Theme: Fostering a Community of Student Scholars

Cost: The 2013 conference fee is $200 per person for both students and staff from institutions other than the University of Washington. The $200 covers select conference meals and stewardships. Click here for information on payment.

Registration: The deadline to register is February 25, 2013. Click here to register

There are currently five widely accepted taste primaries, including sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (savory). The purpose of Andrade’s preliminary study was to determine the availability of an effective stimulus in foods for a sixth human primary taste – fatty.  Although previous studies have provided promising evidence that fatty may be another primary taste in humans, a question remains about the stimulus source.  Taste receptors in the oral cavity purportedly bind free fatty acids (FFAs).  However, lipids found in food are primarily in triacylglycerol form.  This study aimed to detect FFAs after human oral processing of almonds as a test food that is high in fat but strongly compartmentalized.  Qualitative and quantitative analyses of FFAs were conducted for three in vivo and three in vitro samples.  Linoleic, oleic, palmitic, and stearic acid concentrations, likely to be sufficient to depolarize taste receptor cells, were found after mechanical processing and expectoration of almonds.  Findings for this study support fatty as a primary taste.  Documentation of free fatty acid taste in humans holds many commercial and health opportunities.

For more information about this research, contact Dr. Rick Mattes, mattes@purdue.edu

Traditionally, the task force picks one student and one community member to honor, but this year the committee chose two students, citing outstanding work.

Mary Jo Hamilton, a member of the task force’s board of directors, said Black keeps literacy and creativity alive for both adults and children. She said Black especially works well with learning-disabled and disadvantaged children.

Hamilton said Black struggled in school when she was a child, which informs Black’s assistance – she said Black wants to help those who are at risk for going through the same learning struggles as she did. Black, who has bachelor’s degrees in interior design and interdisciplinary studies, is pursuing a master’s degree in elementary education curriculum and instruction.

Hamilton said Black gives children a safe learning environment to grow into individuals – “allowing children to have a voice,” she said. “(Black) develops their self-esteem to allow them to take charge of their own lives.”

Black said she doesn’t try for awards, saying it takes the spotlight off of the people she is trying to help.

“I feel if I deserve this, it should be shared with everyone who has ever leant me a hand, because they know what we do together is more important then what one person can do alone,” Black said. Black said her mentors have said the right path is its own reward, and that inequalities need to be challenged before they can be changed.

“I keep to my path and home through teaching to continue making ripples in whatever pond I’m placed in, and be the kind of leader my mentors can be proud of,” Black said.

Tapia-Ortiz is planning on graduating this spring with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish literature and Latin-American studies, along with a minor in history. Hamilton said it is quite amazing how many projects Tapia-Ortiz is involved in.

“He’s really a ball of fire, going in a lot of directions at once,” she said. One area Tapia-Ortiz promotes is the Dream Act, proposed legislation to allow certain undocumented immigrants a path to permanent residency. But he is not just focused on the Dream Act.

“I’m not limited to anything. I try to understand everything around me,” he said.

Tapia-Ortiz has been an intern for the Mexico Solidarity Network, and he’s also a member of the Idaho Community Action Network and the Student Chicano Movement of Aztlan. He has been a guest speaker at a variety of fair-trade conferences and workshops.

Like Black, Tapia-Ortiz said he isn’t too interested in awards, but finds educating people about the suppression of indigenous people and trying to promote cross-cultural understanding to be rewarding.

Written by Seth Edgerton, University of Idaho Argonaut February 01, 2010

Dr. Karen McKinney, Director of the Eastern Washington University’s McNair Scholar Program, spent fall quarter visiting Makerere University in Uganda. While exploring possibilities for collaboration with the university’s women’s studies center, Dr. McKinney became immersed in a world of hope and activism. The women’s studies department was large, with numerous faculty and postgraduate students completing research on various issues concerning women’s rights. Dr. McKinney soon noticed a common thread that ran through the center and the dominant majority of its research – everything was geared towards policy change.

Researchers at Makerere not only wanted to study issues affecting women, particularly in regards to human rights, they overwhelmingly directed their research towards action and policy change at community and governmental levels. This all-encompassing grassroots movement was incredibly refreshing to Dr. McKinney, who had the opportunity to work one-on-one with a number of students and researchers by reading and discussing doctoral research proposals and reports. Two themes were prevalent in the proposals: the need for research to bring about change throughout Uganda and how each respective project is an integral piece of that goal. Further, the research was not only intended to analyze and critique policies and practices, it intended to provide an implementable, pragmatic transformation. Some of the most notable studies were in regards to women’s property rights and women’s ability to get out of abusive relationships. Catalyzing these changes is the increased access to education for women. Government policy in 1997 committed to eradicate illiteracy in both men and women by passing the Universal Primary Education Initiative, which mandated that all children, including women, receive at least an elementary level education. To further enhance gender equity in education, universities are now admitting more women and are working on improved facilities to house them. In a land notorious for its tradition of women being without rights, changes are rapidly occurring, with the women’s studies department of Makerere University leading the way.

The experience was so intense for Dr. McKinney that at the start of the interview, she struggled with where to begin. “It’s hard to explain such a profound experience,” she says. The trip “had the shimmering and depth of diamonds, with both peaks and valleys.”

Dr. McKinney (“Mama Karen” to her scholars at home), stands proudly next to her good friend, Ana Akot , the accountant for the Inter-University Council for East Africa.

Edwin Fonseca, 2008 Eastern graduate and McNair Scholar, was nominated to receive the Northwest Association of Special Programs TRiO Achievers’ award. The award is given to graduates who have benefited significantly from TRiO services and have made an outstanding contribution to their communities. Fonseca, who currently holds Bachelors of Arts in sociology and Spanish, certainly meets this criteria. He started out at Yakima Valley Community College, where he overcame adversity and discrimination with the help of TRiO’s Student Support Services. He went on to EWU, completing groundbreaking research with Dr. Sue Wright on community building and playing an integral part in building Living Learning communities on campus. Fonseca is applying to PhD programs for fall 2009, hoping to help ESL students like himself in the future. We’re certain he’ll succeed and we wish him the best of luck!

MOSCOW, Idaho – Modeling how antibodies, methamphetamine and the human brain interact can be a complicated business. But Sarahi Ramirez persevered; the University of Idaho senior’s research recently earned national honors and affirmed her decision to focus on research.

Born and raised in Mexico, Ramirez moved to Weiser, Idaho, when she was eight. Now a McNair Scholar at the University wholesale nba jerseys of Idaho, she is double majoring in Spanish and psychology while adding a minor in chemical addictions. She recently cheap jerseys China shifted her focus from alcohol and drug counseling to graduate study in psychopharmacology – the study of how drugs interact with the brain and affect behavior.

She recently presented her research that models how certain antibodies can treat methamphetamine addicts at the Sigma Xi Poster Competition. The event was part of the Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference in Washington, D.C. Sigma Xi is a scientific research society founded in 1886 to “honor excellence in scientific investigation and encourage a sense of cheap jerseys companionship and cooperation among researchers in all fields of science and engineering.”

“I never thought about research before this project,” said Ramirez. “I initially wanted to be a counselor, but I’m really enjoying researching and looking up things I’ve never thought about before.”

Ramirez’s research poster won Sigma Xi’s Blue Ribbon Award accompanied by a cash prize. The poster was judged on the scientific content, quality of the poster, and Ramirez’s ability to describe and answer questions related to her research. Only 34 students out of more cheap jerseys than 230 received the award.

Ramirez’s involvement in the research project is due mainly to the McNair Scholars program. The national program seeks to promote graduate school and research to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who demonstrate strong academic potential. It was through the University of Idaho’s McNair program that Ramirez was introduced to Professor Richard Wells, her mentor, as well as helpful committee members Eric Brauns, assistant professor of chemistry and doctoral student Roger Lew.

Under cheap jerseys the tutelage of the trio, Ramirez worked with anti-methamphetamine monoclonal antibodies (anti-METH mAbs), which bind Fotze to methamphetamines and prevent them from entering the brain. These affects have caused researchers to explore using them to reduce METH dependence for addicts. Ramirez’s research involved using equations to model interactions on computer software predicting the effects of Anti-METH mAbs on Outstanding their target drug. The research will help scientists predict the drug’s behavior in future studies.

“I really enjoy trying to fit all the pieces together,” said Ramirez who, besides Wells, recognizes Vicki Trier, director of the McNair Scholarship Program at the University of Idaho, for her experience in the program. “You have this huge puzzle you’re trying to figure out. You work at it for a long time and once you have it done, it’s a big accomplishment.”