FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

10TH ANNUAL STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE PLANNED FOR APRIL 17-18

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., April 5, 2002 - The 10th annual Southeast Missouri State University Student Research Conference will be held April 17-18 on the Southeast campus.

The purpose of this conference is to promote and encourage research by undergraduate and graduate students in all academic disciplines.

The conference gives students the opportunity to share their ideas with a wider audience, said Dr. Martha Zlokovich, faculty chair of the Student Research Conference Committee. It also allows them to communicate their findings in a professional format, she added.

The research conference will include empirical as well as theoretical and review works. Each paper must be sponsored by a faculty member or instructor at Southeast Missouri State University, Three Rivers Community College or Mineral Area Community College, and may have been conducted independently, as part of a course or in collaboration with a faculty member.

Students will present their paper or poster in a conference format on April 17 in Robert A. Dempster Hall and on April 18 in the Otto and Della Seabaugh Polytechnic Building. The conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

Eight Research Presentation Awards of $50 each, supported by a gift from the honor society of Phi Kappa Phi and supported by a grant from Funding For Results, will be presented for posters and papers within the empirical and review categories that are prepared by graduate or undergraduate students. Undergraduate Paper winners will have their papers published in HELIX: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Research.

Virginia Ives, a licensed clinical social worker, will present the keynote address at noon April 17 in Glenn Auditorium of Robert A. Dempster Hall. Ives' presentation is titled "A Little Bit of Humor Goes a Long Way: How Laughter, Research and World Travel Go Hand in Hand." Ives' Common Hour presentation will focus on how her research interests have influenced her travel destinations and vice versa. She also will discuss how research interests can aid students in developing rapport and networking for future job opportunities and placements.

Ives holds a master's degree in social work and a master of arts degree in education from Washington University in St. Louis. She holds a master of science degree in child development/family studies from Purdue University and a bachelor of science degree from Oregon State University. She has completed a three-year training program in family therapy at the Menninger Clinic in St. Louis and earned a Life Teaching Credential, Standard Secondary, from the University of California-Irvine.

The Southeast Student Research Conference is sponsored by Psi Chi, the Psychology Club and the Department of Psychology with the Criminal Justice Association and the Department of Criminal Justice as co-sponsors.

For more information, contact Dr. Martha Zlokovich at (573) 651-2450 or visit the Student Research Conference website at http://cstl.semo.edu/sturesearch/.