arguments made by popular writers about the essential knowledge that every American must have. These critics, including recent bestseller Mark Bauerlein, overlook the possibility that definitions of essential knowledge change over time and are particular to a historical moment. Through surveying members of the Carleton College and Northfield, MN communities, we set out to find whether peoples' perceptions of essential knowledge and skills are affected by certain sociodemographic or behavioral characteristics. The results of our study provide evidence that older people value categories of academic-content knowledge more strongly than younger people do. The results also show that as people value their education more, they increasingly value these categories of knowledge. The only type of knowledge that younger people valued more than older people did was proficiency in foreign languages. These results demonstrate that the effects of age and generation play important, but perhaps different, roles in shaping an individual’s educational values.
This work was supervised by Bill North and Annette Nierobisz
Alexander, Michael '12
What’s Worth Knowing? A Quantitative Approach to the Debate Over What Fills Young Americans’ Minds
Borrowing tools from sociology, this paper challenges generational arguments made by popular writers about the essential knowledge that every American must have. These critics, including recent bestseller Mark Bauerlein, overlook the possibility that definitions of essential knowledge change over time and are particular to a historical moment. Through surveying members of the Carleton College and Northfield, MN communities, we set out to find whether peoples' perceptions of essential knowledge and skills are affected by certain sociodemographic or behavioral characteristics. The results of our study provide evidence that older people value categories of academic-content knowledge more strongly than younger people do. The results also show that as people value their education more, they increasingly value these categories of knowledge. The only type of knowledge that younger people valued more than older people did was proficiency in foreign languages. These results demonstrate that the effects of age and generation play important, but perhaps different, roles in shaping an individual’s educational values.
This work was supervised by Bill North and Annette Nierobisz
McClellan, Michael '13
Cyclodextrin-Containing Air Fresheners: A New Pathway for Inhaling Pollutants?
The indoor environment contains many pollutants that can be damaging to health and offensive to human senses. A new generation of air fresheners contains beta-cyclodextrin, a cyclic glucose oligomer that is reported by manufacturers to "eliminate" odors by trapping offensive smelling molecules in its core, rendering it scent-free. In this study, the kinetics and mechanism of cyclodextrin-pollutant complexation were studied in solution and in the aerosol phase using spectroscopy and mass spectrometry techniques. Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry was used to collect mass spectra of aerosol mixtures of beta-cyclodextrin and naphthalene derivatives (simulated indoor pollutants), which were shown to complex in solution using spectroscopic methods. Markers that indicate complexation of naphthalene derivatives in cyclodextrin-containing mixtures have been identified in the ATOFMS spectra, leading to the possibility of identifying beta-cyclodextrin-pollutant complexes in real-world particles.
This work was supervised by Deborah Gross
McMurtrey, Owen '12
Cowling Arboretum Grassland Breeding Bird Survey
The Arboretum Grassland Breeding Bird Survey establishes the diversity and overall numbers of grasslands bird species of interest. The survey is envisioned as a long-term study that will help Arboretum managers and prairie restorationists understand avian responses to a variety of management decisions. The survey data also serves as an aid in understanding the ecology of grassland birds generally. After three years, the data show an increase in the numbers of grassland species that avoid trees during the nesting season and a coinciding decline in the numbers of species that associate with trees during nesting. The removal of trees from Arboretum prairies is ongoing, and we hypothesize a relationship between tree removal and species composition changes. An example of temporal allocation of niche space among three abundant grassland species is noted, as well as increases in species diversity and overall numbers over the last three years.
Link: https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/arb/connections/student_research/
This work was supervised by Nancy Braker
Overholt, True '12
XXXX Desea Usted? Consumer and Survey Participant Behavior within a Multiethnic Community
Seeing a lack of research sufficiently addressing the issue of acculturation's impact on the ethnocentric tendency of consumers regarding the country of origin effect, we presented Mexican-Americans living in Northfield, Minnesota, with a two-part questionnaire. The first asked participants to rate, according to favorability and purchase intent, advertisements of 12 goods and six services; the second concerned cultural preferences (Mexican or American) and a construal of self scale. We encountered many difficulties cultural and methodological throughout the process working with an under-sampled population that limited statistically significant results. The lessons we learned were rather those of surveying a multicultural immigrant population, the difficulties arising in undertaking such a project, and how to improve future academic studies within a nonacademic population.
This work was supervised by Annette Nierobisz and Mija Van Der Wege
Vang, Pachee '14
Speech Surrogates of the White Hmong: A Study of the Representation of Hmong Tones as Musical Pitches on the Nkauj Nog Ncas (Two-Stringed Violin)
Hmong musicians surpass the combination of melodies by transforming the ineffable through instruments, one pitch representing one word; a phenomenon called speech surrogacy. Unlike our elders, we did not understand the words played from Hmong speech surrogates. Therefore, we looked into studies on Hmong music and language from Poss (2005) flute, Catlin (1981) sung poetry, and Falk (2003) open-reed pipe organ who found similar pitch-system patterns. We expanded on these studies with the two-stringed violin, examining the lexical-tones correspondence to musical-pitches, tones collapsing into one pitch, and the instrument's style of "speech." We collected music pieces from seven musicians and analyzed the pitches of each word. In short, a pattern of high tones to high pitches and vise versa suggests that tones assist in the understanding of the instrument. Through this work, we hope that Hmong youth understand Hmong speech surrogacy better and that advancements in Hmong speech surrogacy continues.
This work was supervised by Annette Nierobisz, Katie Fortin, and Melinda Russell
Vue, Bill '12
Speech Surrogates of the White Hmong: A Study of the Representation of Hmong Tones as Musical Pitches on the Nkauj Nog Ncas (Two-Stringed Violin)
Hmong musicians surpass the combination of melodies by transforming the ineffable through instruments, one pitch representing one word; a phenomenon called speech surrogacy. Unlike our elders, we did not understand the words played from Hmong speech surrogates. Therefore, we looked into studies on Hmong music and language from Poss (2005) flute, Catlin (1981) sung poetry, and Falk (2003) open-reed pipe organ who found similar pitch-system patterns. We expanded on these studies with the two-stringed violin, examining the lexical-tones correspondence to musical-pitches, tones collapsing into one pitch, and the instrument's style of "speech." We collected music pieces from seven musicians and analyzed the pitches of each word. In short, a pattern of high tones to high pitches and vise versa suggests that tones assist in the understanding of the instrument. Through this work, we hope that Hmong youth understand Hmong speech surrogacy better and that advancements in Hmong speech surrogacy continues.
This work was supervised by Annette Nierobisz, Katie Fortin, and Melinda Russell
Vue, Bao '12
Speech Surrogates of the White Hmong: A Study of the Representation of Hmong Tones as Musical Pitches on the Nkauj Nog Ncas (Two-Stringed Violin)
Hmong musicians surpass the combination of melodies by transforming the ineffable through instruments, one pitch representing one word; a phenomenon called speech surrogacy. Unlike our elders, we did not understand the words played from Hmong speech surrogates. Therefore, we looked into studies on Hmong music and language from Poss (2005) flute, Catlin (1981) sung poetry, and Falk (2003) open-reed pipe organ who found similar pitch-system patterns. We expanded on these studies with the two-stringed violin, examining the lexical-tones correspondence to musical-pitches, tones collapsing into one pitch, and the instrument's style of "speech." We collected music pieces from seven musicians and analyzed the pitches of each word. In short, a pattern of high tones to high pitches and vise versa suggests that tones assist in the understanding of the instrument. Through this work, we hope that Hmong youth understand Hmong speech surrogacy better and that advancements in Hmong speech surrogacy continues.
This work was supervised by Annette Nierobisz, Katie Fortin, and Melinda Russell
Walker, Alex '12
What Factors Regulate the Automobile Related Negative Consequences of Alcohol Consumption in the Twin Cities Metro Area of Minnesota?
This project investigated negative consequences of alcohol consumption in the seven county metro area surrounding the Twin Cities, Minnesota. After using statistical modeling to isolate useful variables, a spatial analysis was conducted on the appropriate variables to predict three negative consequences: motor vehicle crashes (MVCs), motor vehicle fatalities MVFs) and arrests for driving while intoxicated (DWIs). The intention was to provide a snapshot of risk for the metro counties relative to each other, for example: which counties have the highest predicted rates of drinking and driving? Demographic, economic, geographic and legal information were incorporated into the model with the intent of identifying the factors that contribute to illegal roadway actions and their consequences. Analysis showed that prediction models for MVFs and DWIs contained serious issues and that only the MVC model was appropriate for prediction. Analysis of the MVC model showed that a wide range of variables determined negative consequences and that differences in legislation did not have an effect in determining the extent of alcohol related issues.
This work was supervised by Tsegaye Nega
Williams, David '12
XXXX Desea Usted? Consumer and Survey Participant Behavior within a Multiethnic Community
Seeing a lack of research sufficiently addressing the issue of acculturation's impact on the ethnocentric tendency of consumers regarding the country of origin effect, we presented Mexican-Americans living in Northfield, Minnesota, with a two-part questionnaire. The first asked participants to rate, according to favorability and purchase intent, advertisements of 12 goods and six services; the second concerned cultural preferences (Mexican or American) and a construal of self scale. We encountered many difficulties--cultural and methodological--throughout the process working with an under-sampled population that limited statistically significant results. The lessons we learned were rather those of surveying a multicultural immigrant population, the difficulties arising in undertaking such a project, and how to improve future academic studies within a nonacademic population.
This work was supervised by Annette Nierobisz and Mija Van Der Wege
Xiong, Milah '14
Speech Surrogates of the White Hmong: A Study of the Representation of Hmong Tones as Musical Pitches on the Nkauj Nog Ncas (Two-Stringed Violin)
Hmong musicians surpass the combination of melodies by transforming the ineffable through instruments, one pitch representing one word; a phenomenon called speech surrogacy. Unlike our elders, we did not understand the words played from Hmong speech surrogates. Therefore, we looked into studies on Hmong music and language from Poss (2005) flute, Catlin (1981) sung poetry, and Falk (2003) open-reed pipe organ who found similar pitch-system patterns. We expanded on these studies with the two-stringed violin, examining the lexical-tones correspondence to musical-pitches, tones collapsing into one pitch, and the instrument's style of "speech." We collected music pieces from seven musicians and analyzed the pitches of each word. In short, a pattern of high tones to high pitches and vise versa suggests that tones assist in the understanding of the instrument. Through this work, we hope that Hmong youth understand Hmong speech surrogacy better and that advancements in Hmong speech surrogacy continues.
This work was supervised by Annette Nierobisz, Katie Fortin, and Melinda Russell