GRAND VALLEY
H OW M A N Y E G G S C A N YO U F I N D I N TO D A Y ’ S I SS U E ? ( N OT I N C LU D I N G T H E S E ) A N SW E R O N P A G E 1 0 A L L E N D A L E & G R A N D R A P I DS , M I C H I G A N ST U D E N T- R U N P U B L I C A T I O N S // P R I N T · O N L I N E · M O B I L E // L A N T H O R N . C O M
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A job well done
LEARNING FROM OTHERS: Students visit multiple poster presentations during Student Scholars Day Wednesday, April 12, in Henry Hall. SSD is meant to highlight GVSU students who spend time researching a topic that interests them. GVL | EMILY FRYE
Student Scholars Day features lecturers, hundreds of presentations
BY MEGHAN WEBSTER MWEBSTER@LANTHORN.COM
W
ith its mission to encourage student inquiry, scholarship and research, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (OURS) at Grand Valley State University dedicates one day out of the entire year to celebrate students of all levels in their creative and scholarly endeavors. Student Scholars Day (SSD) was held Wednesday, April 12, in order to highlight students who have spent a great deal of time and effort researching a topic, creating a display and present-
ADMINISTRATION
ing their findings to the community. With more than 400 presentations and close to 600 presenters participating in SSD, the Kirkhof Center, Henry Hall, and the Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons were busy with students and faculty as research was presented throughout the day. SSD was filled with oral presentations, poster presentations, panel presentations, art exhibitions, live performances and a keynote lecture at the end of the day. Susan Mendoza, director of OURS, said this opportunity allowed students to engage in research topics outside of the classroom, enabling them to gain
knowledge and research experience. “A lot of times in classes and courses, students will spend a large amount of time on research projects, either collaborative or individual,” Mendoza said. “There’s not always the opportunity to show those projects and to share those new ideas, their findings, their creative work, outside of the classroom.” Mendoza said the difference between SSD and other research presentations is that SSD is not targeted toward one major, subject or field of study. Instead, it allows a diverse group of individuals to come together in one space in order to present their topics.
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Around the states in 50 days
Three additional candidates to interview for provost position BY HANNAH LENTZ EDITORIAL@LANTHORN.COM
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nity to research any topic they were curious or passionate about. “As you walk around, there are some students who their project might be related to their major, it might be related to their minor, or it might integrate the two or be completely independent,” Mendoza said. “It’s really up to them what they are curious about, what they’re interested in and what they are willing to devote the time to.” This diversity allowed students like Ali Gillman, a GVSU senior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with an
LAKER EFFECT
The search continues Three new candidates have been selected to be considered for the provost and executive vice president for academic and student affairs at Grand Valley State University. During the week of Monday, April 17, these candidates will interview on the Allendale Campus and will host a coffee reception on the Pew Campus. These three additional candidates follow five previous candidates who interviewed on campus and did not receive offers for the position. This marks the third group of candidates that have been brought to the university to interview. During their speeches, each candidate will give a presentation on a topic relevant to academic and student affairs and the environment at GVSU. All members of the campus community are welcome to attend and each candidate’s presentation as well as the Q and A session will be recorded and posted on the GVSU provost search website 24 hours after each presentation. They candidates include Nathan Klingbeil, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Wright State University; Susanne Monahan, associate provost for academic effectiveness at Western Oregon University; and John Omachonu, senior vice provost for aca-
“You’ll have folks coming from across campus, whether we are talking about folks who traditionally hang out in the Lake buildings, traditionally over on the other side of Little Mac and Padnos or in Kindschi—they all come together in one venue to share their research experiences,” Mendoza said. The research presented during SSD, gathered from either a course or an independent study, ranged from the effects of exercise to methods of fighting disease to finding the truth in history to sustainability. Mendoza said the diversity in topics stemmed from students having the opportu-
GV alum travels US in van
TRAVELS: Grand Valley State University alumnus Christopher Thomas poses for a photo at Thunderbird Falls in Alaska Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016. Thomas had the idea to travel to all 50 states in the U.S. in 50 days in his van and began his journey Friday, April 1, 2016 and ended Friday, May 20, 2016. COURTESY | CHRISTOPHER THOMAS BY KYLE DOYLE ASSISTANTNEWS@LANTHORN.COM
Taking in the fresh winter air of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Grand Valley State University alumnus Christopher Thomas had an idea: He was going to go to all 50 United States in 50 days. Thomas set out on his quest and posted photos and updates to his Facebook page, 50 States in 50 Days. He had always wanted to visit all the states, and it seemed to make sense to do them all at the same time. “I just kind of realized I’m in grad school, I got online courses, I can travel to all fifty states,” Thomas said. “I can just do it all at once.” Beginning Friday, April 1, 2016 and running through Friday, May
20, 2016, Thomas traveled to all 50 states in 50 days in his van (excluding Hawaii and Alaska), visiting at least one different and unique attraction in every state, starting in Indiana and ending in Michigan. Traveling alone, Thomas used his van as his primary place of rest, sleeping in the back of it at truck stops where he could also get a hot shower and Wi-Fi to do homework for his online classes and living by one rule: no fast food. Thomas said he didn’t want to “cop out” and take the easy route, so he only ate at traditional restaurants and made sandwiches and had snacks in the van. In each state, Thomas made sure to go somewhere or do something the state is either known for or
something unique that exists inside its borders that doesn’t anywhere else, like eating lobster and seafood in Maine, a personal favorite of Thomas, and visiting the Monument Rocks, a large sandstone structure in the middle of the Kansas plains. “It’s a seven-mile drive out on these bumpy dirt roads, and you get out there and there’s this rock formation out in the middle of nowhere and the rest of the land is flat,” Thomas said. “And you’re like, ‘How the heck is this thing even here? It shouldn’t be here.’ But it is.” Along his journey, Thomas encountered several people who were both baffled and impressed by his ambitious undertaking. Talking to them, he learned different historical facts about each location
he was in and gained different perspectives on how the people there learned about U.S. history. While in Louisiana, for example, he visited Oak Alley Plantation and New Orleans and talked to a native about the plantation. The topic turned to how schools taught the subject of slavery and plantations in both the North and South, and Thomas said the difference was stark. “I talked with him for about an hour and told him about stuff I was taught in school, and he said, ‘Well, we teach it differently down here,’” Thomas said. “It’s cool, you know, to look at something from a different perspective.”
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