• An Analysis of the Toxic Effects of Mercury Cyanide Complexes on Zebrafish

      Pittman, Elizabeth; School of Medicine
      Mercury (Hg) is a unique heavy metal toxicant that is found in numerous environmental and occupational settings. A major source of environmental Hg is from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), whereby metallic mercury (Hg0) is used to amalgamate gold from mined ore. Hg extraction of gold is inefficient and thus, a significant amount of gold remains in the ore. The leftover Hg-contaminated tailings are often subjected to cyanidation to extract the remaining gold. During this process, mercury and cyanide form mercuric cyanide complexes that are held together with a strong, covalent Hg-carbon bond. These toxic complexes are proposed to be prevalent in terrestrial and aquatic environments around mining sites. The purpose of the current study was to determine how mercuric cyanide complexes, particularly Hg(CN)2, affect the health of aquatic organisms in contaminated environments. We used adult and larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) as model organisms for this study. Zebrafish, in various life stages, were exposed to several different concentrations of Hg(CN)2 to determine the physical and behavioral effects of this exposure. Embryos were exposed to varying concentrations of Hg(CN)2 at one-hour post fertilization (4th cell cycle) until 72 hours post fertilization when hatching begins. Concentrations ranged from 0 to 0.1 mg/L Hg(CN)2. Embryos exposed to concentrations of Hg(CN)2 above 0.08 mg/L had a lower hatching rate and survival rate. Exposure of adult fish to various concentrations of Hg(CN)2 led to significant alterations in behavior and mercury content of muscle. The current study is the first to report the way in which Hg(CN)2 affects aquatic organisms in various stages of life.
    • An Analysis Of Title Ix Compliance In Historically Black Colleges And Universities

      Coursey, Caroline Coker
      Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) generally have majority female student populations, yet some studies have concluded that HBCUs have poorer compliance with Title IX when compared with predominantly white institutions (Ruckman & Bridges, 2014; Anderson et al, 2006). Therefore, this study analyzed Title IX compliance in a group of HBCUs in 2003, 2010, and 2016 to determine trends in compliance by computing a proportionality gap percentage for each selected year. A quantitative research design was utilized, and enrollment data was analyzed via an ANOVA method to determine if statistically significant changes in enrollment occurred at the 2003, 2010, and 2016 years. The enrollment data was compared to the proportionality gap percentages for 2003, 2010, and 2016 via Pearson correlation to determine if a relationship exists between enrollment and compliance. Lastly, endowment data was analyzed for a subset of institutions to determine if any relationship exists between endowment size and compliance with Title IX.
    • An Autoethnographic Inquiry Into An African American, Class-based Perspective In Educational Delivery / By Stassi Thomas Anderson.

      Anderson, Stassi Thomas
      Stassi Thomas Anderson An autoethnographic inquiry into an African American, class-based perspective in educational delivery Under the direction of Lucy Bush, Ed. D Research has given us the understanding of the demographic disparity between white, largely middle class teachers and diverse lower socioeconomic school children (Grious & Silva, 2010), as teachers from the middle class society wrestle with meeting the needs of their culturally diverse students. In efforts to bridge the social and academic gap, resources have been spent on hiring more minority teachers into the classroom. However, few studies have been conducted on the efforts, struggles, and triumphs of teaching disadvantaged students from the seldom-depicted perspective of a Black teacher of privilege. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of cross-class interaction within the same race – i.e., the teacher and the students both being Black yet reared in different economic environments—upon the development of the teacher. The two guiding questions for this autoethnography are: (a) As a Black teacher of socioeconomic privilege, what has been the influence on my own pedagogical development of my interaction with disadvantaged students of the same race? (b) Is my experience unique or do other Black teachers of privilege question or encounter similar issues of student connectivity? Data was generated from a collection of self-reflective data and interview data; focus group responses to interview questions; and several autoethnographic vignettes. Three findings were gleaned from the data: (a) Black privileged teachers in this study taught from a similar cultural gaze as their white middle-class counterparts, based on their exposure to the dominant culture’s educational and social philosophy and practices; (b) additional research is necessary when merging non-traditional privileged Black teachers into Black disadvantaged teaching environment; and (c) further research is needed to evaluate the pre-service teaching programs for all privileged teachers entering lower socioeconomic neighborhoods to teach. It becomes imperative that we examine our own position towards culture and race internally before being placed in culturally and racially diverse settings.
    • An Autopsy on Mortality

      David Davis; Sam Minton
      I focus on historical and literary depictions of death in WWI in the context of modernism. I argue that constant interaction between the living and the dead led to the deconstruction of the binary of life and death in literary modernism.
    • An Ecological Exploration Of Youth Perceptions Of Sexuality Education Needs

      McDonald-Hill, Keri
      ABSTRACT AN ECOLOGICAL EXPLORATION OF YOUTH PERCEPTIONS OF SEXUALITY EDUCATION NEEDS In recent years, there has been a significant decline in teen pregnancy rates in the United States, but the decline is substantial among ethnicities other than African-Americans, suggesting a need for better understanding of the sexual health education needs specific to African-American youth. The purpose of this investigation was to extend the limited existing knowledge of adolescents’ perceived sexual health education needs as well as explore the impact of perceptions of friends’ sexual history on stated needs by drawing upon the Ecological Systems Theory (EST). This quantitative study focused on the impact of social and environmental factors associated with preferences of sexual health information of youth. The cross-sectional quantitative study utilized a voluntary, self-report survey methodology by incorporating the Family Life Sex Education Goal Questionnaire (FLSE-GQ II). The first hypothesis of this study suggested that, based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the community where study participants reside impacts their perceptions of their need for sexual health information. The participants responded as predicted with an endorsement of all topics within the survey, demonstrating support of a comprehensive approach to school-based sexuality education. These results are reflective of the high rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in the community. The Ecological Systems Theory was applied in the second hypothesis to assess the extent to which perceived sexual behaviors of peers influence adolescents’ support of sexuality education content. With respect to furthering our understanding of the extent to which perceptions of peers influence adolescent perceptions of their sexuality education needs, this study demonstrates that perceptions of the sexual history of peers does not have substantial influence on support of sexual health content. To advance the capacity of prevention efforts to address the disproportionate rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among African-American youth, future school-based sexual health interventions could benefit from a collaborative approach that provides youth with the opportunity to voice their opinions on the best content to be included in discussions. This can be achieved by first replicating studies such as the current study then incorporating a series of qualitative approaches that can inform later collaborative efforts.