Brielle Bethke ’16 did an independent internship at the University of Louisville Center for Neurological Surgery. There she assisted with physical therapy, conducted data analysis, shadowed physicians and researchers, and met people with a unique outlook on life. Her work is connected to a recent CNN Health Report story about a study of the applications of electrical stimulation in spinal cord injury. Two people with whom Brielle worked are featured in the story. She worked with Dustin, a patient in the study who, at age 18, suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Dr. Susan Harkema, the head of neurological surgery at the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute, was the supervisor of Brielle’s internship. Brielle is majoring in biology and earning a minor in Spanish. She is a member of the Health Guild and will study abroad in Caceres, Spain, during her junior year.
Category: Students
Lamppost Dedication Honors Emily Stillman ’15
On the afternoon of June 5, friends and family of Emily Stillman ’15 gathered to dedicate a lamppost on the K campus in remembrance of the Kalamazoo College sophomore whose life was claimed by bacterial meningitis in February 2014.
The lamppost is situated on the main walkway near Olds-Upton Hall facing the steps leading to Mandelle Hall. A plaque with Emily’s name has been affixed to the post so students and other members of the campus community can easily see it as they pass by.
“As I hurry off to class or rush to meet others, I’ll be reminded,” said Bryan Olert ’15, a friend of Emily, during a dedication ceremony organized by K Chaplain Liz Candido ’00 and Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students Sarah Westfall.
A lamp is perceived as a perfect embodiment of the bright, jovial, and vibrant character of Emily Stillman whose presence was hard to miss, according to some of her friends.
“You just feel her when she walks into a room,” said Nicole Caddow ’15. “You just know Emily Stillman is there.”
During the dedication ceremony, Olert and others took turns reciting pieces depicting the significance of the lamppost and how it conveys the memories they shared with their dear friend.
“When I see the lamppost, I will remember how Emily’s life illuminated those around her,” read Skylar Young ’15, a close friend of Emily.
Jared Grimer ’15 added, “The lamppost is a perfect representation of Emily’s radiant personality. She brought light and warmth into a world that can at times be dark and cold.”
Emily’s parents, Alicia and Michael Stillman, were at the ceremony with her two siblings Zachery and Karly Stillman. Since Emily’s death, the Stillmans have embarked on an awareness campaign by providing information on bacterial meningitis here in the United States and Canada. They founded the Emily Stillman Foundation to encourage parents to get their children vaccinated against meningitis and also inform people about the signs and symptoms of the disease.
“We are working to raise awareness of meningococcal disease and organ donation while keeping Emily’s legacy alive. We advocate meningococcal vaccinations,” reads the description on the Foundation’s Facebook page.
After her death, Emily’s parents also donated her organs through the Michigan Gift of Life Center, eventually helping to save at least five lives.
Story by Olivia Nalugya ’16
Heyl Scholars Bound for Kalamazoo College
At a May dinner in the Hicks Center Kalamazoo College celebrated the 2014 Kalamazoo County high school graduates who earned Heyl Scholarships for Kalamazoo College (science and math) or Western Michigan University (nursing). The scholarship covers tuition, book costs, and room charges. The 2014 Heyl scholars include (l-r): front row—Rachel Chang, Fiona Beaton, Emily Fletcher, Amber Salome; back row—Jacob Naranjo, Peter Rossi, Jager Hartman, and Abhay Goel. Beaton will attend WMU; the other seven will begin their undergraduate studies at K in September. Not pictured is Alexandria Oswalt, who also will attend K. (Photo by Anthony Dugal Photography)
Young Scientist
Mara Richman ’15 has built an impressive scientific résumé in three short undergraduate years–and she has yet to reach her Senior Individualized Project (SIP) term!
During her study abroad in Budapest, Hungary the psychology major collaborated with Dr. Zsolt Unoka on research in depression and borderline personality disorder. She presented that work, titled “Mental state decoding deficit in major depression and borderline personality disorder: a meta-analysis,” at the North America Society for the Study of Personality Disorders. Think the age of David (when he confronted Goliath) or of Joan of Arc … Mara was the youngest presenter at NASSPD! And she will be one of the youngest oral presenters at the prestigious International Congress on Borderline Personality Disorder and Allied Disorders (Rome, Italy), where her paper was accepted and where she will detail the meta-analysis she completed with Unoka. Their research also has been submitted in manuscript form to Clinical Psychology Review.
To date, Mara has six manuscripts published or in review for publication on research into schizophrenia, drug courts, and borderline personality disorder. She has presented research (or had research accepted for presentation) at Stanford University, the Association for Psychological Science, the Midwestern Psychological Association, the Mid America Undergraduate Research Conference, and the Michigan Undergraduate Psychology Conference. And she will present her work at the American Psychological Association in August. Most of this BEFORE she begins in earnest her SIP work. That will happen this summer at Harvard University Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry under mentor ship of one of the world’s foremost experts on borderline personality disorder, Dr. Mary Zanarini.
Given her youth and her accomplishments so far, it may not be too surprising that Mara will graduate after her senior fall term. She hopes to work in a lab for nine months or so and then apply to graduate school. She plans to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and focus her research on borderline personality disorder.
More-in-FourPeat
Kalamazoo College has won the coveted Klein Cup for the fourth consecutive year. “If we keep this up, perhaps the award should be re-named the K Kup,” said John Fink, the Rosemary K. Brown Professor in Mathematics and Computer Science. The Klein Cup honors the first place finisher in the annual Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition (LMMC). This year’s math dust-up took place a Lawrence Technological University (Southfield, Mich.) and featured 20 teams from nine schools. K sent three teams that placed first, second, and tenth. Not bad. And since half the first place team and all of the second place team are underclassmen, the prospects for next year look good. K Kup, indeed! This year’s K math hornets included: first place team–Umang Varma and Tibin John; second place team–Raoul Wadhwa, Ngoc (Van) Truong, and Raj Bhagat; tenth place team–Sajan Silwal, Mehmet Kologlu, and Alex Townsend.
Four in More Than 15,000
Four Kalamazoo College students attended at the 2014 Experimental Biology Meeting: Amanda Bolles ’14, Chemistry; Rina Fujiwara ’15, Chemistry; Virginia Greenberger ’14, Chemistry; and Michael Korn ’14, Biology. Experimental Biology is a joint meeting of six different societies including the American Association for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) as well as societies for physiology, nutrition, pharmacology, pathology, and anatomy. The meeting provides a great opportunity for students to present their work and attend a variety of engaging scientific talks. More than 15,000 scientists attended the event in San Diego, Calif.
Bolles and Fujiwara presented their research findings during the Undergraduate Poster Competition and during the regular scientific session for ASBMB. Their research involves recent work completed in the laboratory of Professor of Chemistry Laura Furge. That work has shown that two different (but related) compounds inactivate P450 3A4, an enzyme in the liver and intestine that metabolizes (or processes) a major pharmaceutical drug. The titles of the Bolles and Fujiwara posters were, respectively, “5-Fluoro-2-[4-[(2-phenyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)methyl]-1 piperazinyl]pyrimidine is a mechanism based inactivator of CYP3A4” and “Mechanism-based inactivation of human CYP3A4 by a piperazine-containing compound.” The ASBMB competition includes posters of some 300 students from a variety of college and universities across the country. One grand prize award was presented to a student in each of four research categories (bioenergetics/protein structure, cell biology/developmental biology, DNA/gene regulation, and immunology/microbiology/neurobiology). Bolles won the $500 grand prize in the bioenergetics/protein structure category and was recognized the next day before an audience of hundreds of scientists, educators, and students at the award lecture for outstanding contributions to education. Bolles’s presentation derived from her Senior Individualized Project (SIP), which will be published later this year along with results from co-author Fujiwara.
Greenberger conducted her SIP research in the laboratory of Professor of Chemistry Regina Stevens-Truss. The abstract she presented at the meeting was titled “Bacterial Action of Novel Cationic Peptide Sequences.” As more antibiotic resistance is observed in patients, new sources of antibiotics are being investigated, including short peptide sequences. Greenberger’s work in the Truss lab was aimed at determining the antibiotic activity (and the precise mechanisms of action that yielded the activity) of two newly studied peptide sequences.
Dr. Furge also presented a poster in the ASBMB regular scientific session based on work started last year by Parker de Waal ’13. The work began as part of a course assignment in Furge’s “Advanced Biochemistry” course and grew into an elegant computational study of structural differences between select variants of the drug-metabolizing enzyme P450 2D6. de Waal used molecular dynamics methods to show how subtle differences in the enzyme structure can help explain differences in the metabolizing abilities of the enzymes. The study is being completed by Kyle Sunden ’16. While in San Diego, Furge spent an afternoon at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at the University of California-San Diego discussing the implications and approach of the study with other scientists in this field.
Korn attended the American Physiological Society (APS) portion of the Experimental Biology meeting. He presented the results of his SIP work (conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Christopher Mendias at the University of Michigan) in the APS Student Poster Competition. Korn’s abstract received the David Bruce Outstanding Undergraduate Abstract Award. The title of his presentation was “Simvastatin reduces myosteatosis following chronic skeletal muscle injury.”
The future is promising for all four of these outstanding student researchers. In the fall, Bolles will enter the University of Michigan Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences; Greenberger will matriculate to the chemistry department at Pennsylvania State University to begin work on her Ph.D; Korn will attend the University of Michigan Medical School; and Fujiwara will complete her SIP with Furge this summer. She plans to attend graduate school after her June 2015 graduation from K.
Professors Furge and Truss are both members of the ASBMB and attend the annual meeting each year. Truss also directs a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded workshop for area high school science teachers in connection with the annual ASBMB meeting. This year’s workshop attracted more than a dozen local teachers who learned science and teaching strategies to use in their classrooms. Attendees at the workshop are also eligible for mini-grants to support further development of their teaching after the workshop. A recent article describes the impact of this workshop (which is in its fourth year).
In other meeting news, the Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award was given jointly to President Freeman Hrabowski III and Professor Michael Summers of University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Professor Summers was the SIP mentor to Erran Briggs ’14 and has worked closely with Professor Truss on the Professional Development and Minority Affairs Committees of ASBMB. Professor Summers also visited K’s campus in 2010 as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Guest Scholar Lecturer. Given the connections, and important work of Summers and Hrabowski, Professor Truss arranged for Bolles, Fujiwara, and Greenberger to interview Summers for Kalamazoo College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership’s Praxis Center. Following the interview, Summers treated the students and Truss to lunch overlooking the San Diego Harbor marina! Notes from the interview will be posted on the Praxis website.
Travel to ASBMB for Bolles, Fujiwara, and Greenberger was supported by grants from the Provost Office, the Heyl Foundation (Greenberger), and the ACSJL. Korn’s travel to the meeting was sponsored by grant funds from his SIP advisor and the University of Michigan. Furge and Truss were supported by the Hutchcroft Endowment as well as their NIH and NSF grants, respectively. Next year’s Experimental Biology Meeting will occur in Boston, Mass.
SMART Girls and K Women Team Up for Art Hop and More
Each Friday afternoon during the fall, winter, and spring quarters of the 2013-14 academic year, five Kalamazoo College female students have met with 16 Kalamazoo area preteen girls in a mentoring program focused on themes of identity, self-awareness, and self-worth.
Every Friday afternoon. For two hours. No exceptions.
“Consistency is most important in our mentor role,” said Jordan Applebaum Earnest ’14. “The girls know to expect us every Friday for the school year.”
Morgan Mahdavi ’14, Chelsey Shannon ’14, Isabelle Ciaramitaro ’16, Rian Brown ’16, and Jordan are mentors for the SMART Girls program, a collaboration of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Kalamazoo and the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement at K.
The K women meet with the SMART Girls (ages 9-12) at the Boys and Girls Club to discuss themes of identity, self-awareness, and self-worth. Another team of K women also mentors a Teen SMART Girls program at the Club. Both groups of mentors meet regularly on their own to plan lessons for the girls and hold structured reflections about their own mentoring experiences.
“Over the course of the year, our lessons, activities, discussions, and writing exercises with the girls have placed a strong emphasis on healthy relationships, self-care, and emotional processing,” said Jordan. “The girls have come to recognize their own strengths and they have developed more confidence, determination, and positive energy.”
“We have, too,” said Jordan.
Jordan is a Civic Engagement Scholar through the “Mary Jane” Center and serves as director of the SMART Girls program. Hers is a funded position paid through a grant to the Center by former City of Kalamazoo Mayor Caroline Ham. The other K students are volunteers.
During the Friday May 2 downtown Kalamazoo Art Hop, K mentors and SMART Girls will host “Who We Are,” a photographic exhibit meant to demonstrate the inner strengths that each SMART Girl believes she possesses. Each SMART Girl served as art director for her own photo, choosing the props and poses that Georgina Graff ’16 captured with her camera.
“The photos represent who the SMART Girls want to grow up to be,” said Jordan. “They demonstrate qualities such as trustworthiness, intelligence, health, and creativity—all chosen by the girls themselves.”
Kalamazoo College SMART Girls mentors and mentees will host the Art Hop reception from 6-7:30 p.m. at Edison Place, 1350 Portage St., in the Washington Square/Edison neighborhood. The exhibit was curated with the help of Jessica Mancino from the Boys and Girls Club, and funded through a generous grant from Linda DeRose Primavera ’77.
Abigail Miner ’14 receives “Young Democrat of the Year” award from the Michigan Democratic Party
Abigail Miner ’14 received the “Young Democrat of the Year” award on April 26 from the Michigan Democratic Party at its annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising and awards dinner at Cobo Center in Detroit. In addition to meeting “some of my heroes” currently serving or running for state and federal office, Abigail said she dined with U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow and had her photo taken with former President Bill Clinton. Abigail recently completed a year-long term as membership director for the Michigan Federation of College Democrats. During her term in office, the number of chapters on Michigan campuses doubled from seven to 14. She’s also served as an officer in the College Democrats chapter at K. Abigail is a political science major from Elmhurst, Ill., and the daughter of Ed Miner ’76 and Colleen Sherburne ’77. Her K-Plan includes study abroad in Rome, an internship at the American-Turkish Council in Washington, D.C., four years performing with the Kalamazoo College Singers, and four years working in the K Admission office as a tour guide and intern.
Kalamazoo College Senior Performances Feature MISS LONG BEACH and THE CHAIRS
The Senior Performance Series of Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College presents two one-act plays: the world premiere of How Miss Long Beach Became Miss Long Beach, (written by Alejandra Castillo ’15 and directed by Amy Jimenez ’14) and a new staging of The Chairs (written by Eugene Ionesco and directed by Grace Gilmore ’15).
Performances occur Thursday, May 1, through Sunday, May 4, in the Light Fine Arts Building’s Dungeon Theatre.
Playwright Alejandra Castillo says her play poses important questions: What does it mean to be a girl? What does it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be a Latina?
“Miss Long Beach is a play that explores femininity and womanhood in Latino culture,” she adds. “Sixteen-year-old Angie must decide whether to compete in a beauty pageant to please her glamorous mother or continue with her tomboy ways. The play touches upon issues of gender, sexuality and cultural assimilation, and the importance of mother-daughter relationships.” Director Amy Jimenez says, “Although this play speaks to the Latina experience to some extent, it is definitely relevant to all female experiences because it deals with issues of identity, sexuality, family, and the ideology of beauty.”
In Eugene Ionesco’s landmark Absurdist play, The Chairs, the Old Man and the Old Woman prepare their guests for the arrival of the mysterious Orator, whose speech will not only be the couple’s farewell to life, but also will contain a great message for humanity. The Chairs is a comedy of language,” director Grace Gilmore explains, “that forces us to imagine a world where the meaning of life is undefinable, where loneliness is in the eye of the beholder, and where what we say is not always what we mean. When we look closer we realize this world is not so different from our own.”
Katie Anderson ’15 designed the sets for the two performances, and Michael Wecht ’14 serves as the lighting engineer.
The Senior Performance Series showcases the best and brightest of Kalamazoo College students creating their own theatre. Show times for the two plays are Thursday, May 1, at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3, at 8pm, and Sunday, May 4, at 2pm.. After Thursday’s performance the audience is invited to converse with the director and actors for The Chairs, and, after Friday’s performance, with the cast, director, and playwright of Miss Long Beach. All tickets at the door are $5, with the exception of Thursday’s performance, which is pay what you can.
Four Share Research on Japanese Culture
Four Kalamazoo College students presented their research at the annual Michigan Japanese Heritage and Culture Conference. The conference was sponsored by Grand Valley State University’s Japanese Cultural Association, and attendees–some 50 students and teachers–shared their studies in Japanese culture, including Japanese relations within Michigan and contemporary issues affecting Japan and the United States. Several presenters were members of the Japanese community, including employees of government agencies, colleges and universities, and university organizations. The K presentations focused on food, fabric dyeing, cinema, and nontraditional romantic relationships. The four K students were classmates in Assistant Professor of Japanese Noriko Sugimori’s winter term class, “Intermediate Japanese II,” when most of their research was done. The students (and the titles of their research presentations) are (l-r): Anh Lam ’17 (“Mochi: Where Cultures Meet”), Jamie Heywood ’16 (“Shibori: Re-visitation, Reinvention, and Revival”), Penelope Owen ’16 (“Alternative Love”), and Edwin Salvatierra ’16 (“Kitano’s Gokudou: Reinventing the Yakuza Film Genre”). The three sophomores will study abroad in Japan during their entire junior year–Heywood and Owen in Kyoto, Salvatierra in Hikone.