MSSU Student Research Fair winners announced

(From Southern News Service)

Winners of the 2016 Missouri Southern Student Research Fair were announced Thursday, April 28, at Missouri Southern State University.

Entries were open to students in each of the four schools – Arts & Sciences, Business, Education and Health Sciences. Qualitative entries could consist of case studies, business plans, literature reviews, stories, artwork, etc.; quantitative entries could include technology or science projects, theory developed using mathematical tools, or even surveys or data analyzed using statistical techniques.

“The importance of promoting research opportunities to our students cannot be understated,” said Dr. Alan Marble, president of the university. “As an institution, we have an obligation to foster the idea of learning through discovery, and the high-impact role that scholarship plays in all areas of academic engagement.”

Winners were:

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

First place (Qualitative): Gabrielle Martin, senior elementary education major, Neosho – “STEAMing Up the Classroom”

First place (Quantitative): Hailey Sly, senior psychology major, Baxter Springs, Kan. – “The Effects of Positive and Negative Media on Racial Attitudes”

Second place (Quantitative): Taelur Tatum, senior education major, Webb City – “Similarities Among Former Foster Children Currently Enrolled at MSSU”

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

First place (Qualitative): Andrew Morton, senior industrial engineering technology major, Joplin – “Employee Utilization and Process Efficiency”

First place: (Quantitative): Haley Waack, senior economics major, Webb City – “The Effect of Prior Convictions on Recidivism”

Second place (Qualitative): Jason Banta, senior industrial engineering technology major, Lamar – “HLS Waste Analysis and Cost Reduction”

Second place (Quantitative): Christopher Killinger, junior mathematics major, Joplin – “The Effect of Exchange Rates on Trade Balances”

SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES

First place (Qualitative): Kuta Suso, junior biology major, Joplin – “Influenza A. Virus and Streptococcus Pyogenes Bacteria in Mice”

First place (Quantitative): Kurt Housh, post-graduate student, Carthage – “Towards the Synthesis of 3-S-Alkyl-Indoles as Potential Inhibitors of Isoprenylcysteine Carboxyl Methyltransferase”

Second place (Qualitative): Neha Bang, senior biology major, Joplin – “Measuring the Relationship between Streptococcus Mutans Levels and Dental Caries Severity”

Winners received gift cards to the Missouri Southern Bookstore. A synopsis for each of the projects entered in the 2016 competition is available to view atwww.mssu.edu/research-fair.