Volume 1, Issue 2 Spring 2006 Word of Honor C C A C H O N O R S P R O G R A M Inexorable D i r e c t o r ’ s The National Collegiate Honors Council Northeast Conference (NE-NCHC) “Renaissance, Recreation, and Recovery” comes to Pittsburgh in April, and CCAC is participating in a big way. Most importantly, four CCAC Honors students Faith Hill, Ashley Montrenes, Samantha Phillips, and Angela Sperl have been selected to present their Honors contract projects at the conference. Faith Hill, a sophomore social science major from North Campus, will present her Honors contract project completed with Cheryl Graham-Eason in Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. In her paper “Bonding and Bondage: Nurturing a Serial Killer,” Faith examined the possible relationship between nature and nurture in the development of a serial murderer, paying particular attention to recognizable, common patterns in the offender’s history: biological or medical (nature) and/or his socialization (nurture). Faith wondered whether patterns would emerge, suggesting the need for follow-up study. Ashley Montrenes, a freshman education major from South Campus, is presenting a paper entitled “Tosca Recovered.” As part of Ashley’s Honors contract in Children’s Literature with Julia Fennell, she is interning with the Pittsburgh Opera Educational Foundation. Ashley will layout and edit a publication for the Tosca educational workshop entitled Teen Tosca, which will recast the Tosca story into a current teen magazine. Ashley is bridging the hundred-year gap between Puccini’s first performance of Tosca in Rome in 1900 and teenagers in Pittsburgh in 2006. N o t e s by Rosemarie Fox McShane Samantha Phillips, a sophomore business major from Allegheny Campus, is presenting a paper she developed as part of her Honors contract in Ruth Feather’s accounting class: “African American Certified Public Accountants: Challenging Professional Barriers in the Job Market. “ Samantha researched discrepancies in the certification requirements, inequities in education, and discrimination in hiring and promotion practices, which disadvantaged African Americans pursuing careers as Certified Public Accountants, as well as the accomplishments of John W. Cromwell, Jr. and Mary T. Washington, the first African American male and female CPA’s. Angela Sperl, a second-semester sophomore at North Campus, will graduate in May with a degree in psychology. Angela’s presentation is based on the Honors contract she completed with Anne Louise Dailey in Human Growth and Development. Angela’s paper “Modified Replication of the Study ‘Life Markers in Biographical Narratives of People from Three Cohorts: A Lifespan Perspective in its Historical Context.’” The original 2001 study was published in Human Development. Using autobiographies and interviews from three cohorts based on age, Angela investigated the influence of generational difference on perceptions of historical events and issues of control. CCAC Honors has been actively involved in conference planning, and we are excited for our students to share with other Honors students from all over the Northeast. -Julia Fennell Honors Forum Set for April 28, 2006 The Honors Forum recognizes the CCAC Honors Community and provides an opportunity for Honors students and faculty to share their Honors projects. The evening will include student presentations of Honors projects, the awarding of Honors cords and certificates to graduating Honors students, and the display of artistic Honors projects from this academic year. The Honors Forum will be held on April 28, 2006, from 6-8 pm in the Student Service Center Auditorium on Allegheny Campus. The college community is welcome to join us in celebrating the accomplishments of our Honors students and faculty. Refreshments will be served. Rosemarie McShane, Representative of the Dean of Student Development at Allegheny Campus, wrote the poem “Inexorable” (right) after attending the 2005 Honors Forum. From under the low dark deep eves of a front porch I stand spell bound watching the softly drifting white snowflakes mixing with the pink petals of a redbud tree on the path in front of me. Freak spring flurries surprise even the birds who insist on signing anyway from former pastel limbs now fuzzy and white. Perhaps they are singing spring carols. They cannot not sing. It is what they are, songbirds. I think of Honors Night and students amazing us with their academic prowess, and astonishing themselves with their insights as to the nature and beauty of learning, the art of learning, the risks taken, the lessons learned, instructors, whom they are effusively grateful to, pulling light and wisdom out of them, igniting them, not filling them up as buckets, with facts alone. No sponges here, no inkblotters inversed and backwards, but creative listeners who hear with their hearts and passionately run with knowledge. These are Scholars of politics, photography, design, metals, history, science, whatever is served to them. They cannot not learn. It is what they are, scholars. V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 2 P a g e 2 Each semester four Honors students and their contracts will be featured in “Word of Honor.” A l l e g h e n y Honors student: Jeremy Shields N o r t h C a m p u s She returned to school with the intention of upgrading her business skills to remain competitive and completion of the Honors projects. He has used the projects as an opportunity to prepare for his dream of being a professional songwriter. Each of Jeremy’s Honors projects has built on the last. First, Jeremy compiled a collection of forty songs he wrote and sent them to the Library of Congress for copyright; then he designed a website to promote his songwriting and to sell his music (http:// www.shieldsong.com). His final project is to sell one of his songs. Jeremy enjoys the challenges that the Honors Program presents through the creation In Jeremy’s spare time, he enjoys cycling, camping, fishing, traveling and living. F e a t u r e d S t u d e n t in sales; however, Faith’s desire to learn more about Anthropology assisted in her in changing her career path. She plans to transfer to University of Pittsburgh to pursue a M.A. in Anthropology. Faith’s other interests include animal rescue, ballroom dancing and non-Western medicine. Faith has two teenage children, three cats and three guinea pigs. L e a d e r s h i p S e m i n a r M a r c h 2 5 - 2 6 There is still time to enroll in Leadership I: SDS 104H-AC01: 1 credit. This course is open to all Honors and Phi Theta Kappa students. Leadership 1 is part of the Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Program and will be taught by a Phi Theta Kappa certified instructor. The weekend seminar brings together Honors S t u d e n t Jeremy Shields will graduate from CCAC in May with an associate’s degree in business and an Honors degree. He plans to transfer to Robert Morris University in fall 2006. This semester Jeremy is completing an Honors contract in Principles of Selling with Professor Anthony Lucas. He is making a sales presentation package, which will include Jeremy’s original songs that will be sent to potential customers, such as recording companies, producers, artists, publishing companies and songwriters. C a m p u s Faith Hill is a sophomore social sciences major at North Campus. Faith’s Honors contract is in Foundations of Education with Professor David Palcho. Her contract explores existentialism as a theme in fictional literature. She will be analyzing The Stranger by Albert Camus. F e a t u r e d students from all four campuses. We will provide a continental breakfast and a lunch both Saturday and Sunday as well as the opportunity to explore leadership theory and application. The class will meet Saturday and Sunday, March 25 and 26, 2006 from 8:00-4:30. “The wisest mind has something yet to learn.” -George Santayana Honors student: Faith Hill Honors Night at the Opera April 4th The Honors Council is pleased to announce Honors Night at the Opera. All Honors student have been invited to join the CCAC Honors Community for Tosca by Puccini at the Benedum Center on April 4th at 7:00 p.m. At 6:00 pm, those interested may attend a pre-opera talk given by Christopher Hahn, Artistic Director of the Pittsburgh Opera. At 5:30 pm, those interested may meet for a backstage tour offered by the Pittsburgh Opera Educational Department. V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e B o y c e 2 P a g e C a m p u s F e a t u r e d Kristine Ray has been at CCAC for three semesters. She is a liberal arts major who would like to get a degree in professional writing from LaRoche College. Kristine’s Honors contract is in Introduction to Theatre with Professor Constance Koepfinger. She is researching the experiences of teen mothers who pursue higher education, incorporating her findings into a paper and a one-act play. Honors student: Kristine Ray S o u t h Kristine’s career goal is to either C a m p u s Ashley Montrenes is a sophomore liberal arts major. Ashley’s Honors contract is in Children’s Literature with Professor Julia Fennell. Her project applies what she has learned through her internship with the Pittsburgh Opera to Rosenblatt’s theory of aesthetic reading she studied in Children’s Literature. Ashley has collaborated with Dr. Marilyn Egan at the Pittsburgh Opera Educational Foundation in creating teaching materials for Xerxes and Tosca. 3 s t u d e n t become an editor or writer. She is planning on transferring to LaRoche College at the end of the spring ‘06 semester to complete her bachelor’s degree. Kristine’s interest include writing and reading, especially plays by Tennesse Williams. She is a full-time student who is raising a daughter while also working. She says, “I’ve been told it can’t be done. I’m proof it can.” F e a t u r e d S t u d e n t Ashley plans to continue her education at Carlow College in Pittsburgh to obtain a degree in secondary education in both math and English. She hopes to remain in an Honors Program after transferring to Carlow. In her spare time Ashley enjoys rollerblading, painting, photography, music, drawing and reading. One of her favorite authors and books is Gary Larson– The Far Side, but she also says, “There are so many to choose from!” Honors student: Ashley Montrenes Web-enhanced Honors History course offered Fall ‘06 Would you like to know more about the events unfolding in the world today? Register for HIS213H “Twentieth Century World History.” Enrollment is limited to 17 students. This course is an examination of the major trends and contemporary movements in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas since 1900 including the two world wars; social and political revolutions; nationalism, imperialism and de-colonization; fascism and communism; the creation of new states; global conflict and peace building. Students will meet four times throughout the semester for Saturday sessions (9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.). Saturday sessions include field trips to places of interest in the Pittsburgh area. The remainder of the course work is done via independent study and through the use of the CCAC blackboard site, under the instruction of Jacqueline Cavalier, Assistant Professor of History. “We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.” -Lloyd Alexander NOW AVAILABLE HONORS BLACKBOARD SITE Honors Program Contact Information Honors Program Office South Campus D-317 1750 Clairton Road West Mifflin, PA 15122 Phone: 412-469-4303 Fax: 412-469-6009 Attn: Julia Fennell E-mail: [email protected] Honors Council Dr. Wendy Weiner, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Allysen Todd, Dean of Arts and Sciences Julia Fennell, Honors Program Director Campus Coordinators: Jacqueline Cavalier, Allegheny Campus Rodger O’Toole, Boyce Campus Helen Schlatterer, North Campus Elizabeth Jo Dallas, South Campus Emily Grazulis, Secretary and Word of Honor Editor CCAC Honors Students Allegheny Campus: Cristina Amann, Sean Barry*, Gladys Bonse*, Cynthia Clark, Roy Clawson, Mia Crow, Beverly Damron, Derek Davenport, Jamie Donaldson, Julie Dulski, Charles Eberenz IV, Autumn Edwards, Lawrence Ejindu, Ifeanyi Ezenwa, Jason Giulieri, Jessica Lepore, Joanna Littlefield, David Louis, Taryn McCreary, Katie McGrath, Marcy Mountain, HuyTu Nguyen, Samantha Phillips*, Dierdre Price, Robert Quarles IV, Jennifer Reisdorf, Alia Shakir, Jeremy Shields*, Stephanie Spano, Karina Steren, Ryan Winterhalter, Flo Wivell Boyce Campus: Robin Bennett, Matthew Brown, Aaron Butler*, Phillip Caruso*, Marybeth Delane, Erin Gallentine, Nicole Kuiros*, Jodi Lilly*, Matthew Mesina, Daniel Miller, Melissa Mitchell, Donna Moreau, Janine Muri, Cody Musser, Christine Myers*, Paula Obricki, Sandra Patz, Kelly Perrine, David Peters*, Nicoline Puskar*, Kristine Ray*, Brianna Richards*, Jill Shaffer, Veronica Smalls, David Stout, Julie Taylor, Francisco Velastegui, Nora Weimer, Faith Zuzek North Campus: Current Faculty Honors Contract Mentors Ruth Feathers, Anthony Lucas, Carl Mazetti Latimer Gerle*, Holly Glenn*, Michael Gruber, Emily Harper, Faith Hill*, Jinhee Kim, Dan Kimmons, Mary Laipple, Michelle McGrath, Brian Morgan, Amanda Papa*, Jasmine Persinger, Angela Sperl, Laura Virostek* Boyce Campus South Campus: Jesse Almasi, Mark Bell, Gerry Dinnen, Barbara Kendig, Constance Koepfinger, L.R. Murthy Laura Amick, Laura Berard, Kimberly Bousquet, Lanette Braxton, Emily Dawson, Walter Gillis III, Vincent Harvey, Melissa Higgins, Catherine Hewitt*, Helenanne Hochendoner, Bruce Irish, Matthew Koceski, Kimberly Laberdee, Jennifer Mayle, Marcia Mineo*, Ashley Montrenes*, Frank Morganti*, Donna Neiport, Joanna Obuzor, Deanna Pavlik, Amanda Pisarcik*, Denise Rogan*, Lauren Salopek, Jennifer Saunders, Michelle Scott, Tracy Simpson, Danette Stromyer, Michael Trimble Allegheny Campus North Campus John Abdalah, Barbara Brown, Lila Nettrour, David Palcho South Campus Debbie Conway, Julia Fennell, Barbara Lax, Bonnie Ordonez, Lindy Whyte * Spring 2006 Honors by Contract students