URSP Student Christopher Andrews Assesses the Personal Care Products Exposure and Risk Perception on College Students

I first approached Dr. Pollack about my interest to conduct epidemiologic research in the fall of my freshman year at Mason. I was interested in this project because it affects people from my background (college students) and it deals with things I use every day. My research is related to my long-term goals because I am really interested in public health and hope to work for the Center of Disease Control as an Epidemiologist with a medical degree. My goal is to better educate our youth that way they can make better life decisions.  Also, I want to create better strategies and initiate better public health measures that will keep our citizens safer.

My research is an ongoing project of Dr. Pollack’s, on the health effects of common exposures to chemicals in personal care products. Personal care products are hygiene products such as soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, make-up, etc… They may contain chemicals such as: parabens, phthalates, and triclosan and synthetic musks. One example of a chemical in personal care products is Galaxolide, it is a synthetic musk chemical that is used in scented products. However, it is not listed on product labels, it is a component included in the ingredient fragrance. Galaxolide can be found in lotion, cream, and bars of soap, shampoo and toothpaste (Correia et al., 2013). The known effects of this chemical includes skin irritation, and it has been found contamination of human milk (Levenstein, 1975).

I spend roughly nine to ten hours on my research project per week. My weekly tasks for my project changes every month. During the months of September to October I developed surveys for college students to take. In November and December I administered the surveys and for the months of January and February I performed data entry for each of the surveys.  During the months of March and April I will perform data analysis and try to come up with my research question. During months of April and May I will present my research findings at the Undergraduate Research Symposium at George Mason University.  One thing that I have discovered this week is how to use references more effectively.

URSP Student Abdulaziz Abubshait Examines the Affects of Agent Appearance and Reliability on Gaze Cuing

Every student is cursed by how mundane a discipline could get when sitting behind a desk. As a student majoring in Psychology, I wasn’t an exception. The traditional classroom environment was not challenging enough for me to learn more, so I decided to explore research in a field that interests me. By doing so, not only am I putting myself outside of my comfort zone to grow more, I also am getting first hand experience in conducting research and finding out whether I want to continue learning and working within that discipline. One of the main goals that I see myself reaching by conducting research as an undergrad is setting myself apart from other students when applying to graduate programs. Becoming an undergraduate researcher is arguably one of the best methods to standout as an applicant. That is because graduate programs know that you understand what it’s like to conduct research and can handle the pressure of it.

 

One of the many things I learned is that the weekly schedule is extremely tentative. Although time frames don’t change much, what happens within the time frame of researching changes depending on which stage you are at in researching and whether or not there are obstacles. Last week I spent 4 days working on my research. Three of those days were designing the experiment and the last was directed towards some readings that would help me better understand the topic. Next week, I’m spending the majority of my time trying to recruit participants to collect data. The research process is one with many stages, and each one has it’s own obstacles and lessons.

URSP Student Philip Yang Researches Sino-African Relations

I got interested in this research project because it gives me the opportunity to actually spend time to something that I am truly interested about with an expert on the issue. I do not have to follow a syllabus or a schedule, and I do not have to study on something in a class when I already know about the subject. There is freedom for me to go in depth with something that I am interested. In this case it is the Sino-African relations.

I think it is extremely important to my long-term goal, which is to pursue a career in an international institution such as the UN or the World Bank. In able for me to have a chance to enter the doorstep of the international institutions, I must fully understand my field of study, which is international politics. We live in a world today that is dominated by the Western value, and the world order is built upon it since the collapse of the bipolar world in 1991. However, it seems like that the Western world order is starting to weaken today and the non-western forces start to rise. The Chinese being more dominant in Asia and directly challenge the U.S. sphere of influence in Asia; the Russians disregard the opposition and sanctions of the West and its Greater Eurasian ideal start to expand; the Arabic world constantly clashes with the Western world in its fundamental core values. The world today seems less and less predictable, and it is hard to know what will happen in the future of international politics. Without being able to make a logical assumption based on knowledge, I do not see myself fit to have a career at the international level.

For my research, I read something related to Sino-African relations every week to build up my knowledge base. When it comes to international politics, your assumption and analysis should be built on solid facts. Without facts, any analysis would lack logic and thus unconvincing. For this week, I learned more about the Chinese indiscriminative aid to the sub-Saharan African countries and what problem might it cause to the stability of the region.

URSP Student MaryAnn Vega Researches College Students and Victim Blaming Sexual Assault Victims

My URSP project was born out of the feminist methods class I took with Angela Hattery and Shannon Davis. The class was pushed to design studies using a different method each week. Due to the recent media attention on college sexual assault, I designed a survey that would measure the levels of victim blaming – or rape myth acceptance -- in my classmates. When the calculations were done, I found myself disappointed at the levels of rape myth adherence I found in my peers. When my disappointment passed I wanted to see if this data was generalizable and if there was some way I could make my campus safer for victims of sexual assault.

Wellness, Alcohol, and Violence Education and Services, held training for students that participated in my study, so we could determine how effective an intervention program was at combating rape myth acceptance. On a weekly basis, I am coding and analyzing data, measuring the reliability of my scales, and thinking about how students respond to having their beliefs challenged. One of the most interesting things I have learned is that people often have trouble understanding how violent beliefs and actions can become social norm. The training showed that students did not understand how intentional isolation from friends, and continuing to grab drinks for a peer, can be signs of danger instead of a romantic social interaction.

The growth of my knowledge has been necessary for my professional goals. I have found the validation I needed to believe that I could stay in academia and contribute to sociological scholarship. I have learned how to read and analyze quantitative data, how to properly use ethnographic methods, and to the benefit of my future employers, how to master Microsoft Excel. Personally, it has been made clear that I can cultivate change through research. This makes my goals of scholar-activism feel real and feasible. Lastly, the experience has been indispensable as it has helped prepare me for my upcoming years of graduate school and all research endeavors.

URSP Student Larissa Schomaker Researches the Importance of Writing in Business Schools

When I decided to move from Europe to the U.S. to attend college, not being able to properly communicate was among my biggest fears. Without the ability to articulate information, ideas, and emotions, I was afraid to find myself at a loss. “You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere” (Iacocca). I find this statement by Lee Iacocca, an American businessman, to be very true, especially, but not limited to, the field of business. Throughout my undergraduate degree program at Mason, I have been required to take general composition courses offering the analytical tools I need as a writer and effective communicator. It is important for faculty to connect class material of specific disciplines with professional writing experiences I will encounter in my career. Unfortunately, this is less often the case. An increasing number of employers have criticized college graduates’ inadequate communication skills. Companies have difficulties to fill job openings because of the candidates’ inability to speak and write clearly. Some blame technology; others blame colleges or even high schools for not focusing on written and oral communication.

This disconnect started to become very apparent to me shortly after my teacher for Business Communication (SOM 301), Jacquelyn Brown, asked me to assist her as a writing fellow (WF) in her class. As a WF, I attend SOM 301 labs to establish a relationship with students and actively support Professor Brown. Outside the classroom, I function as a tutor to clarify writing assignments, brainstorm ideas, and respond to students’ individual needs. By obtaining the position of a middleman, I have the opportunity to observe both, student and faculty perspectives. During tutoring sessions in particular, I witness students’ struggles more often than not. They have brilliant ideas, are committed to their studies, but lack proper communication skills. Because of my own background, I am able to understand the difficulties and frustrations that can come with writing and business communication. Being a WF gives me the ability to see both sides, which is why I started thinking of this research initially. The project intends to define the extent to which a gap between faculty and students exists. With the help of my findings, I will then determine whether or not WFs fulfill their role as middlemen sufficiently and therefore contribute to a closer compliance with expectations from both, students and faculty.

My position as a middleman between students and faculty is of essence in order to fill the gap between employer, student and faculty. As a WF, I have a great understanding of the class and assignments, as well as a great rapport with the students. Thus, SOM 301 students feel more comfortable addressing their questions and concerns with either faculty or WF. The opportunity to work closely together over an entire semester gets me significantly engaged in the writing process of students and also allows me time to observe approaches that work and don’t work. The same applies for WFs and faculty. Because I attend class, I see where students struggle, which gives me the ability to suggest different approaches for assignments to Professor Brown in order to achieve a better outcome. However, the writing fellow program also requires a significant investment on the part of faculty. WFs can only help students if all participants clearly understand the parameters of writing assignments, important matters of their discipline, and expectations of the individual instructor. Hence, a successful program raises faculty’s awareness of how writing is part of their disciplinary system. Ideally, they will engage in new practices that reflect responses to students and their writing, comply with definitions of their discipline, and match their students’ development.

A similar WFs program has been implemented by Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. It is based on the belief that collaboration among peers is one of the most effective methods of learning. Additionally, members of this program are committed to promoting a campus-wide culture in which writing and communication in its many forms is central to learning. In this culture, communication and inquiry are vitally linked, restraints on learning imposed by traditional disciplinary boundaries are eased, and students and faculty are all part of one vibrant intellectual community. Similar to Lehigh University’s approach to erase boundaries, I am pursuing the goal to evaluate the relationship between students and faculty. The main question hereby is the following: Can WFs fulfill their position as a middleman between students and faculty? Providing research-based answers to this question is significant, because it observes the stated disconnect from a new angle. Minimal research has been done from a WFs perspective. Although WAC faculty has conducted a fair amount of research, WFs have only been quoted sparingly, and they have not yet given their own voice. Looking at the WF program from a different perspective for the first time will increase its efficiency, but also takes significant steps to bridge the addressed gap. A better understanding of expectations from both, students and faculty, can contribute to the development of a more beneficial curriculum beyond the Mason community.

Throughout my research process thus far, I have come to realize that detailed documentation is essential for each individual step and sometimes more lengthy than initially anticipated. As I am conducting a case study where I interview a selected number of former and current SOM 301 students who have met with me as a writing fellow more than twice, I needed IRB approval in order to conduct individual student interviews. Going through the application process and describing specific processes to individuals unfamiliar with my research project has been a task that required me to invest a lot of time. Over time, this objective has become easier as I am more familiar with the process now. Yet, I am certain that conducting detailed documentation will continue to be part of my work as an undergraduate research scholar.