USF Sarasota-Manatee students present research at 7th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and Celebration

SARASOTA, FL (May 12, 2009) – In April, USF held its 7th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and Celebration, and USF Sarasota-Manatee had strong representation at the event.

Coordinated through the Honors College, the USF system-wide event represents the intellectual effort and dedication of well over 100 undergraduates and their faculty mentors. Students present posters and papers that give details about research from every college and university.

USF Sarasota-Manatee had four students present their research at the Symposium this year.

Aaron Beasley presented “Power as Performance in Julius Caesar” in the field of Humanities under the mentorship of Dr. Suzanne Stein, Instructor in the College of Arts and Sciences. Brittany Stamey, also in the field of Humanities, presented “Suffering and Rebirth: The Waste Land, Buddhism and Hinduism” also under Dr. Suzanne Stein. Stamey won second place for her presentation.

In Behavioral Sciences, Kelsey Persons and Erica Interval presented research posters under the mentorship of Dr. Richard Reich, Instructor of Psychology. Persons’ topic, “The relationship among children’s alcohol expectancies, academic achievement, and socioeconomic status” sought to identify the risk for alcohol use by assessing academic achievement and socioeconomic status. Interval’s poster, “Event related drinking in adults: A special emphasis on prom, weddings, and births” examined the relationship between alcohol use and a variety of life events.

“This is such important undergraduate student recognition,” said Dr. Jane Rose, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at USF Sarasota-Manatee, “and they couldn’t get here without their faculty mentors. This is the fourth year that we’ve participated in this event and our students have proven themselves to be stand-outs in their research.”