the scholar: may 2012 edition
DESCRIPTION
"The Scholar" is the publication of the University of Tennessee at Martin's University Scholars Program. Its purpose is to accustom students to having their work published as well as to inform alumni, faculty, and other students about the current activities and achievements of University Scholars at UTM.TRANSCRIPT
The Scholar May 2012 Edition
1 The University of Tennessee at Martin’s University Scholars Organization
Table of Contents
Director’s Corner ................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Important Dates ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3
USO Induction Ceremony - Lindsey Feigl ..................................................................................................................... 4
Movie Nights - Hunter Lindberg ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Exo-Planets and Hubble’s Search - Jordan Jensen .................................................................................................... 5
Chicago - Laura Miller ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
Death: The Unlikely Freer - Colton Jones ..................................................................................................................... 7
Crisp Air - Hannah Sexton .................................................................................................................................................. 7
An Account According an Alarming Amount of Alliteration - Paul Drinkard ................................................ 8
How Have I Survived College? - Charles Busby .......................................................................................................... 9
Junior/Senior Projects
Development and Implementation of Dynamic Isoelectric Focusing for the Separation and Isolation of Proteins– Amber Watson........................................................................................................................................ 10
Nonverbal Communication Differences in Men and Women– Allison Sprague ......................................... 10
Identification of a Transcriptional Regulator of the hemZ Gene in Rhodobacter
capsulatus - Elizabeth Stokes .................................................................................................................. 11
Examining the Effects of Habitat, Seasonal Migrations, and Temperature on
Bat Diversity at Reelfoot Lake - Christine Hassell ........................................................................................ 12
Reanalysis of the Geologic Age of the Wells Creek Structure using
Paleogeographic Evidence – Danielle Cavender ........................................................................................... 13
Gauging the E-service Quality of Online Education - Joel Flowers ................................................................. 14
The Effect of Stitch Bolts on Bolted Timber Connections - Joseph Scobey ................................................... 15
The Esoteric Gospels and A First-Time Writer’s Experience: A Commentary and
Critical Analysis on Writing the First Draft of The Esoteric Gospels - Paige Mason ........................ 15
Disclaimer: Please note that any views or
opinions herein expressed are not necessarily representative of
the University Scholars Organization as a whole.
Photographers Paige Mason Katrina Moeller
Junior Editors Mary Medling Hunter Lindburg Laura Miller
Senior Editors
Payton Mink
Charles Busby
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The Scholar May 2012 Edition
Director’s Corner, Spring 2012, April Edition
It has been a great year in Scholars. It would be difficult to list everything, so I’ll just go the traditional route
and …
Top Ten Things about Scholars 2011-12 (in no particular order)
Chicago Trip: thirteen people sets a record for a Spring Scholars trip
Boston Trip: seventeen people, and that’s only because we set a limit!
Induction Ceremony: the first truly serious induction
Scholar Formal: our first one ever
Movie Nights: a great tradition held almost every week
Relay for Life: a success for the second year in a row
The Scholar: continues to be a great publication for the second year in a row
Senior Projects: stay tuned for some great presentations this month
Prospect Weekend: even though it is difficult to narrow them down to fifteen
The EC: we could not have done such great things without their efforts
Of course, there are still quite a few things to go this year, including the upcoming talent/un-talent/elections
meeting in a few days and the senior project presentations. I am really looking forward to next year. We
have a great set of candidates for USO office who I know will continue the traditions and work hard to make
further improvements to an already outstanding program. Thanks to all of you who have been an active part
of USO!
Warmest Regards,
Lionel
Director’s Corner Dr. Lionel Crews
Dr. Crews being pied for good
cause during USO festivities at
UTM’s Relay for Life
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3 The University of Tennessee at Martin’s University Scholars Organization
Important Dates
Maymester 2012
Monday, May 14: Classes Begin
Monday, May 28: Memorial Day
Friday, June 1: **Classes End (Final Exams)
Summer Semester 2012
Monday, June 4: Classes Begin, First Half &
Full Term
Wednesday, July 4: Independence Day
Friday, July 6: Classes End (Final Exams),
First Term
Monday, July 9: Advising, Second Term
Tuesday, July 10: Classes Begin, Second Term
Friday, Aug. 10: Classes End (Final Exams),
Second & Full Term
Fall Semester 2012
Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 23-26: First-Year
Initiative
Friday, Aug. 24: Advising
Monday Aug. 27: Day and Evening Classes
Begin
Monday Sept. 3: Labor Day
Friday Oct. 12: Mid-Term Progress Reports
Due
Saturday-Tuesday Oct. 13-16: Fall Break
For more information, visit:
http://catalog.utm.edu/content.php?
catoid=5&navoid=251#Fall_Semester__2012
“There's a beauty to wisdom and experience that cannot be faked. It's impossible to be mature without having lived.”
- Amy Grant
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The Scholar May 2012 Edition
Hunter Lindberg
Movie Nights
The University Scholars is not just a group of intelligent students with
high aspirations; we are a pretty hip social group too. Once every week or so,
the USO hosts a private screening of a movie in the McCombs center. We
keep these events private because we like to watch highly intellectual films;
some of them even require an amount of reading! Popular selections come
from the genres of thriller, Kung Fu, and suspense. Usually the choices stem
from what is available to stream online and bend to the will of the majority.
Lindsey Feigl
USO Induction Ceremony
As University Scholars, one would expect our induction ceremony to be an extremely formal
and solemn event. However, the chemistry of this year’s scholars group reflected in the type of
ceremony we had. It was formal but had a little bit of humor thrown in. Overall, the ceremony was
very dignified and personal to our group. I felt honored being inducted into the University Scholar’s
Organization.
The ceremony started with the eighteen inductees lining up on the side of the Tennessee
Room. In the front the five Executive Council members stood over a table of unlit candles. Lionel
opened the ceremony with the usual “thanks for coming” speech and passed it on to Brandon and the
other council members. As each council member spoke, they lit a candle in honor of an important
characteristic of the University Scholars Organization. The last candle to be lit was the candle of
Knowledge signifying the organization’s academic excellence. Each inductee was called up
individually to light a candle from the flame of the Knowledge
candle. As we lit our candles our big sibs read a short
biography about their little sibs. The biographies clearly
exemplified the true nature of our Scholars Organization. The
stories ranged from wearing a leg brace as a child to nailing
someone in the face with a ball when mistaking kickball for
dodge ball. After the biographies we took our oath and
officially became part of the University Scholars Organization.
Because the ceremony was so personal to each of us, it
is something I will never forget. It was a group of exceptional
students with the same academic values coming together to
offer a new group of academics entrance into not only an elite
organization but into a family. I was truly honored to be inducted into the University Scholars
Organization. I am proud to be able to call myself a Scholar.
“What’s Happening?” Freshmen News Reports
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5 The University of Tennessee at Martin’s University Scholars Organization
Jordan Jensen
Exo-Planets and Hubble’s Search
On March 29th UT Martin was treated to a truly enlightening lecture given by Dr. Wiseman on the
subject of NASA’s ongoing search for exo-planets, planets orbiting stars outside of our own solar system. Dr.
Wiseman is currently the lead scientist working with NASA’s Hubble Telescope project, and as one can glean
from only a short presentation, she is very passionate about her work. At the present time, one of the Hubble
Telescope’s foremost missions is the location of planets and planet forming regions around other stars in the
Milky Way Galaxy.
Dr. Wiseman and her colleagues are making use of several methods for finding possible exo-planets.
One of the methods detailed by Dr. Wiseman is watching for the wobble that the gravitational pull of the exo-
planet causes in the position of a star. This method is valuable
for initially spotting and determining the approximate size of the
planet. The second, and possibly most valuable, method for
identifying and learning about the nature of exo-planets is
watching for the dimming of the brightness of a star caused by
the passage of the planet between the telescope and its star.
From this brief (relatively in terms of space) glimpse of the
planet, scientists can gain a wealth of knowledge including not
only size but also the composition of the planet’s atmosphere
based on the spectrum of light around the edges. This insight
allows speculation as to the probability of the existence of life
on other earth-like planets, which is the ultimate goal of
NASA’s exploration of these celestial bodies.
Not only is Dr. Wiseman a leader in her work, but she has also served as the Congressional Science
Fellow of the American Physical Society, working with the staff of the Science Committee of the U.S. House
of Representatives and advising the United States government on decisions affecting the various fields of
scientific study. This governmental role highlights Dr. Wiseman’s experience and leadership in her field. Dr.
Wiseman’s lecture provided an opportunity for the UT Martin community to hear a leading scientist speak on
the work of NASA’s top astronomers and physicists in their efforts to locate and study planets orbiting other
stars around our galaxy. Dr. Wiseman’s lecture was delightfully witty and wonderfully informative.
Horror movies are accompanied by small pranks played on the more skittish members of the audience,
perpetrated by the more mean-spirited. Comedies are sparse because oftentimes we prefer to laugh at
the cheesier bits of horror or action movies. A documentary has yet to be shown, but I do not think it is
too far-fetched of an assumption that we may all sit down one evening to watch how the planets were
formed or how penguins survive in the Antarctic. I think we all gain a lot of cultural experience from
watching foreign movies, which are a popular choice, even if the content consists of one dude beating
up a lot of other dudes.
More than anything, it provides me with another reason to procrastinate doing my homework. It
has nice to be able to turn your brain off for a night, especially because Scholars take on such
challenging workloads. The experience could be enhanced however by the addition of some salty,
buttery popcorn. In my opinion, the couch is the best seat in the house. It is obviously the most
comfortable furniture in the room, as long as you have a cushion at your back. It is always fun to get
together with some other Scholars and enjoy a film. Granted usually only a half dozen Scholars are in
attendance, but I think everyone has a good time relaxing and conversing with one another.
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The Scholar May 2012 Edition
Laura Miller
Chicago
It started raining in the late afternoon, a swift downpour that drenched the area then left as
quickly as it came. We set out in two vehicles, a mini-van and a twelve passenger car. It would take us
seven hours of singing, road racing, and general merrymaking to make it to our destination. We arrived
with the city alight despite the Sun setting, and we gratefully checked in our hotel, ready to sleep, ready
for the new day. Chicago brought a beautiful, cold, and snowy day for us the next morning. We took our
first adventure: finding the super McDonald’s. After walking longer than we wanted to, we finally found
the McDonald’s, ate, and then promptly left after Eric was almost kicked out for going up the down
escalator. Our trek back was in good spirits, and we soon set out for the Chicago art museum. After
splitting up and admiring the art, some beautiful, others not so much, some naked, and others not so
much, we concluded our viewing and headed for lunch. Back into the blistering cold, our group walked
to get the best thing in Chicago: pizza. Our numbers totaled eighteen, and this created a problem for
seating, a two hour wait sort of problem. Eventually we were seated and we ate our deep-dished pizzas
with satisfaction. Our plans for the rest of the day were blown with the wait, so we headed back to the
hotel. That night, after dinner, I stayed in the room but others stayed up, making use of the night.
The line for the aquarium was well out the door, and we were not sure it was worth it. Early that
morning, we had set out to the corner of Chicago that housed the aquarium, planetarium, and field
museum. We learned the aquarium had offered free admission to Chicago residents, and it seemed the
likelihood of us making it to the door in a timely
fashion was slim. Instead, we walked to the
planetarium ready to hear Dr. Crew’s opinion of
everything astronomical. We met an alien space
traveler, played with pressures on planets, fell
asleep learning about the sun (or was that just
me?), calculated our weights on other planets, and
ate at the food court. The line to the aquarium was
seriously reduced by the time we landed back on
Earth, but not everyone wanted to watch fish
swim in circles. Riley Rick, Jonathan Hewlett, and
Zachary Ragland split from the group and headed
toward the field museum. The rest of the group
made their way to the aquarium, cutting all of the natives and even managing to get a group discount.
We watched otters, sharks, injured turtles, and lots of fish swim merrily. The other group found all sorts
of fun facts and dinosaurs, like the Rapeaurus. The next day came fast, and with it the realization we
were going home. Most of the group hit the mall and the navy pier, but a couple split up to roam the city
on their own. At four we came back together to say goodbye to the windy city. The sun set as we left,
and we smiled on the memories we made.
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“Creative Outlet” Sophomore Creative Pieces
Death: The Unlikely Freer
Colton Jones
In the beginning, life is full and vibrant.
One is blessed with many gifts and talents.
No worries are given, no thoughts of pain,
Life is enjoyed, love is gained.
But as the years freely flow,
Skin tends to wrinkle and bodies grow old.
There comes a time when the mortal frame
Becomes a prison, trapping the sane.
When the mind is still capable, but talents are halted,
Staying on earth feels like being assaulted.
Until one day, when one is released
By the angel of death who makes the sufferings decrease.
Once again the soul is free
In a heavenly place, filled with family.
Don't be distraught with the thought of death,
Embrace it as freedom with your parting breath.
- Dedicated to Ms. Wacile Johnson,
A Loving Neighbor and Friend
Hannah Sexton
Crisp air, along with the mist of rain,
Pushing me farther than I’ve been.
Deeply breathing in and out,
Inhaling the morning air,
My soul is no longer bare.
Ready, calm, and patient still,
This last run has kept me healed.
Fervor restored once more
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The Scholar May 2012 Edition
Paul Drinkard
An account according an alarming amount of alliteration and a constant continuation of constination
A breeze blew between the tall trees terracing the twisting trail traveling through the tiny town of
Thistlerun. Plenty of peasants pleasantly plowed the pasture’s plots around an aloof aristocrat’s accord. These
mindlessly meandering medieval men and women hastily heaped the hardy harvest in the humid heat of heart’s
hour, the third trimester of the twentieth farming term. As the daylight drew down toward a tiring twilight a
cloaked civilian cantered carelessly close to Count Cassiopeia’s castle called Canterlot. His pale porcelain mask
marked the man as a servant of the savior’s selected an abominate allegiance of assassins. And as the misery
making mortal made his way within the wide walls of Count Cassiopeia’s castle Canterlot, he promptly and
professionally prepared a perilous poison.
Unfortunately, unwisely, and ultimately untimely, Count Cassiopeia kind of carelessly chafed a
competing cutthroat countess called Cassandra who catered connections close to commissioned killers. Countess
Cassandra quickly called the Savior’s Selected and set several seriously sever summons demanding the dubious
death of the despicable defiler. The Savior’s Selected swiftly sent
Sir. Swain presently portrayed in the pale porcelain primp.
Sir. Swain swiftly and subtly scaled the steep scaffolding
and vicariously vaulted over the behemoth buttresses. Once within
the white walls of Count Cassiopeia’s keep called Canterlot, Sir.
Swain switched suits so as to better blend with the bourgeois
banqueting at Baron Barnet’s (Count Cassiopeia’s cousin) birthday
buffet. See, Sir. Swain slyly schemed to stash some terminal toxin
into the tantalizing tangerine treats. Truly this tricky tactic could
certainly cause Count Cassiopeia to croak.
Sauntering shrewdly Sir. Swain balefully bounced to the
bustling ballroom where Baron Barnet’s buffet was being
bequeathed. His pernicious plot to poison Count Cassiopeia’s cakes
readily rushed rightward to realization when suddenly Sir. Swain
was stopped short. The senior chef Samuel seemed slightly
suspicious as Sir Swain showed. The careless killer’s confidence
quickly cascaded as chef Samuel suddenly summoned Sir Swain.
“I do believe that I’ve never seen you attend a royal function within these walls…and I’ve been here
twelve years as senior chef, even more years before that as an apprentice. How is it that I’m only seeing you for the
first time today?”
Said the instinctually inquisitive individual.
“I don’t dare derive your decision for detouring me, but may I auspiciously ask the origin of your
astoundingly alien accent?”
“I’m just from different parts…I’m still just curious about your sudden appearance among the nobles here
in Canterlot.”
“I absolutely assure your assumption of my abnormal absence is accidental. I recently rode in from
remote regions and truly feel terrible for my untimely truancy.”
Senior Chef Samuel simply starred at the suspicious Sir Swain and then abruptly allowed access to the
astoundingly curious character to Count Cassiopeia’s cousin’s carousal.
“Your story seem a little shaky…but welcome to the party. Please be respectful to the guests and have a
good time.”
Sir Swain strutted strait to the fine festivities for Baron Barnet’s birthday ball and artfully admitted
himself happily into the cheerful caper close to Count Cassiopeia’s counter. Whilst wonderfully waltzing with a
widow named Wendy he worked his way closer and closer to Count Cassiopeia’s consul and covered the choice
cakes with the calamitous concoction, and as the marvelous meal meandered on, dessert drew dangerously near.
Happily the honored hour hastened at hand and Count Cassiopeia pleasantly partook in the poisoned
pastry. The toxic tangerine treat immediately upon ingestion entirely ended the unfortunate entity entitled Count
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9 The University of Tennessee at Martin’s University Scholars Organization
Cassiopeia. Of course with Count Cassiopeia’s carcass now careening across the partition, the pleasing party was
promptly put to a premature end. His kin cried out and quickly closed the conviviality. Guest gossiped as they were
guided out with their goodiebags and eventually all activity inside Canterlot ceased as morning members made
ready for the eventual entailing entombment. After the atrocious activity had accounted for the luckless life of
Count Cassiopeia, Sir. Swain saw his mission sanctioned and swiftly headed happily home.
Sir Swain sighed and slowly settled at his simple delightfully dwelling. Gratuitously his gut growled
mentioning of his missed meal. He tenaciously tore through the take-home meal his half-witted hostess had handed
him. He decisively devoured the divine delectables inside then prepared his pleasant pallet to take part in his
tentative torpor. Suddenly his slumber ceased as his sleeping quarters swiftly shifted sending him sprawling. Sir
Swain sight started slowly declining as a shooting stabbing sting seared his insides.
These simple symptoms showed sine of a single result. Sir Swain’s grievously groped for the grub he had
been given and started swiftly shifting through the treacherous takeout and took notice of a tinge of tangerine. This
malicious meal made specially by Senior Chef Samuel came with a clear decree…
“Enjoy your just desserts…”
Massive Anxiety
Three big papers Huge lack of sleep
Two tests in one day
Mountains of unread email
Printer Malfunction Ridiculous blog entries
213 pages to read for a despised class
Failures
Four cokes & five cups of coffee by 2:00 A.M.
Wanting to give up
Contemplating the future, regretting the past, and missing the beauty of the present
Struggling to discover who you are and what you want to become someday
Confronting unadulterated fear concerning your abilities compared to others
Having to provide for yourself
Failing
Lying down to rest and hoping not to wake up the next day
Disappointing professors you admire
Learning the importance of a budget and fiscal ingenuity
Parting with old friends, severing ties, and abandoning comforts
Foolish Procrastination Hard-Learned Lessons
Charles Busby
How Have I Survived College?
Her name is Paige.
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10 The University of Tennessee at Martin’s University Scholars Organization
“Independent Studies” Junior & Senior Projects
Amber Watson
Mentor: Dr. Robbie Montgomery
Second Reader: Dr. Kate Stumpo
Development and Implementation of Dynamic Isoelectric Focusing for the Separation and
Isolation of Proteins
Although I am a senior, I have only been working on this project for this current academic year.
Last year I was working on a Chemistry project with an organic focus, but it had to be aborted due to
circumstances beyond my control. Even though I had spent a full year working towards that project, I
tried not to be too worried about changing paces. I really have enjoyed
working on the project that I’ve worked on this year, even though it is
completely opposite from my previous project. I like to think of it as
giving me different kinds of research experience.
For my project, I have been working with proteins and a
particular way of separating them. There is a current method of
separating proteins called isoelectric focusing. I practiced focusing
bovine serum albumin using this technique. Then I began working on
mastery of the real focus of the project, dynamic isoelectric focusing.
This is a more complicated method, but the goal is to show that it is
comparable or a better method. This method has been extremely
complicated for me to get to work, however, so I switched gears a little
recently, while still trying my hand at getting the 4-electrode system of
DIEF to work. I have recently been working on something that might
get me more results, analyzing hemoglobin variants using LC-MS. So
far I have taken Myoglobin as a standard and one of the variants of
hemoglobin and reduced and alkylated it so as to be run on the LC-MS.
This is a lengthy procedure, and the first time that it was done the
results were promising, but there was a large peak of some
contamination. Currently, I am working on performing the procedure again and hoping that this time the
results will be good enough to continue on with the other three variants. I will be presenting my research
in a poster at the Area Collegiate Chemistry Meeting Saturday, April 14, in Martin.
Allison Sprague
Mentor: Dr. Chara Van Horn
Second Reader: Brian Johnson
Nonverbal Communication Differences in Men and Women
It is not difficult to believe that men and women both use and perceive nonverbal
communication differently. From a very young age, the two genders are trained to interact with others
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in entirely different manners. Little boys learn to thrive on competition, playing games such as sword
fighting and foot races that require one person to win, while little girls often enjoy activities like tea
parties that focus on building relationships instead of competition. These differences continue to be
exhibited in later years, though perhaps in not quite so overt ways; however, nonverbal nuances can say
a lot. For example, men tend to take up more physical space by sitting with their legs apart and elbows
out as if to stake their territory while women often sit with legs
crossed or pulled up as if in order to not consume any room at all.
Also, women are expected to smile almost constantly, setting
themselves up as a friendly, welcoming presence and not a threat.
Men engage in no such behavior but use fewer facial expressions
causing them to appear more intimidating to both genders.
For my research, I am going to be analyzing these
behaviors and more to see how each gender adapts to interactions
with males versus those with females. As soon as I can recruit
enough volunteers, I will be asking the participants to complete
three tasks with a partner and then analyzing the nonverbal behaviors used to see if the typical male/
female traits are accentuated or downplayed in any given situation. In the end, I will hopefully have
interesting findings that shed light on how men and women communicate both as individuals and pairs.
Ideally this information could be used to lessen the amount of miscommunications that occur between
the genders, bridging the gap between Venus and Mars.
Elizabeth Stokes
Mentor: Dr. James Smart
Identification of a Transcriptional Regulator of the hemZ Gene in Rhodobacter capsulatus
In the spring of 2010 when I signed on to complete a research project with Dr. James Smart, I
assumed my project would solely entail lab work and would come to a nice neat conclusion. That has
not necessarily been the case. In September 2010, I immediately started working in the lab, and I
quickly learned that failure is just a part of research. As a
result, we changed methods and techniques several times
over the next year or so. Then in the middle of Fall 2011, we
sent our strains to the University of Tennessee Health Science
Center in Memphis for whole genome sequencing. This took
much longer to get back than we had expected, which
resulted in a lot of waiting on my part. We finally got the
genome sequences back over Christmas break, and much to
my horror, my project became very computer based. I
struggled with this for a while because I am not very
computer savvy. Then we came to the realization that my
project would not come to a definitive conclusion by the end of the semester, and I, in fact, would not
get the nice neat bow-wrapped project I had expected. After a moment of sheer panic, Dr. Smart and I
came to a compromise, and I have since completed a literature review that will be tacked onto my
project to compensate for its lack of a conclusion.
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All of this goes to say that when my overly optimistic, naive self took on this project, I never
expected to hit so many roadblocks along the way. I struggled with this for a long time because I, much
like most of my fellow University Scholars, do not like not succeeding at something. Looking back,
though, I have realized that even though it did not turn out like I expected, I can say with confidence
that I have learned a lot from this project and would not take it back if given the chance even with
knowing how it will turn out.
Christine Hassell
Mentor: Dr. Nancy Buschhaus
Examining the Effects of Habitat, Seasonal Migrations, and Temperature on Bat Diversity at
Reelfoot Lake
Many studies have been done using acoustical sampling of species specific bat foraging calls
using Anabat or Sonabat technology to determine what species are
active at what time of year; however, no studies have documented
the native bat diversity in the west Tennessee area. Given that
White Nose Syndrome is having a devastating effect on bat
diversity and abundance, recording bat diversity now is more
important than ever so that any changes can be determined and
documented. My scholars project will attempt to determine the
diversity in the west Tennessee area as well as view the effects of
seasonal and temperature factors on the diversity using the
following methods.
Bat foraging calls will be recorded using a stationary MP3
sound recorder connected to a Peterson Ultrasonic Frequency bat
detector starting one hour before dark and continue for a total of
three hours. We will sample 4 nights per week, once at each location per week. Each week, we will
prioritize the sampling on those nights that are most conducive to recording bat calls (warm nights with
little wind and no precipitation). However, we will collect data on at least four nights per week
regardless of weather conditions for 10 weeks. Data collection will begin the first week of June 2012
and will end in early August 2012. The temperature and general weather conditions will be recorded
each night using a HOBO temperature recorder and a written description in my notebook. We will
randomly alternate collecting recordings at the “tree-cluttered” sites and the “open air” sites each week.
After each data collection night, the MP3 recordings will be transferred to a computer and analyzed
through the SonaBat computer program that identifies the species of bat based on the pattern and
frequency of each of the recorded calls. The number of occurrences of each species will be recorded.
Another collection of data will be preformed in the same way from October 2012 to December 2012 to
evaluate the seasonal effects on diversity.
We will use Shannon’s Diversity Index (H) and Simpson’s Diversity Index (D) to analyze the
diversity of the bat populations sampled at each site and at the Reelfoot Lake watershed system as a
whole. We will calculate overlap and similarity of each of the sampling sites using an appropriate
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Danielle Cavender
Mentor: Michael Gibson
Second Reader: Stan Dunagan
Reanalysis of the Geologic Age of the Wells Creek Structure using Paleogeographic Evidence
As a geology major intent on graduate school, I wanted to focus my project on something
exciting and with educational value. As some of you may or may not know, Tennessee is home to a few
impact craters, the largest of which is located on the Houston and Stewart County border in Cumberland
City. This crater, known as the Wells Creek Structure, is universally
known to anyone studying impact craters, and it provides some of the
best samples of shatter cones in the world. In fact, the Smithsonian
Museum displays specimens retrieved directly from the center of the
crater. However, other than a few obscure references, the crater has
been left unstudied since the 1960s. Many uncertainties still remain
about the crater. For one, it has a geologic date of 200 million years
plus or minus 100 million years. This is an extremely huge error
range—one of the largest in the Earth Impact Database—and
provides little certainty about the impact date or environment.
The aim of my research is to improve the constrainment of
the impact age. You may wonder why no one has tried this before.
The problem with dating the Wells Creek Crater is where it impacted.
The impact occurred in sedimentary rock, which is a poor source for
radiometric isotopes used in dating. Some isotopic systems may be present but they are nowhere near as
precise or reliable as the systems usually found in igneous or metamorphic rocks. As a result, the
original researchers of the crater used stratigraphic methods to determine the age. The issue with this is
that the stratigraphy of the impact site has a huge gap in its geologic record. For about 200 million
years, Tennessee was above sea level and during such terrestrial intervals erosion carried away sediment
instead of depositing it to make more sedimentary rocks. In such a case, geologists have little clues
about the environment.
So that is the issue of dating Wells Creek. Thankfully, since the 1960s, geologists better
understand how craters form in different environments and what microscopic clues can help to
determine a crater's age. My research so far focuses on a lot of scientific literature, but eventually I
hope to find a modern analog to compare to Wells Creek. Also, if and once I have money, I hope to test
the crater breccia for enrichments that would indicate the environment in which it formed. For now, I
have no definitive results, but the shape of the crater and the lack of ejecta indicates this crater likely
formed in a terrestrial environment. I am currently attempting to make thin sections of samples taken
from the site, and hopefully they can show me something new and promising.
Otherwise, my project has mostly been a learning experience. I have learned how to use
department equipment we never use in class, and I have gotten a head start on how to apply my
knowledge in the field. The techniques you learn and the mistakes you learn from are probably the most
important things a Scholar can take from the research experience. Even if all fails, and you have to
change your direction or in the worse case, your entire project, there is always something that can be
taken from the experience that will be very helpful in graduate school or the workforce.
similarity index (either Jaccard’s Index or a non-parametric estimator depending upon the distribution of
the data collected). Finally, we will use an ANOVA (or appropriate non-parametric test) to determine
the average number of each species of bats sampled per night in each of the four sampling sites.
The Scholar May 2012 Edition
14 The University of Tennessee at Martin’s University Scholars Organization
Joel Flowers
Gauging the E-service Quality of Online Education
As a graduating senior my time at the University of Tennessee at Martin has been defined by
academic performance. All of my classes have required me to be physically present in the classroom at
least two to three days out of the week. This has been enforced by attendance polices which typically
include a stipulation regarding absences and automatic failure of the class. Personally, it is hard for me
to imagine learning something in any other way than sitting at a desk for an hour, staring towards the
front of the room and listening to a professor speak on a subject. This approach to education has been
ingrained in most students since childhood. But what if that trend was changing in higher education?
What if it was not what you heard from a teacher’s mouth but
rather what you read on a computer screen that became your
learning method? What may be surprising to some is that
online higher education is a growing service in ever
increasing demand by students. The University of Tennessee
at Martin has realized this need for this virtual service and
has accommodated that demand with UT Online. UT Online
is not the first, nor will it be the last, iteration of online
learning for higher education. It is following a trend that is
washing over a majority of the universities, colleges, and
educational institutions in this country.
The online world has grown due to global expansion
of knowledge catalyzed by the founding of the Internet.
Education has gone beyond its previous boundaries due to
the sharing of knowledge via electronic communities and the reduced geographic and temporal
restraints. Other positives include allowing students the opportunity to learn at their own pace and style.
Variables such as time, effort, and money are saved by not having to physically attend class. Online
education also works as a supplement to enhance the education profile of traditional students. For
universities and colleges, this version of distance learning provides learning to students who desire an
education that would not normally have access to traditional facilities. As online education grows, there
will be additional demands placed on the technological systems while there is virtually no demand for
the increased physical space. This new realm of global education has virtually eliminated the
geographical monopolies in higher education.
What is the goal of gauging the e-service quality of online education? It should be to foster
positive changes that enhance the University of Tennessee at Martin’s educational outreach via UT
Online. By formulating a survey that was distributed to UT Online students gauging e-service quality,
perceived value, and loyalty, results will help to improve the online education experience for students.
This will only increase student retention rates and increase positive student referrals to prospective
students looking to enroll at UTM via UT Online.
The University of Tennessee at Martin’s University Scholars Organization 15
The Scholar May 2012 Edition
Joseph Scobey
Mentor: Dr. Ray Witmer
Second Reader: Dr. Richard Helgeson
The Effect of Stitch Bolts on Bolted Timber Connections
My research involves looking at bolted timber connections that are loaded in tension when they
are pulled apart. The bolts want to split the wood at their joints. I am looking at the effects of adding a
bolt designed to resist this splitting. While doing background readings to learn more about timber
connections in general, I found very little research that involves stitch bolts. All the research on stitch
bolts is a subset of other research, never the primary investigation.
Dr. Witmer, Dr. Helgeson, and I built and tested four
preliminary test specimens to practice our data collection
methods and hopefully get data to support our prediction.
Unfortunately, the data was not as conclusive as we had hoped.
We decided that the major source of error in these tests was the
material. Wood naturally is very inconsistent, so by running
experiments with a single sample we get a relatively large
probable error. We are combating this by increasing the number
of specimens in each test and applying several statistical
distributions to analyze the results. Currently, we are fabricating
several specimens for our large scale testing. We spent a large amount of time going through different
configurations to divide our lumber. We finally decided on an arrangement that minimizes the amount
of wood we need for testing. This arrangement calls for a series of our minor tests to be run on the
entire board, as opposed to each test specimen. This not only gives us an average for the minor tests
across the board, but also reduces the amount of wood we need from 180 linear feet down to a little less
than 110 linear feet. Once fabrication is complete, we will begin testing. After that, there will be
mountains of data to sift through, and if everything goes according to plan, a paper to write and submit
for publication to the National Design Specification board.
Paige Mason
Mentor: Dr. John Glass
Second Reader: Dr. Christopher Brown
The Esoteric Gospels and A First-Time Writer’s Experience: A Commentary and Critical
Analysis on Writing the First Draft of The Esoteric Gospels
My project has changed immensely from when it was conceptualized. I was always interested in
approaching the topic of a religious apocalypse and the different ways the world could come to an end,
but when I first brainstormed for the novel, I wanted to not only fictionalize the apocalypse, but also
provide a subtle comparison between Islam and Christianity and highlight the common threads between
the two religions. However, as I became more involved with Catholic-Christian ideology in relation to
the rapture and traditional examples of allegory, the story transformed to focus on a fictionalized
account of the book of Revelation with personified vices and virtues as my main characters.
My first year and a half was spent researching allegory and religious philosophy and writing
The Scholar May 2012 Edition
16 The University of Tennessee at Martin’s University Scholars Organization
“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”
- Mark Twain
three-hundred pages of the novel’s first completed draft. For the research aspect, I read selections of
literature including Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, C.S. Lewis’ science-fiction trilogy and several Chronicles
of Narnia books, and I revisited older, classical allegory
including Pilgrim’s Progress, The Faerie Queene, and the
original morality plays from 15th and 16th century Europe. The
writing process was the most difficult part, especially when
having to maintain strict deadlines. However, I believe it was
through the writing process and my reflections that I learned the
most about my writing style as well as the means through which
I express my thoughts.
The final semester of this two-year process has been
devoted to reflection and analysis of my writing, the novel
itself, and allegory as a genre reliant on symbolism and
metaphor. A First-Time Writer’s Experience: A Commentary
and Critical Analysis on Writing the First Draft of The Esoteric
Gospels is the supplementary author’s note, complete with my
personal reactions and reflections on the process of writing the
novel’s first draft, on what I have learned about myself as a
writer and a person from writing, as well as a more formalized
critical analysis of the first draft’s effectiveness as a piece of
literature. Part of the semester has also been devoted to brainstorming further ideas of improvement as I
go into the rewriting and editing process to prepare the novel for potential publication.
As for the future, this senior project through University Scholars has provided me a firm
foundation in writing experience in order to seek eventual publication both for this novel and other
writing projects. I plan on spending one more year independently editing and rewriting The Esoteric
Gospels, and then I will begin submitting it to publishers. Although I have one and a half more years
here at UTM, I would like to apply to Vanderbilt’s English graduate program once my undergraduate
course work is complete. My ultimate dream would be to be able to return to UTM as an English
professor and be a published author in various genres both in fiction and formal writing.