2010 - Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

and music therapy, school and teacher support
for grieving children, and other types of
treatment for grief.
Lead Regulation: Arresting the Painting
Pandemic
Life Histories of Fish in the Subgenus
Mollenesia
Nicole Tarui, Biology
Mentors: David Reznick , Mark Springer
Department of Biology
Suzy Taroyan, Political Science/Law and
Society
Mentors: Carl Cranor
Department of Philosophy
Juliann E. Allison
Department of Political Science
Lead poisoning has become a global issue
threatening the lives of innocent children and
adults even at relatively low amounts of
exposure. Lead exposure can cause permanent
damage by affecting every organ in the human
body. This fatal exposure is occurring in
developed countries and acutely occurring in
developing countries due to the increased
globalization of trade. Lead toxicity remains a
major public health issue although its deadly
consequences are entirely preventable. Lead
poisoning occurs not only in the workplace but
also in homes and in the natural environment.
With this in mind I ask - what steps have the
United States and other nations taken to prevent
lead poisoning? What are the primary bases for
the development and implementation of
environmental laws in the United States as well
as abroad? I draw on current research illustrating
the harmful adverse affects of lead poisoning
and preventative policies to propose that the
only approach to reduce and eliminate lead
toxicity is through international law. External
pressures will oblige developing countries to
enforce stringent regulations and bans which
will ensure universal uniformity. I then conduct
an extensive case study of China as well as subcase
studies of India and Nigeria. I conclude that
international laws and organizations such as the
OECD Declaration on Lead Risk Reduction will
compel developing countries to regulate lead by
using sanctions and penalties. By strengthening
and enforcing regulations in developing nations,
exposure to lead will drastically decrease in the
workplace and the environment, saving
thousands from premature death and permanent
disabilities.
As part of a comprehensive study of the
evolution of the placenta in the livebearing fish
family Poeciliidae, three of the four subgenera
of the genus Poecilia, including Limia,
Pamphoricthys and Micropoecilia have been
observed in the lab to obtain life history data.
This life history information that is collected
includes age of maturation in both males and
females, the number of offspring produced, and
the intervals at which this occurs. These factors
are all essential to characterize the life history
and piece together the association between the
evolution of the placenta and other features of
the life history. The placenta is a multifaceted
organ essential to the development of fetuses in
some of these species. As in the other branches
of the family Poeciliidae, the placenta has
evolved within the genus Poecilia, in the
subgenera Micropoecilia and Pamphorichthys.
To complete this compilation of life histories to
better understand this evolutionary process, we
have characterized the life histories of species in
Mollienesia, the fourth subgenus of Poecilia.
Using a common garden 5-gallon experiment,
seven species of the subgenus Mollienesia will
be observed to find detailed facts of their life
histories. Detailing these patterns are all clues
necessary in providing insight into the
contributing factors of the evolution of life
histories in this genus and the family
Poeciliidae.
Identifying Society's Vermin: Franz Kafka's
Critique of Modernity in "The
Metamorphosis"
Adam Toth, Comparative Literature
Mentor: Sabine Doran
Department of Comparative Literature
I want to examine Franz Kafka‘s ―The
Metamorphosis‖ in its original German text to
extrapolate exactly what it is Gregor Samsa
transformed into. While Gregor Samsa may not
Fourth Annual UCR Symposium for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity
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