Three Catawba College students and one faculty sponsor represented the North Carolina Omicron chapter at the super-regional convention of Alpha Chi, the national college honor society, March 22-24 in Baltimore, Md.
All three students, Sarah Robinson of Cumberland, Va., Sarah Matulis of Berlin, Conn., and Lindsay Smith of Salisbury presented papers at the convention. Robinson, a senior environmental science major, presented her research, "Determinants of Proenvironmental Behavior in College Students" and served as the chapter's voting delegate. Matulis, a senior business administration major, presented her paper entitled, "Asia vs. the IMF: Why the Countries Fought Back." Smith, a junior athletic training and exercise science major, presented her research, "The Link Between Head Injuries an Alzheimer's Disease." Smith's research paper also won the Alpha Chi Region III scholarship. Region III includes Alabama, Washington, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Also attending the convention was Dr. Margaret Stahr, assistant professor of English, the chapter's voting faculty delegate and sponsor of Catawba's Alpha Chi chapter. The chapter received "Star Chapter" distinction for the 2010-2011 school year, an honor awarded to chapters that send voting faculty and student members to the annual convention; have at least one student present original work at the annual convention; nominate students for Alpha Chi national scholarships; register new members; and host at least one campus program with an academic angle.
The convention, attended by about 404 delegates representing 84 chapters, featured scholarly, creative, and artistic presentations by more than 200 students and a national literacy service project of providing books to a local elementary school. The Catawba College Alpha Chi chapter donated more than 50 new and used books to this service project.
Alpha Chi has some 300 chapters in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Members are in the top 10 percent of juniors, seniors, and graduate students in all academic fields.
