SDSU IV students score SRS awards
A total of seven SDSU Imperial Valley students earned awards for research projects they presented during the university’s annual Student Research Symposium (SRS) that this year was held virtually in March.
More than 300 SDSU students presented projects during the SRS, which is a public forum where students present their research, scholarship, and creative activities. The winners were announced in a recent virtual event.
SDSU Imperial Valley students recognized were Virginia Gallardo Reyes, who received a Dean’s Award; Carlos Fitch, who received a Dean’s Award; and Undergraduate Research Excellence Awards went to Fernanda Espinoza, Angelica Landeros, Stephanie Rivera, Meghan Santos and Ilce Taboada for their team project, titled “Evaluating explanatory models of cancer at the US-Mexico border: An experimental approach.”
Their project involved examining the beliefs people in the Imperial Valley have about what causes cancer and how to treat it, according to their faculty mentor, Linda Abarbanell..
We were interested in seeing how people combine biomedical and other types of belief systems (e.g., supernatural, intuitive, beliefs in alternative medicine, etc.),” the project summary stated.
The team created different vignettes about an individual with cancer. After each vignette, study participants were asked to rate their endorsement level of different possible causes and treatments for the protagonist’s cancer, according to Abarbanell.
The research summary stated, “We found that, for the causal questions, biomedical beliefs appeared to be the default way of thinking, while people endorsed psycho- social causes ( e. g., nerves, stress, trauma) to a greater or lesser extent depending on the contextual information that was given.”
“So even when people believe that there is a biological cause, they may take a ‘try-anything’ approach to treatment,” the project summary stated. “We think it is important for medical practitioners to understand the explanatory models of clients and how these may affect their treatment choices. Practitioners in the Imperial Valley, for example, might encourage the use of certain alternative treatments if they make patients feel better (regardless of whether they are clinically effective) as long as they do not conflict with their biomedical treatments.”
The title of Reyes’ presentation that won a Dean’s Award is “Reading and Writing in Early Modern Spain and Their Potential Connections to the Ways We Read and Write in the 21st Century.” Her faculty mentor is Dr. Magdalena Altamirano.
Reyes’ project analyses the role of reading and writing in “The Dialogue between Scipio and Berganza” (1613), a short novel by Miguel de Cervantes, and establishes connections and contrasts with the way we read and write in the 21st century, according to the presentation summary.
“Chinese Mythology and Contemporary Pride in Mexicali” was the title of the presentation given by Carlos Fitch that won a Dean’s Award. His faculty advisor is History Professor Gilberto Reyes.
Reyes said Fitch’s presentation grew out of a class lecture about the Chinese influence and Asian migration in Mexicali.
“I am really proud of him,” Reyes said. “He found the sources he interviewed on his own. I gave his advice, but he really did the work.”