Blithe Casterline, a senior chemistry major, has been awarded the 2005 I. M. Kolthoff Award for undergraduate research by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Analytical Chemistry. This national award is designed to recognize outstanding students who have completed significant research in the area of analytical chemistry. As part of the award, the ACS will sponsor Casterline's trip to the annual national eting in San Diego, Calif., in March, where she will present her research quantifying phthalate ester leaching from colored PET bottles exposed to UV radiation. She is working collaboratively on this research project with Emily Niemeyer, associate professor of chemistry.

Students Jessica Monroe and Elizabeth Keating were selected to serve on the new Texas Sculpture Symposium planning board of directors for the 2005 year. These two students were chosen from all of the students in Texas to serve on this board. They will work on developing the 2006 Texas Sculpture Symposium program.

September 2004

Southwestern sophomore Lauren Sekel's manuscript, "A Miracle in the Making," has been accepted for publication. "A Miracle in the Making" will be included in a monograph entitled "New Horizons: People with Disabilities Share Their College Experiences," published by the Association of Higher Education and Disability. Publication is anticipated in November 2004.

Senior psychology major Abby Riggs won first place in the Psi Chi/J.P. Guilford national paper competition. The award honors the best undergraduate empirical paper in psychology and comes with a $1000 stipend. Her paper, "'His and her' heart attacks: The effects of gender relevance on women's receptiveness to health-related information," was based on research conducted with Traci Giuliano, associate professor of psychology, and fellow students Erin Crockett and Aubrey Buckert.

Caitlin Allday, Albert Bui, and April Martin, Southwestern students of Dr. Thomas Howe's Seminar on Stabiae [more], completed a reconstruction model of the ancient Roman Villa San Marco of Stabiae and placed it on display in the Fine Arts Center corridor. The students and Howe traveled to Stabiae and Pompei during spring break as part of the activity of the seminar. The model has been visible in the corridor throughout this summer until such time as it is shipped out to the Smithsonian/U.S. tour of the exhibit "In Stabiano."