Students showed off data and conclusions at this year’s Scholarship Symposium.

While there were many great projects, seven of them received small amounts of prize money for their work.

In the creative works category, “‘Ajax in Iraq’ Stage Management” by freshman Madilyn R. Bechtel won the only award of $100.

Bechtel focused on her experiences as stage manager during “Ajax in Iraq.” From them, she learned of the true inner workings of the Linfield Theater and what it took to make it all appear to work seamlessly. Theater professor Tyrone Marshall sponsored this project.

In the social sciences category, first prize went to “Analysis of Population Dynamic of Terrorist Cells” by senior Amanda Dorman. Dorman created a mathematical model that shows recruitment by and reactions from the general populace to terrorist cells. With this project, Dorman focused on Al Qaeda. Her sponsor was mathematics professor Stephen Bricher.

“Personality, Well-Being and Music Involvement” by seniors Katricia Stewart, Erin Harris and Melissa Green took the second-place prize of $75. They studied the correlation between music involvement and personality traits as well as the overall well-being of a person, gathering data through surveys. Assistant psychology professor Yanna J. Weisberg sponsored the endeavor.

Third place, $50, went to “Knowledge Assessment of Catheter Care Policy” by seniors Cristiane Kane, Hannah Langley, Jessica Brandt and India Hubbard. Their project focused on the recent catheter care policy in a large general hospital. They wanted to determine whether nurses were following the appropriate procedures. Associate nursing professor Pamela Wheeler and nursing professor Sue Butell sponsored the project.

In the natural sciences category, junior Austin Browning, sophomore Katherina Rees and senior Julie Sadino took first prize, $100, with their project “An In Vivo Approach to the Discovery and Characterization of Cellular Mechanisms Regulating microRNA-Mediated Gene Slicing.” Their research, sponsored by assistant biology professor Catherine Reinke, involved the study of how microRNA gene slicing occurred.

Second place, $75, went to senior Matthew Creech’s “The Separate or concurrent effects of Methylphenidate and Alcohol on Acquisition and Retention of the Morris Water Maze in Adolescent Rats,” sponsored by psychology professor Lee Bakner.

The final prize of $50 went to sophomore Tika Zbornik and freshman Rhys Thompson for the “Genetic Analysis of Gene Silencing in a First-Year Scientific Research Learning Community.”

Gilberto Galvez can be reached at [email protected]