The McNair Voice

The McNair scholars presented their research last week (July 29 and 30). Below is a list of our students and their titles. If you want more information about their research studies, do not hesitate to contact us.

July 29, 2008

July 30, 2008

Today marks the end of an arduous, yet rewarding, marathon for the Ga. State McNair scholars. The scholars had an opportunity to present their research studies at the Poster Conference organized by the Ga. State McNair office.

We congratulate our students on the completion of their studies and appreciate their commitment for excellence, which permeated the conference.

Arefeen Chowdhury, one of our current scholars, has been awarded a scholarship from the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation. The Foundation was established by the late Tyrus R. Cobb for the purpose of assisting capable and deserving residents of Georgia who need financial assistance in completing their college education.

Foundation scholarships are granted to qualified students for the purpose of attending an accredited college or university full time. Further information about the foundation can be obtained on http://www.tycobbfoundation.com/.

A Former sponsor of our current scholar, Arthur Kiboit, visited him recently at Ga. State. Mr. Gerard Geraghty, who is pictured with Arthur to the right, was kind enough to send us the following write-up on his visit:

I have known Arthur Kiprop for just over ten years. My first contact with him was as a student in High School in Kajiado, Kenya. During my many years in Kenya I had assisted students obtain a High School Education and, if results were promising, funded their further education. Arthur was one such person…

Arthur’s first four years in America have presented him with an immense challenge. This challenge is not dissimilar to that challenge his mother faced at the untimely death of Arthur’s father. But the same character strengths visible in his mother those many years ago are visible in her son today as he enters his final semester as an undergraduate at Georgia State University.

I had the pleasure of visiting Atlanta and Georgia State University with a stop at the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program last week. A memorable point of my journey was a visit to Martin Luther King’s Tomb and hearing again his immortal words…. ‘I have a dream’… In Arthur Kiprop, Georgia State University has a student who is living proof that the American dream is alive and well and attainable to those who are capable of seeing beyond the mountains of poverty and race.

One of our goals for our students is to intern at another school. One of our current scholars, Salamatu (Sallay) Barrie, is doing just that. Sallay had the following to say on the challenges and rewards of conducting research abroad:

Everything at the University of Michigan is great! I am learning a lot from Dr. Shah (a researcher in the area of Working Memory). I had a difficult time in the beginning, but managed to adjust mostly due to my previous research experience with the McNair program and with my mentor at Ga. State–Dr. Rihana Williams. Currently, I am working on several projects dealing with training effects on improving Working Memory capacity. The best part about doing research abroad is meeting different faculty members here. It is a lot easier to make connections (e.g., for finding future advisors and possible funding opportunities) over here in person than over the phone or via email; many of these professors do not have time to reply to inquiry emails.

The biggest challenge here is the amount of work. Not only do I have to do complete the work from my advisor, I also have weekly GRE test prep sessions, SROP meetings, and weekly lab meetings. So time management is definitely the biggest challenge so far. However, I am enjoying my time here, and hopefully next summer I will be here again.

Sallay

Hello Ga. State McNair Scholars,

I truly believe that we have a very impressive groups of researchers this summer and think that all of you are doing a fantastic job! On that note we are HIGHLY recommending that you attend the “Mock Presentation” and actually sign up to do a “run-thru” on your oral presentation. We will have Mr. Mike Wyatt (President of the GSU Graduate Student Association and “Toast-masters” ) who will give a discussion on “Public Speaking”, particularly geared for presentations at conferences. So this will be great opportunity for you to develop your skills with speaking in front of an audience. In fact we are looking to have this workshop in the room that you will actually be doing the “Oral Presentations” the following week.

Again, the “Mock Presentations” will be on Wednesday, July 23 from 4-7pm and Thursday, July 24th (if needed) based on those who sign up for this day. If you have any questions please contact Ms. Robinson.

Have a great weekend and look forward to seeing your work!!

Peace,
Byrd.

Greetings Scholars,

I am excited about our outing to the HIGH this month.  I have received several responses to confirm attendance so I am looking forward to this event to be a great success. There were some questions that I would like to address. We will all meet at the HIGH, transportation will not be provided to the museum. The dress code for this event will be comfortable and casual. We will not wear the McNair polos as a group, however, be reminded that you are representing the Georgia State University McNair Program and yourself. Therefore, I would refrain from wearing short shorts or tank tops. A nice casual look would be perfect. Please contact me if you have questions or concerns.  

Best,

Ms. Robinson