UNIVERSITY PANEL FUNDS RESEARCH PROPOSALS

Fourteen faculty research proposals have received funding for the fall 1991 semester from the Grants and Research Funding Committee at Southeast Missouri State University.

The committee's goal is to encourage scientific and humanistic research, and literary or artistic projects related to academic or professional disciplines.

The largest award, $5,982, went to Leslee Pollina, instructor of psychology, and Gail Overbey, assistant professor of psychology, elementary and special education, and secondary education, for a proposal titled "Transmission of Family Values." The goal of the study is to address the views that adolescents have about their parents' roles and to further explore the relationship between emotional autonomy and attachment in adolescence.

Edwin Smith, professor of art, was awarded $4,805 for his proposal titled "Studying Teaching Methods, Curriculum and Visual Symbols in Children's Art Work in the Elementary Schools of Hong Kong and Japan." Smith will research children's creation of visual symbols in the elementary schools of Hong Kong and Japan. He also will observe methods of teaching art to children and will collect visual symbols from six-, eight-, and 10-year-old students. The study will culminate in an exhibition of children's visual symbols from various cultures, lectures and a publication to report the findings.

Walt Lilly, associate professor of biology, received $4,250 for his proposal titled "Molecular Biology of the Proteolytic System of Schizophyllum Commune." Lilly will isolate and sequence genes involved in the production of enzymes that digest proteins used in the enzymatic breakdown of the older vegetative part of a fungus, and that recycle nutrients to younger portions of fungal colonies.

J. Christopher Schnell, professor of history, was awarded $4,121 for his proposal titled "The New Deal in Missouri, 1933-1940." Schnell will visit the Roosevelt Presidential Library, the Columbia University Oral History Project, the National Archives, the Federal Records Center, the State Historical Society of Missouri, and the Missouri Historical Society to research the effects of the New Deal in Missouri from 1933 to 1940. This research will contribute to completion of a book on the New Deal.

David Ritter, assistant professor of chemistry, received $2,913 for his proposal titled "Gas-Phase Reaction Kinetics of Multiply-Charged Transition-Metal Ions. Phase II: Metal Vapor Arc Source." Ritter will describe an apparatus for the study of multiply-charged transition-metal positively charged ions and will assemble them from commercial and homemade components. Ritter hopes the study will open up a new area of ion-molecule chemistry.

Gary Cwick, assistant professor of earth science, was awarded $2,888 for his proposal titled "Assessment of Forest Successional Growth in the Mark Twain Forest of Southeast Missouri Using Landsat TM Multispectral Data." Cwick will use part of the Mark Twain National Forest near Poplar Bluff, Mo., as a test site to assess the feasibility of using remote sensing techniques to determine the effects of logging on tree successional growth.

Deborah Wooldridge, assistant professor of human environmental studies and secondary education, received $2,746 for her proposal titled "Twenty-first Century Issues and Curriculum Planning: A Delphi Study." She will compare differences in issues identified by secondary principals and counselors, and vocational home economics teachers in Missouri.

Demetrius Karathanos, professor of management, and Ike Ehie, assistant professor of management, were awarded $2,370 for their proposal titled "A Multi-Objective Approach to Business Faculty Evaluation." They plan to determine the relative weights that business schools will assign under the new accreditation standards to the three factors of instructional responsibilities, intellectual contributions and services. They plan to use several groups of schools to make these comparisons.

Alan Journet, professor of biology, received $1,750 for his proposal titled "A Study of the Distribution, Density, and Habitat Use of Three Primate Species in the Tropical Forest of Northwestern Costa Rica." Their goal is to investigate the distribution, density and habitat requirements of three primate species in an unstudied area of Costa Rica. That area is the tropical forest of newly created Guanacaste National Park occupying the lower slopes of Volcan Orosi in northwestern Costa Rica.

Michael Delgado, assistant professor of biology, was awarded $1,605 for his proposal titled "Developmental Potential of the Bor II Amphibian Cell Line." Delgado will develop serum-free culture conditions for the cell line and will investigate the developmental potential of the cells.

Nolan Porterfield, professor of English, received $1,272 for his proposal titled "A Biography of John A. Lomax, Tentatively Entitled Last Cavalier: The Life and Times of John Lomax (1867-1948)." The purpose of the project is to produce a full and detailed biography of Lomax, a pioneer American folklorist, businessman and influential educator.

Porterfield plans to study Lomax's published and unpublished work, correspondence and other documents. He also will consult with scholars and experts in folklore, comparative literature, American studies and related fields.

Paul Cherulnik, assistant professor of psychology, was awarded $1,079 for his proposal titled "Research in Social Cognition." Cherulnik plans to study how physical appearance affects the perceptions of ethnic group members and how those perceptions affect social judgments.

Janet Weber, instructor of nursing, received $900 for her proposal titled "Effectiveness of Gaming-Simulation Strategy for Teaching Nursing Diagnosis Skills." She plans to determine the effectiveness of a gaming simulation titled "name the nursing diagnosis" as a strategy for teaching nursing diagnostic skills.

Mack Wilson, associate professor of agriculture, was awarded $806 for his proposal titled "Influence of Synthetic Mulches and Vispore Row Cover on Earliness and Yield of Watermelon and Broccoli." Wilson plans to use four synthetic mulch systems and Vispore row covers to determine if the mulches and row cover of watermelon and broccoli will enhance early yield and increase overall yield.