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Student Research Award - LSC-CyFair

2019-2020 Award Recipients Announced!

  • First Place: Joseph Flores
    "On Discipline in New York and Pennsylvania from 1820-1840"
    Professor James Seymour, HISTH 1301
    Excerpt: "It must be noted, however, that the creation of the modern prison system in New York and Pennsylvania was not limited to pieces of legislation or some axiomatic premise that the new nation ought to treat criminals with endowed respect. The creation of the prison was influenced by the surrounding societies and reformers, who wholeheartedly believed that the criminal could be disciplined, reformed, and returned to the community."
  • Second Place: Kelsey Reimer
    "The Morality of Active Euthanasia: Do We Have a Right to Die?"
    Professor John Soden, PHIL 2306
    Excerpt: “This ‘Death with Dignity’ movement became hugely relevant in the early to mid-1900’s, and is still a source of controversy worldwide. The introduction of every new medical technology – from respirators to chemotherapy – from then on only added to the bioethical debate: do we have the right to die, or must we always preserve the sanctity of life?”
  • Third Place: Sofia Castaneda Valdivia
    “Homeowner Associations’ Impact on Insect Diversity in Houston Metropolitan Area”
    Professor Aurora Lugo, ENVRH 1401
    Excerpt: “Developers' and homeowner associations' preference of ornamental plants and alignment towards the horticultural industry have contributed to increasing habitat loss due to the lack of native plants species in huge sectors of urban and suburban areas. The lack of native plants and habitat loss affect insect populations.”

Purpose of These Awards:
Students at Lone Star College-CyFair often put considerable effort into researching, writing, or presenting material for their classes. The library would like to recognize the best student research projects that find, evaluate, select, and communicate information from library resources effectively.

Awards Given:
The library will recognize first, second, and third place winners by providing them with an award in the amounts listed below. The Friends of the Lone Star College-CyFair Branch Library have generously provided funding for this award.

  • 1st place: $500
  • 2nd place: $300
  • 3rd place: $100

Packet Documents:
Complete these documents, save them for your files and then submit them with the student project to cflibraryaward@lonestar.edu by the deadline for fall and spring submissions listed on this web page.

Deadlines for Application Packets:
The application and submission deadlines are:

  • Fall Semester – Wednesday, December 16, 2020
  • Spring Semester – Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Important Note: The student is responsible for ensuring that all required items are included in the packet sent by the nominating faculty member by the deadline date. No late or incomplete packets will be reviewed.

Eligibility for These Awards:

  • All full-time or part-time LSC-CyFair students in the summer 2020, fall 2020, winter 2020/21 mini-term, or spring 2021 semesters are eligible for the 2020-21 awards. Students are required to attend LSC-CyFair during the semester their project is completed and nominated, but not necessarily be enrolled at LSC-CyFair when the awards are given.
  • Students may submit projects completed in the summer 2020, fall 2020, winter 2020/21 mini-term, or spring 2021 semesters from credit or dual-credit classes.
  • Students must be nominated by faculty who assigned the projects.
  • A student must electronically sign an academic integrity statement verifying that the project is a product of his/her own work only. Projects found to be plagiarized will be disqualified.

Faculty Member Submissions:

  • Faculty who have graded a project during the summer 2020, fall 2020, winter 2020/21 mini-term, or spring 2021 semesters may submit it to the award committee.
  • Faculty must submit all materials for nominated student electronically to cflibraryaward@lonestar.edu.

Project Requirements:

  • Only projects using at least 3 library sources (books or articles in print or library databases) completed during the summer 2020, fall 2020, winter 2020/21 mini-term, or spring 2021 semesters are eligible.
  • Projects must include a bibliography or works cited in MLA, APA, Chicago, Turabian, or AMA format based on the assigning faculty's preference.
  • Sources must be cited within the project using in-text citation associated with the specific citation style used or, if submitting a multimedia project, other appropriate means of citing sources within the project (e.g. citing in the notes field of a PowerPoint presentation, verbally stating sources in a video, or using subtitles to provide source information).
  • Students may only submit one project per year.
  • The project must be nominated and submitted by the assigning faculty member.
  • Submitted papers must be at least 3 pages.
  • Submitted speeches or multimedia projects must include a transcript or detailed notes of the content included. A video or audio file of a speech or multimedia project may accompany the transcript but is not required.
  • No group projects will be accepted at this time.
  • A student must electronically sign an academic integrity statement on the Student Cover Sheet verifying that the project is a product of his/her own work only. Papers will be submitted to Turnitin.com for an originality check. Projects found to be plagiarized will be disqualified.
  • Students will complete and submit their Student Cover Sheet and return it electronically to their faculty member to complete the application packet that also includes the project and the Faculty Cover Sheet.
  • Complete application packets must be submitted electronically to cflibraryaward@lonestar.edu by the stated deadlines for each semester. No incomplete packets will be reviewed.
  • Upon receipt of application packet, both student and faculty will receive a confirmation email.

Evaluation Criteria:

  • Demonstrated skill in selecting and synthesizing research materials from library materials and databases and other authoritative sources.
  • Demonstrated ability to capture the reader's interest in the topic, provide appropriate support for the topic, and convey the information in an exceptional style.
  • Effective use of a variety of sources.
  • Sources properly cited using in-text and bibliography/works cited formats.
  • Overall quality of project.

Evaluation Committee
The committee will evaluate the projects using a blind review process. The committee evaluating the entries will be comprised of at least 4 full-time reference librarians.

Previous Student Research Award Winners:

  • First Place: Colin Stout
    "Hacking Humanity:  How Information Security Misconceptions Lead to Vulnerability and Possible Remedies"
    Professor Kimberly Mori, HONRH 2034
    Excerpt: "Criminals use email and messaging to attempt to trick the end user into circumventing technical security measures. Unfortunately, many users are unaware of their responsibility to secure their information and consequently make poor decisions regarding social scams and password authentication. Although information security is primarily reliant on the behavior of the end user, few people understand this, and consequently, their valuable information is at risk."
  • Second Place: Vanessa Crespo
    "Alice Paul: The Woman Behind the 19th Amendment"
    Professor Esther Robinson, HISTH 1302
    Excerpt: "Alice Paul played a crucial role in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in the United States Constitution by bringing her radical ideas about feminism and utilizing tactics that no other woman had employed before in American suffrage history."
  • Third Place: Daniel Dicken
    "How 'The Right Stuff' Affected the Public's Perception of Gus Grissom"
    Professor Esther Robinson, HISTH 1302
    Excerpt: "The reality is that Grissom’s abilities and experience speak for themselves, and if he truly had no business commanding a NASA mission, on three separate occasions, the agency did not lack potential candidates to replace him and would have done so with haste."

  • First Place: Elias Mata
    “Gerrymandering: The Subversion of the Representative Democracy”
    Professor Robert Holmes, HIST 2033 (Honors)
    Excerpt: "Gerrymandering would only continue to be abused by political parties, heightened by three aspects: race in deciding where districts would go, the rise in technology in the latter half of the 20th century which made it easier to create these maps, and the involvement of money in the political system affecting elections. These factors, with the ideology of partisanship, present a picture of disenfranchisement in the United States, to this day."
  • Second Place: Aaron T. Morgan
    “A Brief Overview of the Nazi Nuclear Program”
    Professor Robert Coyle, HIST 2312
    Excerpt: "Was the nuclear research project run under Nazi Germany ultimately a failure? The scientists certainly never came close to building a functioning bomb. Lack of funding, materials, and constantly changing leadership and oversight caused the project to lose the head start Germany had in nuclear physics and eventually lag behind the work of the Allies."
  • Third Place: Francisco Javier Melesio 
    “Reduction On Houston’s Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration: Increasing Live Oak’s Tree Population”
    Professor Shaunté Hulett-Abdin, BIOL 1407 (Honors)
    Excerpt: "Overall, the results revealed that the 100,000 live oak trees sequestered an increasing amount of CO2, until they reached maturity, as they grew and developed for the period of the experiment, which signified a decrease in the atmospheric CO2 concentration in the Houston area, as I have hypothesized. . . And by reducing the atmospheric CO2 concentration, the atmospheric temperature would also decrease because the infrared radiation would now be reflected into space."

  • First Place: Daniel Hines
    “The Changing of the Guard: The Evolving Strategy of the U.S. Navy in WWII”
    Professor James Seymour, HIST 1302 (Honors)
    Excerpt: "Surprisingly, for its size, a battleship was rather economical to operate, the upfront cost was often enormous, as was the cost of research and development, but once in service cost for operation was very low. The return on the investment was immense, five smaller Light Cruisers cost the same up front, but took more fuel, more men, and would not be able to bring the same fighting strength to the table."
  • Second Place: Amanda Atencio
    “Minimizing and Utilizing Food Waste in America: A Proposal for a National Mandate to Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse Food Waste”
    Professor Kasey Baker, ENGL 1302 (Honors)
    Excerpt: "By showing people how to plan meals, avoid overbuying, be aware of misleading “sell by” dates, and buy “ugly foods,” campaigns can go a long way towards giving people the information they need to shop smarter. Smart shopping and practical planning will then go a long way towards eliminating much of the food waste on the consumer level, which accounts for a large portion of food waste in the US. Campaigns could also be a successful avenue for the creation of partnerships between stakeholders and local food pantries. By encouraging restaurants, grocers, and farmers, to form relationships with food donation centers, a large amount of nutritious foods could be redistributed to needy families. Along with feeding the hungry, the wastage of food in the retail sector can be significantly reduced."
  • Third Place: Jennifer Sampleton
    “The Other Green Movement: The Damage Capitalism Inflicts on the Environment”
    Professor Michelle Brown, ENGL 1302
    Excerpt: "Capitalism promotes economic growth over environmental protection. The system encourages corporate greed. It devalues the environment and future generations. This has led to continued environmental damage…Attitudes and behaviors are going to have to change drastically for the system to protect the environment. The environment has to be valued by consumers and the government so that corporations will be forced to see its value."

  • First Place: Ana De Angulo
    “Caravaggio's Radical Religious Art and Profound Resonance”
    Professor Matt Backer, ARTS 1304 (Honors)
    Excerpt: "Caravaggio was able to challenge the status quo of religious art and accomplish the unlikely. He rebelled against the firmly entrenched Italian classicism and the former idealization of religious subjects, and yet was able to attract immense praise and admiration from his patrons and contemporaries."
  • Second Place: Deborah Cerritos
    “The Continuation of Corruption in Law Enforcement”
    Professor Bindu Nayar, ENGL 1301
    Excerpt: "There needs to be more focus placed for the supervision of law enforcement officers, but from an outside source, possibly to relieve the chance of corruption in regards to loyalty and more consideration towards defendants in legal proceedings."
  • Third Place: Daniela Markovic
    “The Effects of Banning Books on High School Students”
    Professor Mark Thorsby, PHIL 1301 (Honors)
    Excerpt: "Censorship aims to protect children, yet it can cause those same children to grow up in ignorance. By banning books from high school libraries, students are unethically being influenced to narrow their perceptions of the world around them and losing potential knowledge."

  • First Place: Gabriela Pineda
    “Intentionality Sculpted: The Directedness Higher Level Educated Beings Adhere and Conform To”
    Professor Mark Thorsby, PHIL 2318
  • Second Place: Jessica Martinez “A Wake-Up Call: Confronting Media Expectations for Body Image”
    Professor Kimberly Mori, ENGL 1301
  • Third Place: Braxton Fonner “Teaching How to Learn: In Support of Skills Based Education”
    Professor Jamili Omar, ENGL 1301

  • First Place: Ibrahim Iqbal "The Sight We Lack"
    Professor Rebekah Love, ENGL 1302
  • Second Place: Nancy Amin "Education as a Fundamental Human Right"
    Professor Jamili Omar, ENGL 2333
  • Third Place: Judith Moore "Death Penalty vs. Insanity Plea"
    Professor Fay Lee, ENGL 1301

  • First Place: Jordan Davis
    "Avarice: A Case Study on the Abomination of For-Profit Prisons"
    Professor Heidi Jo Green, GOVT 2304
  • Second Place: Candelario Leal
    "Genius, Madness and Shamanism and the Upper Paleolithic Revolution"
    Professor Matt Backer, ARTS 1303
  • Third Place: Karla Segura
    "Gloria Anzaldua and the Bi-cultural Feminist Americana"
    Professor Michelle Brown, ENGL 1302

  • First Place: April Johnson, "A Classic in Modern Times"
    Professor Matthew Backer, ARTS 1303
    A wonderful essay about German immigrant and Texas Architect John Ludwig Wees’ unique, classical take on the WWI memorials.
  • Second Place: Christopher Whitfill, "The Democratic Spirit"
    Professor Mark Thorsby, PHIL 1301
    A thought-provoking essay about the rise of totalitarianism in pre-WWII Germany.
  • Third Place: Bethany Reese, "Sin Represas: Without Dams!"
    Professor Sergio Sarmiento, GEOL 1405
    A timely PowerPoint presentation about hydroelectric power and some suggested green alternatives in Chile.

  • First Place - Cody Beers - "Daddy Complex"
    Professor: Patricia Healy
  • Second Place - Scott Liebling - "The Societal Effects of the Decline of Organized Labor in the United States"
    Professor: Heidi Jo Green
  • Third Place - Misty Nikel - "Reform for U.S.-China Trade"
    Professor: Patricia Healy

  • First Place - Brandon de Hoyos: “A War of Words: How Civil War Correspondents Changed the News Industry”
    Professor: Esther Robinson
  • Second Place - Gorge Sanchez-Ruiz: “Why the Federal Reserve Must Cease”
    Professor: Margaret Mendonca
  • Third Place - Jim Brant McMahon: “Prisoners of Intangible Walls"
    Professor: Sonila Themeli

  • First Place - Amy Mitamura: "The History of Radiation Safety"
    Professor: Cynthia Robertson 
  • Second Place - Victoria Marie Bee: "Female Genital Mutilation"
    Professor: Michelle Brown
  • Third Place - Maria A. Partearroyo: "Universal Health Care, a Right to Pursue"
    Professor: Bindu Nayar
Contact the LSC-CyFair Library: chat | e-mail | 281.290.3214 or 281.290.3219
Maintained by: T.Williams-Reference Librarian
tracy.williams@lonestar.edu

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