Seniors
Michelle Arcuri, Daniel Ruscitto and Anil Gupta – who are presenting at the
Steinmetz Symposium on Friday – recently shared how they shaped and researched
their topics. They also made presentations at the National Conference on
Undergraduate Research.
They were to be joined by more than 300 fellow students at the 13th
annual Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Symposium on students' creative, scholarly and research achievement on Friday,
May 9, and Saturday, May 10.
More
information and a complete schedule are available at: http://www.union.edu/Steinmetz/
Here
are their accounts:
Arcuri, a senior economics major, “An Economic Analysis of Homelessness in America.” (9 a.m., Olin 307)
Arcuri had worked in a Schenectady homeless shelter last summer. She was
able to draw on that experience to formulate her topic. However, she soon
discovered that formulating her topic and researching it were two very
different stories.
Arcuri
was surprised by the dearth of data, especially economic analyses, regarding
homelessness. She encountered this first for the Schenectady homeless population and found it to hold
true for the national figures as well. The last nationwide homeless count was
conducted by the Census in 1990. But the 1990 figures were so controversial
that the count was not repeated in 2000. She said the controversy swirled
around the “huge disparity” of the West Coast numbers compared to the rest of
the country. Speculation was that the warmer climate and more lenient local
laws regarding the homeless (some municipalities allow the homeless to sleep
overnight on the beaches) might be a factor. However, the controversy was not
found in numbers in Florida and the rest of the Sun Belt states.
Arcuri
discovered some common ground during her research. In the 1960s, the typical
homeless person was a white male in his mid-50s. By the 1980s, however,
homelessness boomed and there was no longer a “typical” homeless profile. Now
every racial group, women, minorities, single mothers, and the mentally ill
swelled the ranks. The average age was the mid-30s. Arcuri found that since the
deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill in the 1970s, there was a shift of
this population from the streets to the prison system. Without a support
system, the mentally ill most often committed crimes and entered the penal
system.
She studied other factors resulting
in homelessness. A cross sectional study revealed that most of the homeless
population can be explained by vacancy rates – the higher vacancy percentage
the lower the homeless rate and vice versa. Variables include employment and
income statistics.
Along
with the economic and sociological factors, Arcuri examined the political
policies regarding homelessness. Most governmental plans are only temporary
solutions, she learned.
Gupta, a biology-sociology major, is
presenting on “Human Experimentation in Nazi Germany, Japan, and the United States – Societal and Ethical Implications.” (9 a.m., Social Sciences 012)
He also is working on an MBA in health
administration. During his studies, he took three bioethics courses and began
to examine the societal and psychological implications of what he was studying.
Gupta contends that the field of
Bioethics evolved from the human medical experiments conducted, most
notoriously, by the Nazis, but also by the Japanese and Americans. In the 1930 and
1940s, Japan conducted medical experiments for 11
years. One of the country's leading military thinkers knew bio-warfare was the
weapon of the future. More than 200,000 Manchurians were killed, either from
the pathogens themselves or to ensure the secret experiments were never
revealed. In return for immunity from war crime prosecution, the Japanese
researchers gave the Americans their findings.
Likewise, in America the infamous Tuskegee syphilis “study” went on from 1932 to
1972. Although penicillin was discovered to be a cure, the drug was withheld
from the poor, black male subjects. And in the 1940s, a number of U.S. governmental and non-governmental
agencies conducted radiation experiments on unknowing and vulnerable civilian
populations.
Gupta sets forth his theory that if
identical political, societal, and psychological elements existed today, such
heinous experiments could be carried out with impunity. A government that keeps
secrets, fosters racist overtones, and maintains a strong military, he says, is
an ideal environment for this type of activity.
He did the bulk of his research in
reading old books, periodicals, journals, and newspapers. Gupta also
interviewed a medical historian at Yale and other academics.
So
how could trained physicians who swore the Hippocratic Oath be involved in such
work? Gupta explained that these individuals had become desensitized by their
social/political environment. What is considered acceptable, he said, is based
on environment. In reading interviews with these doctors, some of them written
decades after the fact, many of them still believed they had done nothing
wrong. So strong, said Gupta, is the influence of the prevailing society that
shapes such people.
Ruscitto, a geology major, is presenting on
“Geochemical Analysis and Speculation Upon the Origins of Mineral Waters in Saratoga Springs, New York.”
Ruscitto
discovered that the renowned Saratoga springs are indeed unique. They are cold
springs, which are rare in this part of the world. He conducted his research
for nearly a year, collecting field samples, running tests, and referring to
previously published literature.
He
explained that the springs are relatively a “new” discovery, although area
Native Americas used them from time immemorial.
The genesis of the springs is probably a “two-end member mixing,” – that is, a
mixture of deep carbonated saline water and rain water. The saline portion most
likely travels north along a fault system with its origin possibly in eastern Pennsylvania or the Catskills. Originally geologists
thought the fresh water was recharged in an aquifer a few kilometers west of
the springs. Ruscitto's research indicates that the rain water simply
percolates down through fractures in the layers and doesn't travel far. The
springs have an artesian component because the water is confined between two
impermeable layers and is forced up to the surface. Ruscitto said that the
water's high magnesium content probably makes it an effective laxative.
He
enjoyed the scientific process and going through all the steps during his
research. His plans include graduate work at the University of Minnesota and a future in the mining industry. He
is particularly interested in mineral deposits.
His
poster will be on display Friday and Saturday in the second-floor gallery of
the Arts Building.