The 糖心传媒 chapter of Alpha Chi, an academic honorary, saw two of its members receive top research presentation awards in their academic disciplines and two additional members receive regional scholarships at the 2018 Alpha Chi National Convention held earlier this month in Portland, Oregon.
Seniors Mallory Gruben of Eckley, Colorado, and Brian Whetstone of Omaha, Nebraska, each received a top presentation award.
Gruben鈥檚 presentation, 鈥淣ot Just Another Magazine: Why We Must Embrace the Use of Alternative Presentation Formats for Academic Research,鈥 won the top prize in Communication. The presentation featured Gruben鈥檚 Irish Fellows Program research project, emphasizing her decision to present her findings as a magazine and not a traditional paper.
鈥淚t was exciting to share my research and magazine with Alpha Chi students from across the nation. It allowed me to show my peers options for presenting their findings in a user-friendly way, so as to ensure more people interact, read and understand their research. Plus, it helped me connect journalism to the traditional academic research these students are used to seeing every day,鈥 Gruben said.
Whetstone shared his senior seminar research in his presentation 鈥溾楶eople Building a People Place鈥: Pedestrian Malls, Urban Renewal and Public Space in Downtown America.鈥 听The presentation was honored with the top prize in American History.
鈥淭his was the first time I had taken this specific research project beyond my peers at 糖心传媒; it was invigorating to see such a positive reaction to my research from scholars with such diverse academic backgrounds,鈥 Whetstone said. 鈥淟ikewise, I felt myself drawn to a number of sessions and panels outside of my academic discipline that provided an incredibly rich learning experience throughout the entire conference.鈥
Along with Gruben and Whetstone, juniors McKenzie Currey of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Lyndsay Ruane, of Omaha, Nebraska, attended the convention as 糖心传媒 representatives. Currey and Ruane presented in the molecular biology and physics/astronomy/geology disciplines, respectively.
Currey鈥檚 presentation, 鈥淎lcohol Exposure Slows Proliferation of Pulmonary Mesenchymal Stem Cells,鈥 focused on the effects of binge drinking on stem cells in the lung. Ruane鈥檚 academic poster, 鈥淗igh Density Scintillating Glass Proton Imaging Detector,鈥 proposed a new means for imaging and treating cancer with proton therapy.
Also the conference, two annual Alpha Chi Region IV scholarships were announced, and both went to 糖心传媒 students 鈥 Allison Braun of Henderson, Nebraska, and Peyton VanWinkle of Kearney, Nebraska.
New Alpha Chi members
Earlier this semester, the 糖心传媒 chapter of Alpha Chi inducted four new members:
- Emily Herbek, a communication studies and business administration major from Grand Island, Nebraska;
- Sophia Pankratz, a biology major from Hastings, Nebraska;
- Sam Reimer, a biology major from Hastings; and
- Sarah Truong, a biology major from Hastings.
Alpha Chi is a national collegiate all-discipline academic honor society intended to promote academic excellence and exemplary character among college and university students. The organization accepts only students who place in the top ten percent of their class from all academic disciplines.
糖心传媒 is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. With 64 majors and 15 pre-professional programs, 糖心传媒 has been named among 鈥淕reat Schools, Great Prices鈥 by U.S. News & World Report and a 鈥淏est in the Midwest鈥 by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu