Twenty-four Clarion University Honors Program seniors presented their final research projects at an event on April 20. The projects covered a wide range of topics from bilingualism to astrophysics to biology. Each presentation was 15 minutes with 5 minutes for questions. It was an academic conference-style event that showcased the diverse research opportunities available to students at Clarion University, despite its small size. The night celebrated the culmination of the students' honors journey and research efforts.

1. Two dozen students present senior research
By Jacob Beckey
It is no secret that
Clarion University is a fairly
small school. Because of this
fact, many people probably
assume that the research
opportunities here are fairly
limited.
Luckily, as anyone
who attended the Honors
Program senior presentations
could attest to, that is simply
not the case. On April 20 in
Founders Hall, seniors in the
Honors Program presented
their final research projects on
topics ranging from the
cognitive benefits of
bilingualism to the detailed
analysis of proteins.
It was a successful and
enjoyable event that felt like a
real academic conference.
Each presentation lasted
fifteen minutes with an
additional five minutes
allotted for questions. This
spring, twenty-four seniors
presented projects on which
they worked extremely hard.
A fitting end to the
unique and challenging
journey that is the Honors
Program, the night was
filled with new and
interesting educational
experiences for both
students and faculty.
There is a
longstanding separation
between the humanities and
the sciences. A vast majority
of scientists do not
acknowledge and respect
the arts in the same way that
they regard the sciences, and
vice versa.
This, although an
unfortunate truth, did not
stop Sarah Strausbaugh
from blending seemingly
disparate fields:
astrophysics and fine art.
She presented several
paintings of celestial objects,
such as nebula and galaxies.
She hoped to represent more
than celestial objects in her
paintings.
The Clarion Honors Chronicle
Courtesy of the Clarion University
Honors Program
4/27/2016 Edition III, Volume III
Editor’s Word
  
Thank you for
reading the spring 2016
edition of The Clarion
Honors Chronicle this
semester!
Every semester in the
foreseeable future, there will
be three volumes of the
newsletter released where
we cover top stories,
students and courses within
the Honors Program.
Stay tuned for all the
updates you will need
regarding the Honors
Program-affiliated club:
Golden Key and the
mentorship program as well.
If you have any
recommendations for the
newsletter or would like to
write with our current staff,
send me an email at
E.A.Zavinski@eagle.clarion.edu.
-Eric Zavinski
Honors Student Director

2. She hoped that “they
will represent the deep depth
in space and time, the colors
of nature, and the natural
beauty of our environment.”
Sarah’s project was a
fine example of the diversity
and breadth of research areas
that were showcased this year
in the presentations.
Another interesting
presentation was given by
Rachel Deluca on ‘The
Cognitive Advantages of
Bilingual Individuals and Bi-
Literate Learners.’
She discussed the
importance of learning a
language, and if possible,
learning a language at a
young age. Citing a fairly new
area of research, she discussed
the exciting possibility that
learning multiple languages
may actually decrease the
odds of developing
degenerative cognitive
diseases like dementia.
Moreover, she
discussed the demonstrable
benefits of bilingualism that
have been empirically
supported through the Simon
Task. Rachel’s presentation
left the audience with a better
understanding and
appreciation of bilingualism
and its many benefits.
There were, of course,
more technical research
projects presented including
Brandon Yusko’s ‘Genetic
Modification of Desulfovibrio
Vulgaris to Improve Its Role
in Bioremediation of Acid
Mine Drainage.’
In his research, Yusko
assessed the sulfate-reducing
ability of certain bacteria that
are used to restore alkalinity
to bodies of water. Although
some talks verged on being
too specialized for the general
audience, all presenters made
a strong effort to
communicate their results to
everyone, making the night
extremely educational and
beneficial to all attendees.
On April 20, Founders
Hall contained some of the
best and brightest minds
Clarion University has to
offer. It was an exciting night
for the students who finally
saw their research projects
come to fruition, and it was
surely a memorable night for
faculty and mentors who saw
their students complete the
final step towards graduating
from Clarion and the Honors
Program.

3. Kelly Dungan - Student Spotlight
By Marissa Dechant
Whether she is hosting
events for the Clarion
University American
Marketing Association
(AMA), designing programs
for the Clarion women's
volleyball team or interning
with Chartwells Dining
Services, marketing and
business management major
Kelly Dungan keeps busy on
campus.
Dungan's three years
at Clarion University have
been full of applying her
marketing skills to her
extracurricular activities and
internship.
Her extensive
involvement as the student
assistant for the women's
volleyball team has given
Dungan pre-professional
experience and long-lasting
friendships. Dungan runs the
team Instagram
(@clarionvolleyball), designs
team posters and programs,
creates seasonal newsletters
and travels with the team to
facilitate drills.
"[Working with the
women's volleyball team] has
been one of the best
experiences I have had at
Clarion. I get to combine two
of the things I love most,
volleyball and marketing, into
one experience. I have also
created amazing friendships
with the girls on the team that
I know will last a long time
and have created a great
marketing portfolio that will
give me an edge on other
applicants when I apply for
jobs," Dungan said.
In alignment with her
major, Dungan is the
marketing intern for
Chartwells Dining Services.
She controls Chartwells' social
media and plans dining
events at Eagle Commons and
Gemmell Food Court.
For the past two
months, Dungan has been
collecting student feedback in

4. order to help Clarion's food
services improve their dining
experiences. She hopes to
apply these skills in her
summer internship at
ServiceMaster, a national
company that provides
commercial and residential
maintenance.
As an honors student,
Dungan pushes to improve
herself and enjoys the
challenges of Honors Program
coursework. Her favorite
honors class has been the
HON 130 art course.
"We learned about
different types of art, which I
had no prior experience with
at all. We also got to visit the
Carnegie Museum of Art in
Pittsburgh and see some of
the works we studied
firsthand. It was a cool
experience to go to an art
museum and actually
understand the meaning
behind the works," Dungan
said.
Dungan wants to base
her honors senior
presentation around her two-
week trip to Bologna, Italy
this August. While there, she
will create a business plan to
introduce a new product to
the market for course credit.
Dungan wants to use this
experience to make an in-
depth marketing plan for her
senior presentation. It will
combine all areas of her
studies including
international business.
Aside from the
coursework, Dungan is
excited to travel to Italy
because she loves
experiencing new cultures.
"When I travel, I don’t
usually opt for the normal
tourist experience. I always
hit up the local thrift shops
where I find items unique to
the place I’m in. I love going
to local restaurants and
historical places, and I try to
find live music whenever I
can. These things together
truly make for a unique travel
experience," Dungan said.
Originally from Ohio,
Dungan enjoys immersing
herself in new locales. Clarion
University is her first major
move from home, but she
plans on moving south and
pursuing a career in
marketing after graduation.
"Ideally, I would like
to get a job in international
marketing so I can travel for
work, but I would also be
happy working for a sports
team or university. Also, I
hope to someday open my
own business--maybe a bar
that supports live music and
local talent. No matter where I
end up or what I end up
doing, I have Clarion to
thank," Dungan said.

5. Dr. Herbert Luthin –
Faculty Spotlight
By Lauren Titley
Dr. Luthin grew up in
Illinois and Montana, and
went to college in Oregon and
Montana. He completed
graduate school in Hawaii
and California and has been
teaching in Pennsylvania for
the past twenty-six years.
Dr. Luthin said that, “I
was working on my
dissertation when the big
earthquake struck the Bay
Area in 1989—that convinced
me it was time to finish up
and get out of there.”
At Clarion University,
Dr. Luthin teaches for the
English department. He
teaches basic-level intro-to-
linguistics courses, as well as
courses in the history of the
language, American dialects,
literature of the ancient world
and grammar courses. He also
teaches a course for the
anthropology department:
Language & Culture.
Dr. Luthin is teaching
the HON 130 course for
honors freshman students this
semester and in the future.
The course is called
“Discovering Language.”
Dr. Luthin has taught
this course several times in
the past, however, this is the
first time for the Honors
Program.
“One day, maybe ten
years ago, I was thinking
about those big freshman
classes like “Art
Appreciation” or “Music
Appreciation” and thought to
myself, why not a language
appreciation course? Next
thing you know, I was
proposing a new course.”
However, in more
recent years, enrollment at
Clarion has gone down, and
Dr. Luthin found the problem
of lower enrollment in this
course to be a problem as
well. He ceased offering the
course until the Honors
Program asked him to teach it
again.
“I believe that
learning about the language-
world we all live and breathe
and love and die in is terribly
important. Of all the primary
areas of human inquiry—
biology, history, music,
chemistry, anthropology,
etc.—it is the one subject that
has effectively zero
representation in the
secondary curriculum,” said
Dr. Luthin.
“As a people, we
know virtually nothing about
language or languages—our
own language, much less any
others. And there is so much
to know that matters!”
exclaimed Luthin.
“Figuring this course
would be my one shot at
reaching students, I designed
the course with the intention
of exposing people to as many
facets of the study of language
as possible in the fourteen
weeks available to me. The
jury is still out on whether
honors students like it any
better than regular students—
but I’ve been having a blast
teaching it,” said Luthin.
Dr. Luthin is going to
teach another section of HON
130 in the fall to the incoming
freshman class.
He said that, “The
class I’m teaching next fall is
totally different, but a lot
more familiar, because
everyone has studied
literature in one form or

6. another in high school. It’s a
literature course focusing on
Native American literary
traditions.”
“We will be reading
written works (novels, short
stories, poems) as well as
translations of oral materials
(myths, songs, tales) recorded
from a variety of tribes.”
Dr. Luthin has taught
this Native American
Literature course before for
the Honors Program a few
years ago and said that he is
excited to teach it again as he
will be using works that these
incoming students will not
have been exposed to before.
“Native American Lit
is a special subject for me,
particularly the oral traditions
and the way those ancient
stories inform the works of
modern authors and poets. I
have been involved in
studying American Indian
languages and literatures
since I was a sophomore in
college.”
In fact, Dr. Luthin
stated that his dissertation
was on the oral literature of a
Native California language
family called Yana, “and I
have published translations of
myths and narratives from all
three of the Yanan languages,
also a collection of Native
California stories and songs
called ‘Surviving through the
Days.’”
Dr. Luthin will be
using selections from this
book in his course readings in
the fall.
Fall 2016 – Course
Spotlights
By Kaitlyn Mulligan
This fall HON 130:
Discovering Language will be
taught by Dr. Herb Luthin,
and the Modes of Discourse
classes will be taught by Dr.
Ralph Leary and Jim Lyle as
usual. These courses are
returning classes to the
program. HON 130 has been
offered multiple times with
different subjects, and the
modes courses are offered
every fall for the incoming
freshmen.
In addition to these
classes, a new honors course
will be available this coming
fall. HON 230 is called Game
Theory. Dr. Daniel Shifflet of
the mathematics department at
Clarion will teach it.
The class is generally
for sophomores although some
juniors who have not taken
HON 230 yet might take it as
well. Game Theory will
replace this year’s
Meteorology course for the
Honors Program.
“Game theory is trying
to understand how people act
in a game-type of setting,”
said Honors Program Director
Rod Raehsler. “Trying to
predict what choices they
make, what they do using
some very simple
mathematical models.”
The class will focus
around bargaining and
decision games that people
play. Dr. Shifflet will use
mathematical models to show
students how to predict the
way that players statistically
react in certain situations.
For instance, in a
bargaining game, players are
given certain amounts of
money. The class would teach
students how to
mathematically predict how
those amounts of money will
end up split between the two
players. The probability of
certain reactions will be
calculated.
Shifflet is a newer
faculty member to Clarion’s
campus, and it will be his first
time teaching an honors
course.
“He comes very highly
recommended from his
students,” said Raehsler of
Shifflet. “I think our students
will really enjoy the class.”

7. Students will learn
more applied uses for math
than they would in other
classes. Raehsler said that as
opposed to other math classes
where students may not
understand why they are
learning the subject matter,
this course will give students
useful, relevant skills.
“These honors students
may not normally have to take
some of these classes,” stated
Honors Program Manager
Megan Laird. “Because they
are in honors, we require it,
which really exposes the
students to a wide genre of
courses and things they might
not normally be required to
take.”
Raehsler said, “I know
this will give students a new
view of mathematics and
science that they haven’t seen
before.”
SHA Update
By Eric Zavinski
The Student Honors
Association was one of many
Recognized Student
Organizations that helped the
American Cancer Society
spread awareness at the
Clarion University Relay for
Life on April 15 and 16.
Victims of cancer were
remembered,and survivors of
the disease were celebrated
during the event that raised
more money than it ever had
on campus before.
The Honors Program-
affiliated club has big plans
for the upcoming school year.
Haunted Dorms is already
being planned in earnest.
Along with next year’s
events including a possible
Color Run to benefit Clarion
PAWS, the Student Honors
Association will partner with
our Golden Key International
Honor Society chapter to
continue recruiting and
community service efforts.
Important Information
From your Editor-in-Chief: Eric Zavinski
If you would like to write for The Clarion Honors Chronicle, please
contact me at (814)688-2468 or E.A.Zavinski@eagle.clarion.edu.
You can contact the Honors Office at (814) 393-2585or at
honorsprog@clarion.edu. We are located at 315 BechtHall, and our
student lounge is in the basementof Ralston Hall in Room B83. A
student worker will be in the main office to greet you at all times
between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. Email Natalie
Bond at N.A.Bond@eagle.clarion.edu for the hours of the lounge’s
operation if you need it. Black & white and color printing is available in
the student lounge.