What is a Senior Research Project?

At BASIS Tucson, seniors have the chance to propose an independent research project that takes place off campus during the last trimester of the year. The seniors whose proposals are accepted write their own syllabi and then head off into the world, to a site where they conduct their research while interning with a professional in the field. Those of us stuck on campus follow their adventures on this blog. Now that the projects are over, we are all excited to attend their presentations. The schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, May 11, 6-8 PM
at the U of A Poetry Center (environmentalism projects)
Sierra Cordova, Nicole Rapatan, Zobella Vinik and Dany Joumaa (see titles of projects, below)

Saturday, May 14, 10-12 AM
at The Loft Cinema (arts projects)
Clarice Bales, Samone Isom, Josh Waterman and Angelynn Khoo (see titles of projects, below)

Monday, May 16, 6-8 PM
at BioSciences West, Rm. 310, U of A ( U of A projects)
Joseph Tang, Jayanth Ganesan, Andrew Graham and Gabriel Carranza (see titles of projects, below)

Tuesday, May 17, 6-8 PM
at U of A McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, Blg. MCLND, rm. 207 (travel abroad projects)
Clover Powell, Greg Spell, Agustin Temporini and Margarita Sadova.

We'd love to see you there!



The BASIS Tucson Class of 2011 Senior Research Project bloggers (with the titles of their projects) are:



Clarice Bales: "Narrative and Film"



Sierra Cordova: "The Intent and Application of Environmental Policy"



Clover Powell: "The Artistic Interpretation of the Biological Sciences"



Greg Spell: "Micro-venturing in Guatemala"



Agustin Temporini: "A Study of the Role of the Press in 1960's/70's Argentina"



Gabriel Carranza: "Analysis and Research on Drugs associated with Torsades de Pointes"



Dany Joumaa: "Innovations in Display Technology: Synthesis of Organic Luminescent Materials Compounds"



Joseph Tang: "The Creation and Project of 3D Holograms"



Jayanth Ganesan: "Research of Game Thoeretic Models in relation to Non-Market Games"



Andrew Graham: "The Malaria-Resistant Mosquito"



Samone Isom: "Art and Artist: in peril of Devaluation?"



Angelynn Khoo: "Mousa, Mouseion, Museum: MOCA Tucson"



Nicole Rapatan: "Sustainable Architecture and Design in Modern Times"



Margarita Sadova: "Pulmonology at St. Joseph's Hospital"



Josh Waterman: "The Fiery Crossroads of Artistic Value and Financial Success in the Independent Film Industry"



Zobella Vinik: "Environmental Psychology with the Drachman Institute"







Enjoy the Blog!



















Monday, March 7, 2011

EA's and ED's and CE's.. Oh My!

The past couple of weeks, which, though they may not have been too exciting, have been almost overwhelmingly interesting so that I find it takes all of my will power to resist delving into the seemingly infinite other perspectives from which there are to study environmental policy. Other than staying on task, however, the majority of my effort has been put toward reading MANY primary documents from not only Harris Environmental Group but also from Arizona state documents, especially amended and revised statutes concerning environmental regulation within the state. As Congress debates the reining in of the Environmental Protection Agency, restricting its ability to regulate air pollution through the Air Quality Act, it's been incredibly interesting to watch their thought process while trying to discover as much as I can about that of the state. I've found out much about the policies that Arizona has implemented concerning environmental regulation and have been able to see firsthand the implementation of such policies with Harris Environmental, through thoroughly examining reports such as the Environmental Assessment, Environmental Determination, and the Categorical Exclusion. The most difficult part so far, however, has been attempting to understand how Arizona's environmental regulations were brought to formation. With the research that I've been able to complete at the U of A I've gained an unfortunately limited understanding of the stimuli behind the creation of such departments as the EPA at the federal level, but I hope to supplement this with eventual research at the archives in Phoenix, where I will hopefully find a plethora of resources documenting the process of implementing such regulations. So wish me luck until next time!
Sierra

1 comment:

Andrew Sterling said...

Welcome to the labyrinth of policy-making! Reminds me of a favorite quote by Bismarck: "Laws are like sausages - it is better not to see them being made." Of course, the better advice is to keep a watchful eye on how the sausages are made so that you are happy to eat the final product! That is where public interest advocacy comes in (maybe you?)

America doubles down in its sausage-making process by using the federal system so you have to figure out not only what the federal government has done and does, but also how the states factor in as well. It will be difficult indeed for you not to fall down the research rabbit-hole, so to speak. In other words, you'll have to carefully circumscribe your research to keep your sanity intact!