Jewell students honored in Goldwater Scholars competition

Samuel Joseph Endicott, a William Jewell College Oxbridge science major from Harrisonville, Mo., has been selected to receive the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for 2009. In addition, Jessica Schwalm, a junior biology and Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry major from Fort Scott, Kan., has been named an Honorable Mention in the annual scholarship competition.

Endicott was selected on the basis of academic merit and scientific research potential from a field of more than 1,000 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide. The Goldwater Scholarship is the premiere undergraduate award of its type in these fields. The scholarships cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.

Goldwater trustees awarded 278 scholarships for the 2009–2010 academic year to undergraduate sophomores and juniors from throughout the United States. One hundred sixty-three of the Scholars are men, 115 are women, and virtually all intend to obtain a Ph.D. as their degree objective. Thirty Scholars are mathematics majors, 190 are science and related majors, 51 are majoring in engineering and seven are computer science majors. Many of the Scholars have dual majors in a variety of mathematics, science, engineering and computer disciplines.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years of service in the U.S. Senate. The purpose of the Foundation is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields.

Goldwater Scholars have impressive academic qualifications that have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 73 Rhodes Scholarships, 102 Marshall Awards (seven of the 40 awarded in the United States in 2009), and numerous other distinguished fellowships. In its 21-year history, the Foundation has awarded 5,801 scholarships worth approximately $56 million.

Jewell Debaters earn honors

After being ranked among the top 10% in the nation by the National Parliamentary Debate Association, the College’s debate team dominated the field at the Missouri State Debate Championship, with two teams closing out the final round of the tournament and claiming both first and second place. Based on their elimination round seeding, Jake Williams, a senior Oxbridge Institutions and Policies and philosophy double major from Omaha, Neb., and Tim Brooks, a sophomore political science and mathematics major from Springfield, Mo., were named State Champions. Williams received top speaker for the tournament, and Brooks received second speaker. First-year debaters David Dingess, an Oxbridge History of Ideas major from Aurora, Colo., and Andrew Potter, a political science major from Buhler, Kan., reached the final round after knocking off the top-seed of the tournament from Truman State to receive second place. Jewell debaters Kyle Hendricks, a sophomore political science major from Gladstone, Mo.; Paige Oster, a senior Oxbridge Institutions and Policies and political science double major from Springfield, Mo.; Nichole Latimer, a first-year Oxbridge History of Ideas major from Yankton, S.D.; and Abby Thomas, a first-year political science major from Columbia, Mo., all finished as quarterfinalists. With the completion of state competition for the academic year, members of the debate team moved on to nationals.

William Jewell College debate team

The William Jewell College debaters finished 19th in overall sweepstakes at the National Parliamentary Debate Association Championships March 27-30. Eighty colleges and universities competed at the event, which brought together nearly 500 debaters from around the United States to the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.

Jewell had two teams qualify for the single elimination round awards brackets by finishing 5-3 in preliminary rounds. Senior Jake Williams and his partner Tim Brooks defeated Pepperdine University in the first elimination round before losing to Western Kentucky University. Paige Oster and Kyle Hendricks lost to the University of Wyoming in the first elimination round.

“This was the last tournament of their debate careers for both Williams and Oster, and it is fitting that they both received trophies from the national tournament,” said Director of Debate Dr. Gina Lane. “They have shown outstanding leadership to the team, and we will miss them greatly.”

Two Jewell teams narrowly missed the awards bracket, finishing with a 4-4 record in preliminary rounds. They were first year David Dingess and his partner Andrew Potter, as well as Nichole Latimer and Abby Thomas. “I am very proud of the entire squad. With the exception of our two seniors, the entire group comprises first- and second-year debaters. They are highly talented and have learned a great deal this year. I am expecting great things from them next season,” said Lane.

Men’s Basketball wins upset victory

William Jewell College survived a 3-point attempt by Rogers State University’s (Okla.) Aldric Reynolds with no time remaining to upset the top-seeded Hillcats 76-73 in the sixth game of the 2009 Buffalo Funds NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium March 18.

The Cardinals were the second team in the tournament’s history to upset a number-one seed in the first round.

SIFE Team heads to nationals

The William Jewell College SIFE team recently returned from Seattle as league champions and advanced to the SIFE USA National Exposition to be held in Philadelphia May 10-12. The presentation team (pictured from left in photo below) of Adam Mickelson, Megan McConnell, Matt Staples, Rachel Tuszynski, and Dan McMillen) delivered a timed video review of the year’s work.

Every year, SIFE teams from across the country that meet qualifications are invited to participate in one of 16 SIFE USA Regional Competitions. These events are held nationwide and allow SIFE teams to present their programs to a distinguished group of business leader judges who decide which team achieved the most impact using business concepts to improve the quality of life and standard of living for members of their communities.

The 2009 Jewell team President is Matt Staples, a senior business-marketing student who has been with the team for three years. “This regional win has been our most successful in the team’s five-year history,” Staples said. “In addition to the League Champion trophy, we received two National Finalist Awards for special topic programs. Our ‘Feed the Pig’ project in market economics targeting college students, and a special financial literacy curriculum for elementary students called ‘Money Farm,’ were each honored as one of the top 20 programs in the U.S. This is the second year for the Money Farm project, in partnership with M&I Bank, to receive national attention.”

Serving the team as Sam Walton Fellows this year are Professor Linda Bell, Dr. Cynthia Green, Dr. Neil Nicholson and Professor Debbie Scarfino. William Jewell SIFE is dedicated to providing students the opportunity to impact communities by teaching the principles of free enterprise while achieving a higher level of excellence.

Biology Research Grants

Six biology majors were awarded research scholarships from Beta Beta Beta, the National Biological Honor Society (http://www.tri-beta.org/index.html). Their grant applications were reviewed by faculty at other institutions, so receiving this scholarship is a great accomplishment. The grant money will be used to fund their laboratory research at William Jewell. The average award amount was about $600 per student.

Jenna Christensen (sophomore Molecular Biology major)
Project title: Does the presence of saturated or unsaturated fatty acids induce apoptosis in rat thoracic aorta smooth muscle cells? Research advisor: Dr. Tara Allen
Sarah Henke (junior Biology major)
Project title: A mutational approach to understand Bacillus subtilis DivIVA and Spo0J/Soj interactions within Escherichia coli. Research advisor: Dr. Wei Wu
Chelsea Koehn (senior Biology major)
Project title:  Examining the effects of insulin and IGF-1 on apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells. Research advisor: Dr. Tara Allen
Trent McCord (senior Biology major)
Project title: Effects of Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate and Hydroxyethyl Acrylate on mice L929 fibroblast cell membrane permeability. Research advisors: Dr. Tara Allen and Dr. Lori Wetmore
Jessica Schwalm (junior Biology major)
Project title: Effect of Falcataria moluccana in Hawaii on litter and aerial arthropod communities:  Implications of coqui frog introduction. Research advisor: Dr. Paul Klawinski
Trisha Stan (senior Molecular Biology major)
Project title: The Expression of the AKT Pathway Genes During Autophagy in the Human Glioblastoma Multiforme p53 Mutant Cell Line U138MG after Exposure to Pro-autophagy Drugs. Research advisor: Dr. Lori Wetmore

Department of Physics
WJC physics students Alecia Valencia, Jennifer McKnight, Jenna Gales and Kenneth Whitmore made poster presentations at the 2008 Quadrennial Congress of Sigma Pi Sigma, a national physics honorary. The Congress was held November 6-8 at Fermilab, one of the premiere particle-accelerator facilities in the world.

Department of Political Science

Carrie Clayton, junior political science major, has been accepted to study during summer 2009 at the Institute on Business and Government (IBG) at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She has also been awarded a $2,000 scholarship from the Fund for American Studies to support her studies at Georgetown. As a student in the IBG program, she will study lobbying practices of business organizations, the nexus between business and public policy and will also participate with governmental affairs professionals in workshops designed to teach advanced lobbying skills. After graduating from Jewell, she plans to do graduate study in political communications and to become a professional lobbyist.

Department of Psychology

Senior psychology and Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry major Alex Saxon (far right in photo at left) is among the featured performers in the Coterie Theatre’s stage adaptation of “The Breakfast Club,” directed by Ron Megee. The play opened in February and is scheduled for an open-ended run.  Kansas City’s Coterie was recently named one of the five best theatres for young audiences in the U.S. by Time magazine.