Abby Conroy ‘10, Andrew Pfeifer ‘10, Shannon Zaret ‘10, and Assistant Professor of Environmental Science TJ Eatmon presented a paper titled “A Review of Paper Purchasing Policy Options for Allegheny College” at the annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) in Indianapolis. Since the report was first presented on campus last spring, several recommendations have been implemented including new default margin and spacing changes to campus computers and default duplex printing on 36 newly installed multifunction printers. The report estimates that controlling for changes in use habits, these new defaults should decrease campus paper costs by more than 50 percent while significantly reducing environmental impacts.
Jessica Kenemuth ‘09, Allison Hensler ‘10, and Associate Professor of Biology and Neuroscience Lee Coates presented research at the Midwest-Great Lakes Undergraduate Neuroscience Research Symposium recently held at Ohio Wesleyan University. The title of the presentation was “Investigating the Transduction Pathways of Odorants and Olfactory CO2 in Mice.” Jessica and Alli worked over the summer in Dr. Coates’s lab and were supported by the Shanbrom Research Fund. The research they conducted is part of Dr. Coates’s research program studying the triggers for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Amy Wiseman and her summer research students Ashley Brandebura ‘11 and Kristen Cushman ‘10 gave a presentation, “Ways to Maintain and Improve Cognition as Part of Active Aging,” on September 17 at the Active Aging Senior Center in Meadville. The presentation was taped by Armstrong Cable and will be shown on Channel 23 for the next two weeks.
Assistant Professor of English Kerry Bakken’s short story “Indignity” was named one of the 100 Notable Stories of 2008 by The Best American Short Stories 2008. Her essay “Not Waving But Drowning” was named one of the 100 Notable Essays of 2008 by The Best American Essays 2008.
In collaboration with co-authors Adam M. Smith ‘08 and Joshua J. Geiger ‘08, Manos Renieris (Google), and G. Elisabeta Marai (University of Pittsburgh), Associate Professor of Computer Science Gregory M. Kapfhammer recently published a paper in the Compendium of the IEEE Information Visualization Conference. “Interactive Coverage Effectiveness Multiplots for Evaluating Prioritized Regression Test Suites” describes a visualization technique that allows software testers to compare the effectiveness of test suite orders. Dr. Kapfhammer recently completed and continues to conduct studies of the method described in this paper with Vidya Kulkarni, a Reader at the University of Delhi, and two Delhi master’s students, Ankita Mahajan and Arpan Agrawal. Additional information about the paper and other related research is available at http://www.cs.allegheny.edu/~gkapfham/research/kanonizo/.
Brian Kern, head of technical services in Pelletier Library, gave a presentation at the annual meeting of the Eastern Great Lakes chapter of the Innovative Users Group, held at the Akron-Summit County Public Library in Akron, Ohio. His talk on collection management and deselection is available at http://www.rodmanlibrary.com/iug/egl2009/bookretirement.ppt
Assistant Professor of Art Darren Lee Miller is one of eight artists invited to show their work at the Durbin Gallery of Birmingham-Southern College. The Show, Visibilities: The Art of Negotiating Identity, is an invitational exhibition that examines the complex social, political and sexual issues surrounding identity and visibility in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer communities. Professor Miller will spend two days as an artist-in-residence on the Birmingham-Southern campus, where he has been invited to participate in critique and deliver an artist’s talk about his work Under the Surface and Everywhere: Performative Strategies for Unearthing the Queer in the Vernacular.
Professor of Religious Studies Carl Olson recently published Historical Dictionary of Buddhism (Scarecrow Press, 2009) and “The Human Body as a Boundary Symbol: A Comparison of Merleau-Ponty and Dogen,” edited by Jin Y. Pak and Gereon Kopf (Lexington Books, 2009), pp. 83-94.
The Advertising Federation of Northwest Pennsylvania — formerly the Erie Ad Club — recently announced the winners of its 2009 Creative Spark Awards. Mike Richwalsky, of the College’s Office of Public Affairs, received the award for excellence in electronic communications and marketing for his work in the Erie community. The Creative Spark Awards recognize individuals who are making a positive impact on the advertising and marketing communications industry in northwest Pennsylvania. The award recipients will be honored at an awards celebration on Friday, Oct. 2 at the Bayfront Sheraton Hotel in Erie.
Adjunct Professor Richard Sayer won a first place in the General News category for Region 3 of the National Press Photographers Association for a photograph of a man jumping headfirst into the icy water at Pymatuning Lake last February. Sayer and his brother also won the Northeast division playdowns for the U.S. Championships in the doubles, considered the premier event in Lawn Bowls. The win allows them to compete representing the Northeast in the championships held in Long Beach, California, in October. This will be his 10th trip to the Championships — he won the U.S. Championships in 1996 and 2007, both times with his brother. They have come in second four times.
Associate Professor of Political Science Sharon Wesoky presented a paper titled “Engendering the Local: Development Projects and the Empowerment of Chinese Rural Women” at a symposium on China’s Rural Development, the 2009 signature conference of the China Institute at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Her chapter, “Re-presenting Rural Women’s Identities: Time, Recognition, and Representation of Rural Chinese Women, ” was recently published in Marginalization in China: Recasting Minority Politics (Palgrave, 2009).
People & Places, published monthly during the academic year, reports on the professional activities of members of the College community and highlights student achievements. Please submit items to people@allegheny.edu. Questions about People & Places? Contact Kathy Roos at kathy.roos@allegheny.edu. We reserve the right to edit copy for length.
