University Honors Program Research Day Held

Graduating students from FDU’s University Honors Program presented their senior honors theses during this year’s Annual Research Day on April 22 at both the Metropolitan Campus and the College at Florham. The University Honors Program provides an intellectually stimulating experience to FDU’s most accomplished undergraduates through honors courses and research projects. The students’ research projects were each completed in collaboration with a faculty/staff mentors.

Metropolitan Campus

Faculty Mentors, along with the presenting students and their projects, are as follows:

Antoinette Anastasia, biological sciences, with Stacy Kociolek and Lince Varughese (The Effects of Social Support on Cardiovascular Reactivity to Psychological Stressors)

Richard Gray, criminal justice, with Sarah Winters (Religious Beliefs, Values and Other Influences That Lead Men to Abuse Their Wives)

Theodore Chesler, communications/English and director, English/philosophy/humanities, with Jonathan Hyppolite (Hip Hop and the American Dream: The Degradation and Rebirth of a Global Phenomenon) and with Margaret Roidi (Sex in Cinema (1880s–1920s): Rape, Race and Censorship)

At the Metropolitan Campus, students who presented their research included, from left: First photo — Sarah Winter, right, with M. Patricia Warunek, biological sciences and director, University Honors Program; Second photo — Krishna Udani, right, with her mentor Hong Zhao, electrical engineering; Third photo — Neetu Singh, right, with her mentor Judith Kaufman, psychology and director, MA in general-theoretical psychology; and Fourth photo — Jessica Klein, left, with her mentor Richard Panicucci, quantitative analysis and assistant campus provost for campus life.

Bernard Dick, English/communications; co-director, art/media studies; and coordinator, MA in media/professional communication, with Sheryl Gauntlett (Communicating Effectively with Body Language)

Jane Foderaro, communication, with Raymond Jimenez (The Transnational Media Corporation: An Analysis of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and Its Impact on the American Media)

Judith Kaufman, psychology and director, MA in general-theoretical psychology, with Sabrina Glab (Impact of Acculturative Stressors in the Transition to College: International Student Population), with Chioma Onyewuchi (Body Image and Self-esteem: A Cross-cultural Comparison and with Neetu Singh (Factors that Produce Success in At-Risk College Students)

Mihaela Leonida, chemistry, with Tanjit Taggar (Dual-action Antimicrobial Agents)

Tina LoPonte, communication, with Gavi Rosario (The Air Jordan and Its Advertising World)

Richard Panicucci, quantitative analysis and assistant campus provost for campus life, with Jessica Klein (Athletes Looking for an Edge: The Effects of Steroids and HGH in Major League Baseball)

Robert Prentky, psychology and director, MA in forensic psychology, with Tatiana Peak (A Comparative Analysis of Juvenile Risk Assessment Scales) and with Sofia Soto (Victim Impact of Father-Daughter Incest: Short-term and Long-term Effects)

Gloria Reinish, electrical engineering, with Dmitriy Kalantarov (Building a Better Micromouse)

Lee Rosenthal, engineering technology, with Chinthaka Abeysekera (The Evolution of the Traffic Light System)

John Santelli, psychology, with Ivana Viani (The Enigma of Lucid Dreaming: A Critical Review of the Literature Suggests Specific Directions for Future Research)

Barry Sheffield, assistant director, telecommunications, with Lindsay Vega (The Culture of Subculture: The Message of Underground Music Movements from Past to Present)

Melvin Stern, management information systems, with Matiry Udani (Is the Establishment of Reverse Supply Chains Feasible: Can They Provide Sustainability?)

Robert Vodde, criminal justice and director, criminal justice, with John Anello (Ruled By Opinion: The Public Opinion Media Complex in the Criminal Justice System)

Laurence Winters, philosophy, with Taleen Kupelian (Ignorance or Enlightenment: Abstinence-only Sex-Education Programs vs. Comprehensive Sex-Education Programs)

Hong Zhao, electrical engineering, with Krishna Udani (Computer Newtork — Cross Layer Communication)

College at Florham

Faculty Mentors, along with the presenting students and their projects, are as follows:

Daniel Calganetti, psychology, with Jennifer King (Pumping You Up: Getting Pumped With and Without Testosterone) and with Marc Lindner (Molecular Dynamic Simulations of Mu-Opioid Receptors and an Irreversible Opioid Antagonist Beta-Funaltrexamine)

Robert DeFilippis, accounting and chair, accounting/tax/law, with April Gibello (Accounting for the Future: Evaluating International Financial Reporting Standards)

Martin Donoff, director, MFA in creative writing, with Gloria (Beth) Amodeo (“Call Me Goliath”: An Original Play)

Kathleen Haspel, communication studies, with Lorena Chouza (Cosmopolitan Magazine and the Construction of the “Fun, Fearless, Female” Identity)

Eric Iannacone, physiology and director, allied health sciences, with Ozlem Tarhan (Molecular Analysis of Drosophila Nervous System Development in Odd-paired Mutants)

Some of the graduating students at the College at Florham who presented their research are, from left: First photo — April Gibello, with Marilyn Rye, English/ communications, associate campus provost and director, University Honors Program; Second photo — Heather Suboleski, right, with her mentor Robyn Schiffman, English; Third photo — Kelly Lengyel, right, with her mentor Aixa Ritz, hotel/restaurant/tourism management; and Fourth photo — Ozlem Tarhan, left, with Eric Iannacone, physiology and director, allied health sciences.

Patricia Melloy, cell biology, with Priyal Patel (Nuclear Envelope Fission in Saccharomyces cerevisiae)

Aixa Ritz, hotel/restaurant/tourism management, with Kelly Lengyel (The Other Side of the Fence: Always Greener? Exploring Sustainable Tourism and Its Development in Third-world Countries)

Yolanda Hawkins Rodgers, psychology and chair, psychology/counseling, with Sabrina Robinson (Women and Their Attraction to Bad Boys: Exploring the Mating Preference Phenomenon)

Robyn Schiffman, English, with Laura Gambardello (Senseless Sensibility: The Man of Feeling in Goethe’s “The Sorrows of Young Werther”) and with Heather Suboleski (The New Golden Age of Comics: The Pedagogical Value of the Graphic Novel in the High School English Curriculum)

René Steinke, English, with Kelli Chapleski (SPEAK: A Breakdown of Spoken Word Poetry and the Poetry Slam Including Original Works)

Richard Wagner, mathematics, with Matthew Wasserman (Topics of Number Theory and Variations of the Sum of Two Squares)