TAMIU LBV Guillermo Benavides Z Academic Conference Winners Named

Nearly 400 students at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) are celebrating their hard work after presenting at the TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Guillermo Benavides Z Academic Conference earlier this month. Graduate and undergraduate students gave a total of 249 presentations at the University’s premier annual academic conference that provides all students an opportunity to present original scholarly research, art, and performances to the community.

“It is important for students to participate to get firsthand experience to present academic research or full-fledged original scholarship, art and performances to the TAMIU community,” said Zoila Franco-Hinojosa, research administrator, Office of Graduate Studies and Research.

“The Conference is designed to be a positive and constructive experience for the students and we feel that it was achieved for all participants,” added Franco-Hinojosa.

In addition to gaining experience in giving presentations, students with the best presentations in their disciplines win cash prizes thanks to support from the Lamar Bruni Vergara Trust and Guillermo Benavides Z.

Tessa Martinez, won the undergraduate grand prize for her presentation, “Familiar Patterns.”

Undergraduate winners are:

Arts and Humanities and Communications: first place—Tessa Martinez, “Familiar Patterns.” Second place—Luisa Rodríguez, “Adorned Bodies: What Lies Beneath.” Third place—Daniel Maldonado, “The (Musical) Writing Process.”

Biology and Chemistry: first place—Elizabeth Greene, “The Effect of Isolation on Fecundity Periodicity and Egg Quality in Oreochromis Mossambicus.” Second place—Melissa Cadena, “Theoretical Study of Bromine Halocarbons: Accurate enthalpies of formation.” Third place—José Alvarado and Arlene Alvarado,” Bond Dissociation Energies and Atmospheric Interactions: A Theoretical Investigation of Chlorofluoro.”

Education: first place—Priscilla Rubio, “Suicide Causes and Preventive Methods.” Second place—Maria Cantú, “How Can Educators Facilitate Oral Language Learning for ELLs.” Third place—Maria Ezeta, “How Can Schools and Teachers Address Culture Shock for Immigrant Students?”

Engineering, Mathematics and Physics: first place—Brando Charlton and Edgar Garza, “Dustytron Software Implications.” Second place—Dagoberto Melero, Gabriel Flores and José Guajardo, “Dustytron Software Research and Components.” Second place (tie)—Roberto Torres, “A Visual Basic Application Supporting the EPA Radnet.”

Nursing: first place—Ivette Reyes, Maria Santillán, Lysandra Garza, Clarissa Cubriel, Echo Flores-Guzmán and Tanya Sanchez, “Sacred Heart Children’s Home.” Second place, Tomás Chapa, “Factors Influencing Hypertension Self-Management Among Mexican-Americans.” Third place, Mayra Vazquez, “Perceptions and Their Impact on Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 Self-Management Attitudes of the Hispanic.”

Social/Behavioral Sciences and Business: first place—Cristina Olivares, Alejandro Guerra and Jackeline Soliz, “Working With Strangers.” First place (tie)—Hannah Gabelman, “Deviant Behavior Among Hispanics.” Second place—Alexa Morales, “Social Media and Academic Procrastination.”

Jonathan Briseño, and Wualu Altamira, Kristine R. González and Jennifer L. Navarro won the graduate grand prize of $150 for their presentations.

Graduate winners are: Wualu Altamira, Kristine R. Gonzalez, and Jennifer L. Navarro, won the graduate grand prize for their presentation, “Bilingual Emotional Processing.”  Jonathan Briseño won the graduate grand prize (tie) for his presentation, “Eating Disorders: Is Acculturation a Risk Factor for Hispanics? An Eye Tracking Study.”

Arts and Humanities: first place—Roy Gonzalez, “Reinvention and Rebirth Amid the Wasteland: the American Dream in the Walking Dead.” Second place—Ómar Ramírez, “Un viaje histórico a través del habla laredense: Appendix Ramiri.” Third place—James Bryan Cornelius, “Wealth Class and Respectability in William Faulkner’s Snopes Trilogy.”

Biology and Chemistry: first place—Cynthia Castillo, “Microsatellite Markers and Primer Design for Siren Intermedia Texana.” First place (tie)—Patrick Palacios, “The Determination of the Biological Activities of Three South Texas Fabaceae Leaf Extracts.” Second place—Kasandra Campeón, “Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Activity from Secondary Metabolites in Different Plant Families.” Second place (tie)—Aldo Vázquez, “Designing Genetic Markers for a Local Endemic Species of Freshwater Mussels.”

Business: first place—Bolortuya Enkhtaivan and Zagdbazar Davaadorj (Ph.D. students), “An Integrated-Dynamic Mode of Entry Model: An Extended Approach.”

Education: first place—José Gámez, “A Holistic Approach to Individualizing Instruction for Struggling Readers.” Second place—Élida Ramírez, “Élida Ramírez’s Philosophy Paper: Bilingual Education.” Third place—Griselda Guerrero, “Griselda Guerrero’s Philosophy Paper: Bilingual Education.”

Engineering, Mathematics and Physics: first place—Jamil Villarreal, “The Beauty of Complex Numbers.” Second place—Hongsong Feng, “Several Finite Difference Schemes to Solve Fitzhugh-Nagumo Equations.”

Social/Behavior Sciences and Nursing: first place—Wualu Altamira, Kristine R. González and Jennifer L. Navarro, “Bilingual Emotional Processing.” First place (tie)—Jonathan Briseño, “Eating Disorders: Is Acculturation a Risk Factor for Hispanics? An Eye Tracking Study.” Second place—Rebecka English, “Exploring the Effects of Cultural Frame Switching on English-Spanish Bilingual’s Personality.”

For more information, call Zoila Franco-Hinojosa, research administrator for the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, at 326.3025, e-mail zoila.francoh@tamiu.edu or visit offices located in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 326.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu