Undergraduates Honored for Research and Creativity
Photo by Irene Fertik
USC senior Bear McCreary was inspired to write a symphony about the 1928 collapse of the St. Francis Dam after touring the site with his geography class.
"I was very moved by the story of how the dam fell and killed 450 people," said McCreary, who is majoring in music composition.
"It was very powerful imagery for me. I knew the moment I stepped onto the old dam that I had to put this story to music and words. My goal was to write about a singular moment in Los Angeles history."
In mid-April, McCreary won first place in the arts category for his orchestral piece, "The Collapse of Saint Francis," at the third annual USC Undergraduate Symposium for Scholarly and Creative Work.
Five other students took first-place prizes in the categories of humanities, life sciences, social sciences, professional and applied disciplines, and physical sciences, mathematics and engineering.
The projects were presented to a panel of judges on April 18.
The symposium gives undergraduates a unique opportunity to display their research and creative efforts, said Joseph Hellige, vice provost for academic programs.
"This is one of those events that showcase the kind of university and community we are," said Hellige, who co-sponsored the symposium with Cornelius Sullivan, vice provost for research. "Our mission is to encourage new knowledge and reach out to undergraduate students."
Traditionally, research projects are launched at the graduate level, but USC encourages scholarly and creative work for students at all levels.
"That’s really something that sets us apart," said Alexander Jun, assistant director of undergraduate programs, who helped coordinate the symposium. "This kind of research balances out what students learn in the classroom and takes them to a new level. It’s an especially good experience for students who want to go on to graduate school."
This year 125 students were involved in 89 exhibits. First-place winners took home $500, and second-place winners received $250.
Each undergraduate project had a faculty sponsor whose role ranged from principal investigator to honors program director to mentor.
Ina Murdock-Santos and fellow students Annie Babcock, John Reifler, Kelle Leber and Ryan Gahagan won first place in the humanities category for their research on a priceless mosaic that was donated to the university decades ago and was once displayed in a Roman villa.
The group’s goal was to discover methods used to restore an ancient relic and provide a site explaining these procedures to the public.
"It was really awesome research," said Murdock-Santos. "We’ve been studying the mosaic all semester, trying to pin down where it came from and when it was created."
The other first-place winners, their majors and categories were:
Life sciences — Thuzar Shin, gerontology, for research on Alzheimer’s disease and the development of intervention strategies for combating the disease.
Physical sciences, math and engineering — Lindsey Bruesch, physics and astronomy, for laboratory investigations of Europa’s sodium atmosphere.
Professional and applied disciplines — Jennifer Manuel, psychology, for her research on the development of trust among virtual team members from different organizational cultures.
Social sciences — Adam Choppin, international relations, for his studies on the ongoing civil war in Sudan and how its oil industry has raised the stakes in the conflict.
2001 Undergraduate Symposium Winners
Arts
1st Prize: Bear McCreary
2nd Prize: Jon Chu
Honorable Mention: Andrew Norman; Janna Kuntz
Life Sciences
1st Prize: Thuzar Shin
2nd Prize: Anna Bagdasaryan
Honorable Mention: Steve Hom
Professional & Applied Degrees
1st Prize: Jennifer Manuel
2nd Prize: Daniel Barnes
Honorable Mention: Cetaree Amiri, Daynabelle Santos,
Jennifer Castellanos, Fernando Cifuentes, & Dominic Wong
Physical Sciences
1st Prize: Lindsey Bruesch
2nd Prize: Omar Asensio
Honorable Mention: Linda Carpenter; Paul Schultz; Matt Behrend;
Melissa Dobbins, Chun-Cheng Lin, & Barry Fink
Social Sciences
1st Prize: Adam Choppin
2nd Prize: Margaret Mendoza
Honorable Mention: Marina Gaplanyan and Nancy Salem
Interdisciplinary Category Winners (3-Way Tie)
1st Prize: Marissa Schleicher
1st Prize: Aaron Roethe
1st Prize: Kimberly Shapiro, Phuc "Sam" Nguyen and Kara Springer
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USC in the News
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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