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Those results come in handy, and not only as statistically significant scientific research. Glenna is playing an intercollegiate playoff volleyball game today. “It’s nice to know that all those workouts pay off,” she said.
Glenna, a biology major, was one of almost 100 students, representing six area colleges and universities, presenting research Friday at the sixth annual Seven Rivers Undergraduate Research Symposium at Viterbo University. Students presented work in such disciplines as chemistry, biology, health and the behavioral sciences.
Glenna said she is fascinated with the human body, and as an athlete, she was excited to find research that matched her interests. Her study specifically measured and compared the lung volumes and capacities of intercollegiate and intramural volleyball players. It showed that intercollegiate players had higher lung volumes and capacities.
Anna Sanders-Bonelli, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at Viterbo, chose her research topic out of frustration at the movie theater, where she consistently saw a big difference in the amount of male and female nudity.
She couldn’t find any research on the disparity in contemporary American film, so she recruited some students, and together they did their own. Viterbo student Lisa Jaroczynski presented the preliminary results, which confirmed what they suspected: women appear nude more often than men and for a longer duration.
“People think we sat around and watched movies all summer, but that’s not true. It was a lot of work,” said Sanders-Bonelli, adding that some films took four hours to code.
Viterbo Junior Katie Witz, who helped with the film study, said the research helped prepare her for graduate school.
“It is different when you are told versus when you see,” she said.
Other students researched topics from the “Effectiveness of Pumpkin Leaves in Correcting Iron Deficiency Anemia in Pregnant Women” to “The Effects of Anesthetic on Anxiety in Adolescent Mice.”
Students are not graded on their presentations, said Ward Jones, coordinator of the natural science division at Viterbo.
“It is just a chance to disseminate that information, which is part of the scientific process,” he said. “You don’t only do the research, but you tell everyone about it.”
