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Student News & Honors

Chapman Ambassadors: Chapman student ambassadors for the 2006-07 academic year include three Honors students: Jack Scholz, Nathan Robbins and Amberia Allen. You'll see them at high-profile campus events, wearing the trademark red blazers.

Enjoying study abroad: Honors students spent Spring 2006 semester, and some into the summer, studying abroad and enjoying its many benefits. Miles Leicher took full advantage of Cannes and increased his French skills by 100% -- nevermind the fact that he didn't know any Frency at all. when he left. Lauren Kamp studied in Austria and John Dewar's stint in Beijing was "wonderful." Check out John's blog. Looking through it makes you feel like you've been to China. Be sure to peek at the panda page....they are soooooo cute.

Helping at freshman orientation: Honors students are lending a hand at the 2006 freshman orientation. Nathan Robbins is on the orientation staff. Acting as orientation assistants are: Matt Celia, Bethany Dixon, Brittany Goettsch, Audra Hansard, Julie Meigs, Lauren Myers, Billy Otterman, Jack Scholz and Diandra Weldon.

Essay to appear in Scribendi: An essay by freshman Honors student Michelle Kanda was accepted for publication in the 2006 edition of Scribendi, a high-gloss magazine featuring works by student members of the Western Regional Honors Council. More than 310 essays, short stories, art works and foreign language pieces were submitted from across the western United States. "The selection process allows us to only select a small fraction of the total work submitted," the Scribendi staff reported. "Your student's pieces stood out in this select group. It is quite an accomplishment to have been chosen." Congrats, Michelle.

New Zealand news: Jeff Hunt, who spent the first semester of his sophomore year in New Zealand, has embraced his study abroad experience with gusto -- and quite a bit of humor. His dispatches were quite hilarious and could never be replicated with his flair. But some of the things he did: climbed a volcano, crawled into a lava tube, went bungee jumping, hung out at a film festival, boiled water to cook mussels, and dressed as a McDonald's worker for International Pub night, where participants wore something representing their home country. He lost the contest, but said everyone knew at a glance what country he was from. And, yes, he is studying too -- and has a huge bill for all his books as proof.

Western Regional Honors Council conference: Twenty Honors students were selected to present their research at the Western Regional Honors Council Conference in Las Vegas on April 7-10, 2005. The students and the titles of their research are:

I’m From Earth and So Are You: A Look at Why We Should Violate Sovereignty”—Josh Oviatt
“Honors Book Forum: James Joyce’s Ulysses, a Journey into Ireland and Ourselves”—Janine Miller, Daniel Yoo, Jenny Wiegert, Paul Traska, Andy Holmer
“There’s Something in the Water”—Julie Meigs, Christine Rineberg, Scott Cline, Jennifer Finley
“Lets Talk Trash”—Kara Kawanami, Amberia Allen, Bethany Dixon, Tyler Malotte
“The Correlation Between Conflict and the Spread of HIV/AIDS to Women: A Case Study of Rwandan Genocide”—Rene Bennett
“The IRS+THEIRS: How the National Sales Tax Would Change America”—Jeff Hunt, Jenelle Hughes, Earl Thorndyke
“What’s YOUR Big Idea?”—Kathryn Butler
“The Carrot-Top Culture”—Brittany Goettsch

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College Bowl: Honors Program students ruled at Chapman’s first College Bowl competition in late November. They put together two four-person Honors teams, with others participating on a third team that included non-Honors students. Eight teams competed for a $200 cash prize and the chance to move on to the regional competition in February at CSU Fullerton. After elimination rounds, the Honors Program teams were the final top two and faced off against one another. The winning team was a group from Honors Book Forum. They named themselves Sesquipedalians (look it up) and included: Andy Holmer, Janine Miller, Paul Traska, Jenny Wiegert and Daniel Yoo. The other Honors students who put in stellar performances: Rene Bennett, Scott Cline, Katherine Coffman, Tiffany Curtis, Joey Dorwart, Brittany Goettsch, Jeff Hunt and Brittany Zemlich. After winning, the Sesquipedalians took on Chapman President Jim Doti and his teammate and wife, Lynn Pearson Doti, in a special match-up. Yup, the Sesquipedalians beat them, too!

Honors students Katie Bui and Brittany Zemlick were named recipients of the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Scholarship in Service for 2004-05. Each receives a $2,500 scholarship for the academic year. The award recognizes scholarship and a commitment to a life of service. Katie is a Biological Sciences major and Brittany is a Psychology major.

Following in the steps of many other Honors students, Aaron Humphrey ('05) is spending fall semester in Spain. For those who want to keep up with his adventures (and they are many) you can check out his blog.

Senior Josh Oviatt recently interned for two months in Washington, D.C. for Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. Stevens is Chairman of the Appropriations Committee as well as President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Oviatt was assigned to the Interior Subcommittee of Appropriations for the majority of the summer but also worked with the Senator's lead speech writer.

Senior Tyler Malotte will present his research at this fall's 2004 American Political Science Association's annual meeting. His topic is "AIDS and State Capacity: When International Determinants Meet State Demands"

Honors students Katie Bui, left, and Hoang Nguyen, both Biology majors, recently spent 10 weeks doing research through an award from the American Heart Association. They participated in university research laboratory work under the supervision of scientists noted for their expertise in understanding cardiovascular disease. The AHA undergraduate research awards are highly competitive.

Kimberly Takagi, an Honors student and Biology major, has developed a powerful assay of sea-slug palatability: she simply freeze-dries the slugs (in the Food Sciences freeze dryer!), and mixes the fine powder into small food pellets. Using hermit crabs, she has clearly shown that some slugs are much more palatable than others. The original hypothesis was that slugs like Dolabrifera and Phyllaplysia, which show minimal learning compared to Aplysia, should compensate by increasing their chemical defenses. To her surprise, it was found that Phyllaplysia does not compensate for its lack of cognitive defense by increasing its chemical defenses. In fact, careful experiments by Kim clearly demonstrated that just the opposite is true. Hermit crabs ate Phyllaplysia more readily than they did Aplysia. Clearly the "trade-off" hypothesis is due for an overhaul. Kim's research will be branching out in many directions. She will investigate whether Dolabrifera, another slow learner, will make the trade-off and concentrate more anti-predator chemicals. Kim presented her research at the Western Regional Honors Council Conference in Montana in spring 2004.