The Nellie Ansley Reeves Award Endowment was established by the late Nellie Ansley Reeves, a generous supporter and friend of the UC Irvine Libraries, until her passing in 2000. For over 20 years, the Nellie Ansley Reeves Award endowment has funded prizes to UCI students to honor Nellie's wishes to involve students in the library. This year, the Libraries has collaborated with the Campuswide Honors Program, for the first time, to offer awards for outstanding Honors Theses. We hope our partnership will go on for many years.
On Saturday, May 28, four award winners were announced:
1. Daisy Bautista | “The Opportunities and Rigors of Land Travel: Ethnic Mexican Journeys into Mexico”
The thesis deals with the complex nexus between histories of drug cartels in Mexico, tourism, and migration. The study examines the Mexican government’s dual approach in promoting tourist travel in promotional materials, while combating drug trafficking and organized crime. In addition, it examines how the Mexican government promotes tourist travel among ethnic Mexicans living in the United States through one of the National Institute of Migration’s programs, Programa Paisano, and the thoughtful resourcefulness with which these tourists journey across and within borders. Daisy worked with faculty mentor Prof. Ana Elizabeth Rosas, from History and Chicano/Latino Studies to complete her thesis.
2. Taylor Caulfield | “Adapting Mobile Emergency Alerts for Disabled Access”
While mobile technologies such as cell phones and email have made it possible for people to receive emergency alerts on the go, makers of these notifications have disregarded the needs of people with disabilities. The thesis details the creation of a framework where a user can indicate their notification needs, which are fed into a series of equations to generate content recommendations. When the backend receives an emergency broadcast, it modifies the contents of the broadcast in accordance with the aforementioned equations to send specially tailored messages to the users. Taylor is from the field of Computer Science, and was advised by Prof. Nalini Venkatasubramanian.
3. Olivia Tsai | “EFFECT OF ACUTE ADMINISTRATION OF C1Q NEUTRALIZING ANTIBODY ON SPINAL CORD INJURY RECOVERY IN RAT”
The study looks at inflammatory response, which plays a central role in regulating the manner in which acute spinal cord injury develops. The Complement cascade is a key component modulating the response of immune cells contributing to secondary cell death. The study investigated Compliment C1q nAb effects in rats exhibiting spinal cord injury neuropathology. It concludes that C1q and Complement activation may have a protective role after injury in a rat spinal cord injury model. Olivia is from the departments of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Anatomy & Neurobiology, and was mentored by Prof. Aileen Anderson.
4. Lisa Haygood | “THE LILIES OF BELGIUM: The Critical Role of National Resistance at the Start of the Great War"
Entitled this study explores the opening weeks of World War I, specifically the unanticipated and sustained resistance of the citizens of Belgium and their small, defensive army upon invasion by the German Imperial Army. The author argues that this initial and unexpected resistance which thwarted the German offensive strategy, rendered a quick victory on the western front impossible. It contributed directly to the military stalemate on that front, including the development of trench warfare, and ultimately played a pivotal role in the eventual Allied victory. Lisa is from the Department of European Languages and Studies, and was advised by Professor Kai Evers.
Please join us in congratulating these four winners!