Geneseo held its eighth annual Geneseo Recognizing Excellence, Achievement & Talent Day on Tuesday April 8, showcasing the work of students across campus in multiple academic programs. G.R.E.A.T. Day allows students the opportunity to share their own and admire their peers’ work, beginning with a coffee session with Interim President Carol Long. Art exhibits, student poster presentations, chamber music performances, a keynote speaker and the Insomnia Film Festival presentations followed throughout the day.
G.R.E.A.T. Day’s poster session took place in the College Union from 11:25 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., allowing students from all majors to create and display posters of research projects they did within their fields of study.
Science research projects heavily populated the event, with 56 percent of the 167 posters focusing on biology, chemistry, geology or physics. Political science and psychology also had a large showing, making up 22 percent of the displays.
Political science and economics major junior Nathan Jakway researched the effects of economic inequality on higher education in America and enjoyed the diverse selection of posters and research at the session.
“I think [G.R.E.A.T Day] really provides a unique opportunity to appreciate the work of others while sharing my own with the Geneseo community,” Jakway said of the event.
Junior Daniel Miserendino is a geology major who did his research in the Bahamas over the summer, focusing on the effects of climate change on a local lake.
“I really enjoy being able to answer questions about my research while being able to ask questions about other’s projects. It’s really a cool experience,” Miserendino said.
Students in the School of Business, under the supervision of professor of management Avan Jassawalla, presented their research in a panel on office politics and structure. Seniors Jeffrey Kay, Sonia Tal and Bryan Fishman examined conflict when working on virtual teams.
Kay, Tal and Fishman researched and questioned the primary factors that cause conflict when working on virtual teams and provided suggestions for managers in dealing with these conflicts.
One answer included integrative conflict resolution as one of the “most effective solutions to group problems, in which the entire team works together as a team to solve problems instead of a group leader just dictating and designating solutions,” Fishman said.
Many seniors presented their capstone projects. Under the advisement of associate professor of English Alice Rutkowski, four students undertook activist projects as part of their women’s studies senior theses.
In this group was senior Emily Vanocker with a project titled “Internet Pornography: Appearance of Reality, Illusion of Consent and Feminism.” Vanocker shared her research on feminist pornography as one way to fix what has become the “true reality” myth of amateur porn, which Vanocker debunked with a “porn blooper” clip.
“Pornography is constantly consumed but never really talked about,” Vanocker said. Her presentation covered the shift of Internet pornography from the professional porn star to more amateur pornography and its impacts on women in the field.
Journalist Sheri Fink gave this year’s Jack and Carol Kramer Endowed Lectureship in Wadsworth Auditorium. Prior to Fink’s speech, sophomore Alexandra Imbrosci performed the Geneseo Alma Mater.
Fink’s lecture, focused on her book titled Five Days at Memorial, covered the events that took place at a hospital during Hurricane Katrina and the chaos that followed.
Fink discussed the ethical conflict the doctors and nurses faced when they had to evacuate the hospital but were unable to get all of the patients out. They made the choice to euthanize some of the patients, later resulting in a second-degree murder trial in which the doctors and nurses weren’t found guilty.
Fink connected the events that happened during Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Sandy in order to provide a cautionary tale and explain the benefits of having a disaster preparedness plan.
In addition to Five Days at Memorial, Fink has published War Hospital: A True Story of Surgery and Survival and received her master’s degree and Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Reporting contributed by News Editor Casey Larkin, Editor-in-Chief Maddy Smith and Associate News Editor Nicole Smith