Ten LHU honors students presented their research at the Northeast Regional Honors Council in March. They are (l. to r.) Wesley Toth, John Blough, Caroline Sweeney, Bryan Gentzyel, Nicole Jacobs, Katelyn Roussos, Kristi pearsall, Autumn Riley, Kim Cox and Chris Brittain.

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - From March 26-29, 2009, ten LHU Honors Students presented their research at the Northeast Regional Honors Council (NRCHC) held in Annapolis, Md. In addition, five Honors students have received notice that their proposals for the fall conference of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) in Washington, DC.

The students who have been invited to present their research at the national conference are Caroline Sweeney, Cortney Rogers, Chris Brittain, John Blough and Kim Cox.

The theme of the NRCHC was “Embracing Contradictions.” The theme was reflected in the titles of the LHU student presentations. The students’ research was presented through several media, including Roundtable Discussion, Poster Session, and 20 minute oral presentations, followed by Q & A session.

Chris Brittain, junior Communications Media/English major and Nicole Jacobs, graduate assistant, presented “Friendly Competition: Putting Your Freshmen through ‘War’ to Attain Program Unity.” Brittain also presented “I Need to Watch Things Die (and so do you): Why We Live Vicariously through Violence.”

John M. Blough, junior Secondary Social Studies major and Autumn Riley, senior Psychology major, presented “The National Language.”

Kimberly Cox, junior Health Science/ pre-Physician Assistant major and AmeriCorps Scholar, presented “Embracing Contradictions through Community Service; Celebrating Students to Service Members.”

Bryan Gentzyel, senior Secondary Math education major, presented “Music without Math.”

Kristi Pearsall, senior Psychology/Criminal Justice major, presented “Hostage Negotiation: Subcategories Investigated.”

Autumn Riley, senior Psychology major, presented “The Shock Factor: Important Discoveries that Have Been Made from Unethical Psychological Studies.” Riley was also elected to serve as one of two student representatives to the Northeast Regional Honors Council Executive Planning Committee for the conference.

Katelyn Roussos, senior Psychology major, presented “Self-Injury: Functions, Treatment, and Issues.”

Caroline Sweeney, sophomore Community Health/pre-Physician Assistant major, presented “Avoid the Grunt Work: Designing a Student-Led Admissions Team” and “What? Can You Repeat That?—The Obstacles of a Hearing Impaired Student.” Caroline Sweeney has been nominated to serve on the Northeast Regional Honors Council Executive Committee for 2009-2010.

Wesley Toth, sophomore history major, presented “McCarthyism: Witch Hunt in 1950s America.”

Kathy Richards, Interim Honors Director, served as a Moderator for Education sessions. She observed, “The comments I heard most often from attendees at Lock Haven University’s presentations were how confident, knowledgeable, engaging, and professional our students were. I concur; I attended every Lock Haven University Honors presentation, and I could not have been prouder of them. The competition for the ten LHU Honors spots was highly competitive (there were 18 proposals), and the Honors Committee was challenged to choose just ten.”

In addition to participating in presentation sessions, the students were also able to explore the city of Annapolis as text, including Annapolis Old Town Walking Tour: Historical Intersections of White and African Lives; Two College, Two Cultures: The Excellence of St. John’s College and the US Naval Academy; Houses of Independence and the Maryland State House: Homes of Four Signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Oldest Working State House; History, Archaeology and Coastal Ecosystems in Edgewater, MD: Historic London Town (and Gardens) and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; and Life On and Near the Water: Changing Socioeconomics and the Maritime Museum.

Guest speakers included Dr. Gregory Stiverson, noted Annapolis historian and preservationist and Tom Horton, author and former Baltimore Sun environment reporter.

There were over 300 conference attendees from dozens of colleges in the Northeast Region, including The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Long Island University Brooklyn, Eastern Connecticut State University, Farleigh Dickinson University, Ithaca College, Penn State Brandywine, and Point Park University.

Richards added, “This conference was just one more aspect of Lock Haven University’s Honors Program to broaden the horizons of undergraduates and give them opportunities to develop into leaders of tomorrow, while networking with other Honors students to continually improve our own program.” Richards thanked the LHU Foundation which made this conference a reality in the form of a Foundation Grant to the Honors Program.