Students Win First Place at Prestigious Beacon 2008 Conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: June 12, 2008

CONTACT: Lisa Saunders

(845) 574-4244

SUNY Rockland Community College Students Win First Place
at Prestigious Beacon 2008 Conference

Suffern, NY - Three SUNY Rockland Community College students won first place at the 16th Annual Beacon Conference for Student Scholars held on June 6.

Community college students gathered from all over the Mid-Atlantic region to present their scholarly works in all academic disciplines at the conference which was held at Bergen Community College this year.

The winners were chosen based on the quality and originality of the research, written work, and oral presentation. Prizes of $100 were awarded to each winning student as well as their faculty mentor.

Winners:

Jessica Weiner, Suffern, "A Woman's Place:  Shakespeare's Social Control," Category:  Gender Studies

J. Shepard Ramsay, Suffern, "The Identity Conundrums of Shakespeare's Leaders," Category:  Shakespeare

Daniel LaSalle, Monroe, "Homais and Leon:  Emma's Symbolic Prison Guards," Category:  World Literature.

All three students were mentored by Dr. Nancy Hazelton, Professor, English.

Judges for each panel came from four-year colleges including Rutgers University, Seton Hall University, Montclair State University, College of Saint Elizabeth, Marist College, and William Patterson University.

Those chosen as a Beacon Scholar, a designation given the authors of the top three papers in each academic category, presented their papers. The RCC Beacon Scholars chosen to present their work this year were:

Panel Presenters:

Arthur DelPup, Airmont, Shakespeare: "Understanding and Experiencing Bastardly in Shakespeare: An Expression of Identity." Mentor: Dr. Nancy Hazelton, Professor, English

Rachel Hirshfeld, Monsey, Gender Studies II: "On the Road to Gender Equality: Does Race Make a Difference." Mentor: Dr. Elaine Toia, Associate Professor, English

Tova Horowicz, Monsey, Social Justice: "Civil Disobedience: An Effective Tool for Change." Mentor: Elaine Toia, Associate Professor, English

Michael Kulesza, Stony Point, Math and Science: "Stem Cell Transformation as a Model for Tumorigenesis." Mentor: Dr. Thomas Butler, Professor, Science

Daniel LaSalle, Monroe, World Literature: "Homais and Leon: Emma’s Symbolic Prison Guards." Mentor: Dr. Nancy Hazelton, Professor, English

Sarah Palmer, Nyack, The Arts: "Impressionist Styles: Renoir and Monet." Mentor: Dr. Nancy Hazelton, Professor, English

J. Shepard Ramsay, Suffern, Shakespeare: "The Identity Conundrums of Shakespeare’s Leaders." Mentor: Dr. Nancy Hazelton, Professor, English

Jessica Weiner, Suffern, Gender Studies I: "A Woman’s Place: Shakespeare’s Social Control." Mentor: Dr. Nancy Hazelton, Professor, English

Poster Session Presenters:

Samantha Gomberg, New City, The Arts: "Painting Techniques of Vincent Van Gogh vs. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec." Mentor: Dr. Nancy Hazelton, Professor, English

Heather Lothrop, Nyack, The Arts: "The Difficulties Associated with Playing the Oboe." Mentor: Dr. Nancy Hazelton, Professor, English

Erika A. Maikish, Sloatsburg, Shakespeare: "Nature vs. Nurture." Mentor: Dr. Cliff Garner, Professor, English

Dimitriy Nikolskiy, New City, Business: "The Philosophical and Economical Evaluation of ‘Green’ Investing." Mentor: Reamy Jansen, Professor, English

The Beacon Conference for Student Scholars was initiated by RCC when the College received a Beacon College Grant from the American Association of Community Colleges and the Kellogg Foundation. The goal of the conference is to promote research and scholarship among students from two-year colleges. The first Beacon conference was held at the College in 1993. In other years it has been held at community colleges in MD, NJ, NY and PA. Next year the conference will be held at Montgomery College in Maryland--Tacoma Park campus.

For more information, contact Dr. Elaine Toia, Associate Professor of English, at (845) 574-4703, or Dr. Thomas Butler, Professor of Science, at (845) 574-4257. For more information about the College, visit www.sunyrockland.edu

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Rockland Community College, a unit of the State University of New York, is located 25 miles northwest of NYC. The majority of its students transfer to four-year colleges, and many find immediate employment upon earning their associate's degree or certificate. The College also offers others, from preschoolers to senior citizens, the opportunity to simply learn something new. Quality education...at a price you can afford.