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(02/23/05 12:00pm)
Tom Patrick, professor of finance, has helped a number of senior manuscripts written for his classes reach publication in professional journals. Most recently, he guided alumni Brian Glenn ('02) with publishing his article in the "Journal of Financial Management."
Glenn's senior thesis, "The Mechanics Behind Investment Funds: Why Closed End Funds Provide Superior Returns," was published in the journal in 2004. It included a statistical, analytical and literature review section, which is what Patrick requires from his students in a senior thesis.
"What I attempted to prove, and did according to the data, was that closed-end funds provide higher returns due to their structure versus mutual funds," Glenn said. He said that closed-end funds trade like stocks on an exchange, while mutual funds continuously create and cancel shares as investors buy or sell them.
He conducted his research through e-mails to various analysts of closed-end funds in different brokerage houses, visits to Merrill Lynch's closed-end division in Princeton, Bloomberg performance results, experienced money managers and book excerpts, Glenn said.
Glenn, who is now in the asset management division on discretionary accounts at Merrill Lynch, said he believes that being published is a credential that will help him pursue graduate school and further his career.
Patrick agreed, saying most of the College's graduates can get accepted to a good graduate school because of work like the theses written in his classes. "It's the difference between a decent and great graduate school," Patrick said.
Getting articles published in professional journals can also help students get into better law schools, as Patrick said will probably happen for Michael Wood ('01).
Wood had his article, "Jumping the Bandwagon: Outside Representation in Corporate Governance," published in the "Journal of Business and Economic Studies" in the fall of 2003.
Wood gathered data from online websites such as yahoo.com and looked to see how many CEOs also served on the executive boards of companies. "You could figure out what their status of the company was by looking at whether or not more of them were on the board of directors," Wood said. CEOs who served on the board had a better idea of what the directors wanted, he said.
"It was a nice surprise," Wood said about having his article accepted for publication. "It's good to see that it's out there and people are reading it." Wood now works in the equity research department of the Bank of America Securities.
Some alumni have even presented their research from Patrick's class at professional conferences, like Ted Repetti ('03) did. He presented his thesis, "Good Versus Evil: Who Wins in Investing?: A Study of Socially Responsible Investing Performance Compared to Socially Irresponsible Investing" at the annual meeting of the Proceedings of the Northeast Business and Economics Association.
Patrick said Repetti was not only a student surrounded by much older authors, but he was also the one with the best article.
"He had the best presentation in that session and they were still talking about it the next year," Patrick said. "We've got special students here."
Although Patrick guides finance majors in writing their senior theses by helping them choose topics that could appear in journals, he said the students complete the majority of the work.
Patrick then selects one to prepare for a journal publication review. The journal may reject the thesis, reject and ask for revisions, accept, or accept and ask for minor revisions, he said. Even when the article becomes published, the process can span a year or longer.
Although Patrick is mentioned as a co-author in each student's published articles, he said the articles are largely the students' work and that he only formats the article to meet the journal style requirement. "A student would not know how to go about getting published," Patrick said.
After sending a manuscript to a journal, it goes through a process of being blind refereed, during which readers decide whether it has sufficient quality without knowing the author's identity. Patrick said the readers have no idea whether the entrees are sent by students or experienced professionals.
(02/23/05 12:00pm)
In its final report, the task force on Honors and Scholars recommended the creation of an office of Honors, Scholars and Awards, more fellowship opportunities, transcript recognition for non-honors students who take honors courses and an opportunity for students to apply to the Honors Program after completing one semester at the College.
The task force was comprised of faculty members from the different schools of the College who want to develop more honors opportunities to allow students to grow intellectually, artistically and professionally.
"The task force believes that the changes we are recommending will expand the number of students participating in honors at (the College) by providing more honors opportunities and more points of entry into the Honors Program," Morton Winston, task force chair and professor of philosophy, said.
The recommendations made in the report were presented to students and faculty members at three open forum meetings last week.
Suzanne H. Pasch, vice provost and convenor of the task force, said the Honors Program needs to adapt with the transformation of the College.
"It is a different kind of institution now ... so many students are worthy of honors," she said.
Pasch said one of the biggest changes could be having the different aspects of honors at the College under one umbrella.
The proposed office of Honors, Scholars and Awards would be comprised of a full-time director, who would report to the provost's office and two faculty members who would serve three-year terms.
One faculty member would preside over honors opportunities, while the other would focus on scholarships and awards.
The office would also act as a liaison with collegewide honor societies such as Phi Kappa Phi, a national honor society.
Dave Adams, freshman chemistry major, said that the creation of an office is a good idea because it would lead to clarification of the Honors Program.
"I think it would be helpful just because with the Honors Program now you kind of have to guess," Adams said.
Jennifer Colgan, sophomore English major, also liked the recommendations.
"I would have been more likely to apply if I would have known what was going on with school in general," she said.
Lee Harrod, professor of English and Honors Program coordinator, said that the possibility of an office of Honors, Scholars and Awards is up to the administration and would at least take up to a year to be created.
"I hope the entire campus community will pay more attention and devote more energy to these issues," Harrod said. "The Honors Program has been starved of resources in recent years."
The final report said that a process should be developed for preparing faculty to better attract, identify, coach and mentor students in competing for national fellowships, scholarships and awards.
"As the faculty and staff capacity to support and mentor (College) honors students increases, students will be better prepared to compete for prestigious national honors and scholarships," Winston said.
The task force believes that non-Honors Program students should receive credit on their transcripts for completing honors courses.
"What I've seen online from course listings on T.E.S.S. (The Electronic Student Services) is some of them seem so inapplicable to anything," Colgan said.
Colgan said that mentioning honors courses on transcripts would benefit students more if they were designed around departments.
The task force also said the Honors Program should continue to require five intensive and interdisciplinary courses, while also suggesting additional ways to enhance the students' learning experience.
These suggestions included full-semester learning community experiences that would involve interdisciplinary courses or courses pertaining to certain learning communities.
The final report states that students should no longer apply for the Honors Program based on admission criteria, but after the first semester of their first year.
Doreen Nuzzolese, freshman elementary education and math major, said that although she is in the Honors Program, she wished she knew more of what the program entailed when applying.
She said the program would probably be more organized and that the applying students would better understand the process if it began after the first semester at the College.
Through these changes, the Honors Program aims to increase the variety of courses and the number of external fellowships and awards students earn.
College President R. Barbara Gitenstein said she is pleased with the task force's draft report and that it will be the key to redefining programs.
"I think it will serve as an excellent vehicle for campus discussions about what should be the honors opportunities for students at (the College)," Gitenstein said.
(02/02/05 12:00pm)
The Tutoring Center is now reaching beyond helping the College's students. An upcoming alumni chapter will allow both graduates and current students to build upon post-graduate experiences and stay connected.
Diane Gruenberg, coordinator of the Humanities and Social Sciences Tutoring Services and advisor of College Development and Alumni Affairs, had the idea for an alumni chapter.
"I first thought of it about three years ago simply because I missed the tutors and was eager to hear from them," Gruenberg said.
Gruenberg decided to invite tutoring alumni to the College for a "Life after Tutoring" conference, which focused on how graduates used their experiences from the center to their benefit in graduate school or the job market.
Sandra Carroll, director of Alumni Affairs, suggested the Tutoring Center start an alumni chapter. However, the center supervisors lacked the manpower to create such a project until recently.
Kelly Sheperd, senior psychology and sociology major, and Donna Green, senior English major, are pioneering the alumni chapter as they pursue their master tutor certification.
This process involves getting certification through the College Reading and Learning Association, 30 hours of training, 75 hours of tutoring, an endorsement from a supervisor and a completed project. Gruenberg suggested beginning an alumni chapter as their project.
"Having a Tutoring Center alumni chapter will benefit the center because it will open the lines of communication among graduates as well as between the graduates and those who are still in college," Green said.
"The main goal I would like to see the alumni chapter achieving would be to provide a network of people with shared experiences," Sheperd said.
Green and Sheperd have been generating interest for the chapter by contacting graduates and, with the help of Carroll, began an online alumni community for the Tutoring Center.
"Although the project is still in its beginning phases, there is a great deal of interest from the tutor center graduates," Green said.
In order to finalize the creation of an alumni chapter, there must be a mission statement, statement of goals to be achieved over three years, at least one event planned for each semester and six charter alumni members, Sheperd said.
The first planned luncheon for alumni was cancelled due to last month's snowstorm, but alumni events will be rescheduled for the end of March or early April, Gruenberg said. She also said the mission statement will be written by the senior tutors and afterward will be e-mailed to alumni for their input.
Gruenberg has already received numerous lengthy e-mails from graduates expressing their gratitude from what life experiences they gathered while working as a tutor and their desire to stay connected with the center.
"I think the tutoring community is a great one and it does somewhat remind me of the community that I have with the students here at my office," Divya Prasad, graduate student and practitioner of juvenile justice, said.
The prospected events to be planned in the spring and throughout the next year include luncheons, social gatherings, panel discussions and a reception on homecoming weekend.
Gruenberg hopes that other groups on campus will follow suit and strengthen College and alumni relations by beginning alumni chapters. She thinks it will also enhance the experience tutors have at the Center.
"The Tutoring Center will give me more of a sense of purpose and connection to the College once I graduate," Sheperd said. "As a senior in my last semester, I am in the transition between college student and alum and I am pleased to see that there will still be a place for me at the College next year."
(12/01/04 12:00pm)
"Freedom Road," a documentary focusing on three incarcerated women who reclaim their voices and stories through writing their memoirs, will be presented on Dec. 3 in the Don Evans Black Box Theater at 8 p.m.
The film focuses on Woman is the Word, the memoir-writing workshop organized in a women's maximum security prison, and the lessons that these imprisoned women can teach. The program is run by Michele Tarter, assistant professor of English and advisor of Sigma Tau Delta (STD), the English Honor Society. STD helped organize the documentary premiere produced by Lorna Johnson, assistant professor of communications.
Tarter annually teaches an 8-to 10-week class in the maximum-security wing in the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, N.J. once a week with two students. The students work together to help Tarter design and teach the course as part of an independent study project.
Freshmen in her Literature of the Prison seminar have each been assigned to a woman inmate and have spent weeks typing and editing manuscripts.
Before asking the women to write down their own life stories, the class reads autobiographies that transcend time and include stories of adversity and overcoming hardship. Tarter said that at first this task seems impossible to the women, but when each of the bound, typeset autobiographies are returned, each is filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment.
"In the act of writing their life stories, these women inmates experience an inordinate amount of healing and transformation; they reclaim their voices, their stories - and in doing so, they are often able to deepen and grow in ways they never dreamed possible," Tarter said.
Johnson got her idea to document the project after a student who had worked in the program mentioned it to Johnson years ago. She asked the prison for permission to film it, and her request was granted. "Lorna has such a special gift of sensitivity and her integrity shines through in all she creates," Tarter said.
The documentary was titled "Freedom Road" because of the name the prisoners give to the exit route of the prison. The irony of this title is that the road is also an entrance.
"Each week when we leave the prison and are driving down Freedom Road, we remember all over again how much our freedom and privileges mean to us - and I feel so thankful for the openness of the women in our class," Tarter said.
Tarter began working in maximum security women prisons during 1998 in Illinois. When she moved to New Jersey, she reinstated the program at Edna Mahan.
Tarter said she felt pulled in to do work with incarcerated women when she began to learn about the growing prison population, lack of educational funding and the growing number of released prisoners returning to jail. She wanted to help in any way possible and decided to use her knowledge in the literary study of women's autobiographies as her basis.
"So many of them are in prison for retaliating against domestic violence; they have a lifetime of physical and sexual abuses against them and they have never once been asked to simply tell their story," Tarter said.
Tarter explained that at the end of each course at Edna Mahan, she and her student volunteers learn just as much as each woman does, if not more. "What I find, ultimately, is that their stories are our stories; there is no 'us' and 'them,'" Tarter said.
(12/01/04 12:00pm)
Daniel Crofts, professor of history and former chair of the history department portrayed the importance of the increase of 14 million voters in the 2004 election at the political science department's forum on Nov. 18, when faculty members presented an analysis of the 2004 election before opening the floor to a roundtable discussion. Students and professors debated on the implications of political persuasion and differing moral values.
"In the neighboring state of Pennsylvania, 21 percent of the vote was cast by young people," Crofts said. "They carried the vote for Kerry." He said that the 18 to 29 age group also decided Ohio's Republican vote.
Daryl Fair, professor of political science, said "Evangelists want to take credit for Bush's victory." He said that evangelicals are relating closer to one party then they ever have, but that the margin has not increased by much. "A lot has been made of this 21 percent of voters who voted on moral values when we don't have exit polls for 2000," Fair said.
Gary Woodward, communications chair and professor, said that attack advertisements and even books worked again in this election. He added that gay marriage and values also played an influential role. "They want their idea surrogate carrying forward mainstream values," Woodward said.
Woodward said that Bush's 44 visits to Pennsylvania were enough to make him eligible for a driver's license and noted that John Kerry had also heavily campaigned in Florida and Ohio. However, both intensive campaigns failed.
"It is very difficult to change an attitude once it has been set," Woodward said. He said that the appeals of the Bush campaign on freedom and the war against terror were more effective than Kerry's focus on policy change.
Nancy Lasher, assistant professor of business law, discussed the focus on the Supreme Court. With Chief Justice William Rehnquist's diagnosis of thyroid cancer, Bush may have the opportunity to elect a justice for the first time in 10 years.
Lasher said that Bush plans on electing a justice who will strictly interpret the Constitution. "I think they would have a really hard time bringing down Roe v. Wade," Lasher said.
However, she also said we may see limits on the decisions of the last 20 years. Lasher said that privacy has only been read into the Constitution, so contraception and abortion may involve stricter procedures like parental consent.
Melinda Roberts, associate professor of philosophy, said the problem of using moral values in a presidential campaigning is that they differ in each individual. "Wielding the banner of moral values is just the most divisible 'us versus them' card," Roberts said.
"When the Supreme Court goes at odds with our own moral values, we are subordinate to a system of laws that we loathe and it makes us outlaws," Roberts said.
She said that there will never be enmity, but that candidates should instead focus on widely shared values during campaigns. "Nothing is in the literature of the Constitution that bars them from using differing values, but there are better ways to run a country," Roberts said.
"Do you think Democrats have a platform to take the White House and Senate or do they need to move further to the center?" Martin Smith, sophomore physics major, asked the panel of professors.
Crofts said that the Republicans have a complete lock on the South and that most of the strong Democrats are all gone. Fair said that not all Southern evangelists are Republican - Democrats Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are Southern Baptist evangelicals.
"The religious left is out there, alive and well, but not clearly identifiable," Woodworth said.
Kyle Brownlie, junior political science major, said that he wondered what the future of the third party will be. "So many Nader voters realized the consequence of their vote; it's hard to project, but it doesn't look very promising," Crofts said.
"We keep score every four years with the Electoral College. It's an easy way to divide the country," one student said. He said that many states were not simply blue or red, but instead purple.