Christian Orozco
Sports Editor
Faculty, staff and students gathered Tuesday in the Campus Center Ballroom to present and view one another’s research on Faculty Research Day.
Socializing and enjoying good food in the Campus Center Ballroom, the mood was relaxed yet energized.
“They went all out this year with the food and the booths,” junior biology major Peter Marquez said.
Marquez also presented his research with biology major Justine Coyle, and associate professors of biology Jerome Garcia and Kathleen Weaver.
The title of their research was the “Physiological Effect of Heavy Metal Toxicity in Oreohelix Land Snails in Southwest Montana.”
Over the summer the student-faculty team traveled to southwest Montana to study the effects of Montana’s huge mining industry and how it was killing the land snails.
“The mining industry is causing oxidative stress for the snails,” Marquez said.
The snails are adapting to the mining and are changing; the change is helping them survive, Marquez said.
In another part of ballroom, Professor of Law Charles Doskow displayed various articles he wrote including “What’s the Obama Administration Hiding?” and “The Drone Killings.”
Joan Branin, professor of health services management, presented research she had done on Mexican-American caregivers who were taking care of people diagnosed with advanced cancer.
“Spiritually, this has a positive effect on the caregivers. They feel like they are giving back,” Branin said.
“But it has a negative effect on them psychologically and physically,” she said.
Professor of English William Cook presented his research on Palestine, from the mandate period of the 1940s to the massacres that have taken place in the new millennium.
With the display of his work, Cook also played an interview that he did in San Diego, where he talked about Palestine and his books on the region.
Cook’s book, “The Plight of the Palestines,” include 32 chapters and 21 contributing authors.
Along with all of his work, Cook had a review of one of his books by worldnews.com, the review raved about Cook’s writing, cause and research.
Director of Multicultural Affairs Daniel Loera presented his research titled “Emotional Intelligence and Student Success Among White and First and Second Generation Latinos and Latinas.”
For this Loera went to a high school, a community college and a private university to conduct his research.
He also had his 316 page dissertation along with his poster board, for anyone wanting to take the time out to read it.
“You can teach emotional intelligence,” Loera said. “Now I need to find out how to teach it.”
Assistant Professor of Education Andy Steck presented “One University, Many Families, Working Together to Support Family Literacy.”
This is an organization that Steck began nine years ago.
The organization takes kids from the ages of 4 to 8 on college campus tours and helps them with school work. It is also designed to help parents keep their children on the right path to college.
“Most kids take their first college tours when they’re in high school,” Steck said.
“Kids already have their mind made up if they want to go to college or not by that time,” he said. “The reason why we take these kids on campus tours so early is so that they can have the mindset that they can go to college and that there are ways to get there.”
“Everyone can go to college.”
Professor of Sociology Sharon Davis spoke about her research on juvenile delinquents from the ages of 14 to 18.
She studied five juvenile delinquent boys and the study was called “No Fortunate Sons: Societal and Self-Perceived Victimization of Incarcerated Male Juvenile Delinquents.”
Davis broke the study down into four parts: dissociation, devaluation, deflection and desecration.
“Throwing someone in jail is the quick fix for society,” Davis said.
“It means they’re away from the public. Rather than rehabilitating them, we punish them,” she said. “They’re the victim.”
People who attended the event were able to get an overdose of food and information at Faculty Research Day and professors were able to showcase what they actually do on their free time.
Christian Orozco can be reached at christian.orozco@laverne.edu.
