Annual IUPUC Student Research Exhibition to be held on April 19 at 2:30 p.m.

by Belinda Allen
April 18, 2016

The Office of Student Research will host its annual student research exhibition on Tuesday, April 19 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in the Learning Center. The event will showcase findings from 12 funded projects completed at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus (IUPUC) during the 2015-16 academic year. The free event will be held in the Student Commons in the Columbus Learning Center. The public is invited to attend.

Dr. Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick, Associate Professor of English and Director of the Office of Student Research, is on sabbatical. In her absence, Dr. Guillermo Garcia is chairing the event. Dr. Garcia shares that this is the sixth year for the annual Student Research Exhibition at IUPUC.

Descriptions of the 12 funded projects, along with the names of the student researchers, their majors, hometowns, and faculty mentors follow.

David Cool
County:  Jennings County
Student major and/or minor:  BA Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Luke Jacobus
Title of project: Belize Entomological Survey  
Description of project:
David’s project is part of an entomological survey of Belize that is being hosted by The University of California-Davis.  His plan is to travel to Belize and join in group bio-blitzes of two different areas: low-lying land and upslope forest.  These should produce various types of species of Ephemeroptera, the insect group known as mayflies. David’s background research, documenting the current state of knowledge of Belize mayflies, has been presented at the Indiana Academy of Science meeting in March.

Ashley Dieter
County: Bartholomew
Student major and/or minor: Business with a Concentration in Finance
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ryan Brewer
Title of project:  Cost of Capital; Offering a New Method of Calculating the Cost of Capital
Description of project:
Estimation of the cost-of-capital is vital to understand investment values.  To date, published, accepted methods of assessing the cost-of-capital are either complex or arbitrary, leaving financial analysts without a consistent technique for conducting intrinsic valuations.  Our new method of COC would impact and affect anyone working in some capacity within the business sector.

Michael Foist
County:  Marion
Students’ major and/or minor:  Communication Studies
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ryan Neville-Shepard
The title of the project: Rusev! Crush!: American Nationalism, Russian Antagonism, and the WWE
Description of project:
This project explores the evolution of foreign villains in media, specifically in professional wrestling. As wrestling characters become three-dimensional, international characters are framed as villains despite illustrating heroic characteristics. But their American opposition is cheered, despite becoming villainous, one-dimensional portrayals of American xenophobia.

Tanea Herbert
County: Decatur
Student major and/or minor: Biology

Sabrina Schipper
County: Bartholomew
Student major and/or minor: Biology and Pre-Veterinary

Jenna Wells
County: Johnson
Student major and/or minor: Biology

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Luke Jacobus
Title of project: Conservation Status of Siphloplecton Mayflies in Northern North America
Description of project:
Three species of the genus Siphloplecton have been found in northern North America, with two of these three occurring in Indiana; these species are seldom encountered, and so it is thought they require conservation protection. What little we know of their biological requirements is based mainly on studies from Florida and the Southeast. We will study these species in the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers in Indiana to assess their current conservation status and to learn about their biological needs here.

Swarooparani Hurli
County: Bartholomew
Student major and/or minor: Accounting

Yibing Wang
County: Bartholomew
Student major and/or minor: Accounting

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Larita Killian
Title of project:  A Phenomenological Study of the Impact of FASB/PCC Changes on Small and Medium Private Companies
Description of project:
Both public and private businesses follow the same set of accounting standards. However, for small private firms, these accounting standards are perceived as complex and burdensome. To simplify financial statement preparation and alleviate perceived financial burden for small private businesses the Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) brought several changes to the accounting standards. The purpose of this research is to evaluate these new initiatives about the perceived needs of small and medium, private companies in a Midwestern region. 

Brandon Million
County: Decatur
Student major and/or minor: Sociology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joan Poulsen
Title of project:  Assessing the Needs of People Living with HIV and AIDS in Rural Indiana
Description of project:
When southern Indiana experienced the outbreak of HIV in early 2015, through which over 170 people were infected, it became apparent that this topic demands research aimed specifically at local and regional impact. The objectives of Brandon’s research were targeted specifically for persons who are HIV-positive or have AIDS in rural Indiana. For example:

  • Determining the current social, financial, medical, and emotional support systems currently available. ?
  • Determining some of the challenges people face in obtaining support.
  • Understanding the needed support initiatives and/or resources required to sustain a population at a higher level of self-care.
  • Determine the association/correlation between access to resources and better self-care.

Emily Pedigo
County: Bartholomew County
Student major and/or minor:  English with a concentration in Literature and Sociology. Minor in Women’s Studies
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick
Title of project:  Anomie in The Bell Jar: The Sociology of the Literature by Sylvia Plath
Description of project:
Emily’s thesis statement for this project was: The sociological imagination and sociology theories will further enhance the study of suicide in the novel The Bell Jar. Her project used the sociological imagination to sociologically analyze Sylvia Plath’s work.

Samantha Skirvin
County:  Johnson
Student major and/or minor: Psychology

Carissa Walls
County: Johnson
Student major and/or minor: Major Psychology minor Sociology

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joan Poulsen and Dr. Kimdy Le
Title of project:  Naturally Observed Behaviors and Ostracism
Description of project:
This research project gathered data on public observable behaviors from children ages 5-11 years in their natural formed play groups. The goal was to find an association between certain behaviors and ostracism within this age group.

Mindy Talkington
County:  Jennings
Student major and/or minor: Nursing
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cheryl Crisp
The title of the project:  Does Diversion Therapy as a Non-Pharmacologic Intervention Reduce Pain in Children?

Description of project:
Mindy studied the effects of play on children’s pain levels after they endure a painful procedure in the hospital setting. Children are often vulnerable in these high-stress environments and experience heightened fear and anxiety, which can increase pain perception. Mindy’s hope from this study is that healthcare workers would be more aware of children in these situations and would take charge to help reduce their pain and anxiety during those stressful times.

Megan Taylor
County: Bartholomew
Student major: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mark Jaime
Title of project: Recognition of First-Person Action in Children II: Exploring Early Knowledge of Optic Flow with Body Movement
Description of project:
The objective of this ongoing research project was to learn more about how children perceive and recognize their movements. A small chest-mounted action camera was utilized to record and then present a first-person perspective video of participant’s activities. Participants were shown two videos and asked to judge which one belongs to them.

Nick VanBurkleo, Brandon Million, and Emily Pedigo
Nick VanBurkleo:
County: Johnson
Student major and/or minor: Sociology
Faculty mentor: Aimee Zoeller
Title of project:  Assessing Media as a Gateway to Information for Young People Regarding HIV/AIDS
Description of project:
Through qualitative and quantitative research of college students, our research team intends to identify how college students access information about the prevalence, transmission, and prevention of HIV/AIDS. We plan to compile data, discover and analyze relationships between the data, and deliver the information to Positive Link so that they can use the information to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people.