the scholar: august 2013 edition

The Scholar August 2013 Edition

1 The University of Tennessee at Martin’s University Scholars Organization

Table of Contents

Important Dates ................................................................................................................................................ 2

Erin Gallagher—New Orleans Trip ............................................................................................................ 3

May Wheeler—Corral for a Cure ................................................................................................................ 3

Sean O’Brien—Bonfire .................................................................................................................................... 4

Stephen McBride—Martin Housing Authority ...................................................................................... 4

Mary Medling—Registration Day............................................................................................................... 5

Robert L. DeYeso III—The Stalwart King ............................................................................................... 6

Zachary Ragland—Why You Should Never Bet With an Eskimo .................................................... 7

Jonathan Hewlett—True Happiness: A Parable of Simple Things .................................................. 7

Junior/Senior Projects

Joseph Scobey ..................................................................................................................................... 8

Allison Sprague .................................................................................................................................. 9

Katrina Moeller ................................................................................................................................ 10

Will Crosby ........................................................................................................................................ 11

Brittni Brewer .................................................................................................................................. 12

Brittany Bishop ................................................................................................................................ 12

Christine Hassell .............................................................................................................................. 13

Disclaimer: Any views or opinions herein

expressed are not representative of the University Scholars

Organization as a whole

Senior Editors: Photographers:

Riley Rich Katrina Moeller

Hunter Lindberg Laura Miller

The University of Tennessee at Martin’s University Scholars Organization 2


Important Dates

Scholar Events— Fall Semester

First Mandatory Meeting: August 28th

Scholars’ Retreat : September 6th-7th

Thanksgiving Party: November 21st

Christmas Party: December 3rd

[Tentative Dates]

Halloween Party: October 31st

Academic Calendar— Fall Semester

Aug. 22-25 First-Year Initiative

Aug. 23 Advising

Aug. 26 Day and Evening Classes Begin

Sept. 2 Labor Day

Oct. 11 Mid-Term Progress Reports Due

Oct. 12-15 Fall Break

For more information, visit:

http://catalog.utm.edu/content.php?

catoid=7&navoid=359

http://catalog.utm.edu/content.php?catoid=7&navoid=359

http://catalog.utm.edu/content.php?catoid=7&navoid=359



New Orleans Trip

Erin Gallagher

Over Spring Break, a group of Scholars took a trip to

New Orleans, Louisiana.

After sitting through our morning classes with much

anticipation, the time finally came for us to depart for our

adventure! During the long drive, we slept and laughed and

slept some more as we grew closer and closer to our

destination. Once we finally arrived, we briefly took in some of

the unique New Orleans sights, but went off to bed early so we

could get ready for the fun-filled day ahead of us.

On our first day in the city, we went to the zoo and

aquarium. We saw everything from alligators and monkeys to

seahorses and jellyfish. By far, one of the most fun attractions

at the aquarium was the parakeet room. This room was filled

with beautiful birds that would land on your shoulders and even

crawl into your pockets! We were all tempted to try to sneak

out our very own pet parakeets. After our animal adventures,

we walked around and did some sightseeing, and of course ate

our fill of traditional Cajun food. Once we got back to the hotel,

we played a few games together and enjoyed getting to know

each other a little bit better.

Our adventure continued with a trip to the famous Café

Du Monde. We took in the scenery of the French Quarter as we

enjoyed delicious beignets and coffee. We explored the sights

and shops around the French Quarter, and when night fell, we

went on a Voodoo tour. Our tour guide led us to a Voodoo shop

where she explained to us the origin and history of Voodoo and

showed us

several alters to

the different gods

in their religion.

We then walked

to several

different places

within the city

that were affected

or influenced by

Voodoo in

history.

“What’s Happening?” Freshmen News Reports

Corral for a Cure

May Wheeler

On April 9th the Undergraduate Alumni

Council held a western themed relay race called

“Corral for a Cure” for the Pat Summitt Foundation to

raise money for Alzheimer’s research. It was an

absolutely beautiful day for multiple campus

organizations to gather for a bit of friendly competition

in the Quad! Stephen McBride, Jacob Fiala, Erin

Gallagher and I were there to represent University

Scholars. Usually, only one of the six or seven teams

would be on the track at a time while UAC members

kept track of which teams were in the lead with

stopwatches. We were the second team to race.

There were five different stages to the race.

First, Jacob started us off by riding a stick horse around

a tree. He dashed over to tag Stephen, who took on the

second event: corn hole. Participants could move on

after two successful shots or ten attempts. Stephen

made one of his shots before he tagged me. I got to hop

around a tree in a sack and run to Erin. The two of us

dizzily do-si-doed around an orange cone five times.

From there, we all met at the buddy boards. We

struggled to walk with them at first, but we quickly

coordinated a way to travel. Erin led us by calling out,

“One, two, three, right. One, two, three, left.” We still

stumbled a few times, but we moved much faster than I

would’ve expected. By the time we made it to the

finish line, Chi Omega’s team had already made it to

the buddy boards. Our final time was five minutes and

thirty seconds.

We rested on the grass and watched the other

teams struggle like we did with the buddy boards. In

less than an hour, all the teams were finished. Chi

Omega won first prize and tickets to the upcoming

rodeo. The volleyball team won second and Alpha

Delta Pi won third. Each of the top teams had a time

under five minutes. Although we didn’t win, I had a

great time just enjoying the beautiful weather and

spending time with my teammates.



Martin Housing Authority

Stephen McBride

During the week of March 18 through March 22, 2013, UT Martin’s Leaders in Residence class traveled

to the Martin Housing Authority for their after school care program. The week before, Mr. Robert Nunley came to

visit the class and tell the students what the after school program was all about. He described how some of the stu-

dents had rough home lives, while others simply struggled to fit in with those around them. He mentioned that

some students would be taken away after their parents were arrested for drug abuse or other crimes. Nunley ex-

plained that help is always needed at the Housing Authority, and he would go into further details about everything

when they arrived the next week. So, beginning on Monday, the Leaders’ class arrived shortly after two o’clock

and was prepped by Mr. Nunley about what to expect from the children and what he needed their help with.

When they got off the school bus, the students ate their snacks and some of them received shout-outs for

their performances in a local pageant. The college students then introduced themselves and shared some personal

interesting facts. These interesting facts brought on some excitement and those that told they could sing or dance

had to prove it to the children. After they finished in the snack area, they were dismissed to classrooms to work on

homework. This is where many of the Leaders in Residence students were needed as they helped the children un-

Bonfire

Sean O’Brien

The night of Saturday, March 16th, a caravan of cars, trucks and SUVs followed, some raced, to Ray

Witmer’s house for fire, food and a good time. Music played from the windows of Zachary Ragland’s truck with

various stations on Pandora, or iPods plugged into the radio; Dr. Crews and Dr. Witmer barbecued food on the

grill, and footballs, Frisbees and a boom-a-rang were thrown between groups of scholars. Labrador dogs greeted

us, and Teresa Fowler loved it.

When the food was ready, platters of hot dogs, potato chips, cookies, bottles of water and cans of soda

were set out in the bed of a truck for everyone to help himself or herself. Physics students canoed the pond in a

concrete boat, and scholars lost the boom-a-rang in the water. After trying to have the Labradors retrieve it by

throwing sticks near the boom-a-rang, the extra canoe was launched into the water and Jacob Fiala tried to get the

boom-a-rang from under the plants in the pond. Later on, scholars sailed out into the middle of the pond, but

barely made it back dry.

It began to get dark, and the night became cooler. People gathered by the fire;

more scholars came when they had gotten off of work, but others had to leave to head

back towards campus to go to other commitments. When the marshmallows, chocolate

and graham crackers arrived, the smell of roasting marshmallows became prevalent.

After the s’mores had all been eaten, the marshmallows were flying through the air. A

kill shot landed and stuck to Dr. Crews’ shirt, courtesy of Garrett Ellison.

Sitting around the fire, different cliques within University Scholars came

together, sat with each other and had great conversations. New relationships were built

and others were built upon.

This semester’s social events have been different from previous semesters.

New ideas have been tried, and most of them have been successful! The bonfire, a

yearly tradition, however, is a great way to make new friends and talk to other scholars

who have other obligations and cannot always attend social events.



“Creative Outlet” Sophomore Creative Pieces

“The charity that is a trifle to us can be precious to others.”

—Homer

derstand their assignments and finish them on time. Some needed help writing songs to accompany their vo-

cabulary assignments, and others needed help preparing for the next day’s

spelling test.

After the homework was all done, everyone got to go outside to

play. Some students challenged the college boys and girls to races, four-

square, and tag, while others wanted to play Frisbee or climb the jungle

gym. After playing for over an hour, it was time for the Leaders’ class to

go back to the university. This experience was a great way to step out of

one’s comfort zone and help out others in their community.

Mary Medling

Registration Day

The day everyone has been waiting on is finally here. The day that decides your next semester of col-

lege and, potentially, your graduation date. You have been working for the last week and a half, going from

your CAPP, to your advisor, to your friends, and to various other websites to prepare for the dreaded, most

stressful time of the semester: registration day.

7:15AM – The alarm goes off. You contemplate hitting the snooze button, but you decided that you are going

to need to be as awake as possible for you to effectively register. You get out of bed and look groggily around

your room, wondering if it is even worth the struggle.

7:30AM – You have a bowl of cereal and glass of orange juice set out on your desk. You feel prepared, keep-

ing in mind the brutal, survival of the fittest mentality. Your philosophy, the early bird gets the worm. The

site where everyone registers for classes is locked, but there is no harm in trying. A few times. Every minute.

7:45AM – With horror, you realize that you have forgotten all your Course Reference Numbers. They are

written on a piece of paper somewhere in your room, but you don’t even know where to start. The bookshelf

in front of you is full of potential binders and folders that those CRNs could be hiding in. With a sigh, you



doggedly begin your search.

7:55AM – You found them! Hopefully, you are finally ready. All five Course Reference Numbers, which

represent seventeen hours of classes, are right beside your computer. You type the first CRN in and anx-

iously wait till 8:00AM to press ‘submit’.

8:00AM – There are still two spots left in Organic Chemistry I, and, with a sigh of relief, you are able to

claim yours. After the stress of getting in Organic is gone, you take your time getting your other classes.

8:05AM – The CRN is typed in for your last class you have to register for, Honors American

Literary Traditions I, but both sections are completely and utterly full. You panic for about five seconds,

then take a deep breath. You have a backup plan. You can switch American Lit with British Literary Tra-

ditions I. You look it up, and British Lit has one spot left in the time slot you need. You hurriedly type in

the CRN and, thankfully, are now enrolled.

8:10AM – The bed never looked so inviting. There is no harm in taking a victory nap before your 9 AM

biology lab. You deserve it. You tackled registration and came out the victor.

Robert L. DeYeso III

The Stalwart King

Plagued by time’s incessant draw,

The obstinate figure watched on.

His efficiency was his only flaw,

For his day of rest would never dawn.

Guided by divinity the fortress remained,

Protecting the sacred realm within.

With its contesters’ failures preordained,

Flirting with inhibitions would be sin.

But from the desert came a horrible blight;

The ensuring vale was cast.

The hordes of men set ablaze all in sight,

And the King’s land was saved for last.

In his darkest hour he prayed for might,

To fend off the siege.

But now absent was his light of lights,

The force whom he claimed his liege.

The promised land was now in reach,

Death and famine invaders would bring.

Choked by enveloping twilight from the breach,

The beloved land lost its Stalwart King.



Why You Should Never Bet With an Eskimo

A Story by Zachary Ragland

Gambling is a big business around the world. It is addictive, fun, and unpredictable. In most socie-

ties, bets are made with money-- at least they can and should be. However, in Alaska the bets aren’t neces-

sarily like this. The punishment for losing a bet with an Eskimo is much worse than any monetary loss.

An Eskimo, at least a full-blooded Eskimo, does not bet unless they are confident they will win. The

bets can be anything, but the loser is always permanently embarrassed, and there is no backing out. The

main rule is that the winner picks the location, temperature, outfit, and has the honor of taking the picture. I

have only seen this bet actualized once in my brief time in Fairbanks, but it was a memorable experience.

Two men made a bet with the conditions that the loser had to wear nothing but a pink skirt, matching bra,

and black heels in front of the UAF sign at less than -50 degrees Fahrenheit. This sight was undeniably hi-

larious, especially considering the absurdity of the men’s wager.

In my opinion, there is a rather simple cure to gambling addiction. Take a trip to Alaska; try gam-

bling with Eskimos and see how long that luck really holds.

Jonathan Hewlett

True Happiness: A Parable of Simple Things

In a small town, much like this one, there lived a young man by the name of Kristopher Hanson.

Though a poor fellow who didn’t grow up with much, what he lacked in material possessions, he was

wealthy in love from his large family. Kristopher was the oldest in a family of eight, which his father, Mi-

chael, supported through dairy farming. Kristopher’s mother, Kassandra, was a retired school teacher and

seamstress. Kristopher was rather intelligent for a country boy and a rather talented football, though without

the talent that could take him further than high school Junior Varsity. Kristopher always dreamed of wanting

more than his family’s simple life and vowed to one day to escape his small town. On his 18th birthday, that

dream would come true.

At Kristopher’s small party, like every year, his mother presented him with a card that is covered in

the names of his 7 younger siblings and encouraging words for the year from his parents, but this year was

different. Inside the envelope, with the card, was a one way bus ticket to the big city. Kristopher’s eyes lit up

with astonishment as he rushed to hug his parents, thanking them over and over. He rushed to his room and

began to pack, all he possessed fitting into a small duffel bag. As he walked back outside, his family was

still waiting, smiling and sharing the joy of the day with him. He sure did love them, he thought to himself.

But his dream of escaping to the city was stronger than any desire he’d ever had.

After waving goodbye, Kristopher began the 5 mile walk to the Greyhound bus station. While walk-

ing, Kristopher imagined all the things the city had to offer: big buildings, cars, lots of jobs, and beautiful

people with money. Although he had checked his bag twice, he couldn’t help but feel that he was missing

something. He shrugged off the feeling and sat on the bench, awaiting the bus. When the bus arrived, he

managed a window seat near the back and fell asleep.

Kristopher slept the entire 3 hours to the big city. He was awaken by the bright street lights and car

horns of nightlife. He smiled in anticipation at the sights. Once he got off the bus, he looked around at the

skyscrapers and gazed in awe at their size. After walking around for a couple of hours, Kristopher began to

worry where he’d sleep. So he took out the envelope that contained his ticket stub and in the envelope he

found an address and the name “Roberto”. Complete at a loss to who this man could possibly be, Kristopher

followed the directions anyway, led by a blind faith that his family would continue to guide him despite the

distance. Once again, Kristopher felt as if he was forgetting something but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

He eventually pushed it to the back of his mind and continued his search for Roberto.

Once he arrived at the address listed in the envelope, an apartment building that had seen better



“Independent Studies” Junior & Senior Projects

Joseph Scobey

Mentor: Dr. Ray Witmer, Jr.

The Effect of Stitch Bolts on Bolted Timber Connections

Timber is one of the most widely used construction materials in modern construction. It is popular due

to it being readily available and inexpensive compared to other materials. The problem arises when members are

needed that are too long to transport as a single piece due to Department of Transportation regulations. The most

common solution to this problem is to ship the timber as multiple members then use connections to rejoin them

into one piece. A structural system is similar to a chain; it is only as strong as its weakest link. Often, the

weakest components of a timber structural system are the connections.

The major deficiency of timber connections is the tendency of wood to split along the connection. If this

days, he knocked twice. A tall, hairy man with blood shot eyes opened the door. “Who the hell are you?” he

asked Roberto. Kristopher was taken aback and stood there in disbelief until Roberto slammed the door in his

face. Kristopher knocked again, preparing himself for more rudeness. As the man he assumed to be Roberto ex-

asperatedly opened the door, he quickly introduced himself as Kristopher, son of Michael and Kassandra Han-

son. To Kristopher's shock, Roberto opened the door a bit further, begrudgingly offering him the nearby couch

for the night.

In the morning, Roberto handed Kristopher another envelope. The instructions, in his mother’s hand-

writing, gave him directions to a local factory where he could find work. Digging a little deeper, Kristopher

found two hundred dollar to “help you until you get on your feet.” Smiling at the incredible love and concern of

his parents, Kristopher follows the directions and meets his new boss, Larry. Larry put Kristopher to work in the

factory, where he works eight hours for less than minimum wage. Though he isn’t treated with much dignity,

Kristopher presses on, works hard, and doesn’t complain.

Eight months goes by and Kristopher is now a head supervisor at Larry’s factory. He is making good

money and finally able to find his own apartment not too far from work. Although he is in the city living his

“dream”, Kristopher hasn’t been able to shake the feeling that he had forgotten something back home. With no

telephone, he isn’t able to call home to check on his family or ask his mother what it is he has forgotten. Frus-

trated, Kristopher once again pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

Ten years have gone by and Kristopher is now the owner of the factory, making close to six figures.

Kristopher has moved downtown, bought a nice car, and found a beautiful girlfriend. At this point, Kristopher

feels like he has finally achieved all of his dreams, but he still can’t shake the feeling that he has forgotten some-

thing for all these years. Suddenly struck with homesickness, Kristopher bought a bus ticket home. Immediately

after boarding the bus, he falls asleep just as he did the first time. As he gets closer to home, he begins to see all the familiar sights that he once loathed. The dirt roads, wheat fields,

and cows come into view as the bus makes its way through his old town. They look oddly beautiful to him. Once the bus

arrives, he begins the five mile walk to his family’s home, still attempting to remember what it is he had forgotten. Still lost

in thought, he arrived at the house. The house looks the same, his youngest siblings in the front yard playing on the tire

swing. As Kristopher walks inside, all of a sudden the nagging feeling of having forgotten something disappears as he sees

his mom and dad sitting on the couch smiling at him. A sense of fulfillment rushes through Kristopher as his parents wel-

come him back with open arms. “I knew you’d come back son,” Michael whispers with a smile and tears in his eyes.



Allison Sprague

Mentor: Dr. Chara Van Horn

Nonverbal Communication Difference Between Men and Women

In this project, I, along with the help of my mentor Dr. Chara Van Horn, sought to identify and

explain the differences between how men and women use nonverbal communication in social

interactions. Based on research done in previous studies, I hypothesized the following: (1) men will use

more dominating behaviors, particularly when interacting with a female, (2) women will use more

could be overcome, the connection could handle larger

capacities. Our project looks at the idea of introducing

stitch bolts into the connection in an attempt to

strengthen the connection with minimal cost. A stitch

bolt is a bolt placed perpendicular to the other bolts in

an attempt to control the splitting of the timber. From

preliminary literature review, there has been very little

research done on the effects of this type of bolt on a

timber connection, and the few projects that

investigate these effects do not discuss the results in

detail.

The decision was made to test specimens for

material properties used in predicting the load the

connection can support. These values were used in the National Design Specification (NDS) equations

to determine the strength of the connections for our tests, instead of using the tabulated generic values

provided by the NDS. The timber for the tests was strategically divided into three members for

connection testing and six smaller pieces for material property testing. This provides samples from

different parts of each board, which results in a more comprehensive sample. This allows the material

property tests to accurately represent the entire population.

The main tests were split into two categories, with and without stitch bolts. A steel device was

made to test the connections. The connections were engineered so the wood member failed each time

allowing the steel components to be reused. A tensile testing machine was used to apply load to the

connection while measuring deflection. A caliper was attached to the connection to measure the

deflection of the connection alone. The deflection measured by the machine includes the connection

deflection, the timber member stretching, and the machine’s jaws settling. By collecting the data by

hand, the focus is placed on the connection.

Preliminary results look promising. While the actual capacity appears to not be effected by the

stitch bolt, it appears to make the connections more consistent. Timber has a high coefficient of

variation.

The results seem to allow the connections to reach a higher capacity more often. While the maximum

load for each category is within five percent of each other, the stitch bolts allow the connection to reach

the highest capacity range more frequently. Sixteen tests were run for each category, and ten of the stitch

bolt tests surpassed 10,000 pounds, while only three of the connection without a stitch bolt achieved that

level.

The data collection phase is complete, so all that remains is to analyze the data. Once that is

complete, we plan on writing a paper in hopes of getting it published in an engineering journal. In

addition to the paper, the project is being presented at the American Society of Engineering Education

regional conference. The project has yielded very significant results that hopefully can benefit future

research.



submissive behaviors, especially when interacting with a male, (3) women will show greater fluctuations

in their behaviors based on the gender and familiarity of their companion. In order to test these claims, I

collected 24 volunteers, divided into pairs of two people, and gave them three tasks to complete by

working together. The pairs consisted of several different relationships, including male-male friends,

female-female friends, male-female strangers, and male-female couples engaged in a romantic

relationship. The assigned tasks included a stereotypically male task (changing a tire), stereotypically

female task (creating a scrapbook page), and gender neutral task

(playing the board game Trouble). As the participants interacted

with one another, I used a list of thirty-six nonverbal behaviors

divided into four categories, dominating, submissive, supportive,

and conflict, to note the tendencies of each gender and how these

altered based on the gender of the partner they had been given.

The results of these experiments partially supported my

hypotheses. Men did, in fact, use far more dominating behaviors

than women; however, there was not a direct connection to the

gender of their partner to support the idea that these dominant

characteristics would increase when working with a female.

Likewise, while women did use more submissive behaviors,

these did not increase when working with a male partner, but

instead were actually used most frequently when a set of two female friends were paired together. The

final hypothesis, that women would show greater fluctuations in behavior, was unsupported as they

actually showed greater consistency than men.

Katrina Moeller

Mentor: Dr. H. Dawn Wilkins

Second Reader: Dr. Jennifer Greenwood

My name is Katrina Moeller, and I am working with Dr. H. Dawn Wilkins as my mentor and

Dr. Jennifer Greenwood as my second reader on my project entitled “Seasonal variation in the number

and types of vocalizations uttered and responsiveness to playback of aural stimuli by Barred Owls (Strix

varia) in the area surrounding Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee.”

With this project, I have multiple objectives. First, I am conducting a census of the Barred Owls

around Reelfoot Lake while determining what census method is most effective in detecting them. I am

also testing to see if Barred Owls change how often they vocalize and what types of vocalizations they

use each month. I also seek to determine if the number and type of calls they use vary between a silent

count and a post-playback during different aspects of their life cycle. During a silent count, I record the

number of owls I hear in addition to the number and types of calls they give as they go about their

natural behaviors for five and ten minute periods. For a post-playback count, I play a recording of a

Barred Owl territorial call five times, then I record the same information as I did during the silent count

for five and ten minute periods.

Determining if there are changes in number and type of calls and how the Barred Owls’

responsiveness to playback changes throughout the year would aid in determining what censusing

method works best during different times of the year in addition to indicating possible changes in their

annual life cycle. Overall, knowledge of how the Barred Owls’ vocal behavior changes during their

annual life cycle could improve our understanding of Barred Owl behavior and be useful in future



investigations of this species.

I have been going out to Reelfoot Lake four nights a month since

October 2012, and I will continue to do so through October 2013. We have

been censusing ten points around the lake. However, we only visit five

points a night, since there is only a four hour window of peak vocal

activity after sunset during which we can census the owls. Barred Owls

actually have a wide repertoire of calls. In terms of the types of calls I

record, I have identified ten types of easily distinguishable calls that

include their commonly known “Who-cooks-for-you-who-cooks-foryall”

to a call that sounds like a laughing monkey to a call that sounds like a

woman’s blood curdling scream that makes your hair stand on end.

I am planning on presenting my research at several venues

including the Tri-Beta Southeastern Regional Meeting, the Association of

Southeastern Biologists Meeting, the Tennessee Academy of Sciences

Meeting, and at the Tennessee Ornithological Society Meeting. I

ultimately hope to submit my research to be published.

Will Crosby

Mentor: Dr. Phillip Shelton

Nucleophilic Addition of Iodine onto Phenol with the Use of a Hypervalent Iodine Promoter

My research focuses on the addition of iodine, a nucleophile (a compound attracted to a positively

charged area), onto a phenol ring, which is an electron rich, negatively charged organic molecule. This work

was inspired by some of Dr. Shelton’s work in graduate school. He was

trying a synthesis that didn’t work because water—a nucleophilic

solvent—was attacking an intermediate and not allowing the final

product to form. The attack showed him that nucleophilic aromatic

substitutions were possible in these conditions, opening up a wider

range of reactions to explore. The interesting part of this reaction is that

most phenol reactions are electrophilic (driven by the attraction to its

negatively charged region). This is made possible by the presence of a

hypervalent iodine promoter, in our case sodium meta periodate. These

promoters work by withdrawing negatively charged electrons from the

ring structure of phenol allowing a nucleophile like iodine to attack. I

began work on this with other members of Phillip Shelton’s (my mentor) research group. In the fall

semester, they worked on making sure the synthesis was actually successful. This semester we’ve began

optimizing reaction conditions such as time, temperature, and using other reactants to fully explore the

process. So far, I’ve been able to determine that reaction remains basic, which is promising for green

chemistry purposes, because base catalyzed reactions are less harsh on the environment than acidic ones, and

some groups are doing research in this area and have been successful using acid catalyzed nucleophilic

substitutions. Another useful aspect in the green chemistry field is that my synthesis is run in water, a very

green solvent. My current goal is to make standards of the different iodination products formed by this

reaction. (The iodine can and will attack at different locations on the ring and to different extents, creating



singly, doubly, and triply iodinated products.) These standards will be used with the analysis instrumentation

to identify them in mixed product samples. Future work will be done to continue optimizing the reaction,

characterizing products, studying the kinetics of the reaction, and studying the mechanism of this reaction.

Brittni Brewer

Mentor: Dr. Angelina Mackewn

Second Reader: Dr. Joseph Ostenson

The Effects of Dangerousness, Employment, and Familiarity on the Stigmatization of

Individuals with Schizophrenia

In March of 2013 I traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to present my research at the Southeastern

Psychological Association’s spring conference (SEPA). Most of the second semester of my senior year was

spent preparing for this conference. Since I had never presented my research in general, let alone at a

conference, it’s fair to say that I was nervous. This conference has two ways in which students can present

their research: either an oral presentation or a poster session. Since this was my first time presenting research, I

chose to participate in the poster session. In order to participate in the poster session I created a four foot by

three foot poster that summarized the methods and findings of my research.

My poster session was scheduled for the first morning of the

conference, meaning that there were a large number of people who came to

my session. I had the opportunity to share my research with quite a few

fellow students, professors, and conference administrators. This session

helped to prepare me for my senior defense in that many people came and

asked me questions about my findings and the methods that I had used.

Although some of the questions were challenging and I didn’t always have

the answer, they got me thinking more critically about my research and the

different ways that it could be applied. Throughout the conference I was

also able to attend a few oral presentations. These presentations are what I

used as a point of reference when I went to prepare my senior defense as

well. They were very helpful in that way and were able to open my eyes to a

few different innovative studies in the field of psychology as well. Overall,

the SEPA conference broadened my appreciation for research and the work

that goes into presenting research. It also served as practice for my senior

defense and helped ease the nervousness that I had toward presenting. It was

definitely a positive experience and I would recommend future scholars to participate in at least one

conference while working on their project because it is highly beneficial!

Brittany Bishop

Mentor: Dr. Mark Simpson

Second Reader: Dr. Angie Mackewn

My Scholar’s project is a mixture of two subjects that one might not normally perceive as being

related. Combining geography and psychology, my project is a study of college athletes, specifically those in

the Ohio Valley Conference. My project initially focused on the Air Force.

My original goal was to survey airmen across the country to gauge their climate perceptions and determine if

contentment levels were higher for airmen stationed in a climate similar to the one they were accustomed to

prior to entering the Air Force. I had prepared my literature review, and my mentor and second reader, Dr.



Christine Hassell

This past week I went to the Association of Southeastern Biologist Conference in Charleston, West Vir-

ginia. There I presented part of my overall scholar research titled,the effect of habitat type on bat activity and

species richness monitored via acoustic surveys at Reelfoot Lake in Northwest Tennessee. My project at this

point is practically complete. The acoustical data that I collected over the summer has been analyzed using the

Sonabat software. The way Sonabat analyzes the data is by taking a bat call and picking up to the best 8 parts is

can find. It then matches each sequence to known bat calls in its database and reports the most likely species.

Each call sequence that was reported as a 5 out of 8 or better was considered to be that species and tallied as a

call from that species. This process was repeated for all the calls, and then Species Richness was determined.

A total of five species was determined via the Sonabat program. There were a few more species that did-

n’t meet the 5 out of 8 criteria but might be present. Some of these species are considered “whispering bats”

meaning they have lower frequency calls and can be drowned out by background noise or “louder” bats. I am

looking at and comparing these calls to see if we can determine whether they were in fact present and just over-

looked by the Sonabat program. We didn’t find any of the endangered species at Reelfoot that we had hoped to,

but this project has provided a basis for future studies. There was previously no data on which species were pre-

sent in the west Tennessee area, but now we have some background and a starting point. I would like for this

project to continue to include seasonal differences in species richness at Reelfoot as well as document any

changes from year to year.

Mark Simpson of Geography and Dr. Angie Mackewn of Psychology, respectively, were on board. I had hopes

of finding significant results that would be of interest to the military.

Unfortunately, my project did not go as planned. Though some officers I contacted in the Air

Force were extremely enthusiastic and willing, the few negative responses I received were enough to put a kink

in the project. I was forced to conclude that the project would not be doable, and I had to find a new route. Older

scholars had always warned me of this, but I had always hoped it wouldn't happen to me. It did happen, but it

was not the world-shattering event I had expected. My advice for younger scholars: if you have to change your

project, it will be okay! Keep calm and carry on.

As for my project now, I have salvaged a lot of my earlier work

and managed to substitute college athletes for airmen. I've amended my

literature review to include research on college athletes. I am at a good

place in my project, and when I return in the fall I will be ready to

distribute my survey to athletes across the OVC. The OVC directors have

proven to be much more agreeable and are very willing to help out with

the project. I'm excited to distribute my survey and see what results I can

find!

the scholar: august 2013 edition

Documents

university of tennessee

scholars retreat

christmas party

thanksgiving party

labor day

fall break

mary medlingregistration

senior editors