NetNews
Eleven students have been selected as McNair Scholars at St. Lawrence
for the summer of 2006, enabling each to conduct research with a faculty
mentor.
St. Lawrence was awarded a grant in 2003 through the Ronald E. McNair
Postbaccalaureate Achievement Award Program, which is aimed at encouraging
students in underrepresented groups to pursue doctoral studies and is
one of the U.S. Department of Education Federal TRIO Programs. Named for
Astronaut Ronald E. McNair, who died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle
explosion, the program was launched in 1989 and exists at more than 150
colleges and universities across the country. St. Lawrence's McNair Program,
titled "Exploration, Nurturing and Commitment to Excellence on the Way
to the Ph.D.," is designed to increase the number of talented students
from under-represented groups in continuing their education, with the
goal of achieving the doctoral degree. Among the groups considered underrepresented
in doctoral programs are African Americans; Hispanic Americans; Native
Americans; and those from economically disadvantaged families who are
first-generation college students. The St. Lawrence McNair Program will
encourage the pursuit of graduate study leading to the Ph.D. by involving
students in multiple research-intensive experiences and extensive advising
by faculty mentors. In addition, students named McNair Scholars receive
grant-funded stipends for their research work and increased opportunities
to visit graduate schools and attend professional conferences, among other
benefits.
The Scholars, their faculty mentors, and descriptions of their projects
and campus activities as possible, are:
Henrietta (Rita) Asiedu '07, of Bronx,
NY
Faculty Sponsor: Assistant Professor of English
Mary Hussmann
Majors: English and minor in government
Project: ‘Black and Jewish Alliance during the
Civil Rights Movement’
Campus Activities: Rita Asidieu was born in Ghana and
brought up in New York City. Rita has been an events organizer for Black
Students’ Union, a HEOP mentor, an admissions tour guide, performed
in the Dance Ensemble, and sang for Gospel Choir. Rita studied in London
for a semester in 2006.
After graduation: Rita is looking into law schools
or graduate programs in African studies.
Jessa Davis '08, of Canton, NY
Faculty Sponsor: Assistant Professor of Biology
Aswini Pai
Majors: Biology and Anthropology
Project: Jessa researched on ‘A Comparative Analysis
of African and Asian Health Care Practices in relation to Malaria’
Campus Activities: McNair Scholars program, international
study in Kenya in Fall 2005, Indoor/Outdoor Track and Field, the Class
Council, and the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program.
After graduation: She plans to attend graduate school
in California, Florida or Hawaii for medical ecology and/or ethno pharmacology.
(Photo Not Available)
Crystal Fuerte '07, of Bronx, NY
Faculty Sponsor: Associate Professor of English
Robert Cowser
Axel Galeano '07, of Woodhaven, NY
Faculty Sponsors: Visiting Assistant Professor of Modern
Languages Jenna Torres and Assistant Professor of History
Evelyn Jennings
Candina Harmer '07, of Phoenix, NY
Faculty Sponsor: Associate Professor of Sociology
Patrice LeClerc
Major: Biology
Project: The history of medicine and rise of female
physicians. It featured influential women like Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell,
Alice Hamilton, Rebecca Cole and Rebecca Crumpler. She appreciates how
at St. Lawrence “professors give students the ability to be themselves
not only in their class work, but outside of it as well.”
Campus Activities: Her activities on campus include
Laurentian Singers, SLU Buddies and Gospel Choir.
After graduation: Candina wants to get a degree as
a physician’s assistant and eventually in public health in the
area of epidemiology.
Darrell Hemsley '08, of Landover Hills,
MD
Faculty Sponsor: Associate Professor of Performance
and Communications Arts Kirk Fuoss
Majors: English Writing, Performance and Communications
Project: ‘Cluster Criticism Reveals: Phyllis
Hyman’s Lyrical Angels and Demons’. He examined late R&B
singer Phyllis Hyman’s lyrics; applying cluster criticism focusing
on lyrics of original compositions, suspecting that they would shed
insight into the depression from which Hyman suffered and which ultimately
led to her suicide.
Campus Activities: Darrell has worked for ACE, Black
Students’ Association and as a poetry editor for the Laurentian
Magazine. He is planning to study in London in Fall 2007.
After graduation: Darrell hopes to earn a master's
in screen writing.
Marlise Hernandez '08, of Manchester,
NH
Faculty Sponsor: Professor of Anthropology
Alice Pomponio
Major: Anthropology
Project: Marlise studied the concepts of illness and
wellness amongst the indigenous groups of the Caribbean using medical
anthropology.
Activities on campus: Assistant Director of St. Lawrence
University's Emergency Medical Service, vice-president of the Anthropology
Club, member of the Swingin' Saints, Canton Fire and Rescue, and the
International House.
After-graduation plans: Graduate school for
medical anthropology
Jana Morgan '07, of Sackets Harbor, NY
Faculty Sponsor: Assistant Professor of Global
Studies John Collins
Major: Government
Project: The connection between diamond trade in Sierra
Leone and the human rights violations that occurred there and how diamond
companies made their consumers complicity by ignoring the country’s
state
Campus Activiries: Jana has been around the world-
Austria, India and China through St. Lawrence’s international
programs. A member of the Thelomathesian Society, Omicron Delta Kappa
and Red Dogs Rugby team
After graduation: Jana is looking into graduate programs
in International Relations and eventually hopes to get a doctorate degree.
Steve Peraza '07, of New York, NY
Faculty Sponsor: Associate Professor of History
Elizabeth Regosin
Majors: History and Sociology
Project: Steve continued his over three-year long
project this summer and produced “Resolving the Religious and
the Political: Jeffrey Campbell’s Ministry: Unitarian Universalist
Society at Amherst, 1967-1974.” He discusses Campbell’s
attempts to affect sociopolitical change as a function of religious
activism.
Campus Activities: Steve credits Bill Short for recruiting
him for Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) and enabling him
to attend SLU. Steve’s campus activities include co-founding Ray
Ross House, columnist for Hill News, Hip Hop and Beyond, Black Student
Union, Latino Multicultural Alliance, panel discussions and talent shows.
After graduation: As a McNair scholar , He plans to
earn a doctorate degree and teach at college level- perhaps at SLU as
a Jeffrey Campbell Fellow! “Nothing would fulfill me the way a
career in education would,” Steve concedes.
Sahiry Rodriguez
'07, of New York, NY
Faculty Sponsor: Associate Professor of Sociology
Ronald Flores
Majors: Philosophy and Government
Project: Born in Dominican Republic, Sahiry’s
summer research was on Dominican’s self-identification in the
US and their segmented assimilation-“in particular how Dominicans
of noticeable African ancestry come to terms with their blackness in
the US”. For Sahiry, this research has involved personal growth-“It
has helped me find a better way to identify myself-not losing my Dominican
side but accepting my African ancestry.”
Campus Activities: Community assistant, tutor for government
and philosophy, SLU Buddies and HEOP mentor.
After graduation: She plans on getting a doctorate degree in
philosophy and Juris doctor degree and eventually teach.
Michael Seaman '08, of Lake George, NY
Faculty Sponsor: Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Matthew Skeels
Federal TRIO Programs are funded under Title IV of the Higher Education Act
of 1965 and are referred to as the TRIO Programs (initially just three programs).
While student financial aid programs help students overcome financial barriers
to higher education, TRIO programs help students overcome class, social and
cultural barriers to higher education.
More information: St. Lawrence
University's McNair Scholars Program Web Site
Posted: June 22, 2006
