Four groups of Rogers State University students recently participated in the Oklahoma Research Day, an event designed to highlight research done by undergraduate students from Oklahoma colleges and universities.
More than 500 presentation posters were displayed and judged during the Oct. 22 event at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. RSU students participating were:
Joan Candy-Fire and Raymond Stoner presented “Can Jumping Mouse Reach the Land of Recovery?” in the education-psychology category. The study explored the effectiveness of using a Cheyenne tradition of an oral story as a substance abuse prevention strategy. Candy-Fire, from Nowata, and Stoner, from Newton, Iowa, are both social science-psychology and sociology seniors. The students were directed by Dr. Abe Marrero, head of RSU’s Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Greg Loyd and Michelle Canan presented “Implementing a Web-Based Logging Program” in the sciences-computer sciences category. Loyd and Canan developed the presentation describing a spring 2004 class project for Dr. Peter Macpherson’s Software Engineering course. The students developed a web-based program that facilitates the logging of phone calls to RSU’s Academic Computing Services office, which now utilizes the student-developed program. Loyd and Canan are both business information technology-software development and multimedia seniors from Claremore.
Karen Sebold presented “Racism Towards Blacks in America: Tracing its Effects on Our Society” in the liberal arts-history category. Sebold presented a historical analysis of a social system of inequalities for blacks, and why those systems continue to exist. Sebold is a social science-history and political science senior from Coffeyville, Kan.
Melissa Weaver presented “Comparing Past and Present Serial Murderers” in the liberal arts-history category. Using an historic list of characteristics identified with serial murderers, she compared contemporary and past male serial murderers to see whether their traits were comparable. Weaver is a social science-history and political science junior from Catoosa.
Participating in the Oklahoma Research Day event allowed students to sharpen their communication and quantitative skills by presenting their research, which was seen by both general and academic audiences, Marrero said.
Oklahoma Research Day was organized by the Council on Research for Regional Universities and sponsored by the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education, Oklahoma Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), General Motors of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST), and the National Institutes of Health – INBRE.