Honors Day celebrates good work and creative initiatives

SCOTT WEIR

Staff Writer

Alma College continues to pro-mote undergraduate research with this year's Honor’s Day celebration, which will be taking place on April 1. Honor’s Day will once again coincide with Honor’s Convocation, where the winner of the prestigious Barlow Trophy will be announced. Also, a group of students will be announced as winners of this years third annual Ronald O. Kapp Honors Prize.

First, the Kapp Prize, will engage students in research about the great city of Alma. Last year's project also had to do with Alma, but more spe-cifically the college and implementing a plan for a new dorm on campus. This year, the Kapp Prize idea came from the Honor’s Day Committee in conjunction with Governor Jennifer Granholm’s “Cool City” Initiative. Students are invited to research the background of the city and present a proposal as to how they would make Alma a more “cool” place for young people to live and raise a family. Top prize in this competition is $750 and the deadline to submit applications is February 6.

As for Honor’s Day, the committee under chairman Mark Cubberley, assistant professor of chemistry, is still accepting abstract submissions until February 6. “The Honors Day Com-mittee encourages submissions of quality projects displaying methods of scholarship and creativity appro-priate to their authors’ disciplines,” according to Cubberley. Traditional-ly, students involved in research will submit their work on Honor’s Day in the form of posters or presentations. If you have something you’d like to submit for Honor’s Day you should contact your academic advisor.

Also on Honor’s Day, Alma College will invite Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a keynote speaker to open the ceremonies. This event will take place on the evening of March 21 at 8:00 p.m. in the physical education building, gymnasium. Kennedy comes with experience as an environmental lawyer and is also a pioneer in the area of municipal government and responsibility. Kennedy will remind us about our obligation to protect and preserve the environment.

While the purpose of Honors Day is to celebrate scholarly and creative activities in the liberal arts on our campus, the highlight of the day will be the presentation of the Barlow Trophy to one top senior. According to Kathy Wilk, Administrative Assistant in the Provost’s Office, “The list of the top ten percent of the class is not public information yet.” The eligible seniors should have received a notice on January 21 and the Provost’s Office encourages students to contact them immediately if they believe they should have received a letter, but did not. In addition to being in the top ten percent of your class, there are criteria established by Joel Barlow specified for the Barlow trophy which include things such as participation in student activities such as Student Congress or choir. After students submit documents to support their candidacy along with letters of recommendation, the Academic Standards Committee narrows it down to three finalists, which are then voted on by Student Congress and faculty.

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