California University of Pennsylvania Honors Program Fall 2014
Students head to Denver Page 6
Fall 2014 Graduating Seniors Page 4
New service opportunities for students Page 4
University Honors Program News
PASSHE Summer 2014
Students travel to Nova Scotia taught the course about sustainable By Lauren Griffith The 2014 PASSHE Summer Honors Trip went to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada as a part of “The Canadian Maritimes: Geological Wonders Living from the Land and Sea.” I, along with Elizabeth Clayton, had the pleasure of going. Mansfield University hosted this year’s program, and the two separate courses taught during the three week trip were taught by Dr. Wright and Dr. Dodson. Dr. Wright
agriculture, and Dr. Dodson taught the course about the physical geography of the Maritime region. The honors director, also named Dr. Wright, went on the trip as well. The trip started at Mansfield, where we resided for three days and were introduced to the topics we would spend the next two weeks learning about. We prepared our own food there in the Mansfield University Food Lab. We departed by bus to Maine, and then continued North the next day.
The students stayed in both hotels and in dormitories at different universities. Some were similar to Cal U’s newly renovated dorm rooms, while some were more of the traditional style, with the community bathroom and all. Each day started early, and ended late. The schedule was intense, as Dr. Wright, the program director, had wanted us to get the most out of our time in the area. The majority of the days were split, and would cover both courses in one day. In the morning and early afternoon, we might stop at a geological wonder, like Hopewell Rocks. Continued on page 3
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SHAB Welcomes Students Back Honors students are welcomed back to Cal U By Brittany Kusniar Welcome back Honors Students! The Student Honors Advisory Board (SHAB) started the semester off right with a cookout for the new incoming freshmen. The cookout was held on August 24th at the SAI Farm. Students were able to meet fellow classmates, play volleyball, corn hole, horseshoes, eat some great food and tie dye T-shirts provided by the UHP. The weather was beautiful and we had a great turnout! As a result of the success, future events like this one will continue to be planned! The SHAB hosted a social/service night on September 18th in Smith Hall. Students gave back to
the community by making bookmarks for the Washington County Family Center After School Program. Their sweet tooth was also quenched because free ice cream and toppings of all kinds were provided. October 18th was the SHAB’s second social/service night. The event was apple themed with caramel apples and apple cider. The Service Committee provided materials for students to write cards for deployed military men and women for Operation Gratitude. The various SHAB committees have also been gearing up for a busy semester. Each committee is currently seeking new members in any grade standing. The four committees include Admissions, Honors Coaching, Social, and Service. Emails have been sent out regard-
ing the meeting times and projects but please email shab@calu.edu if you are interested in joining any one of the committees. Seventeen honors students attended the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference in Denver, CO on November 5-9th. All of the students gave great presentations and reflected well upon our university. SHAB elections will take place before Thanksgiving break. The SHAB is looking for four motivated freshmen to join the board. Please pay attention to your emails for more information. The SHAB wants to be more visible to all UHP students. We want to host more events so please feel free to share any ideas or attend any of our events! Have a great semester!
LEFT: New Honors Students smile for the camera. TOP: Freshmen sit down for lunch at SAI Farm. BOTTOM: All Honors Students pose for the camera. RIGHT: SHAB committe poses for the Ice Cream Social Event.
Newsletter Staff Editors
Kelsey Baumgardner Zoe Scripter
Contributors
Brittany Kusniar Stephanie Moore Emily Murray Lauren Griffith Emily Dickey
Honors Program Staff
Director- Dr. M. G. Aune Associate Director- Dr. Craig Fox Secretary- Kim Orslene
PAGE 3 Continued from page 1 Because the tides change every six hours, if we wanted to experience both high tide and low tide, we would have to spend several hours there. On the way back to where we were staying, we might stop at a farm or a farmer’s market, and get to talk to the local producers in the area. Dr. Wright, director, and Dr. Wright, professor, arranged for restaurant owners to talk to the group of students about where each item we were eating came from, and how nearby it was. Many of the restaurants we visited were apart of community supported agriculture, where incentives were offered for buying and eating food locally grown and/or raised. To my surprise and delight, many of the farms we visited had no desire to expand beyond their means. We visited a blueberry farm where the berries were not harvested by machines, because the machines damaged the berries. The cleaning and packaging of the berries was done in an addition onto the farmers house, and employed nine people.
The berries put on the conveyor belt were hand sorted and checked for ripeness through color and hardness. Seeing these small businesses in action was a new experience for me. Previously, I had thought that if there was more profit to be made, that the business would take that avenue. Learning just how strong the tides are was a new experience for me, too. At Mansfield, we studied the sun and moon’s pull on the tides. Seeing them in front of me was a completely different experience. That area of Canada is home to some of the highest tides in the world, and to the residents of Canada the 40 foot vertical rise is normal. At low tide, the lobster fishing boats near Antigonish were resting on the sand. For this reason, the fishermen had to plan around the high and the low tides, or else they would not be able to return to dock their boat. On our long bus rides, we watched movies related to the areas we were going, or listened to music that came from the area. We were lucky enough to catch a live performance at a pub in Antigonish, too.
Each student was responsible for a presentation which introduced a topic that was not covered in the course yet, and the presentation was given on the bus. The bumps in the road made giving the presentation interesting, to say at the least. I did a presentation on seaweed, its numerous uses, and how it is harvested, on our way to Acadian Sea Plants. This location of Acadian Sea Plants used seaweed to create plant fertilizer and pet food, while other locations were responsible for products for human consumption. We did so much in such a short period of time it is difficult for me to recount it all. We visited museums, sailed on the Atlantic ocean, went lobster fishing, visited a cranberry bog, and learned to contra dance. The experiences and friendships I had on this trip are truly invaluable, and stay with me today. I strongly urge interested honors students to apply for the 2015 program, as the topic of the trip to Norway seems equally enticing, and I’m sure it would be equally rewarding.
Traveling to Turkey Cal U students go overseas to Turkey By Emily Dickey
This past June, eight students, including myself, traveled to Turkey for a ten day trip sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Center of Pittsburgh. The trip was well planned, and we had the opportunity to see much of the country. We visited four main cities - Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri, and Konya – and also spent time in Ephesus and Cappadocia. We saw many historic buildings and places, including Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, Taksim Square,
the Grand Bazaar, the Virgin Mary’s house, two underground cities and much, much more. Of course, we didn’t spend all of our time visiting historic landmarks! As a group, we went on two boat rides, climbed a mountain, went to a beach, and even went geocaching! Along the way we learned so much, experienced so many new things, and all became great friends. This trip was an absolutely incredible and life-changing experience. To read our daily
blogs, please visit: http://www. calu.edu/news/press-releases/2014/06/turkey-blog.htm To see our photos, please visit our Facebook page, “Cal U in Turkey!”
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Graduating Seniors Students are listed alphabetically with the name of their advisor and thesis title.
Rachel L. Chir__________________________________________Dr. Rebecca Regeth Honors Thesis: The Moderating Effects of Feminist Beliefs on Thin-idealized Media and Body Image Sarah E. Martik__________________________________________Dr. Michele Pagen Honors Thesis: There’s a First Time for Everything: Midsummer/Jersey and the FirstYear-Show Process for a First-Time Director Bethann M. Wilson_________________________________________Dr. Sarah Meiss Honors Thesis: The Effect of Dandelion Extract on Ovarian Cancer Cells
SHAB Service Committee Students get involved with their community By Stephanie Moore The SHAB service committee began in the spring of 2013. The committee organizes and plans service opportunities for honors program students. The committee also works with the social committee to include service at the monthly social events held by the SHAB. In the spring semester, the committee organized a group for The Big Event, a team for the MS Walk in Uniontown, and helped at the Earth Day Clean up in the California Borough. This fall semester, the committee organized
each service opportunity for the socials including, making bookmarks for the local afterschool programs, thank you cards for military service men and women, and giving tree ornaments for Hope for the Holidays. Members of the committee also visited the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum to volunteer at the Halloween Pumpkin Patch and volunteered at a food bank in Monesson, PA. The service committee works closely with the Center for Volunteer Programs and Service Learning on campus to find service opportunities. Service hours earned at these events can be counted toward any organization that requires service hours. All service hours done with the Universi-
ty Honors Program are tracked on Orgsync and will be credited to the organization specified when registering for an event on Orgsync! To find opportunities and for updates on honors program events, look on OrgSync!
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Director’s Note I am beginning this in my hotel room on the last night of the National Collegiate Honors Council conference in Denver. NCHC is always invigorating -- thousands of students and hundreds of faculty talking about Honors education, sharing ideas, and presenting their research. This was a particularly good year for the UHP. Seventeen students attended, along with Dr. Fox and myself. All of us made at least one presentation, several made two. While it has been exhausting, it also has exemplified the foundational concepts of our Honors Program: community, opportunity, and research. For instance, our SHAB made three separate presentations about student government. They were so ubiquitous at the conference that I overheard two students from another university. One said, “Oh, CalU, they have that awesome student government and we are going to steal their committee ideas!” I felt ten feet tall at that moment. In terms of research, two students won best-in-category awards for posters based on their research -- an unprecedented achievement for us. And none of this would have been possible without the opportunities created by the work of past students, faculty mentors, and our staff, Kim Orslene in particular. Sitting down to finish this in my office in Smith Hall, I see a pile homework from the freshmen and the materials for our fall recruiting open house and look forward to seeing which of this year’s freshmen foxes and hedgehogs and which high school students will continue our program’s excellence. Appetamus communiter ad futurum – Let us strive together for the future. -Mr. Aune
SHAB plans socials for students Students have the opportunity to mix and mingle By Emily Murray The Honors Social Committee is one of the new committees within the Student Honors Advisory board and all honors students are welcome to join. The goal of the Social committee is to create a sense of comradery and to help build friendships among the honors community. The social committee plans events to encourage people to make friends within the Honors Program. This past semester we have worked closely with the Stephanie Moore and the Service Committee to organize Social/Service events this semester. Both committees have also worked closely with Angela Selby, the treasure of SHAB, who wrote budgets and created
proposals. We have had three successful social/service events this semester and we have had over 60 students attend each of them. The honors students have worked closely together to benefit our community and to support national service organizations as well. We hope to hold one last event on Thursday December 4th at 6:15 pm. The SHAB will be hosting an ugly sweater party and a Christmas movie viewing. Although this event is strictly a social event we ask that student bring canned goods to donate to needy families. We hope that this committee will grow and more events will take place on our campus.
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NCHC conference held in Denver Students take on the Rockies By John Troutman The University Honors Program students made their way to Denver, Colorado for the National Collegiate Honors Council’s 49th Annual Conference from November 5-9. Honors students from all over the country traveled to the Mile High City to present their research, knowledge and Honors Program successes through posters, roundtable discussions, oral presentations and an idea exchange. Students Skyler Boehm, Emily Dickey, Shannan Eagan, Rachael Fawley, Chelsea Gilliland, Lind-
sie Hammaker, Brittany Kusniar, Jessica Laguerre-Joseph, Breanna Lincoski, Stephanie Moore, Emily Murray, Michael Ortenzo, Shawn Reese, Angela Selby, John Troutman, and Shelby Zikeli represented the Honors Program. Dr. Fox and Mr. Aune were also in attendance representing the Honors faculty. At the conference awards are given out for outstanding presentations. Two of our students recieved awards for their poster sessions. Congratulations to Chelsea and Jessica who both received awards for their poster presentations. Chelsea’s poster was titled “Examining genetic variation among Rainbow
Darters (Etheostoma caeruleum) in the Monongahela River” and Jessica’s presentation was entitled “African American Women and Their Impact on the Black Community”. While in Denver students took the chance to explore the city and all the oportunities it offers. Students spent time hiking in the Rockies and seeing famous sights of the city. Everyone enjoyed themselves and greatly benefited from this experience. Check out the Cal U Honors Facebook page for more pictures and updates from the conference. We look forward to celebrating the 50th anniversary of this annual meeting next year in Chicago.
y p ! p s y a a d H i l o H
From the University Honors Program