St. Lawrence University: St. Lawrence Magazine

In Good Fellowship

The University Fellows program, established last year after a successful pilot project in summer 1999 and implemented for the first time in summer 2000, provides St. Lawrence students a $2,000 stipend and a living allowance to work closely with professors on research projects of joint interest.

Sitting in an Adirondack chair on your professor's deck on a warm summer afternoon and talking about great ideas with him may be one vision of happiness. Regardless, University Fellow Kyle Kennedy '01, right, spent the summer contemplating whether happiness is life's purpose, under the guidance of Baylor Johnson, associate professor of philosophy.

Why Do We Do What We Do? Kyle Kennedy '01 / Baylor Johnson, associate professor of philosophy
Like most of us at one time or another, Kyle Kennedy '01 wonders what motivates us to do the things we do. Kennedy, however, hasn't stopped at wondering. He researched the subject over the summer through a University Fellowship project entitled "Happiness as the Greatest End."

"I plan to write a straight-out philosophical paper, hoping to publish my work in an undergraduate journal," Kennedy said near the end of the spring semester. "Maybe it will help someone by turning his or her life around."

In addition to helping others, Kennedy's mentor Professor of Philosophy Baylor Johnson says, the project presents an opportunity to help Kennedy as well. "The fellowship will allow him to begin the development of an independent education," Johnson explained last spring.

--Ashley Jones '00

With the guidance of Assistant Professor of Psychology Cathy Crosby-Currie, right, University Fellow Sarah LaComb '02 is comparing how juries are selected in small towns such as Canton with how they are selected in larger venues.

Seeking Civic Duty Sarah LaComb '02 / Catherine Crosby-Currie, assistant professor of psychology

Sarah LaComb '02 was part of a distinct minority as she prepared for her University Fellowship project last spring-she was hoping to draw jury duty during the summer. LaComb's goal was to familiarize herself with the justice system of the village of Canton.

"I will be observing in the courthouse, interviewing people affiliated with the justice system, researching jury selection and also, I hope, serving on a jury," LaComb explained last spring. "I will be focusing on the voir dire process, a procedure that selects jurors by eliminating people with biases," said LaComb. "I will compare how it works in the Canton court with larger, wealthier communities that might use the scientific jury selection method."

--Ashley Jones '00

MacKay University Fellow Scott Spicer '01, right, and Dana Professor of Biology David Hornung spent the summer evaluating the relationship between nasal anatomy and olfactory ability.

Seeking the Essence of Scent Scott Spicer '01 / Dana Professor of Biology David Hornung

"The Effect of Water Solubility on Perceived Odorant Intensity"-that's the title of the summer 2000 University Fellows research project undertaken by Scott Spicer '01. Spicer completed his project at the SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, where his mentor, Dana Professor of Biology David Hornung at St. Lawrence, is also a research professor in neuroscience and physiology.

"Professor Hornung has worked with other students in the past, studying the relationship between nasal anatomy and olfactory function," Spicer said. "From previous work we know that the perceived intensity of an odorant, or scent, depends on its water solubility and, that by altering nasal airflow pathways, nasal dilators increase the perceived intensity of odors. I decided to put those two lines of study together and formally evaluate the relationship between nasal anatomy and olfactory ability. I'm using several chemical odors with various degrees of water solubility, then asking human subjects to rate the intensities of the odors with and without a nasal dilator." Among the odors Spicer is testing are those of rubbing alcohol and cinnamon.

"We hope the results of Scott's study will form the basis of a clinical test to determine the cause of patients' olfactory complaints," explained Hornung. Added Spicer, "We know there's a relationship between water solubility and odor intensity. We want to find out what that relationship is, and how that plays into people's perceptions of odors."

--NSB

John Steinbeck was more than just a novelist; he was a social commentator as well, and the relationship between his words and his views is part of the objective of University Fellow Amanda Morrison's summer project. She's seen here in the library with her mentor, Dana Professor of Government Laura O'Shaughnessy, discussing some of Steinbeck's work.

Reading Between the Lines Amanda Morrison / Dana Professor of Government Laura O'Shaughnessy

Amanda Morrison '03 has admired the work of author John Steinbeck since high school. She converted that affection to a University Fellowship project on his writings during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Her study is entitled "John Steinbeck as a Symbol of American Conscience."

"John Steinbeck wrote reality-based literature and held the opinion that writers aren't just entertainers but also have a social function as educators about current events," she said. "He wasn't afraid to take a moral stance and write about something, saying, 'Look at what is happening--this is wrong,'" said Morrison, whose plan was to focus on several novels, including The Grapes of Wrath, the tale of the "Okies'" migration to California that in 1939 brought Steinbeck-and the plight of displaced families--to the attention of the nation.

"Amanda will be looking at three aspects of the times," O'Shaughnessy continued: "Steinbeck's writing, social criticism of him, and also the social, political and economic issues in the United States of that era and how he affected them."

Adds Morrison, "As an aspiring novelist myself, I saw this as a tremendous opportunity to examine closely the writer I admire most."

--Ashley Jones '00

The Other Fellows

Seventeen St. Lawrence students were named University Fellows for summer 2000. In addition to those profiled on these pages, the others are listed below, with their project titles and faculty partners: