The document details the fall presentations of seven seniors at Clarion University, showcasing various research topics ranging from software applications for football to the impact of criminal convictions on job applications. Students emphasize the importance of selecting engaging projects that resonate with their interests, and several are preparing for spring presentations. Additionally, the newsletter highlights student spotlights and upcoming events organized by the honors program and related student organizations.

1. Seniors deliver research in fall presentations
By Marissa Dechant
Senior presentations
are the final assessment in
every honors student's
academic career at Clarion
University. While much time,
effort and toil are put into the
presentations, they are an
excellent way for students to
showcase their particular
interests within their majors.
Seven seniors gave
their presentations in
Founders Hall on Thursday,
Nov. 19. The presentations
ranged in topic from
predictive play call decision-
making software for football
to the effect of prior criminal
convictions when applying for
a job.
"With so many
different projects, there's a
wide variety of what people
can throw themselves into.
Research can be based on
whatever project you want,"
Assistant Honors Program
Director Joseph Croskey
said.
Hannah Gloeckl, an
English major, gave her
presentation on "Poetry
Matters," a community-
based literacy campaign she
created over the course of
six months. Gloeckl's
interest in community
service and using poetry as a
means to build a welcoming
environment in Clarion led
her to creating "Poetry
Matters."
Gloeckl advises
future senior honors
presenters to pick a topic
The Clarion Honors Chronicle
Courtesy of the Clarion University
Honors Program
12/2/2015 Edition II, Volume III
Editor’s Word
  
Thank you for
reading the fall 2015 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 Clarion Honors Program.
Stay tuned for all the
updates you will need
regarding the Honors
Program-affiliated club:
Student Honors Association
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

2. that will hold their interest
over the course of the project.
"As long as you enjoy
spending your time on [your
presentation]--like, my project
was super stressful, but I
enjoyed the results of it,"
Gloeckl said.
Computer science
major Austin Snelick created a
software application to better
predict play calls in football.
He wanted to combine
software development with
his love of football to make a
predictive simulation tool.
"Make [your
presentation] a project that
you're really interested in and
you know you're going to
love working on, so it's more
like a hobby than a project,"
Snelick said.
Snelick's main
inspiration stemmed from the
questionable play call made
during the 2015 SuperBowl
XLIX. He wanted to find the
statistically best play call
choice to make in any game
situation.
Emma Carter, a
microbiology major, had her
project handed down to her
from two prior Clarion
University students. Carter
began working on her
presentation freshman year
with the objective of
discovering why women get
more urinary tract infections
than men do.
Research is still
underway on the project that
started back in 2007, but
Carter's end goal is the
invention of a drug made
from the antimicrobial agent
found in urine.
Christina Liu's
semester abroad in Northern
Ireland sparked the idea for
her senior presentation. The
anthropology major studied
Irish history and how it
affected The Wolfe Tones, an
Irish rebel band.
Liu found that rebel
music has created a lasting
historic pride and legacy in
Ireland. Bands like The Wolfe
Tones speak for the "ordinary
people" and display their
views and beliefs of Irish
society.
Accounting major
Gideon Woelfel's presentation
focused on the issues
surrounding the alternative
minimum tax. He found
problems included the tax
being unfavorable to large
families and how it highly
taxed cities and states.
Woelfel said the tax
would be expensive to
remove, but he offered
optional reformations along
with ways for people to
minimize their potential
AMT.
Cody Chetoka, a
human resource management
major, discussed crime and
employment opportunity. The
idea for his presentation came
from his summer internship at

3. the Bank of New York Mellon,
where he worked with
criminal convictions within
the job hiring process.
Chetoka's research
centered around "Ban the Box"
legislation, which advocates
that people applying for a job
do not get asked about prior
criminal convictions until
after their initial interview. He
found that previous
convictions do affect which
people get hired, and with
increased education in the
United States, crime rates
would drop significantly.
Economics major
Stephanie Lightner analyzed
the standard of living in four
former USSR countries. She
examined the change from a
command economy to a
market economy and how it
affected citizens' lives in
Belarus, Ukraine, Romania
and the Russian Federation.
Lightner looked at
access to food and water,
protein supply, education and
life expectancy. She
discovered that being part of
the European Union was
beneficial for the four
countries, but it was not as
advantageous as she had
expected.
While these seven
students can relax after their
fall presentations, the rest of
the honors seniors are
preparing for their spring
2016 projects. The remaining
students are set to present
next April.
Austin Snelick, Emma Carter, Coty Chetoka, Gideon Woelfel, Christina Liu,
Stephanie Lightner and Hannah Gloeckl

4. Michelle Geytenbeek - Student Spotlight
By Jacob Beckey
It is easy to forget that
the people we encounter in
our everyday lives are as
infinitely complex and
interesting as we find
ourselves. It is important to
take notice of those around
you, and attempt to fully
understand them as the
unique people that they are.
What better place to start than
in Clarion’s Honors Program,
which is full of intelligent,
driven individuals like Siriluk
Michelle Geytenbeek.
Born in Bangkok,
Thailand to a Thai mother and
a South African father,
Michelle travelled all around
the world with her dad’s
company for the first six years
of her life before settling in
Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania,
a small suburb of
Philadelphia. Here, she
excelled academically and
athletically. She was the
captain of the indoor and
outdoor track team, as well as
the field hockey team. On top
of completing honors and
Advanced Placement
coursework, she volunteered
at a hospital and an assisted
living center. A caring and
passionate young woman,
Michelle also coached a
basketball team for disabled
children. These choices
adequately prepared her to
excel in the Honors Program.
When asked what she
likes most about the program
thus far, Michelle said, “The
teachers [I have had] have
been incredible. Jim Lyle and
Ralph Leary are challenging
professors, but their
assignments make you think
critically and creatively. I am
truly thankful to have had
such passionate professors.”
Michelle, now a first-
year freshman, eagerly awaits
the senior research project
that is part of the honor’s
requirements. Currently a
biology major, Michelle plans
to attend medical school upon
graduation and feels, rightly
so, that the research project
will prove advantageous to
her goals.
In addition to being
academically motivated,
Michelle also enjoys her social
life in which she divides her
time among socializing with
her friends, spending time
with her boyfriend, reading
and researching politics.
Michelle attests to the fact that
the program serves an
important social role in her
life by saying, “Some of my
best friends in college are in
the Honors Program, and I’m
so thankful to have met such
wonderful people who are
similarly goal-oriented.”
When asked about her
idea of perfect happiness,
Michelle responded by
saying, “One day having the
career of my dreams, making
an impact in people’s lives
and coming home to a nice
house, loving family and a
happy marriage.”
Whatever she ends up
doing, she is bound to
positively impact the world
because she is taking every
step to prepare herself for the
future she desires.

5. Samantha Beal –
Student Spotlight
By Kaitlyn Mulligan
Another one of this
month’s student spotlights is
on Samantha Beal, a
sophomore at Clarion
University. She is currently a
dual major in English and
communications. However,
she plans to drop
communications to a minor, so
she can focus more on her
English education.
Beal is very involved
at Clarion. She is in the
Honors Program, and last
year, she was an ambassador
for the program. She is in the
newly formed French Club at
Clarion as well.
"It was a club a couple
years ago, and it kind of died
off…but they’re bringing it
back to life now,” she said.
She also works for
Clarion through the
foundation as a student writer,
where she works on press and
news releases of things that
happen on campus. Another
club that she participates in is
ASIA, which stands for Asian
Student Integrated
Association. The organization
aims to create cultural
awareness on campus. Beal is
also involved with the
National Residence Hall
Honorary Society.
In her free time, Beal
enjoys spending time with her
brothers and her friends. She
also takes martial arts classes.
Above all, she loves writing
and reading. Beal has even
written her own book called
“The Horse Thief.”
She said, “It is a
historical fiction about the
area I grew up in.” She has
sent it to publishers, but it has
yet to get published. “It is my
goal at one point to have a
published book,” said Beal.
In the future, Beal
wants to go into journalism
but ideally, wants to become a
full-time author. With her
experience with historical
fiction, her other interest in
children’s literature and her
passion for writing, she has
many options to choose from.
She loves going to
Clarion University because of
the academics and the close
proximity to her home. Her
favorite part about going to
school at Clarion is being in
class and being able to interact
with her fellow students. She
likes the faculty and loves
learning new things.
Beal said, “Being
around other people and
talking with other students and
working with other students
makes it worthwhile.”
Her advice for future
students is to “be prepared and
willing to work” at school.
She stresses working hard to
get through classes, and while
it may seem difficult or
stressful, once the task is
completed, it feels good.
“Getting to the other
side of that hill is so much
nicer. It’s nice to be able to
stand there and look back and
say, ‘Hey, I’ve done all this
stuff,’” she said. “It’s difficult
working through stuff but the
reward at the end is much
greater than that.”
Beal recalled a
conversation she had with a
tour guide at Clarion who said
that college involves many
highs and many lows.
Sometimes college students go
through the extremes in short
amounts of time. Her advice?
“Stick with it.”

6. SHA Update
By Megan Beary
The Student Honors
Association would like to
thank all of the organizations
who participated in Haunted
Dorms as well as all of the
students who came out for a
scare. A grand total of 277
people came to our multi-floor
event this year. You can
watch coverage of Haunted
Dorms on CUTV’s Halloween
episode of CU Weekly:
https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=l-E1izwJkvY.
Looking forward, SHA
will be electing new officer
positions who will begin
leading the club next semester.
We are excited for all of our
annual spring community
service events such as Food
for Friends and Relay for Life.
If you are interested in joining
SHA next semester, please
email Megan Beary at
m.e.beary@eagle.clarion.edu
for more information!
We are an Honors
Program affiliated club, but
you do not have to be in the
Honors Program to join! Feel
free to meet us anytime during
the semester. Our meetings
are held in Room 166 Ralston
Hall. We would love to meet
you in the spring!
Become a member of
SHA on Facebook and then
join us in the real world!
https://www.facebook.com/gr
oups/ClarionSHA/
You can like SHA on
Facebook as well!
https://www.facebook.com/Cl
arion-University-Student-
Honors-Association-
248467378540159/timeline/
We have biweekly
meetings and do some
awesome stuff here on
campus and in the
community.
You can also like our
Honors Program on
Facebook too!
https://www.facebook.com/cla
rionhonors?fref=ts
Under Eagles’ Wings
By Eric Zavinski
The mentor program
has attempted to be a more
active source for advice and
fun events this semester than it
has been in the past. We
started off with the welcome
picnic, progressed into a game
night in October and a
cancelled dodgeball game a
few weeks ago.
That event was
cancelled because no one
showed up, so I want to get
input on what you, the reader,
would want to see from
mentor program events in the
future, especially if you are a
mentor or mentee. Feel free to
email me at
e.a.zavinski@eagle.clarion.edu.
Mentors, mentees and
all honors students alike are
also encouraged to come out
and support Honors
Recruitment Coordinator Kate
Hammond in another event.
Deepher Dude, a male beauty
pageant, is being hosted to
support research and aid for
those who suffer from cystic
fibrosis. This event is being
hosted by sorority Delta Phi
Epsilon and features yours
truly in the event! Come out
and support the event at 7 p.m.
on Saturday, Dec. 5 in Hart
Chapel.

7. 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.
Reminder: Seniors, make sure to check your eagle mail and CU connect
for more information as to your upcoming senior presentations.
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.