47 Seconds

47 Seconds is a fictional story focusing on police shooting between a white officer and black victim. It is meant to mirror current events but is not based on any particular one. The purpose of this story is to illustrate how these tragic events affect the lives of everyone involved. It offers possible reasons for why an officer may shoot a suspect. The intent of the story is to prompt the reader into giving more consideration to those reasons before passing judgement. The idea came from an assignment to write a short story with relevance to current culture or events. I wanted a familiar topic that would resonate with readers. While most would not have personal experience with a police shooting, they would be aware of them. Before I began, I looked at some of the most visible examples of police shootings and considered why they received so much attention. The ones that garnered the most scrutiny often involved a black suspect and white officer. Shootings such as Terence Crutcher of Tulsa, William Chapman of Portsmouth, and Sylville Smith of Milwaukee served as grim inspiration for this piece. Each situation varied greatly but the outcome was the same. Race seemed to be an important factor relating to the attention these shootings received. For that reason I considered several different roles and narrative arcs involving race. Initially, I considered a black officer and white victim to show the inverse of the idea that black suspects are much more likely to be shot than white suspects. It felt less impactful and relevant because whites are not perceived as being discriminated against. An event mirroring current issues carried more weight. Using the inverse of the current events, a black officer and white victim, felt like I was trying to promote the idea that these shootings happen to everyone and aren’t an issue. That wasn’t what I wanted to convey and seemed likely to alienate and further polarize readers. By choosing details mirroring current events and then showing that event from a different angle, I hoped to lessen the divide and inspire more understanding in the reader. I wanted to show the weight of taking a life, regardless of race. The fatal encounter was left until the latter portion of the story to keep the focus on the officer instead of the shooting. The focus is often on the person who is shot and the person who pulled the trigger is viewed as a perpetrator. I wanted to illuminate how convoluted the idea of the victim actually is in these situations. It isn’t meant to detract from the tragedy of these events but amplify it. Most officers don’t want to take a life anymore than someone wants to lose theirs. The outcome of these situations can be hard to comprehend. When race is involved, it can become an easy scapegoat. I wanted this story to convey that idea and show how tragic these events can truly be for everyone involved.http://opus.ipfw.edu/stu_symp2017/1014/thumbnail.jp

Adopt-a-Bow

Although 29% of fertility treatments resulted in a live birth in 2013, the cost, emotional stress, and physical toll is enough to have couples searching for an alternative option. Adoption is expensive, but it is a fraction of the cost of fertility treatments, without the physical toll on a woman’s body, and allows couples become parents. Through my research and project, I will examine the options of adoption and educate the viewer on the benefits and expenses that adoption has for interested people. The research for this project centered heavily on the rules and intricacies for couples wishing to adopt, as well as the expenses involved. I explored some of the laws and regulations that are in place regarding adoption to help educate the viewer on this issue. This information will be demonstrated in my poster to visually showcase my findings. Through this process I discovered that there is a large financial burden on couples wishing to adopt. To assist with the high cost of adopting, I have created a not for profit organization that helps relieve the financial stress on adopting parents. Funds raised through my Adopt-a-Bow organization will be donated to couples in need. The products created through my organization will be sold and funds raised will be given to couples who demonstrate a financial need and a desire to adopt.http://opus.ipfw.edu/stu_symp2017/1040/thumbnail.jp

Children of Cienfuegos

I am going to be documenting through photography, the lives of the people of Cienfuegos, located in the Dominican Republic. This is an area within the Dominican that has poor housing, few paying jobs and extremely poor living conditions. The people of Cienfuegos are considered squatters on land that they do not own. This is true even if they have built a house to live in. The area is so poor and destitute that people essentially find a small area of land and construct a very basic house to provide shelter. It is an area adjacent to the city of Santiago’s trash dump. This creates conditions in which many people living in the area, roam the dump for food, toys, and daily needs. These conditions have caused respiratory and gastric problems among many of the people here and is an unsuitable place for any human being to live. I will be traveling to Cienfuegos for a week and performing research on these people and how their life is different than ours. I will also be taking photos in order to observe more fully and share the people of Cienfuegos’ way of life. After research, I will be comparing and contrasting their way of life with our life here in the US, as well as researching new ways to help these people change their life. My hope is that I can bring to light a very serious humanitarian crisis that is not very well know here in the United States

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Opus by the Numbers: 2016 Statistical Report

Opus: Research and Creativity at IPFW supports the university’s academic mission to raise its national and international profile through open access to the academic and creative accomplishments of IPFW faculty and students

American Dream: Inclusion by Ethnicity and Family

Holly Jean Holland is studying Secondary Education with a concentration in Social Studies and a minor concentration in Psychology, Government and Citizenship, and a minor in TENOL here at IPFW. She is a first generation college student and part of the 21st Century Scholarship program. This is her first time presenting at the Annual Undergraduate History Conference. Holly was selected for the Bahrom International Exchange Program with Seoul Woman’s University and studied in Korea for a month in the Summer of 2016. Her historic interests consist of a wide variety of topics, including 19th and 20th–century American History, Korean history and development, Native American history after Jackson’s Removal, and the history of revolutions and warfare. After graduating Holly plans to teach English in South Korea for a number of years before returning to America to teach Native American children and engage in politics to further America’s Education

Biochemical Characterization of a Mycobacterial Acyltransferase Involved in the Metabolism of Long-Chain Fatty Acids

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