Senior Scholars Day 2007
President L. Jay Lemons welcomed students, faculty and staff to the event on April 17, 2007, in the Mellon Lounge of the Degenstein Campus Center. Senior students presented the results of their research, scholarly or creative projects in the form of poster displays and oral presentations. In all, 119 students participated including senior music students who highlighted their talents during a music recital and graphic art students who presented their work in the Cunningham Center for Music and Art.
The campus center was abuzz with topics as diverse as the United Nations Human Rights Council, gestational surrogacy, glacial deposits in Wyoming and red clump stars located light years away. The research presented also explored such issues as the rise of Islamic extremism in the Middle East, stem cell research and gender differences in the social and cognitive play of preschool-aged children.
Sea urchins, wolf spiders, fruit flies, penguins and microbes were among the creatures studied for some of the research. Dysfunctional eating behaviors, romantic relationship violence and stress in college students were just a few of the topics presented in the area of human behavior.
Presentations on soil analysis at the Centralia mine fire, the Mifflinburg Buggy Museum and the ability of wetland plant species to accumulate lead for the passive treatment of acid mine drainage in Shamokin were issues specific to the Susquehanna Valley.
