- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock /news-archive/tag/student-undergraduate-research-fellowship/ ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Tue, 12 Mar 2019 13:27:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock researchers to investigate if religiosity is connected to misconceptions about sexual assault /news-archive/2019/03/12/michael-meziere-research/ Tue, 12 Mar 2019 13:27:43 +0000 /news/?p=73680 ...]]> A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student is researching the relationship between religiosity, sexual misconduct, and rape myth acceptance. Michael Meziere, of Little Rock, is examining if religiosity plays a factor in the misconceptions and myths surrounding sexual assaults on college campuses. To carry out this study, Meziere will conduct surveys to gather information on religious beliefs and sexual attitudes. “In society, the acceptance of rape myths, which lead to placing the blame on victims of sexual assault, is a real problem,” Meziere said. “There are not many studies that focus on religiosity and rape myth acceptance, so this will hopefully add some good data to that research area. We hypothesized that people who identify as very religious will be less likely to engage” After discussing victim blaming among sexual assault victims in the classroom, Michael Meziere, a senior criminal justice major, got interested in doing research on the topic. Dr. Molly Smith, assistant professor of criminal justice, who specializes in research on sexual assault, rape myths, and the commercial sex trade, is serving as Meziere’s mentor. “Michael’s research focuses on how religiosity impacts sexual victimization and sexual offending, particularly among college students,” Smith said. “While past studies have looked at these relationships individually, there has been minimal research on how they may be moderated by rape myth acceptance (false perceptions about the extent and nature of sexual assault). This is problematic given the high prevalence of sexual victimization and rape myth acceptance on college campuses, as well as the impact that religiosity may have on victim assault recognition and reporting. Michael’s study intends to increase our understanding of these relationships, and thus potentially inform future policy initiatives aimed at curbing victimization.” Meziere will conduct a survey during February and March to see if there is a connection between a person’s religiosity, morality, and their acceptance of rape myth. He plans to present the results of his research at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences annual meeting in Baltimore in March and the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student Research and Creative Works Expo in April. “I hope this study will help the cause of preventing sexual assault across America and give researchers better insights to prevent sexual assaults from happening in the future,” Meziere said. The research is funded by a $2,125 Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) award from the Arkansas Department of Education and a $625 match from the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Office of the Vice Provost for Research. ]]> ��Vlog��ý Little Rock student wins SURF award to research outdated maritime law cited by lawyers in Missouri Duck Boat tragedy /news-archive/2019/02/19/burke-surf-award/ Tue, 19 Feb 2019 14:21:02 +0000 /news/?p=73419 ...]]> A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student has received a $2,750 Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) award from the Arkansas Department of Education to research an outdated maritime law that lawyers invoked in an attempt to avoid or limit legal damages sought by victims and their family members in a last summer. Madeline Burke, a junior international and legal studies major and Donaghey Scholar from Little Rock, is thankful to receive the prestigious award that is a “great opportunity for people to research special topics of their interest.” Burke said she was inspired to investigate the 1851 maritime law after reading newspaper articles that explained how lawyers for two companies, Ripley Entertainment Inc. and Branson Duck Vehicles, facing multiple lawsuits over the July 17 accident used the obscure law. Ripley spokeswoman Suzanne Smagala-Potts said this type of filing is “common in claims related to maritime incidents,” and the “goal is to delay the multiple court cases to give the parties time for mediation.” “One of the strategies of the lawyers was to use this outdated law to try to not pay the victims of this tragic accident or their families any money,” Burke said. “The law says that the ship owner’s liability is limited to the value of the vessel after the crash and any cargo that was on the vessel. The boat did not carry any cargo, only the tourists who stepped foot on that tragic ride. So essentially, the lawyers argued that the boat owner is only liable for what the vessel was worth after the crash.” Burke will conduct her research this semester and into the summer under the mentorship of Dr. Casey Rockwell, assistant professor of marketing and advertising in the College of Business. “In a time of crisis, we all want to be responsive, but what is our response? Do we ponder silently why this happened or do we take the time to engage in the conversation regarding the legal, societal, and political constructs that exist in the aftermath,” Rockwell said. “Maddie chose social activism through research. Her intent is to not only raise awareness of this crisis, but further engage a larger audience in the conversation of how laws, when not a perfect fit, are often contorted to meet new objectives. This further raises the question of whether modern laws need to be restrictive or have an adaptability for an ever-changing society.” Burke will investigate the history of the law and the reasons why it was originally enacted as well as how the law has been used over the years leading up to the Missouri Duck Boat incident. The problem with some older laws, Burke points out, is that, over time, they are often used for purposes that fall far outside the original scope and intention of the law. “This law was originally meant to protect ship owners from liability,” Burke said. “Back then, traveling across the ocean was very dangerous. This law was used to protect ship owners from being held responsible for accidents that were not their fault. Because the Duck Boat sunk and there was no freight on the boat, the company lawyers argued that they didn’t owe the victims and families anything.” The award will cover the cost of Burke’s research materials as well as a trip to Montreal to present her research, “Duck and Cover: How the Outdated Maritime 1851 Limitation of Liability Act Shields Shipowners from Liability,” at the Academy of Legal Studies in Business Conference in August. Upon the completion of her research, Burke plans to make a policy recommendation to change the law so it would allow victims and family members the right to sue for civil damages. “The end goal of this research is a policy recommendation to change the law,” she said. “The law is over 150 years old and so outdated. My policy recommendation would be to not only protect ship owners, but to provide victims and family members with the right to seek compensation when it’s the right thing to do, just like when you see a tragic accident like the Missouri Duck Boat incident.” Burke has a history of uncovering outdated laws. In 2017, her paper, “The 1920 Death on the High Seas Act: An Outdated and Ambiguous Admiralty Law Shielding Cruise Lines Companies from Civil Liability,” earned the top student honor, the Outstanding Student Research Paper award, at the conference and was published in the Maritime Law Journal, a top business journal in the field Her paper explored how the law protects cruise lines from certain civil lawsuits by limiting families from recovering only pecuniary damages, what the deceased would have made for the family if the family is dependent on the person who died. This limits family members from suing for monetary damages if the person who died is unemployed, retired, a minor, etc., since the family is not financially dependent on the victim. “The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is proud to make the investment in graduate and undergraduate research through SURF, the Signature Experience Grants, undergraduate research grants, and the College of Business research funding,” Rockwell said. “Through these sources, Maddie has become a top researcher in this field as an undergraduate. It is really quite impressive.” ]]> Four ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students receive SURF research fellowships /news-archive/2019/02/07/surf-fellowships-2/ Thu, 07 Feb 2019 17:05:26 +0000 /news/?p=73359 ...]]> Four ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students have received the prestigious Student Undergraduate Research Fellowships from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education to conduct research this spring with help from faculty mentors. The (SURF) program provides up to $2,750 to undergraduate students to conduct in-depth research projects in their specific fields of study with the assistance of faculty mentors. To be eligible, all fellowship recipients must have a minimum grade-point average of 3.25, at least 30 hours of credit toward a degree, and support of a faculty mentor. Funds also are provided for students to travel to conferences to present their accomplishments. The students will complete their research this spring semester and will exhibit their work at the Student Research and Creative Works Showcase on April 18 in the Jack Stephens Center. In addition to the SURF grants, the students receive some matching funds through ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock fellows include the following: Bonn Belingon – “Enzymatic Studies of BbI06 from Borrelia burgdorferi,” ($2,750 from SURF, $1,250 match to equal $4,000) Belingon, of Marion, Arkansas, is researching how to isolate and target specific enzymes that are found in B. burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Currently, drug resistance to B. burgdorferi has surged and new strategies are needed to combat the disease. Belington and his mentor, Dr. Shanzhi Wang, will purify and characterize the BbI06 enzyme and determine 10 inhibitors against the bacterium. Madeline Burke – “Duck and Cover: How the Outdated Maritime 1851 Limitation of Liability Act Shields Shipowners From Liability,” ($2,750 from SURF, $1,250 match to equal $4,000) Burke, of Little Rock, is investigating the legal and ethical considerations of the 1851 Limitation of Liability Act that protects shipowners from liability. This act was cited by Ride the Ducks, the company that owned the duck boat that sank and killed 17 people on Table Rock Lake in Missouri on July 19, 2018. Burke will use library and government databases to create a research presentation for a national conference and submit an article for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Dr. Casey Rockwell from the Department of Marketing and Advertising is Burke’s mentor. Caroline Kornelsen – “Understanding of ��ö��ٱ�� Resonance Energy Transfer in Ionic Materials,” ($2,750 from SURF, $1,250 match to equal $4,000) Kornelsen, of Fallbrook, California, and her faculty mentor, Dr. Noureen Siraj, are researching novel and inexpensive approaches to developing new materials that possess ��ö��ٱ�� Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) characteristics. FRET is a non-radiation energy transfer process between donor and acceptor moieties. Ionic material with FRET characteristics will be developed using a fluorescent organic ion as donor and counterion as acceptor. FRET characteristic in an ionic material will be understood by developing several derivatives of ionic materials using same cation but variable anion or vice versa. These materials are important in the arena of energy, healthcare, and the environment. This project will allow Kornelsen and Siraj to learn more about the parameters that depend on FRET efficiency in ionic material. Michael Meziere – “Examining the Relationships between Religiosity, Rape Myth Acceptance, and Sexual Misconduct,” ($2,125 from SURF, $625 match to equal $2,750) Meziere, of Little Rock, is examining if religiosity plays a factor in the misconceptions and myths surrounding sexual assaults on college campuses. To carry out this study, Meziere will conduct surveys to gather information on religious beliefs and sexual attitudes. The data gathered will be presented in a poster presentation at the Academy of Criminal Justice Studies annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, in March 2019 and the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student Undergraduate Research Expo in April 2019. Dr. Molly Smith from the Department of Criminal Justice is Meziere’s mentor. Madeline Burke is one of four ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students to receive a Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship. She is researching an old maritime law which says the owner of a sunken vessel is not legally responsible for its cargo. Photo by Benjamin Krain]]> Lelia Rosenkrans named 2018 Whitbeck Award winner /news-archive/2018/05/02/lelia-rosenbrans-whitbeck-award/ Wed, 02 May 2018 17:45:39 +0000 /news/?p=70376 ...]]> Lelia Rosenkrans’ academic interests pull in seemingly opposite directions. She is passionate about dance and the artistry and self-expression that comes from the creative process. And she is equally in love with science and the possibilities of discovery through disciplined research. Both, she discovered, have the capacity to transform lives. At ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Rosenkrans didn’t have to choose between the two. On May 12, she will graduate with a BFA in Dance Performance with a minor in chemistry. She is this year’s recipient of the Alpha Kappa Psi Edward L. Whitbeck Memorial Award, a prestigious award given to one student chosen by the Faculty Senate Honors and Awards Committee who has demonstrated exceptional scholarship, leadership, character, and citizenship. The award comes with a $2,000 prize. “Lelia is that rare student whose talents truly transcend their major,” said Jessica Scott, assistant director of the Donaghey Scholars Program. “Even though she is a gifted dancer, she has the mind of a scientist.” Growing up in Springdale, Rosenkrans started dancing at age 4 at Rhythm and Shoes Dance Studio in Tontitown. “I fell in love with jazz,” she said. “I was a shy kid and jazz gave me the opportunity to be someone else, outgoing and spunky.” She started ballet at age 7 but didn’t become a serious ballet student until age 15. She comes from a family of educators: her father is a professor of animal physiology at the University of Arkansas, and her mother is the associate vice president of Learning and High School Relations at Northwest Arkansas Community College. When it came time to choose a college, she looked near and far. She auditioned for a few conservatory programs and was accepted to Wellesley College in Massachusetts as well as the University of Arkansas, which is close to her home in Northwest Arkansas. However, she was drawn to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, which offers the state’s only Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance. “I knew I wanted to have the option to take both dance and pre-med classes,” Rosenkrans said. “I came to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock as a chemistry major and then decided to have a dance/chemistry double major. Eventually, I realized that I could major in dance and minor in chemistry, and still achieve my goal of being prepared for medical school.” What sealed the deal was a Donaghey Scholars Program scholarship, and with it the ability to study abroad and to graduate with no debt. During her first two summers, she worked as a medical intern in Sri Lanka and as an English teacher in Peru, both of which gave her invaluable perspectives on global policies. “In Sri Lanka, I saw a country striving to aid its people through free health care, yet patients were turned away simply due to a lack of time and space to treat everyone,” Rosenkrans said. “In Peru, I was inspired by the community’s connection to their Incan farming traditions. However, I saw a community whose grains were being purchased for pennies in comparison to the price they are sold for in grocery stores within the United States.” As part of the Whitbeck Award competition, Rosenkrans wrote an essay on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. “I find myself returning to the idea of acknowledging the humanity and needs of others,” she wrote. “This involves creating and fostering an environment with meaningful cross-cultural dialogue, striving for and supporting breakthroughs in science and technology that help humanity, and advocating for and preserving communal works of beauty.” With her eye on medical school, Rosenkrans completed the pre-medicine courses, taking as many as 23 credit hours per semester and finishing with a 4.0 grade-point average. Her friends joke that she never sleeps, and she admits that between dance rehearsals and lab work, she stays busy. As a junior, she received one of the state’s Student Undergraduate Research Fellowships to study the biological, psychological and social impacts of a modern dance class. Her research examined salivary biomarkers indicative of fitness training and stress in modern dancers and compared the biomarker levels to dancers’ self-reflection surveys. The results provided evidence in support of modern dance as a source of stress relief, and also served as a step toward developing more specialized nutritional and cross-training guidelines for modern dancers. “She took her two passions and combined them into a very novel research project,” said Dr. Brian Berry, chair and associate professor of chemistry. “I was impressed with the way she approached the idea and executed the work.” Rosenkrans also works as a research assistant for , where she completed an eight-week internship last summer. The scientists there liked her work so much that they asked her to continue working remotely. Her current work involves annotating behavior traits indicative of Parkinson’s disease. Outside of the lab, Rosenkrans spends much of her time in dance studios. As part of her BFA major, she created four original dance works. She has performed in the spring Bodyworks, the fall Dance Harvest, and with the Department of Theater Arts and Dance’s annual dance tour to high school and middle schools across the state. Yslan Hicks, senior faculty and chair of the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, has watched Rosenkrans progress as a dancer, choreographer, scientist and scholar for four years. As a first-semester freshman, Rosenkrans replaced a senior dancer in a highly athletic piece. “I have known many first-semester freshman; I have seldom witnessed a comet on stage,” Hicks said. “Lelia was all light and speed and fire. Her broader academic and personal goals are often fixed on making things better for others. Even before her university experience she has given of herself with a global awareness.” Off campus, Rosenkrans has performed with the Arkansas Festival Ballet’s productions of “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan,” and “The Nutcracker.” She is a member of UnTapped, the state’s only professional dance company, and she teaches dance workshops for members of the UnTapped Youth Ensemble. “I love leading workshops in schools,” she said. “I have experienced the unity and joy created through free community dance workshops as children and adults alike find themselves possessing untapped capabilities within a body they have known for years. The discovery is truly empowering.” Despite a hectic academic schedule, Rosenkrans has mentored younger Donaghey Scholars and served as an ambassador for the College of Arts, Letters and Sciences and as a student leader in Chi Alpha Campus Ministry. She has volunteered more than 200 hours at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the 12th Street Health and Wellness Center, the VA Hospital and the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock theatre box office. “Her work has benefitted the university and contributed to the central Arkansas community, and through it all, she has grown as a person, a dancer, a scholar, and friend,” Scott said. After commencement, Rosenkrans plans to take a year off – to travel, study, reflect, and focus on her future – before starting medical school in fall 2019. This summer, she heads to eastern Germany to study dance improvisation and then to India to become certified to teach yoga. “I find myself both forever grateful and inspired by the experience I have been afforded during my time at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, and I hope to continue my traditions of scholarship, leadership and character throughout the rest of my life,” she said.]]>