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THE COLLEGE OF NEW ROCHELLE HOSTS 19th ANNUAL HONORS CONFERENCE TO SPOTLIGHT STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

NEW ROCHELLE, NY, April 29, 2004 – The School of Arts & Sciences at The College of New Rochelle (CNR) recently hosted its 19th Annual Honors Conference Day to spotlight independent study student research projects and those done for the CNR Honors Program focusing on:  America in the World.  The subjects included: American pop culture in Latin America; the global impact of outsourcing; landmine campaigns; biodiversity in tropical rainforests; and gay censorship in American media. 

Each of the 18 female students who presented their research projects at the midday conference are part of the CNR Honors Program and did their research under the guidance of faculty mentors.  In order to be in this academically rigorous program, each student needs to maintain a 3.5 grade point average (GPA) by the beginning of their junior year, take Honors seminars or independent study, and conduct an individual honors project in their junior or senior year.  The CNR student presenters included:

Cindy Bastien (Brooklyn, NY) -- Over 50 years ago, Simone de Beavoir, author of the breakthrough 1949 book, The Second Sex, provided a unique vision of womanhood.  Cindy seeks to answer the question of whether Simone’s ideas were ahead of her time and if so, did Simone herself live a woman’s life as she defined it?

Vanessa Ceron (Bronx, NY) -- As American jobs continue to be outsourced to countries such as India, what will happen to our domestic economy?  Vanessa looks at the impact outsourcing has had on the global job market, the industries most affected, and whether the benefits of outsourcing outweigh the negatives.

Michele Dola (Selden, NY) – Her project sheds light on the differences in news coverage in the Great Britain and the U.S. and the reasons behind these different perspectives when covering the exact same news event.

Maya Georgieva (New Rochelle, NY) -- Maya conducted two projects:  she examined the success of landmine campaigns in affecting global governance and created the web site for the CNR Honors Program.

Leslie Paola Gonzalez (Elmhurst, NY) –- Leslie’s project examines the effect of American pop culture on sexual attitudes in Latin America, a region more typically known for its conservative cultural mores.

Maria Gonzalez (Torrington, CT) -- Her project looked into the influence that the aesthetics of English and Arabic letterforms have on cultural and national identity for American and Arab people.

Amy Gutierrez (New York, NY) – What happens to the global environment when biodiversity goes down in the tropical rainforests?  Amy seeks to answer the question of how this will impact the success of pharmaceutical companies’ race to develop effective cures for human problems.

Judith Jeremie (Brooklyn, NY) – Judith’s goal was to examine the impact Japanese and American pop culture have on each other’s pop culture and whether a singular “fusion” Japanese-American culture is being created without losing either one’s distinctiveness.

Giau Nguyen (Endicott, NY) -- Giau’s project examined what happened to the Hudson River when its ecosystem was disturbed by invasive species such as the zebra mussel.

Amy Perry (Westbrook, ME) – Is the ultimate American Boy Scout, Superman, a valid and relevant hero at a time when there is so much societal instability in the U.S.  Amy sheds light on the appropriateness of Superman in good times and bad.

Kimberli Ringel-Kane (Columbia, MD) – Is Disney a branding goliath or a company savvy enough to selectively promote its trademark “castle” design only in the most ideal circumstances?  Kimberli’s research takes us behind the scenes throughout the Disney empire to answer this question.

Alana Ruptak (Forked River, NJ) -- Over the years, art therapy professionals have attempted to create codes of ethics to ensure certain levels of standards and conduct among practitioners.  Alana reviewed these codes to see if having them was a realistic attempt across international boundaries.

Betsy Skrip (Oxford, MA) – Betsy’s focus was on exploring the changes in the Hudson River and surrounding landscape as depicted through literary and artistic descriptions. She also investigated what the future holds for this natural resource.

Samantha Turano (Patterson, NY) – Samantha’s project examines the difference between how the American and Canadian media portray homosexuality on national television.  Why is it that in the “land of the free,” homosexuality is rarely portrayed in a positive light?

Kathryn M. Tyranski (Mt. Vernon, NY) – Her project compares the use of propaganda during World War II and the Iraq War.

The first Catholic college for women in New York State, The College of New Rochelle was founded in 1904 by the Ursuline Order. Today, it comprises the all-women School of Arts & Sciences, and three schools which admit women and men: the School of New Resources (for adult learners), the School of Nursing and the Graduate School.  The main campus of the College is located in lower Westchester County, 16 miles north of New York City.  The College maintains six other campus locations in New York City. Visit the College’s website at www.cnr.edu
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