MOUNT VERNON -- The eighth annual Cornell College Student Symposium will feature research by students Saturday, April 17, from 9 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. at The Commons. Admission is free to the event, which is open to the public.
"The Student Symposium serves as a venue for some of our most engaged and accomplished students to share their work with the broader campus community and others, and it demonstrates the remarkable range of interests being productively pursued in and beyond the classroom at Cornell," said Dennis Damon Moore, dean of the college.
Topics include biodiesel fuel, capital punishment, fire coral, ornate box turtles, abortion and the Gulf wars.
The symposium, which originated as a way to spark intellectual conversation and growth on campus, is one of the premier events at Cornell. This year, 48 students worked with 27 faculty members in 16 different departments and programs. Presentations will take one of two formats: lectures of about 20 minutes apiece summarizing projects and their findings, at three sessions in Hedges Conference Room and Harlan Dining Room (9 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 1:15 p.m.) and one session in the Rathskeller (9 a.m.); and poster presentations offering visual displays of projects along with explanatory comments, at two sessions (9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 2:40 p.m.) on the Orange Carpet.
After the symposium, Cornell's Delta of Iowa chapter of Phi Beta Kappa will hold its annual induction ceremony at 3 p.m. in Harlan Dining Room, followed by a reception. Sixteen students have been selected for membership based on academic potential, scholarship, creativity, professional attitude and character. Phi Beta Kappa considers members from the top 15 percent of the senior class and the top 5 percent of the junior class.
Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most widely respected academic honorary society in the United States. There are 270 Phi Beta Kappa chapters in the United States, including seven in Iowa. Cornell's Delta of Iowa chapter was the fourth chartered in Iowa, in 1923.
