1998 McNair Program Abstracts

Court-Mandated Desegregation in Denver, Colorado
Danielle Rash
Mentor:

This paper is an historical examination of the court-mandated desegregation of public schools in Denver, Colorado. It explores the ramifications of discontinuing desegregation plans through the method of school busing in a city which had been categorized as one of the least segregated cities in the nation. It also explores the methods, and their effectiveness, used to promote and implement integration within various school settings. The purpose of this research is not to solve the monstrous problem of racial inequality, but instead reasonably pique the interest of others to create ongoing dialog and action toward equal opportunity for all.

Western Psychotherapy and its Appropriateness for Minority Groups
Tahany Soliman
Mentor: Frank McAndrew, Professor of Psychology, Knox College

Since psychotherapy has mainly been a product of Western culture, it has tended to emphasize individualism rather than being a part of a collective society. In many ethnic groups, one's collective social identity is given precedence over the self. This may lead to conflicts due to the ethnicity of the client and the method of treatment in psychotherapy. Thus far, Western psychotherapy has been unsuccessful in developing culturally appropriate forms of treatment. However, with the increase of minorities in the United States, psychotherapy must begin to reflect the values of minority groups. This paper will describe preliminary work that will lead to a study of how ethnicity plays a role in the psychotherapy of different minority groups such as African-Americans, Hispanics, Asian-Americans, and Arab-Americans.

An Analysis of Post-Anesthesia Nausea and Vomiting
Aron Shaw
Mentor:

Since the inception of the field of Anesthesiology, post-anesthesia nausea and vomiting (PANV) has been an important and common complication resulting from general anesthesia. The purpose of this study is to assess the incidence of PANV in patients undergoing general anesthesia at The Methodist Hospital, located in The Texas Medical Center. PANV adversely affects patients' anesthetic experiences in numerous ways and is linked to an increase in health care costs. This study will examine variables such as age, sex, surgery type, and the anesthetic agents used, to determine their respective influences on the incidence of PANV. The results of this study will be analyzed for statistical significance using logistic regression analysis.

Neurotransmitter and LPS/PMA Effects on Myeloma
Vino Kurian
Mentor: Janet Kirkley, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, Knox College

Multiple myeloma, a blood cancer prevalent among older individuals, is characterized by plasmacytoma, uncontrolled accumulation of plasma cells. Studying plasmacytoma regulation of abnormal antibody production provides an important insight into the cell-cell interactions in myeloma.
Cells from the plasmacytoma, MOPC 315, were incubated in the presence of the macrophage cell line, RAW, with different concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), two agents associated with lymphocyte stimulation. Neurotransmitters such as dopamine and somatostatin, documented to change lymphocyte antibody levels, were also added. The resulting antibody, IgA, and concentrations were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).