1 2 Table of Contents 4 Kevin Ung, Director of McNair Scholar’s Program Introduction 5 Whit Guthrie, McNair Program Assistant Note from the Editor ARTICLES 6 Inca Collapse to Spanish Conquest Moriah Auker, McNair Scholar Dr. Jason Ward, Faculty Mentor 13 The Correlation of Obesity and its Related Diseases in Comparison to Income in Counties in Tennessee Alanis Burton, McNair Scholar Dr. Ben Christmann, Faculty Mentor 37 Reimagining Figural Interpretation for Contemporary Exegesis: Theory and Practice in the Figure of Rachel Weeping for her Children Grace Anne Cochrane, McNair Scholar Dr. Rickie Moore, Faculty Mentor Dr. Chad Shrock, Faculty Mentor 51 Religion and Emotion Regulation: How Does Being Non-Religious Affect Emotion Regulation? Hope Cummings, McNair Scholar Dr. Bryan D. Poole, Faculty Mentor 63 A Person’s a Person, No Matter How Small Laurel Desmarais, McNair Scholar Dr. Thomas Pope, Faculty Mentor 82 Analyzing Rates of Gas-Phase Reactions Between Hydroxide Radicals and Organic Compounds Alex Gann, McNair Scholar Dr. John Hearn, Faculty Mentor 88 High School Band and Social-Emotional Health: What Students are Saying Ashley Garner, McNair Scholar Dr. Susanne Burgess, Faculty Mentor 111 The Rhetorical Presidency’s Relationship with the Bureaucracy: Bureaucratic Signaling as a Tool for Policy Making Emily Harris, McNair Scholar Dr. Mark Scully, Faculty Mentor 3 117 New World Primates’ Response to Native Predator Vocalization in Captive- Raised Individuals Hunter McKenzie Holmes, McNair Scholar Dr. Thaddeus McRae, Faculty Mentor 127 Effects of Physical and Chemical Factors on HeLa and Melanoma Cell Susceptibility to Irreversible Electroporation (IRE) Alissa Jackson, McNair Scholar Dr. Jonathan Cornett, Faculty Mentor 136 Dining at a French Table: Federalist and Anti-Federalist Invocations of Montesquieu Brandyn Kirby, McNair Scholar Dr. Mark Scully, Faculty Mentor 153 “We Were All Kind of By Ourselves.” Understanding the Challenges Faced by First-Generation College Students in Fentress County Desiree LaPeer, McNair Scholar Dr. Ruthie Wienk, Faculty Mentor 195 Gratitude in the Face of Crisis Heather Mellis, McNair Scholar Dr. Bryan Poole, Faculty Mentor 205 Analysis of the Intrinsic Fluorescence of a Dityrosine Tag in Super-Folder Green Fluorescent Protein (sfGFP) Katherine Moore, McNair Scholar Dr. Brent Ferrell, Faculty Mentor 212 Written Bodies and Minds in Augustine of Hippo and Rufinas of Aquileia Kait Morrison, McNair Scholar Dr. Aaron Johnson, Faculty Mentor 233 Democracy and a Transcendent Good Kelsey Osborne, McNair Scholar Dr. Thomas Pope, Faculty Mentor 239 Uncertain Fermata: Gendered Grieving and Lament During the COVID-19 Pandemic Rivers Owens, McNair Scholar Dr. Arlie Tagayuna, Faculty Mentor 257 The Correlations of Nonprofit Organization Workers and the Demographics of the Community they Serve Maria Pedro Tomas, McNair Scholar Dr. Kathy Estes, Faculty Mentor Dr. Michaelia Black, Faculty Mentor 4 281 Christ as Intercessor and Mediator: A Non-Sacrificial Exploration of Atonement Tyler Price, McNair Scholar Dr. Skip Jenkins, Faculty Mentor 303 Literature Review of Deaf Bilingual-Bicultural Educational Approach Literacy Outcomes and Instructional Practices Kaylen Purks, McNair Scholar Dr. La-Juan Bradford, Faculty Mentor 312 The Effect of COVID-19 on Deaf and Hard of Hearing College Students Kylie Sommer, McNair Scholar Dr. La-Juan Bradford, Faculty Mentor 326 Coral Communities: A Comparative Case Analysis of Non-Profit Conservation Projects Makayla Stadler, McNair Scholar Dr. Ruthie Wienk, Faculty Mentor 340 The City that Never Sleeps: Civil Religion and Poetry in Plato and Aristotle Reese Swistek, McNair Scholar Dr. Thomas Pope, Faculty Mentor 360 PD-L1 Expression of Melanoma Cells Treated with Indole-3-Carbinol (I3C) Hannah Trew, McNair Scholar Dr. Lori West, Faculty Mentor 367 Monodromy Group Proofs Japheth Varlack, McNair Scholar Dr. Richard Moy, Faculty Mentor 375 Coping Methods Utilized by Collegiate Athletes Suffering from Season- Ending Injury. Jacob Wagoner, McNair Scholar Dr. Taz Kicklighter, Faculty Mentor 5 Introduction Kevin Ung, Director of the McNair Scholars Program Lee University The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program is one of eight grant-funded TRIO Programs that prepares students for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities. As the Program Director at Lee University, it is an honor and privilege to serve our scholars as they navigate through their educational journey and discover their scholastic abilities. This journal is a representation of our scholars’ unwavering commitment, focused dedication, and unrelenting pursuit of academic excellence. Please join us as we honor their amazing work by publishing and publicizing their research studies as undergraduate students. Many of the works you see in this journal have been presented at regional and national conferences, with scholars receiving distinguished awards in their fields. With every scholastic achievement, it is improbable without the support and advocacy of several contributors. Through their tireless efforts, the program, the scholars, and our campus supporters have enjoyed stability and continuity. I would like to recognize the support of our President Dr. Mark Walker and the executive cabinet for continuing Lee’s mission to serve TRIO students. I want to recognize our University Provost, Dr. Debbie Murray, in her faithful dedication and advocacy towards academic excellence and faculty support. Our Director of Grants, Vanessa Hammond, casted the vision for the McNair Program at Lee and is a reminder of Lee’s commitment towards excellence. I want to thank each faculty mentor for their dedication to our scholars through the research development, planning, and execution of their studies; the scholars’ work appropriately recognizes these faculty mentors’ contribution. Broadly, I would like to recognize the Council for Opportunities in Education’s (COE) continued advocacy in Washington on behalf of all TRIO Programs. I want to extend my appreciation to McNair Association of Professionals (MAP) colleagues around the country for their assistance in developing best practices and finding innovative solutions to serve scholars. While we are small in numbers, there is strength in community. McNair Scholars, this journal is dedicated to your hard work and commitment to scholarly research. I hope this reminds you of your giftedness and talents when you doubt your abilities. I hope this inspires you when you feel discouraged or have a momentary setback. I hope this motivates you to continue pushing forward when you meet the next obstacle in graduate school. You have a lifetime advocator and supporter in the McNair Team. Sincerely, Dr. Kevin Ung 6 Word from the Editor Whit Guthrie, McNair Program Assistant Lee University When a person can't find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure. -Viktor E. Frankl The quote above is one of my favorite quotes that speaks much to the world we live in. We reside in a world that is filled with distraction and people that are seeking meaning in all the wrong places. After reading the research completed by Lee University McNair Scholars, it is clear that this group is comprised of students that are determined to pursue meaning despite the culture around them. The hard work, time, and effort these students and their faculty mentors put into each research project is evident, and it serves as an encouragement to me that our academic community is one that is calling them to higher standard. The diversity of research in this journal is another beautiful facet of the journal. There is a diversity of topics as well as the background of each student that shines and reveals their uniquely personal passions and pursuits. Each one of our McNair Scholars is gifted and excels in their respective majors, and I am personally excited to see how their academic pursuits will change the world we live in for the better. Over the years, our scholars have been accepted to top graduate institutions around the nation to pursue further education after their undergraduate degree at Lee. It has been a pleasure to interact with these students during my time working with the McNair department at Lee, and they have continuously exceeded my expectations for how hard they are willing to work and how determined they are in their academic pursuits. I am thrilled to see that their work will receive the recognition that it deserves, and I hope that each reader is able to appreciate the effort of our students that went into the creation of this journal. Please enjoy the third volume of the McNair Research Journal. Sincerely, Whit Guthrie 7 McNair Scholars Research Journal _____________________________________________________________ Volume 3 Article 1 _____________________________________________________________ Summer 2020 Inca Collapse to Spanish Conquest Moriah Auker Lee University Under the guidance of Dr. Jason Ward 8 Abstract The Inca Empire of the Peruvian Andes once stood as an impressive example of traditional civilization, remarked by European witnesses to having postured itself technologically and intellectually far ahead of its time. The rapid fall of the empire to Spanish inquisition in 1532 with the execution of Atahuallpa after a short century of imperial rule presents an inquiry of key factors that led to the collapse. This paper serves as an evaluation of 16th century Inca leaders and their initial response to Spanish inquisition in the Andes