Psychology students present research at annual VPA meeting

Several Randolph College psychology seniors presented their research papers at the annual meeting of the Virginia Psychological Association in Norfolk, Va.

The seniors and their presentation titles are listed below.

Jacob Hood ’14 and Robert Villanueva ’14 (presented by Jacob Hood): Effects of Race and Socioeconomic Status on the Perceived Credibility of Eyewitnesses

Alexis Arnett ’14, Nushaa Kaz ’14, and Elizabeth van Noppen ’14: The Effect of Exercise Choice on Adherence, Motivation, and Self-Efficacy

Emily Rist ’14 and Sara Kasey ’14: Stress Levels and Contact with Nature

Elizabeth Delery ’14 and Brian Mule ’14: The Effects of Meditation on the Cortisol Stress Response

Sara Khalid ’14: A Comparison of Help-Seeking Behaviors Across Cultures and Genders

Students present research at regional conference

Eighteen Randolph College students presented research at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference of Undergraduate Scholarship (MARCUS) this weekend.

They presented talks and posters on a variety of topics including the impact that Supreme Court language has on political discourse, the ability to kill deadly bacteria in compost using another form of bacteria, and the effectiveness of using cell phones to conduct inertial navigation.

“Research is an important part of a student’s education at Randolph College, and an essential part of research is making a contribution to an academic discipline,” said Peter Sheldon, director of the Randolph College Center for Student Research. “We enable our students to do that by giving them opportunities to present the results of their research at regional and national conferences. MARCUS is an excellent opportunity for students to hone their presentation skills and share the research that they are doing.”

Presenting students included Si Thu Aung ’16, Elizabeth Delery ’14, Meron Demeke ’15, Steve Dinh ’16, Connor Dye ’15, Sydney Henson ’14, Nam Hoang ’15, Jim Kwon ’14, Rebekah Leo ’15, Katherine Lesnak ’15, Kristina Marinak ’14, Kavya Pradhan ’14, Sergio Rodriguez ’14, Timothy Slesinger ’14, Sarah Terlizzi ’15, Alex Tran ’15, Penny Trieu ’15, and Tsubasa Watanabe ’14.

Most of the student research was conducted as part of the Summer Research Program, and one project was funded by the Randolph Innovative Student Experience, a program that makes grants available for students’ independent research and creative works.

Randolph hosts communication studies academic conference

Topics ranging from the British Monarchy to Harry Potter to breast cancer awareness campaigns were discussed this past Saturday when Randolph College hosted the Student Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF) Conference. In its 11th year, SURF brings together communication studies students from area colleges to present about a variety of field related topics.

Ryan Blackwell '13 explains the role that cultural citizenship
plays in the popular NBC television show Community.

In addition to sharing knowledge about communication studies, the conference offers a unique opportunity for networking among students, professors, as well as the general community.

Three Randolph College students presented at the conference:

Ryan Blackwell ’13, discussed the role of cultural citizenship in the NBC show Community.

Kaitlyn Kolster ’15 talked about her analysis of Hollywood’s portrayal of C.S Lewis’ series The Chronicles of Narnia.

Samantha Wittie ’13 recounted her research about the Bravo television network and it’s presentation of the gay and LGBT community through the lens of the show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Jennifer Gauthier, a communications studies professor who helped in organizing the conference, praised the Randolph students’ use of theory and the relevancy to important issues such as race, class, gender, and sexuality. “Our students presented high quality research that represented our department’s expertise in critical media studies,” she said.

Kaitlin Kolster '15 analyzes the portrayal of the Chronicles of Narnia in film.

Natural history collection work on display in Lipscomb Library

Back in the fall, we told you about students who have been working to expand and document the College’s natural history collection. Now you can see their work, including insect, bird, mammal, and plant specimens that have been preserved for study, in Lipscomb Library.

Emily Patton Smith ’12 and Will Guzman ’15 have installed a display outlining the history of the collection and illustrating the work being done to improve the collection. The display also includes information about Smith’s research on the source of Randolph’s natural history collection, including its connections with famous collectors and the Smithsonian.

Be sure to take a few minutes to stop by the display, in four cases on either side of the circulation desk on the fourth floor of Lipscomb Library, to learn more about the College’s expansive natural history collection.

Students present research at conference for women in science

A recent nationwide conference honoring college women for their accomplishments in science included two Randolph College students.

Zahra Adahman ’14 and Chiamaka Asinugo ’14 were selected to present their research in the Conference of Undergraduate Women in Physical Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Chiamaka Asinugo ’14 presents earthquake research at the Conference of
Undergraduate Women in Physical Sciences at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

“It was such a great environment to have all these women and be able to sit down and talk about physics, and about science in general,” Adahman said.

Asinugo said she applied to present at the conference at the suggestion of Tatiana Gilstrap, a physics and environmental studies professor with whom she conducted research this summer. She was honored and humbled to be chosen to attend.

“There are so many research programs being conducted, and I have come to find that every contribution—no matter how little—is vital on the broad scale,” Asinugo said.

Asinugo presented research from her summer project with Gilstrap. They analyzed seismic data from several earthquakes, including the aftershocks following the August 2011 earthquake in Virginia.

Zahra Adahman ’14 presents her research about the ultrasonic  mouse vocalizations

Adahman gave a 15-minute talk about research she has conducted with physics professor Katrin Schenk for the past two years. They are studying the ultrasonic vocalizations of mouse pups and the ways that mouse mothers respond. They hope to learn things from studying the mice that could shed light on autism and other communication disorders that affect humans.

“My long term goal is what really keeps me into science. I want to be a doctor,” Adahman said. “Research is very important in medicine, and I want to be involved in it.”

Students begin Summer Research projects

Two dozen Randolph College students are going to spend this summer investigating such puzzles as how to make better puppets for the show Avenue Q, how to map all the motions of a roller coaster, and how to better measure the amount of oxygen in water.

The 2012 Summer Research Program kicked off Monday with a luncheon where students and faculty members introduced their projects. Peter Sheldon, a physics professor and director of the new Center for Student Research, said this is the program’s largest year, with 24 student researchers, 14 faculty members, and one high school student who will attend Randolph this fall.

Although students will spend most of the next eight weeks working closely with faculty members, there will be numerous meetings like Monday’s opener where they can meet together to learn about the progress of their research or to hear from speakers who will teach about the research process.

“The Summer Research Program is not just about your projects,” Sheldon said. “It’s about a community of scholars coming together regularly.”

Here is a list of the projects students and faculty members are undertaking this summer:

• Ashley Peisher ’15, Emily Sirney ’14, and Sonja Cirilo ’15 will work with theatre professor Mace Archer to produce Tracy Lett’s Bug in a motel room (the play’s setting) or a similar space. “We are going to see if the audience needs aesthetic distance to enjoy a show, or if you can be right up there in the action,” said Sirney.
• Bill Bare, a chemistry professor, and Mimansha Joshi ’14 will research ways to use luminescent substances to measure oxygen levels in water with greater reliability.
• Tatiana Gilstrap, a physics and environmental science professor and an earthquake expert, will study the the aftershocks of the earthquake that struck Virginia in August 2011. Chiamaka Asinugo ’14 and Nam Hoang ’15 will work with her to map the aftershocks using available seismic data.
• Education professors Peggy Schimmoeller and Robbi Parker will work with Dominique Rose ’14 on a project that aims to measure the effectiveness of the College’s teacher education programs.
• Bunny Goodjohn, an English professor, and Lauren Dowdle ’13 will attempt to make better tests for English skills assessments.
• Brooke McKelvey '14 and Babatunde Ajao '15 are working with Ken Parks, a theatre professor, will build puppets for the College's production of Avenue Q, which will take the stage in February 2013. They will experiment with ways to make puppets more intuitive for actors to use on stage.
• Biology professor Adam Houlihan, Laura Word ’13, and Michael Taylor ’13 will focus their research on chickens in the Randolph College Organic Garden. They will attempt to determine whether ground vegetation influences a chicken’s health and egg quality.
• Marc Ordower, a mathematics professor, and Zhe Zhang ’15 will explore the solutions to several complicated mathematical questions.
• Five students will work with Katrin Schenk, a physics professor, on two different projects. Zahra Adahman ’14, Chris Hollingsworth ’15, and Alex Kwakye ’15 will run experiments with Schenk to learn about the ultrasonic calls that mouse pups make to their mothers. Jim Kwon ’14 and Thawda Aung ’13 will continue developing ways to use cell phones to monitor Alzheimer’s patients.
• Beth Schwartz, a psychology professor, and Megan Hageman ’13 will continue the Summer Research project they began last year, investigating academic integrity and also developing a proposal for a book about student success in college.
• Tim Slesinger ’14 will help with Sheldon’s ongoing research regarding the physics of roller coasters.
• Laura-Gray Street, an English professor, plans to complete a novel with the assistance of Marisa Mendez ’13. They will study the collaborative writing and editing process as well as compile information on the process of getting published to create a guide for future Randolph students.
• What prompts people to buy unhealthy food? Psychology professor Holly Tatum and Zara Sibtain ’13 will study the factors that influence food purchase choices in a Lynchburg food desert.
• Schimmoeller, Sheldon, and Gilstrap will also add to their ongoing research about how science education is affected by the use of hands-on lessons. They will hold a program to teach educators about hands-on teaching methods and continue a week-long summer science camp for local children.

Watch the Randolph College blog for updates on these projects later this summer.

Students present and win awards at communication research conference

Two of our communication studies students recently won accolades at the Student Undergraduate Research Forum, a conference that honors research about communication.

Hannah Asher ’12 won first prize in the conference for her research about page layout and font styles in the magazines Cosmopolitan and Maxim. Her paper, titled “Comic Books and To Do Lists,” compared the men’s magazine Maxim to a comic book for its frequent use of cartoon-like images, its cluttered layout and its block text fonts. Meanwhile, Cosmopolitan features more color variations, softer fonts, and more organized layouts—including to-do lists. She argued that these design elements reinforce traditional gender roles that claim women must be more organized and in control of themselves while men can slack.

Julianna Joyce ’13 won second prize with her presentation about race depictions in Disney film. She noted that Disney animations that portray racial minorities perpetuate negative racial stereotypes. Even when minority characters are portrayed as protagonists, they usually have more Anglican features than antagonist minorities in the same movies, according to her research. Joyce conducted some of her research during the Summer Research Program in 2011.

Two other students also participated in the conference. Xavier Suarez ’12 presented his research about ska music and its contribution towards a Latin American cultural identity. He analyzed songs and music videos by Latin American bands Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, La Maldita Vecindad, and Los Rabanes, and discussed how the rhythms, lyrics, and themes of those songs create a hybrid culture from the various countries in that region.

Catherine Godley ’13 also presented research about the magazines Cosmopolitan and Maxim, but, unlike Asher, she focused on the images used in the magazines and what they say about gender roles. While prior research has focused on images in the magazines’ advertisements, she studied the images that editors themselves chose for magazine illustrations. She documented how both magazines (even Cosmopolitan, which is geared toward a female audience) cast women in weaker roles than men.

Randolph College gives students many opportunities to share their work with others, which is a very important part of the academic experience here and in graduate schools. In addition to regional and national conferences, our students participate in the Symposium of Artists and Scholars, which highlights the best academic research and creative work at the College each spring, and the Summer Research Program, which concludes with a mini-conference.

You really should present in the Symposium of Artists and Scholars. Apply now.

It is time to dust off the project you are most proud of and submit it for Randolph College’s prestigious academic showcase.

Every year, the Symposium of Artists and Scholars brings together the best research projects and creative works produced by students at the College. You can submit a serious paper, a musical performance, a dance you choreographed, or art you created. It can be an independent project related to your major, or an assignment you completed for an elective course.

Bottom line: If it is a project that you are proud of, we want to see it!

The application deadline for the 2012 Symposium is looming. (It's February 24. Apply now.)

We recently asked a few students (and one 2011 graduate) why they were glad they presented in the symposium last year. This video summarizes their responses:

What are you waiting for? Apply now.

Student economic research featured in local news

Research conducted by a group of economics students at Randolph College continues to gather more attention.

On Sunday, The News & Advance published an article about the impending closure of a Food Lion in the Rivermont area of Lynchburg. The article emphasizes that losing the store could add to the city's "Food Deserts," and it cites Randolph students' research into the topic.

The students surveyed the food options and prices at several stores in downtown Lynchburg. Their research shed light on the food desert downtown, where many low-income residents lack access to healthy, affordable foods. It helped inform Lynchburg City Council about how the local community market, which was targeted in budget cut talks, helps provide nutrition in the downtown area.

It also was published recently in the Virginia Economic Review.