A.  Tandem Mass Spectrometry as a Rapid Technique for Determination of the Pungency of Hot Foods.
     Ana Alcaraz, Department of Chemistry, Southwestern University.
     Mentors:  Dr. Athula Attygalle and Dr. Jarrold Meinwald, Cornell University.

     The pungent properties of chili peppers are attributed to a group of compounds called capsaicinoids.  These compounds are found mostly in the pepper's placenta, the white part inside the pepper to which the seeds are attached.  The two major capsaicinoids are capsaicin (N-[(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) methyl]-8-methyl-E-6-nonenamide) and dihydrocapsaicin (N-[(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) methyl]-8-methyl-6-nonanamide).  Capsaicinoids are not water-soluble but dissolve easily in oils, alcohols, and fats.
     The traditional method of determining "hotness" of chili peppers and food preparations is by tasting.  A panel of trained tasters test water-diluted hot sauces to determine the amount of dilution necessary to make the pungency undetectable.  Pharmacist Wilbur Scoville assigned each hot sauce, or pepper, a number based on the dilution tests and expressed it as a scale called the Scoville Organoleptic Scale.  The heat levels of the peppers vary widely, from 0 heat units for green bell peppers to about 500,000 heat units for the hottest habanero pepper known.
     High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) has been employed as a more accurate method of determining pepper pungency.  The capsaicinoids are extracted from a variety of peppers and food preparations, a process that takes about four hours, and then the extracts are analyzed by HPLC, which requires another one hour.
     This project looks at Tandem Mass Spectrometry (MS/MS) as a more rapid and accurate technique for determining the pungency of different peppers.  Although the extraction time remained the same, the analysis time could be reduced dramatically.  Analysis by the MS/MS method requires only about two minutes per sample.

B.  Costume Design & Research in preparation for Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez.
     Yesenia Garcia, Departments of Communication and Theater, Southwestern University.

     Studying and understanding stereotypes was a must in preparation for Los Vendidos – "The Sellouts" – by Luis Valdez.  In its brief sketch of Honest Sancho's Used Mexican Lot, the play dramatizes a range of stereotypes applied by Anglo Culture (represented by the Anglicized Mexican-American, Miss JIM-enez) to the Chicano experience: Farm Workers, Johnny Pachuco, the Revolucionario, and the "new Mexican-American" yuppie. Research consisted of collecting images and observing the culture, people, and physical environment of South Texas.  This face-to-face contact helped to humanize the production, making the characters and story more tangible for audiences.  The colors and images I used in constructing the costumes and set, as well as the direction given to the actors, was crucial in creating a world that works at the border between two cultures, where stereotypes run rampant and appearances are not always what they seem.

C.  Exploring the Experience of African-American Students on a Predominately White Campus: Focusing on Racial
     Identity Attitudes, Mental Well-Being, and School Involvement.
     Crystal Guillory, Department of Psychology, Southwestern University.
     Mentor:  Dr. Jacqueline Muir-Broaddus, Southwestern University.

     My presentation will cover the experiences of African-American students on predominately white campuses, with a focus on mental well-being, racial identity attitudes, and school involvement.  This presentation will explore how all of these items are interconnected and how this affects the African-American student while on a predominately white campus.

D.  A Study of Optimal Color Combinations for Web-based Interfaces.
     Leigh Lambert, Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, Southwestern University.
     Collaborator:  Sarah Peterson, Southwestern University.
     Mentor:  Dr. Barbara Owens, Southwestern University.

     Color combinations used to display textual information on web pages can affect user performance. To study these effects, participants were presented with a web-based reading comprehension task in 1 of 3 color combinations (blue background with white text, black background with magenta text, or grey background with black text) and their response times and accuracy rates were recorded. Participants were male and female volunteers from a small university campus. Results indicate that the differences in reading times approached significance, with the grey background and black text combination producing longer reading times. Also, the differences in accuracy levels approached significance, with the grey background and black text combination resulting in the fewest correct answers. Results from this study could be used to design web pages and products such as software targeted for specific age groups based on which color combinations are most effective for the group.

E.  Pottery of Choma.
     Amy Tims, Departments of Classics and History, Southwestern University.

     “Pottery of Choma" is an examination of the pottery from the Choma excavation in Elmali, Turkey.  During the 2001 season, Tims and Andersen catalogued and examined sherds from the current and previous excavations, with a focus on red and black bichrome wares.  A preliminary relative chronology of the bichrome pottery at the excavation has been established.  After the end of the excavation season, comparable pottery wares, comparanda, were sought from sites in western Turkey.  However, the search was inconclusive, leading to the conclusion that ceramic influence came from the East.

F.  Designing Illusions:  The Creation of Characters.
     Laura Wilson, Department of Theater, Southwestern University.

     In designing the costumes for the Theater Department's production of “The Illusion”, an overriding sense of playfulness was essential.  The characters in this play are each distinct in their desires and personalities, and I designed their costumes to reflect such nuances.  Four of the actors in the cast played three different characters; in designing these characters, a thread of resemblance ran through the actors’ three characters.  The playwright, Tony Kushner, toys with the notions of metatheater and timelessness throughout the play, therefore the costumes were subtly theatrical and basically true to the period(s) in which the play is set – but with delicate anachronistic touches.