KU undergrads' winning research projects: tipping, 'The Daily Show,' a Nietzsche comic book and more

Posted by Matt Erickson January 18, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.

KU undergrads' winning research projects: tipping, 'The Daily Show,' a Nietzsche comic book and more

KU today announced 58 students will receive Undergraduate Research Awards to work on projects during the spring semester. These awards have been given out for more than 20 years now, though this year they'll go through the new Center for Undergraduate Research.

The projects accepted for grants are many and varied, and because this is but a blog post, we can list only a few here. So, here are a handful that I found interesting:

• "Fallen Idols," by senior Stoney Weaver of Cherryvale, who's majoring in philosophy. This one "portrays the the complex philosophical ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche in a comic book format."

• "College Living Arrangements and Body Dissatisfaction: The Case for Males," by senior Cynthia Brown of Garnett, who's majoring in psychology. This one promises to explore how living arrangements affect college men's body image and related problems.

• "Case Study: The State of Homelessness and the Role of Social Networks in Lawrence, Kan.," by senior Daniel Nicholson, who's from Lawrence and is majoring in sociology.

• "Tipping: An Economic Anomaly," by Megan Nelson, a junior from Manhattan majoring in economics. This aims to explore what variables might lead to higher or lower tips for people working in the service industry.

• And from Magdalene Lee, a junior from Singapore who's majoring in journalism, a project investigating how watching "The Daily Show" might affect how much they pay attention to politics and distrust politicians.

The other winning students, of course, are no less admirable. And in the interest of fairness, I'll also include one project whose subject matter flies over the head of this journalist's scientifically lacking mind:

• From Tyler Darland, a senior from Haysville majoring in cell biology: "The Role of Mical Within the UNC-6/netrin Signaling Pathway."

You can read the entire list of winning projects here.

And to contribute to my research project, "Reporting on Various Stuff that Happens at and Around Kansas University of Interest to the General Public," please send your KU news tips to merickson@ljworld.com.