Goshen students present at 10th annual research symposium, March 15

GOSHEN, Ind. — Every year Goshen College students devote hours to research and experimentation in laboratories or in the field, as well as labor over research papers. Too often, only their professors can appreciate the efforts.

But at the 10th annual Goshen College Undergraduate Research Symposium on March 15 from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Newcomer Center, students will “present some of their best work from disciplines ranging from the professional programs, the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences to the college community and public,” said Jo-Ann Brant, professor of Bible, religion and philosophy and the symposium coordinator. “The presenters gain valuable experience in explaining their work and the audience gains greater appreciation for the academic work of the college.”

Presenters and their topics include:

• Junior Elizabeth Beachy (Kalona, Iowa), an English major – “Emily Dickinson: Writing for a Reason”

• Senior Janie Beck (Archbold, Ohio), a Bible and religion major – “Thoughts on Love: A Critical Study of Reinhold Niebuhr”

• Senior David Bontrager (Archbold, Ohio), a physics major – “The Crux of Atonement”

• Senior Yovana Yoder Bontrager (Lancaster, Pa.), a psychology major – “Motherhood in ‘As I Lay Dying: The Anti-Blessing’”

• Junior Bryce Bow (Muncie, Ind.), a physical education major – “‘Were Not All Ten Cleansed?’ A Samaritan Leper’s First Hand Account of Jesus”

• Senior Colin Dyck (Bluffton, Ohio), a psychology major; senior Jesse Shirk-Byler (Goshen), a psychology and mathematics double major; and senior Yovana Yoder Bontrager (Lancaster, Pa.), a psychology major – “The Effects of Anonymity on Competition and Perceptions of Classroom Climate During a Computer Learning Activity”

• Sophomore Kelsey Eldredge (Abington, Pa.), a biology major, and junior Jeremy Good (Reading, Pa.), an environmental science and biology double major – “E. Coli in the Elkhart River”

• Junior Chet Franklin (Antwerp, Ohio), an art and American Sign Language Interpreting double major  – “Features of American Sign Language Lexicalization and Signs”

• Senior Rebecca Friesen (Newton, Kan.), a physics and English double major  – “Monte Carlo Investigations of Sterol Microstructure Mosaics in Mixed Lipid/Ergosterol Domains at Moderate Ergosterol Mol Fraction”

• Senior Samantha Fulton (Shreve, Ohio), a molecular biology/biochemistry and chemistry double major – “Investigation of Two Site-Directed Mutants of Serine Hydroxymethyltranserase from Escherichia coli”

• Junior Sheldon Good (Telford, Pa.), a communication and business double major – “Introduction to ‘Surviving the Khmer Rouge: Stories on the Daily Struggle to Stay Alive’”

• Senior Michael Honderich (Goshen), a communication and theater double major, and senior Drew Horst (New Holland, Pa.), a business major – “Facebook.com: Friend or Foe?”

• Sophomore Jennifer Imhoff (Roanoke, Ill.), a collegiate studies major – “Processes Involved In Establishing Interpersonal Trust”

• Senior Ben Jacobs (Goshen), an English and Bible and religion double major – “Interpreting the Franklin: Masculinity and Class in Chaucer’s England”

• Sophomore Michelle Kaufman (Goshen), a nursing major – “A Cross-Sectional Study of Fear of Death”

• December 2007 graduate Shafkat Khan (Dhaka, Bangladesh), with assistance from Assistant Professor of Biology Ryan Sensenig, – “Success and Sustenance of Restoration: Looking to Traditional Ecological Knowledge”

• Senior Luke Kreider (Harrisonburg, Va.), a peace, justice and conflict studies and Bible and religion double major – “Honor, Shame, and the New Testament World: Implications for Christian Peace Theology”

• Junior Andrew Landis (Goshen), a music major – “Monteverdi and the Birth of Opera”

• Senior Jesse Landis-Eigsti (Lakewood, Colo.), a music major – “Peace Building and Reconciliation in Nicaragua: The Sandinista-Contra War and its Aftermath”

• Senior Christina Leichty (Wellman, Iowa), a nursing major – “Uninsured Latino Aggregate: Health Care Needs”

• Sophomore Thomas Leischner (Harrisonburg, Va.), a history major – “Mau Mau: A Peasant Revolt with a Religious Foundation”

• Senior Rachel Meyers (Goshen), a nursing major – “Women of Domestic Violence”

• Senior Peter Miller (Evanston, Ill.), an English and music double major – “‘The Interesting Thing’: Language, the Symbolic Order, and a Transformed Middle Ground in Julia Kasdorf’s ‘Sleeping Preacher’”

• Sophomore Elizabeth Nafziger (Goshen), a biology and psychology double major – “Automaticity: Current Perspectives and Implications on Emotion, Perception and Behavior”

• Sophomore Heather Savage-Maierle, a nursing major – “Repressed Memory: Where Culture, Theory and Science Meet”

• Junior Kathy Steiner (Geneva, Ind.), a physics major, and junior Christina Peters (Yellow Springs, Ohio), a physics major – “The Effect of Membrane Microstructures on Ion Channel Dynamics”

• Sophomore Jeffrey Stoesz (Goshen), an English major – “The Franklin’s Tale: Chivalric Undercurrents in the ‘Ideal’ Marriage”

• Senior Laura Stoesz (Indianapolis, Ind.), an English major – “Digital Music Exchange: Stealing or Sharing?”

• Junior Joshua Tyson (Harrisonburg, Va.), a music major – “The Innovation of Guillaume de Machaut’s ‘Messe de Nostre Dame’”

• Senior Eduardo Vargas (San Antonio, Texas), a social work and Bible and religion double major – “Social work in Colombia: A modern reality of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”

• Senior Sarah Wilson (White Heath, Ill.), a TESOL major – “SSTL: Assessment of a Non-violent Conflict Resolution Learning Unit”

• Senior Bethany Winfrey (Peoria, Ill.), a nursing major – “AIDS Orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Aggregate Study”

The mission of the Goshen College Research Symposium is to acknowledge original undergraduate research, which already plays an essential role in the college’s academic program, and to encourage students and faculty to contribute to the larger conversation about knowing and knowledge that sustains the academy. The symposium brings together students and faculty members involved in original research and scholarly activity from all disciplines.

Editors: For more information about this release, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.