University of Wyoming McNair Scholars Research Journal 2011-2012 Volume 17 Table of Contents The McNair Scholars Program ...................................................................................................................... 3 Ronald Ervin McNair: .................................................................................................................................... 5 Melvin Authur ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Scott Cheney ............................................................................................................................................... 33 Cameron Finley ........................................................................................................................................... 71 Nathan Fletcher .......................................................................................................................................... 84 Joshua Heyer ............................................................................................................................................... 92 Kimberli Ogg .............................................................................................................................................. 110 Laurie Petric .............................................................................................................................................. 124 Kevin Schilling ........................................................................................................................................... 137 McNair Scholars Research Journal 2011-2012 Volume 17 McNair Program Staff Zackie S. Salmon: Project Director Susan J. Stoddard: Assistant Director Pilar Flores: Director, Student Educational Opportunity This McNair Journal is the official journal of the Ronald E. McNair Post- Baccalaureate Achievement Program at the University of Wyoming. The University of Wyoming’s McNair Scholars Program is 100% federally funded by the U.S. Department of Education at $288,000 annually. The UW McNair Journal is published annually. Manuscripts and abstracts are accepted from McNair Scholars participating in the program at the University of Wyoming. Zackie S. Salmon Director, McNair Scholars, University of Wyoming Dept. 3808 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071 (307) 766-6189 (307) 766-3073 TTY (307) 7664010 Fax 2 | P a g e The McNair Scholars Program Background The University of Wyoming McNair Scholars Program was established in September 1992 and is one of the only 150 programs in the nation. The University of Wyoming and the United States Department of Education jointly support the program named for an accomplished scholar of physics and an astronaut on the Challenger space shuttle, Ronald E. McNair. Prospective scholars represent a wide range of disciplines. These students share the common desire to pursue graduate studies, attain the doctorate, and join the ranks of the next generation of faculty members. Program Components The McNair Scholars Program provides exciting opportunities for undergraduate students at the junior and senior levels to prepare for acceptance into quality graduate programs of their choice. Program participants are provided services in academic skills, individual counseling support, and funded summer research internships. During the academic year a series of seminars provides information on graduate school financial aid, research skills and technical writing, the graduate school admission process, graduate school entrance exams, portfolio preparation, and more. Student concerns in financial, personal, and academic realms are addressed through individual counseling support services. Finally, the program offers participants site and mentors, provide workshops on research skills, help with report preparation, and assist as otherwise needed on an individual basis. At completion of the internship experience, McNair Scholars make formal presentations of their research to faculty and peers at the McNair Scholars Conference and submit papers summarizing their work. Opportunities to attend national research and graduate recruitment conferences and visits to other graduate campuses are encouraged and provided. Funded Internships Research internships are offered to those Scholars who have earned at least 60 credits by the beginning of the internship period. Stipends for internships are awarded for an eight week summer session. During the eight week internship, students work 40 hours per week under the supervision of a faculty mentor and a graduate student advisor. Students seeking involvement submit an internship application to the program. 3 | P a g e Eligibility and Selection First generation students (neither parent has received a bachelor’s degree) and income eligible Or Black (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian and Native American Pacific Islander Have at least 50 credit hours Meet GPA requirements U.S. Citizen or permanent U.S. resident Committed to attaining their Ph.D. Prospective participants are encouraged to contact the project staff for information and application materials at any time during the year. Participants are selected from undergraduate applications attending the University of Wyoming on the Laramie campus. Participation in the program is limited to 33 students. Forward As the McNair staff has grown in experience over the years, so have the faculty, graduate students, and McNair interns. Each year I am struck by the increased level of sophistication I see in both the projects and the presentations, oral and written. This continuous improvement can be attributed to the hard work and dedication of the McNair Scholars, and the faculty members and graduate students without whose help their success would have been impossible. One of the greatest joys of being a McNair staff member is the opportunity to work with such terrific colleagues as the students, faculty members, and graduate students represented in this journal. The McNair Scholars featured in this journal can be rightfully proud of what they have achieved. We wish them well and look forward to the great things they will achieve. Zackie Salmon, Director UW McNair Scholars Program Spring 2011 4 | P a g e Ronald Ervin McNair: The Man with a Mission Ronald E. McNair, the second African American to fly in space, was born on October 21, 1950 in Lake City, South Carolina. While in junior high school, Ronald McNair was inspired by a teacher who recognized his science potential and believed in him. He graduated as valedictorian from Carver High School in 1967. In 1971, he received his Bachelor’s Degree Magna Cum Laude in Physics from North Carolina A & T State University (Greensboro). In 1976, at the age of 26, McNair earned a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). While working with the Hughes Research Laboratory as a staff physicist, McNair soon became an acknowledged expert in laser physics. NASA selected him for the 1978 space shuttle program and in 1984, McNair became the mission specialist aboard the flight of the shuttle Challenger. In addition, he received three honorary doctorate degrees as well as numerous fellowships and commendations. Dr. McNair’s life ended tragically on January 28, 1986 when the Challenger space shuttle exploded and crashed into the ocean, taking the lives of six other astronauts. After his death, Congress approved funding for the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program, which is dedicated to the support and promotion of the high standard achievement exemplified by McNair. The University of Wyoming McNair Scholars Program is dedicated to preserving his legacy of scholarship and accomplishments. 5 | P a g e McNair Scholars Research Papers 2011-2012 6 | P a g e Melvin Authur Mentor: Dr. Caskey Russell Major: Social Work Research Topic: Complacency Over Land Boundaries on the Wind River Indian Reservation: A View of Inter-Tribal Relations and Reparations through Community Lenses Currently American Indian Reservations and the indigenous occupants thereof are subordinate nations as products of their governmental discourse. Their environments have been created by the unfathomable mindset of the political decision makers, both contemporary and historical (Oxford University Press, 2008). On the Wind River Indian Reservation in the state of Wyoming there exists a complacency among tribal members that has the potential for a great loss of tribal property. The Wind River Indian Reservation is home to more than 12,000 enrolled Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribal members. The Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes are federally recognized tribes and have active treaties with the United States of America. The Shoshone Tribe was the first tribe to be granted a reservation along with the Bannocks in the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1864; Chief Washakie solicited for and was subsequently granted permission to choose the geographical location of the reservation that would ultimately become the Wind River Indian Reservation. At Fort Washakie, or Camp Brown as it was known in 1876, gold miners and hostile Plains Indians vied for 7 | P a g e control of the picturesque mountains and desert plated paradise. In the government’s perfectly flawed conduct with indigenous leaders, decisions were made to undermine America Indian property rights. This flawed conduct occurred simultaneously with a severe blizzard that pummeled