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Centennial Honors College
Greetings | Thomas E. Helm Undergraduate Research Day | Spring 2010 Honors Convocation & Commencement | Recent Honors Graduate Published
Greetings
Greetings from the Centennial Honors College! Before the relative calm of summer set in, the Centennial Honors College concluded the 2009-2010 academic year with celebrations of academic research and recognition of student achievement.
Thomas E. Helm Undergraduate Research Day
The annual Thomas E. Helm Undergraduate Research Day was held at the University Union on Wednesday April 28, 2010. Sponsored by the Centennial Honors College, this event featured research by 250 students in 26 disciplines, presented in posters, electronic displays, and in podium and presentation panels.
Distinguished alumna Jessica Harriger, an economics bachelor's (2005) and master's (2006) degree graduate who is currently an instructor of economics at Western, presented "Personal Growth Through Undergraduate Research: Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone." She is completing work toward her doctorate from Binghamton University-SUNY. President Al Goldfarb, Provost and Academic Vice President Jack Thomas, Centennial Honors College Director William Knox and Harriger offered welcoming remarks in the Union Grand Ballroom. Students' poster presentations were displayed in the Grand Ballroom, while podium presentations were held in the Capitol and Fox Rooms. For the second year, the best senior projects were judged for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards:
Posters:
First Place—Jennifer Leonhard
with Professors Sandra McFadden and Colin Harbke, Psychology:
“Being an Oddball Can Be a Good Thing: Using an Oddball Paradigm to Elicit the MMN and P300”
Second Place—Aaron Heitz
with Professor Sean Jenkins, Biology:
“Survey and Monitoring of the Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica)”
Third Place—Alexander Foster
with Professor Curtis Dunkel, Psychology:
“Discovering if the National Football League Does a Good Job of Evaluating Talent”
Podiums:
First Place—Edward Bridge, II
with Professor Jill Myers, Law Enforcement and Justice Administration:
“Utilizing Technology for Organizational Strategic Advantage”
Second Place—Nicholas Winston
with Professor Jo-Ann Morgan, African American Studies:
“Juxtaposition of Aaron McGruder within African American Artistic Movements”
Third Place—Kristin Schramer and Amy Jelinek
with Professor Kristine Kelly, Psychology:
“What Am I Feeling? Gender Differences in the Need to Belong and Social Monitoring System Activation”
The Thomas E. Helm Undergraduate Research Day Committee expresses its appreciation to Provost and Academic Vice President Jack Thomas, who established these prizes and to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Susan Martinelli-Fernandez, Dean of the College of Business and Technology Tom Erekson, Dean of the College of Education and Human Services Nick DiGrino, Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication Paul Kreider and Dean of University Libraries Phyllis Self, who have been generous in their support.
Spring 2010 Honors Convocation & Commencement
Honors Convocation Speaker
The Centennial Honors College senior, Michael Kwiatkowski, presented “The First Step” as the student speaker at Honors Convocation on May 14 at 2:00 p.m. Hailing from Mundelein, Illinois, Mike double majored in Psychology and LEJA. He had been an honors student for the past four years and completed his honors thesis in psychology. In the fall, Mike will be continuing his education at the University of Nevada—Reno, where he has been accepted into the interdisciplinary social psychology doctoral program. When talking with the professors at UNR, they were impressed that he had already worked on a larger scale project than something just completed in the classroom and were delighted to talk to him about what he was studying and what he was finding. In graduate school Mike plans to continue his research into deception and emotion and hopes to ultimately pursue an academic career as a college professor or researcher.
Honors College Scholar
Senior honors student, Kate Grahl, was selected to represent the Centennial Honors College at spring commencement ceremonies as the Honors College Scholar. Kate was a Psychology major and Political Science minor from Crystal Lake, Illinois, who has been an honors student since her freshman year at WIU. Another impressive honors experience, reports Kate, was attending the pre-law symposium during her sophomore year. According to Kate, “It was after that that I seriously considered going to law school.” She subsequently applied to law programs and participated in an internship with the Public Defender, and this fall she will be attending law school at DePaul College of Law.
Spring 2010 Honors Scholars
During Honors Convocation, the Centennial Honors College recognized the 84 outstanding students who completed Honors curricula.
Chad James Altfillisch
Katarzyna Andrejew
Sarah J. Barnard
Katie Jean Barnett
Jacob A. Beardsley
Kevin Paul Behrends
Max Botkin
Daniel E. Boyles
Cassandra Diane Brimmer
Mary Elizabeth Brooks
Dana Jordan Brown
Patrick J. Callahan
Ashley Marie Cholek
Rachel Erin Desotel
Nicole Marie Dziedzic
Sarah Elizabeth Jane Gerlof
Sara Charline Glass
Laura Glowacki
Kimberly Lynn Godar
Ashley Elizabeth Gose
Kate Lauren Grahl
Amber Michelle Greene
Mark S. Gryczka
Joseph Mark Guikema
Scott Hallock
Kate Elizabeth Harrington
Emily Jane Harrison
Rebekah Lynn Haun
Aaron T. Heitz
Laura Faunda Hemphill
Kyle C. Herreras
Dila Ikiz
Shannon Leigh Jackson
Kenneth S. Jenke
Andrew William Kazenski
Michelle Marie Kinney
Heather Marie Knight
Heather Jo Knowles
Michael J. Kwiatkowski
Victoria Ann Lantz
Kristin Lewis Leighty
Casey Michelle Little
Justin Ryan Manteck
Matthew Carl Marshall
Trent M. Martin
Rebecca R. Mast
Brian James McElroy
Christina L. Meads
Philip Milano
Nikita Nicole Minder
Frederick Michael Mondt
Kathleen Naughton
Rebekah Faith Neudahl
Marci Leigh Patterson
Kathleen Naughton
Rebekah Faith Neudahl
Marci Leigh Patterson
Kelsey Ann Peterson
Chad Rosenow
James Michael Ruppert
Glenna Lee Sabo
Scott A. Schoen
Kristin Marie Schramer
Nissa Elaine Shipman
David Scott Siedal
Emily Kathleen Sinclair
Stacy Marie Sivill
Kevin Smith
McKenzie Maelynn Smith
Steven M. Sommers
Kathleen Suarez
Valerie Leigh Sutton
Sara Jean Talkington
Michael D. Thompson
Alison Jane Tinnon
Jessica Lynn Todd
Lauren Michele Trondle
Danielle Lee Truitt
Kimberly A. Veal
Jessica Watkins
Heather M. Wetzel
Bethany Belle Whitacre
Jonathan J. Wilson
Megan K. Yocum
Congratulations to all Centennial Honors graduates!
Recent Honors Graduate Published
A paper based on the honors thesis of former Centennial Honors College student, Katie L. Reiss, was published in April 2010 in The Anatomical Record, a journal with an international audience. Matthew Bonnan, a professor in the biology department who supervised Katie’s thesis and publication of the manuscript, is second author. The published article entitled “Ontogenetic Scaling of Caudal Fin Shape in Squalus Acanthias (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii): A Geometric Morphometric Analysis With Implications for Caudal Fin Functional Morphology” describes a study of the characteristics of shark tails. Katie is currently a graduate student in marine biology at the College of Charleston, in Charleston, South Carolina.
For more news about the Centennial Honors College, click here.
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