UMW Students Present at Research and Creativity Day

• UMW Press Release:

Nearly 100 students from the University of Mary Washington presented research findings at the Fifth Annual Research and Creativity Day on the Fredericksburg campus in April. Students, who represented 28 areas of study, showcased their research about topics ranging from the plight of women in Afghanistan to the effect of acid mine drainage on sediments and soils of Contrary Creek, Va.

Senior business administration major Aaron Chandler focused on “Why Banks Fail: An Analysis of the Total Capital Ratio and the Bank Failure.”

“This means that requiring banks to set aside more capital to cover risks translates to a more stable financial system and economy,” said Chandler, who also presented his findings at the Economic Scholars Program Conference at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank in Texas earlier this spring.

Chandler, a Fredericksburg resident, became interested in studying banking industry capital regulation following the 2007 Financial Crisis. During his research, he conducted a literature review, developed his own model of bank failures, collected data, and estimated his model to test his hypothesis that capital ratios affect the probability of bank failure.

The research examined how effective banks keep from failing by setting aside additional money relative to their risk. The more money banks set aside relative to the uncertainty of their assets, the lower the number of bank failures is per year, said Chandler.

“This means that requiring banks to set aside more capital to cover risks translates to a more stable financial system and economy,” said Chandler, who also presented his findings at the Economic Scholars Program Conference at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank in Texas earlier this spring.

Chandler became interested in studying banking industry capital regulation following the 2007 Financial Crisis. During his research, he conducted a literature review, developed his own theory for why banks fail, identified the assumptions necessary to make his theory true and collected data to test his assumptions. 

 “Understanding the relationship between contributors of bank failure risk and mitigators of that risk enables bank regulators to more effectively achieve their very tricky aim of balancing the interests of the general economy with those of banks,” said Chandler. “Achieving that balance promotes a stable and prosperous economy.”

Senior Anum Shaikh’s project, “Effects of Combined Vitamin E and C Treatment on Plaque Formation in Alzheimer's disease,” focused on whether treatments of the vitamins can effectively reduce the plaque protein and inflammation associated with brains affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

In her experiment, Shaikh divided double transgenic mice, which received mutations to create Alzheimer’s associated plaques, into three experimental groups and one control group. Over 34 weeks, the mice received Vitamin E, Vitamin C or a combination of the two through their drinking water.

After 48 weeks, Shaikh dissected the mice and studied their brains, discovering the combined Vitamin C and Vitamin E treatments reduced the level of plaques in the brain.  The vitamins had no significant effect on inflammation.

“This is very significant for clinical applications, as it suggests that early Vitamin C and E treatment may be effective in reducing the plaques associated with Alzheimer's,” said Shaikh of Karachi, Pakistan. “A future study with a larger sample size could confirm the results.”

Her research earned Shaikh a first-place presentation award earlier at the Chi Beta Phi National Honor Society National Conference at the University of Charleston in West Virginia, In addition, she received a $500 research grant at the Virginia Academy of Sciences Fall Undergraduate Research Meeting.

Erin Burke, a senior sociology and psychology major from Alexandria, Va., presented “The Gender Gap: Effects in Special Education.” The study dealt with the gender disparity in special education in public education schools and its effects on young girls throughout their education.

Burke discovered that twice as many boys are referred to special education classes than girls.

“This could be due to many factors, including biological and behavioral differences between boys and girls, teacher biases toward behavior problems in the classroom and tracking systems in public schools,” she said. “Consequences of referral differences are very serious for girls, because they are often overlooked and in more serious need of special education services.”

Research and Creativity Day, sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, spotlights investigative and creative partnerships and to celebrate the scholarly endeavors of our academic community. View the abstract booklet and schedule of events online at: www.umw.edu/rcd. For more information, contact rcd@umw.edu