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: Transformation; Poem by Checker Marshall from Fall 2012 - Winter 2013 issue of Images.

: Transgender Young Adult Experiences: Shifting Normative Expectations and Experiences; Previous research regarding the transgender experience has indicated there are normative sets of gendered behavior and presentation expectations experienced by transgender individuals in America. While these expectations have been studied in the context of older transgender individuals, little research has been done in reference to the current generation of transgender young adults. Eighty-six transgender young adults participated in an online survey discussing how they understand and experience themselves as transgender individuals and describing their experiences within the transgender community as a whole. Additional interviews were conducted with nine participants to explore their responses in more detail and to investigate issues not adequately addressed in the survey. Analysis of survey and interview data demonstrates the emergence of a wider range of transgender identities and experiences understood by transgender young adults, likely due in part to a shift in societal views about sex and gender.

: Treadmill Versus Elliptical Running Machines and Their Effects on One Mile Race Times; The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of elliptical versus treadmill running machines and their effects on one mile race times. Subjects were apparently healthy individuals with previous history of running, both male and female ages 20-65 years of age. Participants were separated into three sub-groups, assigned a four week exercise program of three times per week for thirty minutes, and were pre and post tested using digital stopwatches to measure time. A one way ANOVA was used to analyze data through Microsoft Excel with a p-value of < or = .05 being significant. Findings showed that there was no statistical significance between subgroups. However, a closer look at the data revealed that while there was no statistical significance, evidence showed there to be a relationship with the hypothesis: Elliptical running machines will decrease one mile race times more than that of the control and treadmill groups. It is suggested that there be additional studies comparing elliptical running machines to treadmills in order to find statistical significances between the two.

: Treating PTSD with EMDR; Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), is a novel but controversial form of treatment that was recently recognized by the American Psychological Association. EMDR is an exposure therapy that enables the individual to access and process traumatic memories to achieve resolution. Founder Francine Shapiro hypothesizes that the endorsement of a saccadic eye movement "desensitizes" the hippocampus by activating both sides side of the brain allowing the trauma to be processed. Empirical data has shown a decrease in hippocampal volume in those diagnosed with PTSD, which may suggest that it has significant negative effects on brain functioning.

: Tribal Governments and Green Economies; The purpose of this project aims to develop an understanding of the strengths and limitations of tribal governments in recent endeavors to establish Green policies and legislation. Particularly, the project aims to look at the implementation of sustainable practices by tribal governments within the Southwestern United States. The targeted case analyses focus on the Navajo Nation and Southern Ute Tribe. In 2009, the Navajo Nation was the first tribe to pass the Navajo Green Commission Act, which aims to build support for small-businesses that strive to localize fair wages and establish self-sufficiency with a strong environmental ethic. In that same year, the Southern Ute Tribe announced the partnership with Solix Biofuels to develop an algae biofuel plant that would create energy needed to supply the larger power grid on a commercial level. In both instances, the federal-Indian relationship is much different and more complex than that of a state; thus there is the potential for stronger Green legislation and practices. Essentially, tribal governments can be pivotal to the development of sound and effective Green economies within the United States and can therefore set a new paradigm for subsequent entities.

: Tó Éá Iiná (Water is Life): The Environmental and Social Impacts of Groundwater Mining from the Navajo-Aquifer in Black Mesa, Arizona; The Navajo Aquifer (N-Aquifer) is an important groundwater source that provides drinking water for the Navajo and Hopi tribes in Black Mesa, Arizona. In 1968, Peabody Western Coal Company, a private sector coal company, began coal strip mining operations using the N-Aquifer. Each year Peabody withdraws 1,200 acre-feet of water from the N-Aquifer and extracts 8 million tons of bituminous coal to fuel the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in Page, Arizona. Electricity generated from NGS is then used to pump 1.6 million acre-feet of Colorado River water through a 333-mile canal system to Phoenix and Tucson. In result to Peabody's industrial withdrawals, the N-Aquifer has dropped 200 to 400 feet. This research is to assess the usage of the N-Aquifer in comparing withdrawal rates between Peabody mine and Navajo-Hopi communities. The study demonstrates that Peabody's industrial withdrawal rates of the N-Aquifer has far exceeded municipal withdrawal rates of the Kayenta Well System and has caused spring discharge rates to decline among natural springs near Hopi villages. In addition, Peabody mine's industrial withdrawal rates surpassed groundwater model predictions used in the mine's impact assessments. Although the depletion of the N-Aquifer is evident through USGS monitoring data and residential observations, the Cumulative Hydrologic Impact Assessment (CHIA) criteria, which is assessed by the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) - fails to resolve, identify, and evaluate current and prospective impacts of material damage among the N-Aquifer because it is dependent on hypothetical computer groundwater model results rather than physical data from groundwater monitoring wells. While 62 percent of the total groundwater withdrawals continue to be used for coal mining activity, it is critical that OSM revises the CHIA criteria that will provide an informative baseline data model and resolution to vertical leakage, spring discharge, and base flow in washes on the Black Mesa basin.

: U/Pb Ages of Detrital Zircons from the Archean Jardine Metasedimentary Sequence; Northern Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; The Wyoming craton is a thick package of Archean rocks, made up of schists, gneisses and igneous intrusions. Because these rocks were formed so long ago, little is known about their specific origins. The Jardine Metasedimentary Sequence (JMS), part of the Wyoming craton, in northwestern Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, consists of schists that exhibit low-grade metamorphism. These schists contain diagnostic metamorphic assemblages including chlorite-biotite in the western portion of the study area, increasing in grade to garnet-andalusite-chlorite-biotite and garnet-staurolite-biotite further to the east (Osborne, et al, 2011). The JMS was likely deposited as a submarine fan in an active continental margin based on sedimentary structures and geochemistry (Thurston, 1986). The JMS was intruded by two major granitic plutons (Hellroaring and Crevice) and a variety of felsic and mafic dikes, sills and stocks. U/Pb dating on detrital zircon from the JMS show an array of zircon ages, with 3.596 (+/- .005) Ga being the oldest, and 2.959 (+/- .007) Ga being the youngest. The age of deposition of the JMS can be constrained to later than 2.959 (+/- .007) Ga, but before the intrusion of the igneous plutons at 2.808 (+/- .010) Ga (Ware, et al, 2011). Provenance for the detrital zircon grains in the JMS might be interpreted as the Archean Pilbara (Australia) and Kaapvall (South Africa) cratons, whose zircons share the same ages as those in the JMS. These detrital zircons support an interpretation that the Wyoming craton was adjacent to the Pilbara and Kaapvaal cratons sometime between 2.9 and 2.8 Ga.

: Uncovering Political Psychology: An Application of Political and Social Psychological Theory as Tied to Partisan Decision Making; Political psychology is the application of psychological theory towards better understanding voting patterns, political discourse, and partisan alignment. While current research in the field applies psychological frameworks to political behavior, research in political psychology seldom incorporates theory and data from the field of political science. Given the relevance of research in political science that illuminates social and cultural trends connected to politics, political psychology's distance from political science is a chief issue that narrows its applied scope. Using an interdisciplinary framework utilizing political psychology and political science, this project seeks to offer a comprehensive investigation of the psychological and political motivations underlying partisan alignment, or specifically why individuals choose to orient themselves with a political party. This analytical approach offers valuable insight into the motivational, cultural, and societal underpinnings of political party alignment and partisan affiliation. Themes that emerge from this analysis highlight the salience of perceived individual inclusion in party outreach and the sense of moral righteousness tied to a partisan platform.

: Understanding Spring Awakening: The Treatment of Adolescents in 19th Century Germany; This research explores how a play written in 1981 is still relevant enough in our world today to have been adapted into a Tony Award-winning stage musical in 2006. Initial research was conducted on the everyday lives of German teenagers, including topics of child-adult relationships, education, and childhood sexuality. By comparing various translations of the original Frank Wedekind script to the modern rock musical adapted by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, the question of relevance is answered, especially in terms of handling sexual education. The second part of this research was the actual application of the information in the rehearsal process and in the outcome of the performance. The use of the folk rock score is used to let the audience into the character's heads and to further the generational gap between the children and adults, highlighting the lack of understanding on either side. The adaptation of Wedekind's play includes issues initially present in the script but also the issues of rape and child abuse.

: Understory Plant Community Dynamics in Three Levels of Sudden Aspen Decline, San Juan Mountains, Colorado; The majority of temperate forest ecosystems are characterized by complex histories of natural and human disturbances. Disturbances when combined tend to have complex effects on landscape and vegetation community dynamics. Disturbances that cause tree mortality generate biological legacies that can drastically alter the species composition of a landscape and ecosystem processes. Sudden Aspen Decline (SAD) is a relatively new phenomenon that has been observed throughout all of North America. Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) has experienced sudden, widespread, and severe dieback and mortality in Colorado starting in 2003. Although the causes of SAD are still being studied, it is hypothesized that the causal factors of SAD include above average ambient air temperature, moisture stress, insufficient nutrient uptake from soil, genotypic variations, poor regeneration, weak root systems, insects, and pathogens. For our study, we sampled understory plant communities in three levels of SAD: low (0-29%), moderate (29.1- 69%) and high (69.1-100%) in order to better understand how changes in aspen forest structure influence understory plant community dynamics. Our study was conducted on the USFS Dolores Ranger District of the San Juan National Forest (SJNF) outside of Mancos, Colorado, where the highest rates of SAD have been recorded. We placed 10 Modified-modified Whittaker (20 X 50m) plots containing four 1m2 sub-plots to quantify understory species richness, diversity, abundance, and frequency in each SAD level. Overall, we found significant differences (Pseudo F= 2.12 p=0.005) in the understory plant communities among the three levels of SAD. Pairwise comparisons illustrated that there were significant differences between low and high SAD stands (p=0.001) and moderate and high SAD stands (p=0.024). There were no significant differences (p=0.31) in understory plant communities between the low and moderate SAD stands. We found indicator species, species that were significantly faithful, for each level of SAD using an Indicator Species Analysis. Latherus leucanthus (IV 73.4, p=0.001), Fragaria virginiana (IV 55.6, p=0.012), Thalictrum fendleri (IV 55, p=0.0158), and Valerian occidentalis (IV 49.4, p=0.0072) were indicator species for low SAD plots. Campanula rotundifolia (IV 41.1, p=0.0440) and Solidago spp. (IV 40, p=0.0214) were indicator species for moderate SAD plots. Achillea lanulosa (IV 59, p 0.0036) was the only indicator species for high SAD stands. Our results show that there are differences in understory plant communities at different SAD levels. Land managers should be aware of plant composition changes when managing aspen stands because of the implications it has on other species' habitats and ecological processes in aspen stands.

: Unlocking the Mystery: Hearing the Whispers of the Mystic Tantric Skull; The purpose of this research is to evaluate the biological features and cultural framework of a human skull identified as Tibetan Tantric skull. Tantric skulls are often associated with a ritual cups or bowls, known as a Kapala. The interpretation of Kapala in Sanskrit means “skull”. Kapalas are cups or bowls fashioned from human skulls and were used in both Hindu and Buddhist Tantra. Most frequently, in Tibet these Kapala cups and bowls were carved or extravagantly ornamented with precious jewels and metals. Biological analysis, including calculation of ancestry using the state-of-the-art computer software for discriminant function analysis of cranial measurements (FORDISC) will be joined with a cultural study of the ornamentation to research the possible origin of this particular skull, which was seized by local law enforcement several years ago and has now been made available to Dr. Mulhern and her students for study. This in-depth case study will be utilized as supporting documentation for future Fort Lewis students learning about this Tantric skull. The case study analysis and assessment includes biological data (age, sex, and biological ancestry), iconography, iconology, workmanship, age of construction, associated evidence, possible association to cult activity, perspective in domestic dwelling of seizure, and greater cultural context

: Unsolicited Advice; Poem by Rachel Seibel from Fall 2012 - Winter 2013 issue of Images.

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