FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                        April 10, 2007

FIRST RANGER RESEARCH DAY PROVES SUCCESSFUL

            The first Ranger Research Day at Northwestern Oklahoma State University was described as a “resounding success” by Dr. Rodney Murrow, director of the event.

            More than 30 entries were received from students and professors. Each researcher prepared a 4’ x 4’ poster that illustrated the study and an abstract that outlined the project.

Dr. Stephen Painton, 1969 Northwestern Oklahoma State University graduate, was the keynote speaker at a reception and also served as a judge with Dr. Troy Smith of Alva Vision Clinic and John Barton, dean emeritus of the School of Fine Arts, Language and Humanities at Northwestern.

Painton is director of the John W. Keys Speech and Hearing Center and associate professor and undergraduate coordinator for the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, all at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC).

            Dr. Linda Mason, coordinator for Grants and External Funding Assistance with the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, attended the event and expressed delight with the number and quality of the entries and promised to return next year.

Winning posters listed by category and placing are as follows:

EDUCATION: First place—Paula Nevius, Enid senior, “Empathy, Prosocial Helping Behaviors and Career Choice;” second—Amy Lowe, Enid senior, “Test Anxiety and Self-Esteem: Does It Affect Academic Performance?”; third—Gisele Jackson, Enid senior, “Generational Perceptions of Personality for Contemporary and Traditional Names.”

LIBERAL ARTS: First place – Dr. Eric Schmaltz, assistant professor of history, “The Long Trek: The Mass Transfer of Ukrainian Germans to ‘Greater’ Germany, 1943-1945;”

second—Brodie O’Donnell, Houston, Texas graduate student, “How Can History Be Used to Stop the Mistakes of the Past: A Look at the Vietnam and Iraq Wars;” third—Dr. Aaron Mason, assistant professor of political science, “The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Changing Dynamics of American Federalism.”

MATH AND SCIENCE: First place—Kenny-Joe Wallen, Glenpool junior, “The Effects of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Mental-Task-Induced Brain Activity (using EEG analysis) in Sedentary Individuals Versus Physically Fit Individuals;” second—Heath Stotts, Enid senior, “Covalency in Ionic Bonds;” third—Stephen An, Alva freshman, “The Relation Between Alarm Pheromones and Corticosterone Levels in Western Diamond-Backed Rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox).”

             In other “Ranger Research” news, Murrow said Stotts presented a research poster titled “Biodiesel Fuel” at the annual state Research Day in Oklahoma City earlier this month.  On April 6, research projects were presented at the re-scheduled Oklahoma Research Day at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. Senior Mandrin Shima, biochemistry and molecular biology student from Baldushk, Albania,, presented “Confirmation of the Spore-coat Gene Modification in Dictyostelium Discoideum.” Stotts and Dr. Jo Conceicao, associate professor of chemistry, presented “Covalency in Ionic Compounds.”

-NW-

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