Students Participate in WSU Academic Showcase 2009

Each spring, the WSU Academic Showcase provides the year's largest all-University forum at which students, faculty, and staff can display posters evidencing their research.  On March 27, the work of 12 Honors students was among approximately 350 scholarly and creative displays in Bohler Gymnasium.  Hundreds of visitors crowded the busy aisles, viewing the largest research poster session ever held on the WSU campus. Presenting at Showcase were ...

• Cheri Boyer, who researches with Jenifer K. McGuire, assistant professor of human development, the topic of “Adolescent Sexual Identity Formation and Reasons to Have Sex: Links to Sexual Risk Taking”
• Lynsi Burton, with Travis Ridout, assistant professor of political science, “Print Coverage of Male and Female Political Candidates: A Comparative Analysis of Statewide Races”
• Jennifer Darnell, with Margaret Black, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, “Analysis of Thymidylate Synthase and Fluoro-B-alanine in 5-Fluorouracil Metabolism”
• Thiebaut Herzog, with Czaja Krzysztof, assistant professor of veterinary comparative anatomy, “Cocaine-Induced Behavior Arising from Mesolimbic Neurogenesis”
• Leah Jordan, with David Turnbull, associate professor in music, “Posture and Trumpet Playing: How Body Alignment Affects Musicians”
• Rachel Kliewer, with Masha Gartstein, assistant professor of psychology, “Temperament and School Readiness: Do Infant Temperament Characteristics Predict Core Academic Abilities in Preschool-Aged Children?”
• Merik Metos, with Jesse Spohnholz, assistant professor of history, “The Vanishing Pope”
• Kristofor Nyquist, with Doerte Blume, associate professor of physics and astronomy, “Ion and Molecule Based Quantum Computing Architectures: Structural Properties”
• Gianne Souza, with Susan Carpenter, professor of veterinary microbiology and pathology, “Mapping Regions of Env Important in Neutralization of Equine Infectious Anemia Virus”
• Svetlana Stadnik, with John Wolff, professor of earth and environmental sciences, “Lat Oligocene OIB-like Lavas in Northern Idaho”
• Amy Van Nortwick, with David Rector, associate professor of veterinary comparative anatomy, “Saturation Thresholds of Neurovascular Coupling under High Intensity Auditory Stimulation”
• Renee Walker, with Judy Meuth, clinical associate professor of women’s studies, “Educational Process and Politics: Implementing HB 1495 (2005)”

Mock Trial Participant Receives Witness Award

Ross Steele, an Honors student and biology major from Moscow, Idaho, received an All-Regional Witness Award in February at the regional U.S. Mock Trial competition in Portland, Oregon in February 2009.  The WSU club will send two teams to the opening round of the national championship tournament in Newport Beach, California.  The Honors College helps support the WSU Mock Trial program.

Fall 2008 Graduates Earn Awards, Lead Commencement

Honors students took the spotlight at many Fall 2008 graduation ceremonies on December 13.  Anna Howell (right) was honored to lead the procession by carrying the flag of the College of Liberal Arts.  David Street was the 2008 Highlight Student for the College of Engineering and Architecture.  And, Selena Galaviz was the 2008 Highlight Student for the College of Liberal Arts, nominated by the Dept. of Speech and Hearing Sciences.

At the Honors Commencement Dec. 12, alunnnus and Spokane entrepreneur Lewis Lee was the guest speaker and WSU President Elson S. Floyd congratulated students and their families on their accomplishments.  Receiving college awards were ...

• Selena Galaviz and Anna Howell, the Honors Dean's Award
• David Street and Selena Galaviz, S. Town Stephenson Awards
• Lisa Carloye, Outstanding Honors Faculty Award

Spring 2009 Honors Commencement will be May 8 with WSU Provost Warwick Bayly as guest speaker.

All Fall 2008 Nominees Granted "Pass with Distinction" Award on Theses

Nine students were nominated the top honor of “pass with distinction” on their thesis projects in fall semester, and for the first time in Honors’ 49-year history, every one received the award.

“This is a remarkable achievement, and all the more noteworthy given the very diverse group of thesis topics,” says Libby Walker, dean.

Honors’ fall 2008 recipients of pass with distinction are ...

• Karina Brazas, who researched under advisor Sheila Converse, clinical assistant professor in music, the subject of “Sex and Subjugation: Femininity in Opera”
• Amy Dole, with Barbara Monroe, associate professor of English, “The Role of Gothic Literature in the Classroom”
• Jenna Hansen, with Marsha Quinlan, assistant professor of anthropology, “Television and Youth in Dominica”
• Anna Howell, with Joan Grenier-Winther, professor of foreign languages and associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts, “Identity Crisis and Writing for Survival: An Exploration of Language in Assia Djebar’s ‘L’Amour la Fantasia’ and ‘Vaste est la Prison’”
• Marcie Logsdon, with Kwan Hee Kim, professor in molecular biosciences,“Exploring the Potential Interaction Between Seven in Absentia Homolog-1A and Retinoid Receptors”
• Emiko Namatame, with Sue Ritter, professor in veterinary and comparative anatomy, pharmacology, and physiology, “Localization and Expression of the Insulin Receptor Substrate-2 in the Rat Brain”
• Brittany Navarre, with Rebecca Craft, professor of psychology, “Sucrose Preference Testing as a Measure of Anhedonia in ‘Postpartum’ Rats”
• Austin Schlichting, with Ryan Hare, assistant professor of music, “Examining Scenes from ‘Titus Andronicus’”
• Sarah Weakley, with Victor Villanueva, professor of English, “Silencing the Other: Language Oppression in the United States.”

Model U.N. Participants

Eighteen Honors students will travel to New York City in spring 2009 to represent Ghana at this year's national Model United Nations conference.  Faculty member Bill Smith has taught and mentored them on the program.

The students are ...

For news of more student accomplishments, presentations and awards, and activities, be sure to peruse the Web site at http://honors.wsu.edu/overview/studentaccomplishments/pubspresents/.