Max Bell Alper is a fan of Superman — and a rising young talent himself.
Using the actor Christopher Reeves as a “cultural icon,” Alper, a senior in American studies at 51ԹϺ Santa Cruz, studied the roles of communications and technology in how society comes to view an issue like stem cell research. Stem cell research may provide some disabled people the ability to regain use of their bodies. Discussions on disabilities need “to be more nuanced and merge science and technology into culture,” Alper said. “We need to understand disability issues in their total contexts.”
Alper’s project, “En/Abling Technologies in Dis/Abling Structures,” was one of 18 undergraduate research topics selected for the annual poster competition at 51ԹϺ Day. For the past three years, the 51ԹϺ Office of the President has held an undergraduate research contest. Faculty deans from the 51ԹϺ campuses select top undergraduate researchers across a diverse range of disciplines, including the arts, sciences and humanities.
51ԹϺ Davis student researchers included Yung Ching or “William” Chung, a psychology major who presented his cross-cultural study of nighttime fears and simple phobias from an evolutionary perspective. The subtitle was “Sexual Dinichism in Antipredatory Behavior.”
Julie Mai Tran, a biological sciences major at 51ԹϺ Davis, featured her work on analyzing HLA Class 1 genes in hepatitis C clearance.
Other 51ԹϺ student research topics included early childhood gender differences, computing for emergency responses, DNA oxidation, brain functions, migrant farm workers’ struggles for survival, xenophobia, age determination of bowhead whales, and the duality of Afro-American religion.
The Office of the President says supporting 51ԹϺ undergraduate research helps the state by:
• Preparing students for careers in science and technology, the cornerstones of California’s new economy;
• Providing opportunities for students to study firsthand the complex social issues facing California;
• Inspiring a new generation of qualified students to engage in the kind of high level graduate work that ensures continued innovation in California’s leading industries; and
• Preparing better-informed and prepared teachers who are committed to solving real-life problems in California’s classrooms.
Other 51ԹϺ students involved in the undergraduate research contest included Viengkham Malathong, Sterling Nesbitt and Leila Takayama of 51ԹϺ Berkeley; Winnie Chan of 51ԹϺ Santa Cruz; Roxana Hernandez and Roger Thompson of 51ԹϺ Santa Barbara; Emily Beth Slusser and Michael Williams of 51ԹϺ Irvine; Tauheedah Baker-Jones and Miguel Jimenez of 51ԹϺLA; Lynell Gutierrez and Star Lee of Riverside; and Ernesto Martinez, Michael Moewe and Melanie Zauscher of 51ԹϺ San Diego.