Meet the 2005-2006 APSSC Board

President

Jennifer Thorpe
New York University

Hello! My name is Jennifer Thorpe, and I am honored to be the American Psychological Society’s Student Caucus President for 2005-2006. I will do everything in my power to serve the best interests of students. I encourage you to contact me with thoughts, ideas, or anything else at [email protected].

I am currently a second-year graduate student at New York University, pursuing my PhD in social psychology. I received my bachelor’s degree at Columbia University. I grew up in New York as well, and am excited to have you come to my hometown for the 18th Annual Convention! There are several areas of research that capture my interest. I am currently examining interpersonal relationships and how previous relationships can come to bear on future ones, as well as researching different implications of a mental strategy that allows people to turn their fantasies into reality. I am also beginning a line of research addressing the notion of value and how being in a subjective state of loss can influence people differently depending on their self-regulatory strategy.

This year’s convention was spectacular, with a record turnout by students. You made this convention the success it was, in part by making some of our events among the best attended of the convention, and I am confident that next year’s convention will be even better! Over the past year, during which I was Student Notebook Editor, the APSSC made a number of positive changes, including expanding the campus representatives program, putting our elections online, and improving our convention events. My goals for the coming year include responding to student feedback regarding improving our convention events, improving our programs designed to reach out to students across the world, and fine-tuning our revamped election system to ensure that elections are as fair and transparent as possible. We are interested in your ideas, as well, so contact me!

APSSC is an organization by the students (though we owe much to our fabulous advisor and the APS Board), for the students. We want you to get involved, and there are many great opportunities to do so! You could become a campus representative, review submissions for one of our research competitions, compete in one of those research competitions, or write an article for the Student Notebook! In addition, next year’s elections, like every year’s, are open to all student affiliates. You are strongly encouraged to join our team of dedicated students of psychological science!

See you in New York!

Past-President

Michele Borynski
Central Michigan University

Hello, my name is Michele Borynski, and I am deeply honored to serve as the 2005-2006 Past-President of the American Psychological Society’s Student Caucus. I completed my bachelor’s degree at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and then earned my master’s degree at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. I am currently a fifth year student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at Central Michigan University, and I am nearly finished with my year-long clinical internship. My primary internship site is the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita, Oklahoma, and my secondary site is the Jess Dunn Correctional Center in Taft, Oklahoma. My research interests are in three areas: mindfulness meditation and its applications to clinical practice; interpersonal harm, specifically with regard to sexual deviance, partner violence, and psychotherapy outcome for violent offenders; and, binge drinking in college students. Currently, in my dissertation research, I am examining the construct of mindfulness and its relationship to neuroticism.

During the past three years that I served on the executive board, the APS Student Caucus developed many exciting programs. My primary objectives for my term as Past-President of the APSSC are to continue to expand upon the excellent work of the previous executive board members, particularly on programs for our undergraduate student affiliates. In addition, I will assist in improving the online elections process (started last year) as well as improving the Student Caucus’ existing activities based on your feedback from our annual post-convention survey.

This year’s executive committee members, as well, provide the opportunity for fresh ideas and constructive evaluation of the caucus’ activities. With the exception of me and the President, all six elected positions are new officers, and they are all very motivated and energized to make this year’s activities a resounding success! There still are many opportunities for you to become involved in APSSC this year, including reviewing for our many competitions, serving as a campus representative, or submitting an article for the Student Notebook.

If you have any interest in participating in one or more of these activities, please do not hesitate to contact me or the other executive board members. If you have any questions, concerns, or ideas regarding the activities of the Student Caucus, I strongly encourage you to contact me though e-mail at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope to see you at the 18th Annual Convention in New York City!

Membership and Volunteers Officer

William Aue
University of West Florida

My name is Billy Aue, and it is an honor to be a member of the 2005-2006 American Psychological Society Student Caucus Membership (APSSC) as well as a Volunteer Officer. My hometown is Indianapolis, Indiana, where I attended Butler University and earned my bachelor’s degree in psychology. During my time at Butler I had the opportunity to conduct research which focused on flashbulb memories for 9/11 and the Columbia space shuttle disasters. Currently, I am at the University of West Florida pursuing my master’s degree, and focusing on investigating oscillations in performance on sustained attention tasks. In the fall, I plan to apply to a PhD program in Clinical Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience.

I have been a member of APS for nearly three years, and in that time I have had the opportunity to work with some phenomenal people on the APSSC board. I spent three years as a Campus Representative, which provided me opportunities to network with fellow graduate and undergraduate students at universities across the globe. I also served as a RiSE UP panel member and Student Research Competition panel member, which allowed me to engage in peer reviewing of original research for the APSSC competitions.

My role as Membership and Volunteer Officer will consist of two main responsibilities: to facilitate membership on the APS and the APSSC by increasing awareness, as well as help coordinate potential members. I will also assist in evaluating Travel Assistance awards for attendance at the APS convention in New York City, May 2006. If you have any questions or if there is anything I can do to assist you, please e-mail me at [email protected].

Communications and Marketing Officer

Anthony C. Laughlin
Pepperdine University

It is a great honor to serve the members of the APSSC as your Communications and Marketing Officer this year. I completed my bachelor’s degree with honors in psychology and philosophy (cum laude, 2005) from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. In 2005, I was also honored for Distinguished Service to Psychology as well as the Outstanding Scholar in the Social Sciences. I served on the executive board of the national honor society in psychology (Psi Chi), and as the President of the national honor society in philosophy (Phi Sigma Tau). I also served on the student judiciary board at Pepperdine.

At the University of Oregon, I have the privilege of working with Dr. Scott Monroe and George Slavich, in a multi-method longitudinal research program focusing on the role of stressful life events and cognitive bias in the onset and maintenance of depression. This information-processing approach to depression research, the data for which is being collected in conjunction with the Stanford University Mood and Anxiety Disorders Laboratory, includes both human and computer-based cognitive assessments, psycho-physiological arousal data, and fMRI measures of neural activation. My previous research and interests have focused on effective teaching methods, high-risk minority youth, cognitive factors in disordered eating, and the application of modern psychometric theory to clinical assessment.

In addition, I have been privileged to serve as a teaching assistant for more than 700 students in six different courses, and lecture on topics in both psychology and philosophy. I have also enjoyed sharing my experience outside the classroom as a coach for Mountain View High School women’s volleyball, the Mount Bachelor Ski Education Foundation, and as a climbing guide in the Colorado Rockies.

It is a privilege to work with the American Psychological Society and with the extraordinary current and past members of the APSSC Executive Board. My goal this year is to help get students involved in the cutting edge of scientific psychology through creative and innovative communication. In the upcoming year, I will be working on a new interactive E-News system as well as other web developments that will make APSSC website a more convenient and powerful community building resource.

I encourage you to get involved with the APSSC, and take advantage of the amazing resources and opportunities that APS offers! We are here to serve you as a student, so your feedback, opinions, and advice are always welcome!

RiSE-UP Coordinator

Monique Mendoza
University of Missouri-Columbia

Hi my name is Monique Mendoza and I will be starting my doctoral education and the University of Missouri, Columbia in the fall. I will be working towards a doctorate in counseling psychology with a focus on multicultural counseling competencies. After graduating from the University of California, Irvine with my bachelor degree in Psychology I accepted a fellowship at the National Institute of health and I have been working as a research assistant for two years. The time away from school has given me time and perspective to know that the field I will be entering is the right one for me. I look forward to returning to school renewed and revitalized.

I will be serving as the RISE-UP Coordinator for this upcoming year. As the RISE-UP Coordinator one main project of mine this year will be the RISE-UP Research Competition, which awards scholarly research that focuses on socially and economically under-represented populations. I encourage everyone to submit your proposals for this award later in the year.

I also have exciting goals for my time as your RISE-UP Coordinator. I would like to offer you, the student members, information about research involving under-represented populations that is currently being conducted in institutions and associations across the country.

I realize the area of socially and economically under-represented populations is constantly growing and we have enhanced our awareness of this growth by creating 6 different RISE-UP committees (LGBT people, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, women, aging/older adults, and low-income/ working-class individuals). I encourage you all to join a committee and help work towards enhancing the knowledge of these populations as they relate to the science of psychology.

I am always open for suggestions as I strive to make my time on the Executive Board a success and urge you to participate this year on a committee! I look forward to making this a great year!

Student Notebook Editor

Teresa Levine
Walden University

Hello my name is Teresa, and as your Student Notebook Editor I will be editing and forwarding your articles and announcements for publication. I will also be preparing monthly Notebook issues, conducting interviews with faculty and champions, and chairing the Editor’s Workshop at the annual convention.

I am presently a master’s degree candidate at Walden University in Atlanta, Georgia and plan to transfer to Argosy University (also in Atlanta) for my doctorate in 2006. Currently, my interest is in social and personality psychology as it relates to disorders, cognitive functioning, and behavior. I am interested in understanding the neurological mechanisms that create these disorders as well as the social and cognitive consequences the patient experiences. I am also interested in understanding the role of long-term memory in victims of child abuse and alcoholism.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1985 and my master’s degree in counseling in 1992. After graduation, I worked as a volunteer at a local psychiatric hospital with substance abuse patients while at the same time working as a writer and editor for several local publications. Realizing that I couldn’t continue to go in both directions, I decided to pursue an advanced education in psychology with the hopes of finding a future position in writing, research, and teaching in the field.

One of the goals I have as your Student Notebook Editor is to project your ideas in the best possible way without losing the integrity of the article. If your article is well-researched, organized, grammatically intact, and offers helpful information to other students, you have a greater chance of being published than someone who didn’t prepare at the same level. Please note that we cannot publish every article no matter how wonderful it may be, due to factors beyond our control. I request that those articles and announcements we do choose for publication be submitted by the requested deadline. I look forward to seeing your published articles in the Observer and to working with you in the upcoming year.

Graduate Advocate

Andrew C. Butler
Washington University in St. Louis

Hello, I am Andrew Butler and I will serve as the Graduate Advocate during the 2005 —2006 term, and will help coordinate the Student Research Competition and the Student Grant Competition. I look forward to working with the other APSSC officers to help make the great events and programs established by previous boards even better.

Currently, I am a doctoral student at Washington University in St. Louis, working with Henry L. (Roddy) Roediger III. My primary research focuses on how cognitive psychology can be applied to enhance educational practice. This work revolves around the idea of using testing as a learning tool (as opposed to a means of assessment) to promote comprehension and long-term retention of classroom material. I am also interested in the influence of attitudes on memory in social contexts (i.e. politics and culture), prospective memory, false memories/repression, and memory systems.

Throughout my graduate school career, I have been heavily involved in advocating for graduate students. At Washington University, I served as the chair of the Psychology Graduate Student Association and was a member of the Graduate Council. In 2005-2006, I will serve as the Vice-President of the Graduate Student Senate (GSS); an organization for graduate students in the School of Arts & Sciences. In the past, I have worked on several initiatives to help improve graduate education. One of these initiatives was to lobby on behalf of the university to help subsidize childcare costs for graduate students with children. On the national level, I was involved in the American Psychological Society Student Caucus as a campus representative and RiSE-UP Research Competition reviewer.

Undergraduate Advocate

Frances Chumney
East Tennessee State University

My primary responsibilities as your Undergraduate Advocate is to coordinate the undergraduate portion of the mentoring program, facilitate communication between undergraduate members and the the Student Caucus, and chair the undergraduate event at the upcoming convention. I will also be working with the Graduate Advocate on the Student Research Competition.

I am completing my final year of undergraduate training at East Tennessee State University. My interest is in social psychology and quantitative methods, and I plan to pursue a graduate degree that offers specialized training in both areas. My primary research interests are stereotyping and prejudice, ethnic identity, and White privilege awareness. I am also interested in gender differences in wayfinding and spatial abilities, factors influencing attitudes toward torture, and the sexual objectification of female professors.

As the Undergraduate Advocate, I plan to help other undergraduates in their academic careers by helping them to seek out and apply to graduate schools, to guide them on how to develop and maintain relationships with graduate students and professors, and to assist them in acclimating to the research community, just to name a few.

I can’t wait for the upcoming year and am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

And hey, please call me Fran.