#- in media affects people's IRL perceptions of certain groups

[leezuhh]

it's crazy to me that there are people out there who still think that media and fiction do not affect how people think at all

[blackfilmmakers]

"you can't objectify characters because they're objects 🤓🤓🤓" well okay but you can reduce character traits' of characters that REPRESENT HUMANSSSS. Reducing character traits are a key process in the process of objectifying someone. I love how people use these type of takes to feed into their harmful ideologies while simultaneously downplaying and dismissing common forms of racism in fandom (demonization and/or fetishization of POC fictional characters)

idk man people will do ANYTHING but realize how your treatment of characters contribute to racism and OTHER forms of bigotry... it can be so frustrating sometimes, but I'm glad there's other black folks like you that can call them out, since as a black person, at times i just can't deal with these kind of people

This trend of reducing media literacy because "the curtains are just blue" people want to make fun of those they deem as elitists, are doing so much damage to yalls(not u specifically anon) minds

Why do yall think conservatives love making fun of art majors of any kind? Or any creative that learns about the history and thought process of those before them out of interest?

You learn how art can represent people, and you learn how it can affect people's perception of those groups irl. That has always been a thing. If it wasn't, then places like Ancient Rome wouldn't have fifty thousand stories that have heroes messing up certain territories presented as the bad guys, and are 'coincidencntally' enemies of the empire somehow

If not humans, a lot of times the monsters are supposed to represent a group of people too

It's basic metaphors and allegories type shit, yall should have learned this in elementary

[lordelmelloi2]

Idk how many times I have to say it but if you support incest/incest "kink" unfollow me, my blog is not for you. I'm tired of people acting like the fantasy aspect of kink has nothing to do with reality. No one takes incest survivors seriously in general & the societal attitudes currently towards incest & incest survivors are leaning towards this type of abuse's normalization. When a group is already disenfranchised to that point where incest abuse is denied en masse or normalized within media and at times encouraged in certain groups, it is not something that IMO can be practiced as a kink without it being harmful. The same goes for any "kink" that roleplays pedophilic attraction. There are types of kinks that can say something about someone's perception and treatment of members of certain disenfranchised groups, if you know anything about kink and its impact on society or literally anything about psychological dynamics of kinks at all you would know this. Kink is not exempt from analysis. Anything to deal with the psychological dynamics of pleasure is not exempt from analysis nor is it something that should be simplified into "well it's just pretend" or "it's between two adults" as if all kink exists within a vacuum. It's the same reasons why even largely open queer kink communities draw hard lines at raceplay and other forms of roleplay in that vein. It's not a "moral panic" it's simply seeing how these attitudes affect the world around us, and centering survivors in the conversations about these sorts of acts. Centering those who have survived these types of abuses are the way that we stop the cycles of intergenerational abuse. And -- I should add -- the idea that you are not in control of what you do or do not find sexy, what kinks you do or do not engage with, the idea that you can not control your own sexual desires is a concept that denies yourself the agency over your own sex life and erodes your boundaries. This isn't to say that all desire is inherently harmful, but that desire to replicate specific abuses can and will cause you to lose boundaries that otherwise would give respect towards survivors of those abuses. Sexualizing incest, sexualizing children, those are not attitudes that exist in a vacuum. They are attitudes that affect survivors today and assist in grooming more victims of these abuses. Nuance is required in kink. Do not let people convince you that kink exists in a vacuum.

*Disclaimer: I'm someone involved in IRL kink communities, I go to forums, I know elders etc. everything that's involved with anything relating to sexuality deserves nuance and acknowledgment that kink does not exist in a vacuum and that this is still something that affects your psychological interpretations of certain things. Grace is given to those who are coping but when things spill into real life, when it begins to harm survivors and cultivate unsafe spaces for survivors... when it's an abuse that's normalized within society it's not subversive or deviant or whatever. It's already normalized. I do not speak as someone from a sexually repressive household -- actually vastly the opposite -- and I do not engage with reductive bad-faith takes about "puritanicalism" since half of the people who talk about these issues don't even know what that means or what context the term even applies to.

My blog is a safe space for incest survivors, CSA survivors, COCSA survivors, and grooming survivors. It will always be a safe space for abuse survivors. I will never condone abuse or the normalization of abuse and will always be critical of attitudes that contribute to the normalization of said abuses. I am fundamentally anti-abuse. I will never condone attitudes that contribute to abuse.

[rosesforwildwitches]

The thing that antis usually miss is that while fiction absolutely does affect reality, it's very often not a direct "X is depicted in one popular show, therefore the public does Y action IRL in response". in reality that process is more like "this general trope is super widespread in the vast majority of media in a time and place and is never really outright questioned or deconstructed, so for people growing up in said culture their perception of reality and of certain demographics and actions is colored by the stories they see as inspirational, and since all of them take X action/social attitude/worldview as a given/the default without ever explaining it or examining it's morality or affects on others, people in real life see those things as a given and 'just how the world works' and repeat it and all of its harms without ever considering the affects". That's why the lack of queer representation outside of explicit villains and the lack of Black representation outside of slaves or hired help was so harmful in TV and film; those were the only roles anyone from those demographics was ever seen in for 60+ years in popular media, and combined with the social attitudes around them, people began to anticipate that those were the only social roles people in those groups could possibly fill in real life. Every character doesn't have to be a perfect morality tale and every minority character doesn't have to be a shining paragon of justice and progress and perfection to justify their own existence and to justify the existence of oppressed people to those in wider society, as if we need to act like perfect angels 100% of the time in both reality and fiction to deserve not being institutionalized or abused or killed. We just need more characters to appear in popular media that include us generally, and we need them to not all basically be the exact same character as a trope.

Antis try to argue that fiction affects reality saying that representation matters, but they're contradicting themselves. Most fanfiction has some kind of representation (mostly queer) but they don't count them as actual representation, because they know it doesn't have the same reach as, say, a movie or TV series, and yet they argue that fanfic portraying something bad will have a huge impact??? I swear, they don't even think before talking

My favorite thing is when people try to argue that fiction absolutely does reflect reality but every single example they give is when reality is affecting fiction. Reality dictating what is depicted in fiction, and not the other way around.

That or when their only go-to example of fiction actually affecting reality is Jaws.

[didnt-hear-cold-as-you-live]

Just fyi I've seen a couple blog calling you sexist and saying pretty awful accusations and things about you (including that you lost irl friends because you insulted them on your blog???) because of your Adele talk, especially the anon saying she was protected because of her weight. Lots of insults flying because of that one.

People have literally nothing in in the way of reading comprehension skills... imagine me having an entire nuanced discussion on how the media takes sexism and uses it as a lens that affects how certain artists are portrayed / which artists garner sympathy and which don���t, how scrutiny and trauma related to privileged groups affects the GP’s perception of people etc etc... and thinking I’m the sexist one for simply trying to bring it to light and having a discussion on it...

Anyway please link me to these posts so I can block everyone who made them. Fucking nonsense bruv

[danganronpedits-archived]

hellooo! i hope it’s ok if i ask for a kin matchup! any media is aaaa ok! :DD! uhhh i dunno if dis helps AT ALL but i’m an estp and a 7w6!! i get excited SUPER easily and i rlly like to use words like dis dat and doe when i talk to people cuz it makes me feel more casual!! i get distracted rlly easily toooo and i sometimes stretch out my words n stuff out of habit!! HOWEEVERR i do get scared quite easily and i tend to stay away from most things scaryyy!! please lmk if you want nethn else abt me!

you can absolutely get a matchup, anon!! this one was really fun to write, since you seem really, really cool, anon!!! i can feel your energy seeping into me even as i read this ask,,, weh your friends are lucky to have you ^^;;;.. let’s get started aa !!

first off, from danganronpa, i match you with...

ibuki mioda!

you may have seen this one coming ,, but you’re ibuki in the irl. in general, the energy i got from your ask is very similar to her- both if you seem very upbeat and not afraid to be hyper! in fact, you were called hyper anon in my drafts before posting this~.. she gets excited very easily, as shown with all of her (jokingly, sometimes)flirting, but she’s extremely passionate about music, and voices her affection towards other people very openly. i think that this can also be part of the ESTP personality type, as they can remark things about others that occasionally come off as insensitive- it’s not that she or you isn’t considerate of others, it’s just that it’s something that you just find as useful to say. this could range from seeing it as meaningful, to just being so excited and interested by it that it has to come out. correct me if i’m wrong though agagsjd,,, i think that she would use... not exactly slang, but casual language like dis, etc. (The mood's totally set to like, "OH NOES!" right now, y'know?”) and also stretches out her words commonly !! (“Goooood nom-nom-nommiing!” “Looks like today's gonna be another perfect tropical daaaaaay!”) i’d say that she does make an effort to be friendly and casual with everyone else, as while she is a bit overwhelming in presence, through her free time events she wants someone that she can truly connect with. her greatest desire is someone that she can play music with, who she trusts as much as they trust her- point is, she wants someone that she can have a deep, platonic or otherwise, relationship with. like earlier, this can also be related to the 7w6 enneagram- as they ultimately have a large fear of missing out.

ibuki and you definitely have short attention spans in common, as she’ll even write memos to make sure she remembers things, as she’s said herself. she also goes off on tangents in the middle of discussions, which, adhd solidarity, but even hajime remarks that, “There's no way [he] can keep up with what she's saying...” she also does get scared, or at least unnerved, rather easily! whenever nagito is... you know, nagito, she remarks that he’s a creep, and that he seems like the type who... well, was violent towards animals as a child, to not make it graphic. the two tend to not talk, probably part of her trying to avoid his creepiness factor. in terms of your enneagram and mbti type, i’d say that you and ibuki share a lot of traits there too! ibuki can definitely be sensitive, or perceptive, of others’ feelings, as unlike others’ free time events where the focus is their character arc, a lot of ibuki’s are spent with her trying to help hajime. plus, a big thing in both the 7w6 and estp types is wanting variety, hands-on work, and not having to stick to one schedule. ibuki is definitely this type of person. she holds the title of ultimate musician for a reason, and has experimented with at least two genres of music (pop and metal), as well as writing her own lyrics, making her own costumes, and she can play at least three instruments(bass, guitar, drums). she definitely has made variety for herself, just the way an estp likes it.

second off, from bang dream, i match you with...

toyama kasumi!

though ako udagawa is a close second! like ibuki, you and kasumi are both very energetic, in a way that definitely rubs off on people- i don’t know you personally, but just reading your ask puts me in a better mood. i’d say that your energy is part of why i’m so motivated to get this done... it’s kind of like, reading your ask, i feel like i can do anything! and that’s the kind of energy that kasumi puts out- with her band, and even just making other friends, her natural charisma(that i’m certain you have) causes her to inspire the people around her... even if by mistake. from rin, to arisa, to saya, everyone in her band and even the people outside of it are inspired to try harder(see arisa’s arc of being more social despite her shyness) and even grow as people(see rin’s arc of stepping out onto glitter*green’s stage when they show up late, and saya’s arc of expanding beyond her family) due to her influence. i feel like you can maybe relate to this if you take a step back, your energy and pep are absolutely contagious!! and i’m sure many other people would agree. she gets excited very easily, and always tries to see the fun in everything- at the very mention of her town’s festival, she loses sleep over it, and when it comes to the “sparkling and heart pounding” feelings she gets over stars and music, she actively pursues that thrill. once again, as an ESTP, i think you can relate to seeking out that specific kind of pleasure- it’s stimulating in a way i think you really adore!! she literally follows stickers on the sidewalk because they have stars on them, and wants to see more, and decides to start a band when she sees the random star guitar. even if arisa “doesn’t” want her to, she’s so excited that she barrels through any trials or tribulations.

the two of you also get distracted rather easily- as an example, kasumi, in the main story, essentially has a school assignment where she’s supposed to make a case. ambitiously deciding to make one for her guitar, she then proceeds to get distracted from the assignment and taking a few more days than needed... because she was practicing said guitar. i wouldn’t be surprised if something like this happens to you every now and then, where you get an idea, but something newer and fresher rises up! kasumi also forgets things very easily- for example, in the special episode “origami fun,” arisa tells her how to make a paper crane... and she forgets all but the first step quickly after. i think that you could also relate to that, it’s not that you’re trying to be insensitive or ignoring them, but your mind is just so all over the place that it’s hard to keep one thought nailed down. she definitely uses more eccentric language, ie giving all of her friends nicknames, as well as some quotes like, “sparkling and heart pounding”, “it’s like whoa!”, “nom and nom and nom...” etc. i don’t really remember any times where she stretches out her words, but she kind of... has that vibe. i expected her to, and went digging for quotes... it was surprising to not find any. she also can get scared rather easily, though!! see the band girls of the dead story for this one, kasumi is noticeably disturbed at the mention of a horror movie, and strongly dislikes any kind of horror.

and lastly, from c/rpse party, i match you with...

seiko shinohara!

first off, i think both you and seiko are very well meaning, energetic people!! the way i feel reading seiko’s dialogue is very similar to how i felt reading your ask, contagious energy like i’ve said before and like... nothing can really go wrong! both of you just have very comforting presences. she’s very peppy and gets excited rather easily, especially when it comes to naomi. she’s a positive and upbeat person who tends to find the good in everything, trying to keep her and others’ spirits up whenever her friend group is sent to heavenly host. she canonically uses phrases like dis, dat, and doe(dat ass/booty, to be specific), and tries very hard to be casual-like with others! while her smiley-ness is a bit more of a facade in seiko’s case, she does try very hard to be that kind of casual that you can describe, once again, even when the main kids are sent to heavenly host, and she’s just as terrified as everyone else. this may come off as her being insensitive or “creepy,” as naomi says, but in reality, i think both of you would try to stay strong if you really couldn’t get out of a situation like that. especially if there was someone you were trying to stay strong for- maybe part of it would be the pressure of usually being the moodmaker, but i think a lot of it is that you’re just trying to keep people happy, including yourself. after all, if you tend to try and fun the fun/good in everything around you by default, your natural response is to do the same in a bad situation... whether it’s a coping mechanism or just habit. she can also overstep boundaries at times, but she has such a good presence that people tend to just see her as... her. she’s typically the one initiating conversation with other people, which i think is part of the ESTP’s natural charisma and friend-making skills !! she’s a general moodmaker in friend groups, you know? i think you can relate to that, with how enthusiastic you seem. plus, in the introduction sequence, seiko is sitting on a desk, whereas everyone else is standing around properly. just a little detail that imo says a lot!

seiko can get distracted easily, as there aren’t too many examples, but whenever she first gets her part of the sachiko charm she says “I'll have to be extra careful not to lose my piece!“ ...the opposite happens. i don’t blame her, though,, she’s also described to not be the most responsible student(as in she has fallen asleep in class at least ones, thanks book of shadows.. and while it may not be exactly applicable to you, naomi’s... physique, tends to draw her eyes. does drag out her words every now and then  (specifically man?) “Maaan, we’ve been had!” “Maaan... So close, and yet so far!” “Na-o-miii...” and so on. she can also get scared rather easily, as both ayumi’s ghost stories and heavenly host visibly scare her. the latter is much more understandable, but it still shows that she loses her nerve rather easily, despite her cheery exterior. also, relating to 7w6 types, a common thing they do is justify others’ actions to avoid being upset themselves. seiko also does this whenever naomi ends up pushing her away, saying that she was just scared. of course, she was, but this is an explanation born out of seiko trying to get rid of any frustration with naomi that might grow. maybe you’ve had an experience like that, where you tell yourself that there has to be a reason that the other person did “that”, whatever your that was.

-

you all know what time it is! from pokemon reborn, i also match you with julia, and from my little pony, you also very strongly remind me of pinkie pie! from danganronpa, you also remind me somewhat of akane owari, tenko chabashira, and slightly of junko enoshima and aoi asahina! from bang dream, you also very strongly remind me of ako udagawa and koroko tsurumaki, as well as somewhat of kaoru seta!

hope that’s alright anon!!! thanks so much for requesting, i really enjoyed writing this!! you gave plenty of info, so don’t worry!! :”) hope this didn’t bounce around too much for you!

-mod tsu

[nickyschneiderus]

Just say no to viral ‘copaganda’ videos

If you are Facebook friends with conservative family members or co-workers, you’ve probably seen it in your feeds: Videos, photos, and news clips of police officers dancing, praying, or handing out free food. Just last week, a video of cops lip-syncing to “Uptown Funk,” while grooving through their station, went viral. While this all might seem like harmless fun, the internet has a word for this kind of media: copaganda.

Not that it doesn’t make sense for police to film and promote videos like this. In the era of Black Lives Matter and body cameras, law enforcement is understandably looking for a PR bump. What is less understandable is why every one of these videos is picked up by news outlets large and small, then spread across social media like wildfire.

In recent days, police officers, like the ones in Norfolk jamming to Bruno Mars, have been making videos and releasing them online as part of a nationwide “lip-sync challenge.” As challenges are wont to do, this one made the Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube rounds. Some garnered so many views that the New York Times felt the need to run an article about the contest. The “Uptown Funk” video, with hundreds of thousands of views, is so popular, it has been shared by numerous major media companies.

While the challenge was going viral, another headline was being made: Chicago officers had shot a Black man, Harith Augustus, in the back, sparking a wave of protests in the city. While the timing of the two stories was a coincidence, the making of these videos was not unintentional. They are carefully planned propaganda made to get at least as much media coverage as the bad stuff does.

Police officers have admitted as much. To quote the Times: “‘It is allowing the country to see us in another way,’ said Corporal William Pickering, a public information officer with the Norfolk Police Department, which created the ‘Uptown Funk’ video. ‘We aren’t all robots.’”

And it worked. Again, from the Times:

“The video from the Norfolk Police took off online after it was released on July 9. More than 191,000 people commented on the department’s Facebook page, most of the remarks supportive. The actress Sharon Stone gave the department a shoutout on Twitter. Fans sent the officers cheesecake. And the stars of the video held a meet-and-greet, giving the first 100 people to arrive a signed photograph.”

Lip-sync challenges aside, national news outlets run copaganda all the time. BuzzFeed has pushed out “This abandoned dog was adopted by an entire police association.” At CBS, you can find “Police officers and K9s join boy with tumor to pray before his brain surgery.” And over at Fox News, there’s the hard-hitting journalism “Police officers help out 9-year-old’s lemonade stand after he was robbed.”

It’s hard to understand why national outlets find content like this to be newsworthy. People, even businesses, adopt rescue dogs every day; lemonade stands unfortunately get robbed. These acts, while kind, are not remarkable. Meanwhile, local papers are folding incessantly and big city papers announce new billionaire owners who then announce massive layoffs with enough regularity to make any professional writer suspicious of an Illuminati conspiracy. And yet it seems that outlets of every size have the bandwidth to do PR for the police.

Why do media companies do it?

Working in digital media, we understand that feel-good stories get clicks. The Daily Dot covers our fair share of “actor in Marvel movie visits hospital” stories. And to a certain aging (white, conservative) segment of the Facebook population, police and the military are a version of movie stars and superheroes. The clicks are there. While an outlet like Fox News has an ideological motivation, BuzzFeed is likely just covering these videos because they know they drive traffic.

However, while an article about Robert Downey Jr. visiting a child dying of leukemia doesn’t have an impact on the public perception of criminal justice, copaganda does. If a disproportionate number of articles about the police engaging in “random” acts of kindness pop up in your feed, while stories about police corruption or abuse are suppressed or go uncovered completely, the public perception of the police eventually looks far different than the reality.

If the only image you ever see of cops is them lip-syncing to Bruno Mars, that’s going to affect the way you view the next story you see about police shooting an unarmed Black person.

The police are winning this PR battle and they are using it to fight against the gains of activist groups. Blue Lives Matter bumper stickers and flags are adorning cars and hanging from houses across the country. The energy behind this ill-named movement has led to the introduction of “Blue Lives Matter bills” on a local and national level. These bills criminalize protest and exacerbate the very racial inequalities that the Movement for Black Lives is trying to fight in the first place.

The Protect and Serve Act, which made it to the floor of the House of Representatives in May, is a perfect example of just how pernicious these bills can be. The legislation would functionally make police officers a protected class, rendering charges like “assaulting an officer” hate crimes. As we’ve seen across the country, protesters are often saddled with trumped-up charges; many fear a bill like this would functionally criminalize protest.

In a piece about these laws—which have already been passed by several states—the Intercept’s Natasha Lennard explains its larger implications:

“By explicitly modeling their bill on existing hate crimes statutes, the Senate has denigrated the very notion of persecution. Treating cops as a persecuted minority equates a uniform—which you can take off—with skin color, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. And as the Blue Lives Matter bills’ sobriquet suggests, this legislation is a direct a response to anger over the actual—if not quite legally defined—hate crimes against black people, perpetrated by those in blue.”

At first glance, it might feel like a stretch to argue that videos of police officers breakdancing lead to legislation like this, but proposed bills are made and broken in the court of public opinion. If law enforcement officials are presented to the public as the smiling faces behind viral memes and lip-sync battles while their victims are described as “thugs,” “demons,” and monsters, then the media is doing the work of right-wing reactionaries for them.

The police officer said it to the New York Times: These videos are meant to encourage the public to see law enforcement in “another way.” This means that they are meant to shift the conversation away from police brutality and deny the grievances of its victims.

Copaganda is by no means a new phenomenon. In 2016, media critic Adam Johnson outlined the eight most popular types of copaganda in media. While he discussed issues like “pinkwashing” (playing up the LGBTQ friendliness of the police force) and the smearing of victims of police violence, two of the items he mentioned, “saving kittens” stories and “Christmas gift surprise” stunts, are age-old versions of what we’re seeing today.

Copaganda is so old, you can find it in Nick at Night reruns. The media has been regurgitating police PR since the days of Andy Griffith, and now in the era of Brooklyn 99, it is just being used more often and more effectively.

What are we going to do about copaganda? It’s not necessarily practical to burst the bubble of your Blue Lives-loving grandmother the next time she shares a video of “Cop Pool Karaoke” (we regret to inform you we didn’t make that up), but one step we can take is actively recognizing that these videos don’t exist in a vacuum.

These videos are part of a carefully orchestrated PR campaign, and like any branded content, you can choose not to click on it or hide it from your feed.

from Ricky Schneiderus Curation https://www.dailydot.com/irl/cop-viral-videos/

[bonnie24starr-blog]

John Matthew Umambong “The Genetics of Bone Strength in Mice” Jonathan Vu and Robert Blank (Mentor), Endocrinology The purpose of this study is to identify relationships between the physical and genetic characteristics of bones in mice. The physical characteristics include size, density, and the force required to break the bone, while the genetic ones are the genes of the marker loci associated with the genes that affect these qualities. This study uses strains of mice with reduced genetic variation. The two strains of mice that are the most phenotypically extreme, meaning those with the strongest and weakest bones, are crossed. The F2 generation from that cross is then analyzed. The results of this analysis can be used to find which genotypes correlate with specific bone properties like size, density, and failure load. The anticipated outcome of this lab is the identification of the genotypes that affect bone strength in mice. The findings may be useful in treating medical conditions that are related to bone strength. MAIN IDEA: The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between the physical and genetic characteristics of bones in mice. PARAPHRASE: This study aspires to determine the linkage between the physical and the genetically inherited traits and characteristics of the bones of mice. "The Commemoration and Memorialization of the American Revolution” Benjamin Herman and Jean Lee (Mentor), History This project involves discovering how the American Revolution was remembered during the nineteenth century. The goal is to show that the American Revolution was memorialized by the actions of the United States government during the 1800s. This has been done by examining events such as the Supreme Court cases of John Marshall and the Nullification Crisis. Upon examination of these events, it becomes clear that John Marshall and John Calhoun (creator of the Doctrine of Nullification) attempted to use the American Revolution to bolster their claims by citing speeches from Founding Fathers. Through showing that the American Revolution lives on in memory, this research highlights the importance of the revolution in shaping the actions of the United States government. MAIN IDEA: The goal is to show that American Revolution was memorialized by the actions of the United States government during the 1800’s. PARAPHRASE: The study targets to substantiate that the American Revolution was commemorated by the government of the United States during the 1800’s. “Subtype of Autism: Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia” Amanda Babin and Morton Gernbascher (Mentor), Psychology The purpose of this research is to identify a subtype of autism called Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia (DVD). DVD is a motor-speech problem, disabling oral-motor movements needed for speaking. The first phase of the project involves a screening interview where we identify DVD and Non-DVD kids. We also use home videos to validate answers on the screening interview. The final phase involves home visits where we use several assessments to confirm the child’s diagnosis and examine the connection between manual and oral motor challenges. By identifying DVD as a subtype of Autism, we will eliminate the assumption that all Autistics have the same characteristics. This will allow for more individual consideration of Autistic people and may direct future research on the genetic factors in autism. MAIN IDEA: The purpose of this research is to identify a subtype of autism called Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia (DVD). PARAPHRASE: This research aims to study the Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia (DVD). DVD is a subtype of autism in which children have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. “Fostering H.O.P.E.: Helping Overcome Poverty through Education for Teen Moms” Angela Cunningham and Sherrill Sellers (Mentor), Social Work This program was designed to address the prevalent issues of teen parenthood and poverty. The idea was to introduce and reinforce the importance of obtaining a post secondary education to teen mothers in their junior or senior year of high school. The program ran for eight weeks during the summer of 2003. Participants met once a week to participate in group building activities, get insights to what it will take to finish school, and receive information on services that are available to help them along the way. The young women also had the opportunity to tour the UW and MATC campuses. The participants walked away from the program with a sense of hope that they are able to pursue their dreams despite their difficult situations. MAIN IDEA: This program was designed to address the prevalent issues of teen parenthood and poverty. PARAPHRASE: This project was established to direct the current issues of teenage pregnancy, teenage parenting, and poverty. Evonie Bito-onon The Word of the Body: Depictions of Positive Body Image In Philippine Young Adult Literature Gabriela Lee The relationship between body image and identity is one of the hallmarks of young adult literature. Despite the advances made by various feminist movements, “[G]irls’ lives are still adversely affected by social pressure to adhere to an ideal standard of beauty,” says Beth Younger. This obsession with weight and appearance is a heady mixture of information overload, media portrayal, and an overall propensity for obesity in the past decades due to a number of complicating factors: food production, environmental factors, epigenetic research, and changes in lifestyles. Young adult or YA stories are also part of this continuous portrayal of female bodies as either acceptable or marginal, or even reversing our notions of either concept. In the Philippines, these stories feature female protagonists who consider their appearances, though not necessarily their weight and body shape and size, important enough that the text considers and acknowledges their appearances as part of their struggle to be accepted within certain social spheres. This essay is concerned with the positive portrayal of the fat female body in young adult literature and how it becomes a subversive body, since it performs its pleasures for the self, and not for others. Main Idea: This essay is concerned with the positive portrayal of the fat female body in young adult literature and how it becomes a subversive body, since it performs its pleasures for the self, and not for others. Paraphrase: Depicting fat female body in a young adult literature positively and on how it will affect the body’s performance. Elite Female Athletes’ Perceptions of New Media Use Relating to Their Careers: A Qualitative Analysis Today’s elite athletes face increasing demands to develop a new media presence in order to build their personal brand and connect with a wide variety of stakeholders. Myriad studies have focused on athletes’ new media use by examining content posted online; however, few studies have examined new media usage from the athletes’ perspectives. Using the theoretical framework of self-presentation theory to uncover athletes’ new media perceptions, goals, and strategies, semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with six elite female athletes training for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Findings revealed that although athletes had goals for sharing their lives, developing connections, sponsorship, and self-promotion, they did not employ specific strategies to meet these goals or attempt to measure whether their goals were met. Gender-related findings included feeling pressure to post sexually suggestive images and receiving unwanted private communications from male fans. The implications are discussed within the paper. Main Idea: Findings revealed that although athletes had goals for sharing their lives, developing connections, sponsorship, and self-promotion, they did not employ specific strategies to meet these goals or attempt to measure whether their goals were met. Paraphrase: According to athletes who have a vision or goals for sharing their lives to people, they did not have specific techniques to achieve their vision or goals. Visual and Performing Arts Abstracts “Blind Construction: Mixed Media” Diana Dewi, Jennifer Kittleson, and Wendy Hagedorn (Mentor), Apparel and Textile Design The basis of this project was to create a garment using mixed media in order to mimic the human body. The materials we used to create this piece include: buckram, copper wire, spray paint, fabric paint, a variety of novelty fabrics, and chains. The techniques we created in order to manipulate the piece include: fabric branding and burning, grid painting, sewing, draping, molding buckram, and coiling. Our overall approach was to create a theatrical wearable art piece. Upon completion of the assignment we found the piece aesthetically pleasing because of the way it molds to the human body, but can be a piece all on its own. Main Idea: The basis of this project was to create a garment using mixed media in order to mimic the human body. Paraphrase: This project was solely based on how to produce clothes that forms a human body through the use of mixed media. “ H.O.P.E.: Helping Overcome Poverty through Education for Teen Moms” Angela Cunningham and Sherrill Sellers (Mentor), Social Work This program was designed to address the prevalent issues of teen parenthood and poverty. The idea was to introduce and reinforce the importance of obtaining a post secondary education to teen mothers in their junior or senior year of high school. The program ran for eight weeks during the summer of 2003. Participants met once a week to participate in group building activities, get insights to what it will take to finish school, and receive information on services that are available to help them along the way. The young women also had the opportunity to tour the UW and MATC campuses. The participants walked away from the program with a sense of hope that they are able to pursue their dreams despite their difficult situations. Main Idea: This program was designed to address the prevalent issues of teen parenthood and poverty. Paraphrase: Introducing teen parenthood issues and poverty which is a current issue was the purpose of this program. King Redzuan Villacorte Hard Science Abstracts “Biogeography of Chemical Defense in Birch Trees” Sarah Brown and Michael Stevens (Mentor), Botany The Latitudinal Defense Hypothesis predicts that levels of defense are highest near the equator and decrease toward the poles. This hypothesis is based mainly on insect herbivory that occurs during the summer. Mammilian herbivory in the winter is a more likely driver of plant defense levels in northern latitudes. Early successional trees such as birches are favored by fire and provide an important food source for mammals like snowshoe hares. In order to test the Latitudinal Defense Hypothesis, we collected birch seeds from eight locations in northwestern Canada and grew seedlings in a common garden. We assessed levels of defense by counting resin glands because resin glands are negatively correlated with snowshoe hare preference. This research will provide valuable information regarding the biogeography of defense and address the role of fire in plant-mammal interactions on a continental scale. Main Idea: This hypothesis is based mainly on insect herbivory that occurs during the summer. Paraphrase: The proposition of herbivory insects that come out during summer season. “Understanding Cell-Mediated Immune Responses Against Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV)" Sean Spenser and John Loffredo, David Watkins (Mentors), Primate Research Center Each day 14,000 people become infected with HIV/AIDS, making the development of an effective vaccine one of the world’s top public health priorities. David Watkins’ laboratory is attempting to develop HIV vaccines that elicit cellular immune responses utilizing the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) – infected rhesus macaque animal model. A major component of the cell-mediated immune response are cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL). It is thought that CTL play an important role in controlling HIV and SIV. Most standard immunological assays do not measure antiviral activity directly, limiting our understanding of CTL effectiveness. To address this, the Watkins laboratory developed a novel neutralization assay that quantifies the ability of virus-specific CTL populations to control viral growth. Evaluating the antiviral activity of CTL of different specificities will identify those CTL most effective against SIV. This information will likely impact the design of future HIV vaccines. Main Idea: To address this, the Watkins laboratory developed a novel neutralization assay that quantifies the ability of virus-specific CTL populations to control viral growth. Paraphrase: Evaluating the ability of virus-specific CTL populations in managing viral growth is the purpose of the Watkins laboratory. “The Genetics of Bone Strength in Mice” Jonathan Vu and Robert Blank (Mentor), Endocrinology The purpose of this study is to identify relationships between the physical and genetic characteristics of bones in mice. The physical characteristics include size, density, and the force required to break the bone, while the genetic ones are the genes of the marker loci associated with the genes that affect these qualities. This study uses strains of mice with reduced genetic variation. The two strains of mice that are the most phenotypically extreme, meaning those with the strongest and weakest bones, are crossed. The F2 generation from that cross is then analyzed. The results of this analysis can be used to find which genotypes correlate with specific bone properties like size, density, and failure load. The anticipated outcome of this lab is the identification of the genotypes that affect bone strength in mice. The findings may be useful in treating medical conditions that are related to bone strength. Main Idea: The purpose of this study is to identify relationships between the physical and genetic characteristics of bones in mice. Paraphrase: Investigating the resemblance in the bones of a mice in the physical and genetic aspect is the target of this research. Service Project Abstracts “Southeast Asian Political Action Committee: Democracy at Work!” Lauren Breshahan and Marlys Macken (Mentor), Linguistics Upon receiving the Wisconsin Idea Undergraduate Fellowship the summer and fall 2003 semesters were spent designing and implementing a Hmong Political Council, Inc. (HPC). The fellowship addressed the immediate need felt by our local government and the Hmong refugee community to develop a political voice expressing the economic, political, and social needs of the Hmong refugee community. It was implemented through the collaboration of the United Refugee Services of Wisconsin, Professor Macken, the Hmong community, and myself. Extensive research was conducted at the local, state, and national level involving the studying of IRS requirements, lobbying rights, other political councils, and the needs of the Wisconsin Hmong community. HPC is now a legal non-profit organization that has held two fundraisers, released press statements, and worked with State and National political figures to address the needs of the Hmong community. Within the year HPC plans to be lobbying at the state level. Main Idea: The fellowship addressed the immediate need felt by our local government and the Hmong refugee community to develop a political voice expressing the economic, political, and social needs of the Hmong refugee community. Paraphrase: Expressing the political and social needs of the Hmong refugee community and also addressing the need of local government was the objective of this project.