by Christie Reed
Staff Writer
Professional and scholarly accomplishments by members of the Alpha Chi Honor Society and the Behavioral Science Department were put on display at two prestigious conferences this month.
The Alpha Chi national convention in Atlanta, Ga., April 6-8, was attended by Dr. Kathleen Lamkin, professor of music and co-sponsor for the ULV chapter of Alpha Chi. The student representative for ULV was junior Jake McDonald.
“It gives an excellent opportunity for students to attend a professional meeting and present a professional paper,” said Dr. Lamkin. “I was honored to have been asked to represent ULV, in place of sponsor Andrea Labinger.”
This was ULV’s first time attending the conference as a member of Region VII, the western-most and newest region in Alpha Chi.
The conference included presentations of over 200 papers, written by honor students in Alpha Chi all over the United States.
McDonald, a biology major, presented a paper in the Health/Science section, entitled “Biogeochemical Cycling of Selenium in a Hypersaline Lake.”
The paper, which was presented in an edited version, is McDonald’s senior project.
“It was an excellent paper and although he didn’t try to win either of the scholarships available at the conference, his participation will look good on resumes and applications to graduate schools,” said Dr. Lamkin.
The conference also provided many opportunities for Dr. Lamkin and McDonald to interact with other honors students and professors, as well as to experience Atlanta.
Opportunities outside the conference included historic tours and visits to CNN national headquarters.
“It puts them [students] in a very different setting,” said Dr. Lamkin.
Even at the conference itself, the opportunities were immense. The majority of the three days was spent listening to a series of 15 minute presentations, but there were also guest speakers, such as CNN anchor Leon Harris.
Dr. Lamkin and McDonald also had the opportunity to take legislative positions in Alpha Chi meetings.
“We got to vote at all business meetings, elect national council for Alpha Chi and listen to national society policies.”
Funding for the three-day convention was a problem. According to Dr. Lamkin, the national council was barely able to subsidize the costs for just the two of them to travel to Atlanta.
“Hopefully in the future, we will be able to send more delegates,” she said. “It is such a great opportunity for top students to interact in a professional atmosphere.”
On the same token, Dr. Aghop Der-Karabetian, chair of the Behavioral Science Department, faced a similar problem in funding student delegates for the 1995 Western Psychological Association conference, held at the Double Tree hotel near LAX March 30 and April 1.
A total of 12 papers were presented by ULV Behavioral Science students. They were accompanied by Dr. Der-Karabetian and Glenn Gamst, associate professor of psychology.
The convention was an entourage of poster presentations in individual booths, with the writers waiting to answer any questions or offer any additional information in abbreviated hand-outs.
Junior Ruben Salvador, who presented a paper in conjunction with fellow student Greg Tiddle, said, “It was nice to see people actually interested in what I had on display. It is so different to be a participant in such a convention rather than just an observer.”
Among the attendees were recruiters from graduate programs, representatives from widely read publications, graduate students, professors and well-known psychologists.
“I actually ended up bumping into a psychologist we saw on a video tape,” said Salvador.
“Any person who does original scientific research can submit a paper” said Dr. Der-Karabetian. “But there is a refereed selection process. Since there were so many ULV students chosen to present, it shows that while ULV gives a pleasurable, small learning environment, it also provides scholarly learning.”
Over 500 papers from all over the west coast were presented at the conference.
“I would recommend conferences to other students,” said La Verne graduate Kim Cook, who also presented a paper at the conference. “It is really easy to make networks when there are so many prominent persons looking at your work.”
ULV students who are majoring in a behavioral science field are required to complete an original research paper with a tested hypothesis and research questions.
“There is a good deal of research going on here at ULV and we are really proud that our students and faculty are on the cutting edge of scientific technology. This was apparent in the quality of their papers and presentations.
“It is not just our department; I know other departments are also active in conferences. I think students should be aware of the learning opportunities available in attending them,” said Dr. Der-Karabetian.
