2008 Kapp Prize and Sigma Xi Winners
Three separate Ronald O. Kapp Honors Day prizes are awarded each year for the best oral presentations in each academic division (i.e., arts and humanities, social sciences and natural sciences). A panel of judges from each division selects the prizewinners after assessing the presentations for quality of scholarship as well as how effectively the material is presented. The prize winners will each receive a $500 check.
The prize is named for the late Dr. Ronald O. Kapp, Alma biology professor for 32 years and provost and vice president for academic affairs from 1969-89.
Melissa Barclay, Will Allen, and Elizabeth Podufaly each received the Kapp Prize in 2008. Their presentations examined sleep disturbance, education in Mexico, and creative writing.
Melissa Barclay ‘08 of Alma presented “Effect of Sleep Loss and Poor Diet on Adiposity.” Her study was designed to test the effects of noise-induced sleep deprivation and high fat/high sugar (HFHS) diets on weight gain and memory in male rats. She tested four experimental conditions: normal diet, normal sleep; HFHS diet, normal sleep; normal diet, disturbed sleep; and HFHS diet, disturbed sleep. The HFHS diet consisted of Oreo cookies, while sleep was disturbed by loud radio broadcasts. She found that both sleep disturbance and HFHS diet caused increased weight gain, with the rats with both HFHS diet and disturbed sleep gaining the most.
Will Allen ‘09 of Unionville presented “Finding a Formula That Works: Issues Surrounding a Proposed All-Girls’ School in Juarez, Mexico.” Allen assessed the community need for a single-sex, college preparatory school for poor minority girls and the feasibility within Mexico’s education system. While demographic data reveal the need for greater educational opportunities in Juarez, Allen found that rapid urbanization has resulted in a lack of infrastructure that could support the project.
Elizabeth Podufaly ‘08 of Big Rapids presented “The Inside Room: A Collection of Poetry and Prose.” Composed between 2006 and 2008, Podufaly’s prose reflects a “personal interest and experimentation with internal or psychological realism.” Her stories look at environments, events and relationships “from the inside out,” with emphasis on emotional and mental states as well as character idiosyncrasies.
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The Sigma Xi honorary society awards a prize for the best poster in the sciences. Members of the society select the winner, who receives a $100 check.
Lindsay Cain ‘09 of Bridgeport was the recipient of the Sigma Xi Prize for best scientific poster presentation at Honors Day in 2008. Her presentation was titled “Impacts on Dissolved Oxygen Concentrations in Surface Water by Large Livestock Operations.” Cain measured fluctuations in dissolved oxygen levels weekly, and in particular over 24-hour periods, upstream and downstream of a large livestock facility.
