Oklahoma State University honors Wentz Scholars, Wentz Project Scholars

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

(STILLWATER, OK., April 22, 2008) -- More than 150 Wentz Scholars for the 2007-08 academic year were recognized and honored April 18 at the annual Lew Wentz Foundation and Oklahoma State University Award Program.

Gail Gates, OSU associate vice president for Academic Affairs, presented Display Awards of $250 to four of 54 Wentz Project Scholars, all of whom had poster displays. Judges for the awards this year were Craig Satterfield and Mike Heppler of the OSU Graduate College.

Receiving $250 awards for their poster displays were Amy Branham, Nowata dietetics senior, “Parental family meal attitudes and practices among low-income families with preschool children”; Aleisha

McCabe, Pauls Valley chemical/biomedical engineering senior, “Exploration of Controlled Antibiotic Diffusion Rates”; Elizabeth Tabish, Stillwater English/film senior, “Metaphor and Montage: The Process of Creating Meaning in the Arts”; and Travis Wolff, Yale biochemistry and molecular biology senior, “Determining the Structure and Function of the FNIII domain from Midline-1, a protein associated with Opitz Syndrome.”

The prestigious Wentz Research Projects of $4,500 per year went to assist outstanding undergraduates to help prepare them for graduate study or national competitions. With this award, students outline a research project and paper that can be completed in one academic year, and work with a faculty mentor.

The Wentz Scholarships were established in 1926 with a $50,000 endowment gift that was five times larger than the sum of all other student loan funds at what was then Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College. Today, Wentz Scholarships of $2,750 per year are OSU’s largest scholarships and are based on academic standing with emphasis on citizenship and leadership.  

“OSU has always owed much to the Wentz Foundation for decades of generous programming that has helped countless students,” said Bob Graalman, director of Scholar Development, the office that manages Wentz Research. “Being able to conduct high level research for several years now has made it possible for our best students to compete for major awards, be admitted to the best graduate schools, and acquire excellent jobs. This program will show why.”

Jason Callaway of Glenpool, Wentz Scholar and English and history senior, gave the student response to the welcome for the program.

Also on the program were Jamie Bone, Tahlequah music senior, Wentz Scholar and Jack Kent Cooke scholarship nominee, who presented a piano performance; Stephen McKeever, vice president for Research at OSU, who spoke on research; and Patricia Houston, Wentz administrator.   

Students who received Wentz General Scholarships, Non-Traditional Scholarships, Music Scholarships, and the Ponca City Scholarship were recognized.   

Other Wentz Project Scholars and the subjects of their research were:
•    Benjamin Banks, sociology/anthropology, “Culture Change among the Wichita Indians: An Analysis and Comparison of Projectile Points”;
•    Jimikaye Beck, nutrition/Spanish, “Breastfeeding practices of non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics born in the United State, and Hispanics born in Mexico”;
•    Heather Beem, mechanical engineering, “Image Registration for Incomplete Images of Contoured Metal Surfaces”;
•    Brandon Brooks, physiology, “Effects of Tanning Beds on the Normal Microbial Flora of the Skin”;
•    Aleithia Burgess, history/philosophy, “The Hagiography of Juan Diego: A Five-Hundred Year Path to Sainthood”;
•    Jennifer Busby, liberal studies, “The Irish Servant Girl: A Look at Post-Famine Immigration”;
•    Jason Callaway, English/history, “To Whom are You Speaking?: Linguistic Correctness in College Students”;
•    Whitney Danker, agricultural communications, “The impact of technology on interpersonal relationships in a legislative setting”;
•    Kodi Drew, English, “Examination of Differential Sentencing Patterns”;
•    Sara Drueckhammer, geology, “Impacts of dairy operations on water quality in Waco, Texas”;
•    Kyle Ensley, international business/political science, “Trading Fuel/Oil Dependency for Food Dependency--a World-Wide Political Issue”;
•    William Findlay, mechanical engineering, “Quantum Chaos with Cold Atoms”;
•    Jacqueline Guidry, psychology, “The Psychological Effects of Prednisone's Physical Side Effects”;
•    Jennifer Hackett, biochemistry and molecular biology, “Viral Biodiversity in Plants”;
•    Renee Hale, chemical engineering, “Optimizing a three-dimensional tissue model for the production of dendritic cells”;
•    Laura Haynes, rangeland ecology and management, “The Effects of Fire and Grazing Management on Cheilanthes lanosa and Cheilanthes tomentosa in the Wichita Mountains”;
•    Lesa Heintzman, civil engineering, “Foundation Degradation Due to Acid Rain and Soil Composition”;
•    Will Heise, biochemistry and molecular biology, “Plant Viral miRNAs”;
•    Jonathan Hollingsworth, history, “Comparing Historically Influential Views on the Apostle Paul in Romans”;
•    Laura Hulsey, animal science, “GDF-9 an indicator of healthy follicles that will produce viable oocytes for in vitro fertilization”;
•    Jonathan Kelly, applied landscape ecology, “Native Plant Recovery Following Control of Invasive Mesquite Brush in Southwest OK”;
•    Desra Kiely, biochemistry and molecular biology, “Discovering the Structure of Xylogalacturonan”;
•    Darla Leach, landscape architecture, “Agritourism - Preserving Open Space Through Farming Operations”;
•    Emilee Lehenbauer, nutrition/international business, “Assessing the Need for Undergraduate Wellness Programming”;
•    Samuel Lin, electrical engineering, “The Ancient Chinese Views of Other Races in Neighboring Areas in Shan Hai Jing”;
•    Christopher Mace, geology, “Water Quality and Thickness of the Cimarron Alluvial Aquifer”;
•    Jessica Magers, geology, “Acid Mine Drainage Contamination of Neoshoard Spring Rivers and Grand Lake in the Tar Creek Area”;
•    Amy Magrath, biochemistry and molecular biology, “Defining the role of the ARCBP2 protein”;
•    Leslie McClure, environmental sciences, “The Success of the Black-Footed Ferrett”;
•    Grant McCool, chemical engineering, “Dental Crown”;
•    Kimberly McMillan, civil engineering, “Environmental Effects of Combustion By-Products During Fire Suppression”;
•    Amanda Miles, biochemistry and molecular biology, “Stressed Out Plants: ROS Induced Stress in Arabidopsis thaliana”;
•    Hulas Modi, industrial engineering and management, “Wireless RF/RFID Vibration Sensors for Container Integrity Monitoring”;
•    Monica Murie, biosystems and agricultural engineering, “Further Processing of Poultry Mortality Waste through Vermicomposting”;
•    Joseph Nusz, economics/finance, “A Socioeconomic Study on the Effect of a Minimum Wage Increase on Family Dynamics”;
•    Corey Paolucci, English/Spanish, “Language Biographies of Multilingual OSU Students”;
•    Victoria Radke, marketing, “Practical Economics: A Study of the Market for Athletic Event Parking at OSU”;
•    Sarah Rowland, biosystems and agricultural engineering, “Design Modification of a Small-Scale Gasifier”;
•    Ilya Sluch, chemistry/biochemistry, “Novel Synthesis of Isocyanides”;
•    Katherine Southard, microbiology, “Azo dye reductase characterization in capnocytophaga ochracea and Actinomyces odontolyticus”;
•    Kristen Swift, psychology, “Gender Differences in Descriptions of Individuals”;
•    Cortney Timmons, biosystems and agricultural engineering, “Temporal and Spatial Identification of Bovine Urination and Defecation in Riparian Zones for Reduction of Surface Water Contamination”;
•    Kristin Wallace, chemical engineering, “Development of Small Diameter Blood Vessels”;
•    Josh Ward, microbiology/cell and molecular biology, “Challenges in Academics Ethics as Universities Become Increasingly Culturally Diverse”;
•    Tyler Weirick, biochemistry, “Hepatocyte poliferation in 3-D Gelatin Scaffolds”;
•    Chelsea Williams, physiology, “Does Maternal Testosterone Influence Offspring Sex in Green Anole Lizards?”;
•    Cody Winchester, geology, “A Comparison of Equivalent Late Devonian Shale across Oklahoma”;
•    Gena Wollenberg, dietetics, “Instilling health awareness on a budget: an interactive approach to teaching nutrition coordinated through the School's Wellness Committee”;
•    Sarah Wright, child and family services, “Low income couples’ preferences for seeking relationship enhancing information”;
•    Jillianne Zweiacker, agricultural communications, “Perceptions of Oklahoma Legislators Toward the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Services.”

Current Wentz board members are OSU President Burns Hargis, chair; Stan Lybarger, president and CEO, Bank of Oklahoma; James C. Orbison, chair of the Oklahoma Lottery Commission and a senior shareholder in one of Oklahoma’s largest law firms; and Tom Muchmore, Ponca City News publisher. Trish Houston, CPA of Houston Wealth Management, serves as administrator.