Around Campus - Southington College Students

SOUTHINGTON, CT — Here are some recent notable accomplishments by local college students, as provided by readMedia Newswire.

Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic CT

• Displays of research and creativity dominated the Eastern Connecticut State University campus on April 12 for the annual CREATE conference. CREATE stands for "Celebrating Research Excellence and Artistic Talent at Eastern," and is the university's premier undergraduate conference. Among the conference participants were seven students from Southington. Spencer Eaton, who majors in Health Sciences, presented "Acquiring Prescription and Non-Prescription Drugs for Recreational Use through Technology and Social Media in Eastern Connecticut." Haley Kolesnik, who majors in Physical Education, presented "Using Visual Supports for Students with Autism in Physical Education." John Meade, who majors in Biology, presented "The Effect Of Simulated Microgravity On The Ability Of Primary Cortical Cells To Produce Neurons." Catherine Najarian, who majors in Art, presented "Personal Growth." Harrison Proch, who majors in Communication, presented "Public Relations plan for Shawn's Cupboard." Jonathan Rappi, who majors in Biology, presented "Modeling Human Cancer Gene Interactions In Worms: A Fos-1 Transcription Factor Inhibits Odd-Skipped Gene Expression In C. Elegans." Raquel Romano, who majors in Mathematics, presented "How Does Social Media Influence Someone's Identity?" The day-long showcase featured more than 250 students from all majors who led oral and poster presentations, panel discussions, music and dance performances, art and photography exhibitions, new-media demonstrations and more.
• Forty-three students from Eastern Connecticut State University traveled to Georgia on April 11-13 to present original research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). The 2019 conference occurred at Kennesaw State University and featured hundreds of undergraduate students from across the country. Among the presenters was Francesco Ricigliano of Southington, who majors in Political Science and Computer Science. Ricigliano presented an oral presentation titled "Encouraging Voter Turnout: The Differences Between Eligible And Registered Voters." Eastern students from a range of majors presented artwork, music performances and oral/poster presentations. Research questions probed topics such as the microbiome of scorpions, the link between casual sex and online dating, pop-culture glamorization of eating disorders, and much more.

Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison NJ

• Megan Maruzo of Plantsville, a student at Fairleigh Dickinson University's Florham Campus, located in Madison, NJ, has been named to the Honors List for the fall 2018 semester. To qualify for the Honors List, a student must carry a 3.5 or better grade point average out of a possible 4.0 and be enrolled in a minimum of 12 letter-graded hours (four courses).