Reaching for the Stars
April 30, 2008 | 
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The Fifth Annual Colorado Springs Undergraduate Research Forum, a venue that celebrates college students’ academic work within the area of Letters Arts and Sciences, made a galactic impression on the community scene on April 12th at the United States Air Force Academy Fairchild Hall. Students from UCCS, Colorado College, and the United Stated Air Force Academy took center stage as recipients of an invitation from their mentor/professors who deemed their work worthy of a larger audience.
The journey from nominee to actual participant was not a walk in the park. The selection process began in fall, 2007, when students submitted proposals for consideration in many disciplines. A committee of university faculty reviewed the proposals and selected what they considered to be the best examples of academic research from each college. UCCS students joined their peers from Colorado College and the United States Air Force Academy exhibiting their work in poster sessions, oral sessions, and gallery entries.
Margie Teals-Davis (see Colorado Springs Record+ special article in this issue) spearheaded the UCCS involvement from start to finish. “I’m busy this month,” Margie told us. “Not too much time to sleep since we are coming down to the wire.”
Early-morning sessions ranged from political economy, terrorism and executive privilege, the functioning of the brain, to the artist and his influences on society. Undergraduate talent was palpable and visible in the halls and during the poster session from 11:00 AM to 12:00 Noon, as students displayed and explained their studies from biology, chemistry, psychology, geography, virtual communication, physics, and kinesthetic activity.
The gallery connecting oral and poster sessions to afternoon oral sessions housed contributions in sculpture, painting, and more. Each artist in the gallery provided an overview of how s/he came to create the work, its construction, and personal as well as communal significance. The Air Force Academy’s venue provided a rich backdrop of immaculate glass windows, splendid mountain views, and a pristine blue sky to complement the art works.
United States Air Force cadets regaled the participants with song during the lunch break, and the afternoon oral sessions provided additional food for thought with topics such as waves of ideas, literary conflicts and deaths, crime and punishment, South American realities, women, the military, and society, forming leaders, and physics and chemistry.
Colorado Springs Record+ wishes to commend the undergraduate students who chose to take a risk and submit their work for public view. We also salute the mentor-faculty who took the time to shepherd these students through the process. Once again, members of the academy, wherever they teach, continue to pass the torch to those who will follow in the footsteps of scholars who have made their passion for thinking about academic+community involvement a household word in Colorado Springs.
Colorado Springs Record+ was honored to have been a part of this most prestigious academic endeavor.
- M
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