2010 - Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

The Sexualized African American Woman
Abie Irabor, Media and Cultural Studies
Mentor: Caroline Tushabe
Department of Women‘s Studies
This paper examines how the over sexualization
of African American women in the media
further marginalizes them in society. African
American women have been portrayed in music
videos, movies and even advertisement
magazines as sexual beasts and women without
sexual control. Given the historical construction
of African American bodies, African American
communities and individuals have, since the
Civil Rights Movement, made great strides in
society to create a positive image of their
communities, individual selves and work ethics.
However, there are persistent negative images of
African American women which lead one to ask:
―How much voice and decision-making power
do African American women who participate in
the industry have about their images in the
entertainment industry?‖ What factors or what
steps can African American women in the entertainment
industry deploy to put an end to the
negative portrayal of African American
women‘s bodies as sex objects? What analytical
and theoretical processes can bring the African
American woman out of invisibility within
society‘s margins to that of self-making, power,
and free persons? Does the responsibility lie
with only African American women or community,
or the whole of society? My goal is to
analyze rap music videos, movies and magazines
to illuminate the relations between mainstream
conditions of conformity to masculinity and
femininity and the sexual exploitation of African
American women in the media and their
marginalization in society.
Photochemical Disinfection of Pathogens:
Role of Bacterial Extracellular
Polymeric Substances (EPS) Coverage
Parham Javadinajjar, Chemical Engineering
Contributor: Amy Gong
Mentor: Sharon L. Walker, Department of
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
This project is intended to determine the effects
of natural constituents present in agricultural
run-off waters and the effect of extracellular
polymeric substances (EPS) found on E. coli on
sunlit photochemical disinfection of waterborne
pathogens, which can have health and
environmental risks. A series of batch scale
experiments were completed or still in progress
to validate the effect of nitrate as reactive
oxygen species (ROS) producer, specifically
hydroxyl radicals (•OH), and the role of EPS. E.
coli in mid-exponential growth phase with
varying levels of EPS, removed by ultra
sonication, were then placed in either a dark
environment or under a solar simulator (450 W
xenon lamp and 305nm cut-on filter), which
allows wavelength over 305nm to penetrate in
the solutions with several different
concentrations of nitrate. The survival rate of
the bacteria was determined microscopically
every 15 minutes using a Live/Dead BacLight
Bacterial Viability kit. Time versus survival rate
was plotted for each experiment. Current results
from bacteria with different EPS level in dark
and light control, and in nitrate solutions,
suggested that both nitrate and disruption of EPS
increase the rate of disinfection. Cells which
have been exposed to more intense sonication
have a larger proportion of EPS removed which
corresponds to a higher rate of die off in the
presence of nitrate. Conversely, the slower rate
of die-off in the presence of more EPS suggests
that it protects the bacteria from ROS or have
scavenging ability. More experiment will be
conducted in the presence of dissolved organic
matter (DOM) solution in the future, and it is
anticipated that more visible light will be
absorbed with DOM but less ROS formed than
in the presence nitrate. The influence of EPS
level on the bactericidal activity and their
interactions with other ROS (such as O 2 , H 2 O 2 ,
O •- 2 ) will also be investigated.
Fourth Annual UCR Symposium for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity
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