Sept. 6, 2002
Twelve Receive New Gamow Research Fellowships
Students and Mentors to Research a Variety of Topics
Twelve students and their mentors have been awarded GWs new George
Gamow Undergraduate Research Fellowships. Established this year, these
awards are intended to nurture the careers of promising scholars by
providing meaningful, mentored research experiences to top sophomores
and juniors who intend to pursue a graduate career and to advance
the research programs of GW faculty in the process.
The fellowships are named for George Gamow, a distinguished theoretical
nuclear physicist who served on GWs faculty from 1934-56. It was
developed and co-sponsored by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies
and the University Honors Program, with assistance from the vice president
for academic affairs.
Fellowship stipends are awarded to the successful students to acknowledge
their selection for this prestigious award and to enable them to devote
time to research. Mentors receive an honorarium in appreciation of their
active participation.
Twenty-nine proposals were reviewed by a faculty selection committee
for the 2002 competition, and 12 awards were made for projects that
will be carried out in 200203.
Chris Chop, sophomore, ESIA-international affairs/history
Mentor: Tyler Anbinder, history
From Irish Rags to American Riches?
Chops research will challenge stereotypes of Irish immigrants
as poor laborers by examining the database of financial transactions
recently made available by the Emigrant Savings Bank in New York and
developing a more accurate financial profile of this group of immigrants.
Jacquelynn Danek, sophomore, CCAS-chemistry
Mentor: Christopher Cahill, chemistry
Synthesis of Open Framework Oxides using Chiral Templates
Danek will examine the effects of enantiomers (molecules with the same
chemical formula but different structural arrangements and, therefore,
different properties such as toxicity) on the formation of magnesium
oxide open framework structures. Open framework structures are part
of a rapidly growing field of separations chemistry; the structures
act as molecular-scale sieves that can separate molecules of varying
geometries. Their synthesis involves the use of an organic template
or support about which the framework crystallizes. Danek
will explore the potential of enantiomer pairs as template candidates.
Blythe Debenport, junior, SEAS-computer science
Mentor: Rahul Simha, computer science
Authoring Technologies for Distance Education
Debenport will enhance a computer program that allows users to hear
lectures at the same time that they view Web materials. She will work
on enabling multimedia for drawing tools, including handling geometric
shapes (ovals, rectangles, lines, and polygons) appear when the voice
recording reaches a specified point.
Kristen Eckert, junior, ESIA-Latin American studies
Mentor: Marcy Norton, history
Return Migration in the Spanish Empire, 15181600
Eckert will examine the motivations and social networks of migrants
who left the Spanish Indies for Europe, a group that included sailors,
merchants, clergy, and colonial officials, as well as free and enslaved
Africans, Indians, and mestizos. Complementing her mentors research,
she will look at the role these migrants played in integrating chocolate
and tobacco into European society.
Robert Frederickson, junior, CCAS-economics/computer science
Mentor: Rahul Simha, computer science
Pricing Strategies for Networked Goods: A Simulation Approach
Frederickson will combine his interest in economics and computer science
by using a simple economic model of supply and demand to observe how
simulated agents behave in a variety of situations and determine whether
their behavior is consistent with theories of economic thinking.
Seth Goldman, junior, CCAS-political communication
Mentor: Kimberly Gross, School of Media and Public Affairs
Framing Hate: The Nature and Consequences of Media Coverage of
Anti-Gay Hate Crimes
Using techniques for studying how the news media frame issues, Goldman
will seek to understand how hate crimes against gays are framed and
explore the potential effects of such coverage on public opinion. This
study complements work done by his mentor on the framing of issues in
media coverage of minorities.
Catarina Kim, sophomore, ESIA-international affairs/Asian
studies
Mentor: Young-Key Kim-Renaud, east Asian languages and literature
A Joint Approach to Translation: Rendering Modern Korean Fiction
in English
Kim and Kim-Renaud will collaborate to translate the Korean short story
The Site of Festival and Fate, by Hahn Moo-Sook, experimenting
with three different approaches to translation. They also will research
the historical and cultural subcontexts of the story.
Rebekah Kushner, sophomore, CCAS-chemistry
Mentor: Fred Abramson, pharmacology/chemistry
Two-Dimensional Chromatography with the Rotofor
In proteomics (functional genomics) research, two separation processes
are deemed necessary to disperse protein/peptide mixtures before identifying
their individual components with mass spectrometry. Kushner will evaluate
the Rotofor, a new isoelectric focusing apparatus, as a first stage
of protein and peptide separation, followed by high-performance liquid
chromatography for the second stage to evaluate the overall effectiveness
of this instrumental combination.
Jessica Lundin, junior, CCAS-biology
Mentor: Randall Packer, biology
Regulation of the Expression of 11B-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase,
Type 2, in Rat Kidney Tissue
The enzyme 11B-HSD II helps regulate sodium excretion in urine and therefore
may play a role in the regulation of blood pressure. The anti-diuretic
hormone, arginine vasopressin (AVP), may regulate the enzymes
activity. Lundlin will look at whether anti-diuresis in rats causes
changes in the abundance or pattern of expression of 11B-HSD II in target
tissues.
Bryan OKeefe, junior, CCAS-political communication
Mentor: Sean Aday, School of Media and Public Affairs
Guns vs. Butter
OKeefe will compare the success of two major electoral strategies
in Congressional midterm elections a national strategy and a
local strategy by following four races in different geographic
regions.
Conor Savoy, sophomore, CCAS-history
Mentor: James Hershberg, history
Nixon, the Easter Offensive, and Diplomacy with Beijing and Moscow
Using recently released Nixon tapes to look at the decision making behind
the military response to the 1972 Easter offensive in Vietnam, Savoy
will focus on the effect of the impending summit with the Soviets in
Moscow on these decisions.
William Young, junior, ESIA
Mentor: Richard Thornton, history
Nixon Doctrine, 197273
Young will look at the Nixon Doctrine as defined in a Feb. 9, 1972,
foreign policy report to Congress and see how it was actually implemented
between then and a May 3, 1973, report on foreign policy to Congress.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu