ECSU students' knowledge shines at Research Week
Warrick: 600 science students at ECSU

By ZAC GOLDSTEIN
Staff Writer
Friday, February 08, 2008

Quick, answer this question. Atoms that hold the same atomic number but different atomic weights are known as (A) elements, (B) isomers, (C) ions or (D) isotopes? Now, answer 44 more questions similar to that one. Good luck, right?

But that's what some of Elizabeth City State University's brightest students did Thursday during the second annual science bowl held on campus at the Ridley Student Complex. The bowl was part of ECSU's fourth annual Research Week, which also included a research poster presentation contest.

"We want this activity to be a fun activity for students, (but) we also want this to be a competitive experience for students," said H. Leon Pringle, an academic advisor who moderated the competition.

During the science bowl competition, students from ECSU's mathematics, biology, technology and chemistry departments broke into five-member teams and tried to correctly answer as many questions as they could within an hour's time. The questions were submitted by the departments to test students' knowledge across different disciplines.

"It's a great time for us to be in the public eye," said Jarrod Sanderlin, a senior marine environmental science major.
Sanderlin, 25, was one of more than two dozen graduate and undergraduate students who presented posters outlining their work to faculty and staff. Through an internship with the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, he was able to research environmental conditions that affect oysters.

While Sanderlin said he had hoped to work with blue crabs, he said marine science was definitely the right field for him.
Brian Jordan, a graduate mathematics student, researched the relationship between SAT scores and grade point averages at ECSU. He examined 10 years of data and said while there was a correlation, the correlation was not strong enough that SATs would accurately predict college-level academic performance.

"It's really actually a confirmation of what I expected," said Jordan, 36. "My SAT wasn't that great, but I still graduated with a 3.4 GPA."
An aspiring college professor, Jordan said he wants to continue statistical research on the undergraduate students he teaches.

"A professor's job is not just to stand at the blackboard teaching," he said.

Sophomore Amanda Bland, 19, was part of a team that installed and implemented an open source documentation server. She said it will allow people to add and edit content, similar to Web site Wikipedia. Bland, who has her sights set on joining NASA, spoke highly of the state of research at the university. "My whole program is based on research and I love it," she said.

Cynthia Warrick, dean of the School of Math, Science and Technology, said there were about 600 MST students at ECSU. Biology, computer science and industrial technology have the largest representation of students, she said."When they come here, they have an interest already," Warrick said. "We try to expose them to more scientific activities."

Thursday's events also included a graduate school fair featuring representatives from more than a half-dozen schools and institutions.