Psych Majors - Mark your  calendar now and plan to attend the annual Psych Department Sping Picnic. 
 
Monday, May 7 -- Plan to join us in this annual end- of- the-year tradition.  

Picnic, games -- food and fun!  If you are interested in helping with the planning -- please contact Lee Sande. 
 
 

Psychology Club

The Psychology Club is an organization that offers informal gatherings of psych students who want to participate in any number of a variety of events during the academic year.  Students who would like provide leadership roles for next year are encouraged to contact Melissa Bateson (mbateson), Jaime Peterson (jpeterso) or Dr. Walker (mwalker). 
 
 

Check out the schedule of Psych classes for fall semester at: https://secure.gustavus.edu/servlet/com.datatel.server.
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• Seminar Class to be offered Fall '01:  Sensation & Perception - Dr. Ohnesorge

In this course we will address the question of how humans acquire or pick-up information from the world to support action, learning, belief, choice, and the host of additional mental states that comprise the subject matter of psychology.  In other words "How do we get the outside inside?"  We will begin with peripheral anatomical structures such as the eye or ear where sensory information is collected.  We will proceed through intermediate levels of sensory coding and transmission to cover the brain regions associated with each of the major senses and address the major theories that relate brain states to perceptual states.  Readings will include primary sources and a text. Special topics covered include: Face Recognition, Hallucinations, Illusions, Phantom Limbs, Perceptual Neglect, Synesthesia, Motion Blindness.  In addition to exams, students will conduct a brief investigation into an area of personal interest. 

The Cider House Rules 
Set in the years surrounding WWII, Rules explores the life of orphan Homer Wells (Maguire) who adventures away from his lifetime home at St. Cloud's orphanage in Maine.  Leaving behind his mentor Dr. Larch (Michael Caine), Homer sets out to see and experience the world.  Falling in love with Candy (Charlize Theron), Homer learns many lessons about the world and the real meaning of home.  The story explores the interaction of the rules of life and the decisions we make concerning them.  Watching this film you learn through Homer about the difficulties life can bring. 

The Green Mile 
This film was adapted from a novel written by none other than Stephen King.  King's earlier work, The Shawshank Redemption, also received a nomination for best picture of the year in 1996.  Starring Tom Hanks, The Green Mile looks at the lives of prisoners in their last days on death row in an Alabama prison.  Hanks is the head guard of the mile, where John Coffey (Michael Clark Duncan), a man with a gift of healing, touches the lives of many.  The film is very spiritually based, with metaphors and connections to the Christian faith.  It also explores the nature of world and the people in it, while defining the true meaning of the world miracle. 

Magnolia 
Perhaps this film was nominated because the Academy thought it deserved an award for longest motion picture.  Running over three hours, this film traps the audience into a web of constant movement and mixing up of characters.  As the film progresses you begin to put together how the random mix of characters fit together.  Magnolia is very much a different type of film that can be looked at in a myriad of ways.  Its premise is based on that of chance, exploring how unlikely the situation in which these characters are in is.  Great performances by Tom Cruise and Julianne Moore excite the film.  A recommendation for watching this work, make sure you have the time and attention needed or else you might miss something, it may seem like nothing, but it is really important. 

American Beauty 
The winner of last year's Best Picture award, this film has become a phenomenon in America.  It tells the story of the Burnham's a suburban family who are just as normal as anyone.  Lester, the husband and father played the wonderful Kevin Spacey, admits he has lost something and is in desperate search to find it again.  Caroline, the anal retentive mother played by Annette Benning, sells real estate and engrosses herself with the goal of success.  Their daughter Jane is stuck in the middle of these two, also seeking something in her teenage life.  The interplay of characters and plot in this film is absolutely wonderful.  The meaning behind the story extends to all aspects of American life. This is one of the best defining films of our time. 
 

Nursing/Psych share connections....

Views on Psychology ... 
 ... from an Honorary Psych Major 
by Chris Kwasniewski
Gustavus junior and nursing major
   
I find a great connection between nursing and psychology.  Both fields try to get at what is essentially human about a person. There is a strong connection between mind and body.  A week rarely goes by without a nursing professor bringing up some psychological aspect of a person's health.  
     A good example of this is the time I spend on the oncology floor of Abbott Northwestern for clinicals.  In addition to  taking care of a person's physical needs with medications, bathing, and an occasional foot massage,  I also focus on my patients' emotions and how they are accepting their greatest life challenge.  I look at their developmental levels to help assess best treatment.  Most people are unaware that along with the medical diagnoses that physicians write, nurses also have diagnoses.  One page of each patient's care plan focuses on which of Erickson's developmental stages they are in and what nursing actions we can perform to facilitate the best outcome.   
     I use this tool every day in clinical.   In our required journal keeping of clinical experiences, I wrote about my first patient: "I was able to witness a hope and a greatness of spirit that transcends a potentially fatal disease and low blood counts."  I   relate to my patients the best way I can and with my psychology background, I feel equipped to assist my patient's emotionally and help them return to a better life than what they are currently experiencing.
 
 

• Dr. Jennifer Ackil is co-authoring a presentation with Dana Van Abemma and Patricia Bauer, both of University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development, at the April meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development.  The presentation is titled, "Enduring Differences in Recall of Traumatic and Non-Traumatic Events" and will be included in a symposium on the mnemonic consequences of stress and trauma. 


They will discuss the results of their study that compared mother-child recollections of the March 1998 tornado to their shared memories of other unique nontraumatic events.   

Their hope is that understanding how mothers and children talk about different kinds of shared experiences will facilitate an understanding of how children remember and make sense of the past.

http://universityoflife.com/ 

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/psi/ 

http://www.cwu.edu/~warren/today.html 
 
 
 

Mike Henderson, senior psychology major, completed a January internship at 3M. [Mike submitted the following article regarding his experience]: 

Experiencing The 'Real World' 
by Mike Henderson

  As college students we spend a great deal of our time preparing for, talking about, and in some cases avoiding the 'real world' for as long as possible.  This past January I got a taste for this aspect of life while working with the Human Resources Measurement Systems team for 3M in St.Paul (you know, the place that makes all the Post-it notes you have on your desk).  Looking back I now realize why so many people are at this company for 30+ years, and why working for this company is an opportunity that many other professionals would love to have.  The warm and receptive atmosphere enhanced every aspect of the internship and made coming in each day enjoyable. 
    While seeing psychology in action was one of the most beneficial sides of this internship, it was the many other unexpected aspects of it that made the experience much more fulfilling than many other internship possibilities.  While my strong interest in psychology made working with, and even taking, many of the various testing measures being used more interesting and enjoyable, it was seeing the HR measurement team in action and interacting with the various departments and individuals within the company that proved to be the most educational.  
 There were numerous times when someone would take time out of there busy schedule just to talk to me about what I was interested in, what they did for a living and what training they went through to get there.  This is in addition to how well the team I worked with on a daily basis treated me.  It was obvious that their objective was to make the internship experience as educational, enjoyable, and meaningful as possible, and they certainly succeeded at that.  Within the course of one-month 3M's dedication to its employees and the work environment was one aspect which was very hard to miss.
When I wasn't working with the various testing measures or getting introduced to individuals from other areas to meet and talk with, I was presented with a wide variety of other events.  I was able to sit in on employee lunch and learn sessions, to be a part of conference calls and other important business meetings, to travel to other areas within the facility and observe their work, even sitting in on new employee orientation proved to be an extremely valuable aspect to the entire experience.   
      After the month was finished flying by (at a rate significantly faster than the routine days of J-term on campus) I was able to realize just how valuable this experience had been.  Not only was 3M a great company to work for and the opportunity to see psychology utilized outside of the classroom invaluable, but being able to work with a great team of individuals in a manner that will forever demystify the 'real world' we vaguely refer to based on our summer working experiences made the entire month an experience to remember.  While I will never to justice to the entire experience in this short letter, it is without reservation that I recommend taking full advantage of this opportunity.  These are precisely the opportunities why many of us choose a small private college, and letting such a great opportunity pass by would truly be a shame.  Hey, if nothing else, you can get a more few post-it notes for your desk and a nice meal in the executive dining room (which may be more than your 7th choice for J-term has to offer), but I suspect you will find it much more rewarding than you expect. 
[For more information regarding the January Internship at IBM - please contact Dr. Richard Martin]
 

Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology, recently inducted 11 new members in a ceremony held Wednesday, March 7 in Linner Lounge.

by Julie Quello

The induction ceremony  began with Melissa Bateson and Jaime Peterson, current Psi Chi co-presidents, performing the Psi Chi song.   Dr. Richard Lee, guest speaker for the evening, spoke about how he had gotten into psychology and about the future of clinical psychology. 
Dr. Lee is currently a clinical psychologist practicing in Willmar.  

Psi Chi is the National Honor Society in Psychology, founded in 1929 for the purposes of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship, and advancing the science of psychology. Psi Chi functions as a federation of chapters, located at more than 970 senior colleges and universities in the USA. All chapters register their inductees at the National  Office, where the membership records are preserved for reference purposes. The total number of memberships preserved at the national office during the first 71 years is over 380,000. 

 A J-term '01 Career Exploration and Clinical Practicum Experience

J-term 2001 afforded opportunities for 7 students to participate in the clinical practicum and 5 students in the career exploration programs.   Students worked at Washburn Child Guidance Center in Minneapolis; CCP Family Services in Minneapolis; New London/Spicer School District; and Regions Hospital.

Laura Hanson, Gustavus junior and psych major,  spent J-term working with the New London-Spicer School District.  She has submitted the following article: 
I spent the month of January at the New London Spicer School District doing my clinical practicum.  I worked with the school's social worker.  I spent two days each week at the high school, two days with the early childhood preschool/kindergarten, and one day each week at the Alternative Learning Center. 
     I worked with the SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) group at the high school. These were 9th graders who did things around the school on tobacco awareness.  
     My favorite part of the month was time I spent working with ECSE when I got to work with special-ed preschoolers one-on-one.  I really enjoyed them as they look at the world so differently.  They make you appreciate the small things.   
     This clinical practicum experience has made me think about a different career choice.  I am now planning on attending grad school for special education because of the wonderful experience I had this past January.  I have always known I wanted to work in a school system - and counseling has appealed to me.  But, to be able to enter the world of these special-ed children is an experience I will never forget and hope to do again in the future.

 Career Center Resources
Contemplating grad school?
Check out these reference books in the Career Center:

• Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology
• Gourman Report on Graduate Programs (Princeton Review)
• Perfect Personal Statements and Graduate School Essays (Arco)

Karen Heidesch, Sara Lindberg, Rachel Peterson, and Kristen Richter are presenting their honors projects at the the Midwestern Psychological Association Conference in Chicago, May 3-5.

Honors Projects, Spring 2001
Students working toward earning an honors degree in Psychology offered the following comments regarding their experiences in the program:  

• "I think the honors program is a great way to be involved at a variety of different levels.  It allows you to have more hands-on experience with psychology outside of the classroom, get a taste for what graduate work may resemble, and at the same time, interact with professors and others in the department on a completely different level."   - - Mike Henderson
• "I'm doing my project on the effects identity and parent attachment have on adjustment to college.  It's been a great experience working on it so far.  I've learned a lot about the topic itself as well as the research process in general."

-- Jaime Peterson  
• "The honors program is a great way to complete a research project from beginning to end, which is a fabulous experience if you are going on to graduate school."                  -- Rachel Peterson
• "I think it is a great way to challenge yourself.  Creating and presenting your own research project enables you to get a real feel for what research is all about."                -- Kristen Richter
• "My project studies the correlations between personaility types and majors or professions." -- Amy Pfeffer
• "The honors program has been a fabulous experience for me.  It has

strengthened both my interest and my abilities in psychological research,  
and it made me a much stronger candidate in pursuing graduate studies in  
psychology." -- Sara Lindberg 
• "The Honors Program has been a valuable experience for me.  It has allowed

me to learn about psychology through hands on experience and apply what I 
have learned in the classroom." 
-- Jesse Hedge 

     Like other academic institutions, Gustavus honors  its seniors at particular times of the year.  With events such as senior week and graduation, Gustavus is able to give a little extra something to those who will soon go off to begin something new and exciting.  As spring semester continues, the Psychology Department would like to honor their seniors by having them share a little about themselves and their time at Gustavus. 
      Two of the most visual senior Psychology majors would have to be Jaime Peterson and Melissa Bateson.  Together these two helped to form the Psychology Club and were appointed co-presidents of Psi Chi for this year.  Along with working together in many different areas, Jaime and Melissa have become good friends and found out that they have many other common interests.  Both Jaime and Melissa chose to come to Gustavus because they wanted a small college with good psychology and music programs.  
      For Jaime and Melissa, working together on projects this year was fun and done with lots of energy and enthusiasm.   Together, as well as individually, they have been active in many areas and tried to make their mark on the Psychology department here at Gustavus.    
     Here is a little bit of what they had to say about their experiences and hopes for the future: 

• Jaime Peterson came to Gustavus from Bird Island, Minnesota.  She has enjoyed Gustavus and regards her professors as the best part of being a psychology major.  "They really seem to care about what their students are doing," Jaime said.  She feels that she has also gained leadership skills from her involvement in Psi Chi.  Jaime's future plans involve working for a few years until she figures out for sure what she wants to do, and then, hopefully, go one to graduate school for social work or guidance counseling.  When asked about the legacy that she would like leave Gustavus, Jamie commented, "I would like to leave GAC with the idea that I was able to influence the psychology department in some way.  I would like to leave behind some of the things that I have always wanted as a psych major, like the psychology club . . . ." 

 
• Melissa Bateson is originally from Hayward, Wisconsin.  She chose Gustavus because of the many opportunities she thought it would provide.  Although she misses all the trees that used to be on the Old Main hill, Melissa has enjoyed Gustavus and the professors in the psychology department.  She will take with her the knowledge that you don't have to be involved in everything and do eventually need to slow down and be picky about what you choose to do.  As for her plans beyond Gustavus, Melissa is planning on working as a youth counselor for a year or so before going to graduate school to earn a Master's Degree in Social Work.  For her legacy to Gustavus, Melissa hopes the Psychology Club will continue and hopes she initiated a more active Psi Chi.

• Dr. Clark Ohnesorge was voted "most spirited" in high school.
• Dr. Marie Walker went to art school for a year.  One summer she made a living designing and painting tee-shirts.
• Dr. Barbara Simpson is going to Denmark this summer to read a paper on women and science.  She relays that women in science are more likely than men to endorse human rights issues.
• If Dr. Tim Robinson could pick a gameshow to play it would be Jeopardy.  (His wife makes him watch it.)
• Dr. Walker paints in her spare time.
• Dr. Simpson has two siamese cats that run her house.
• Dr. Ohnesorge has never been arrested.

• The 36th Annual Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference will take place Saturday, April 28, at Hamline University in St. Paul.  Keynote Speaker is Robyn M. Dawes of Carnegie Mellon University.  The deadline for submission of Abstracts is April 10.  Contact Dr. Marie Walker for more information. (mwalker@gustavus.edu)

• Institute for Research in Cognitive Science Undergraduate Summer Workshop will be held June 4-22 at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.  For more information about IRCS and CCN check out http://www.ircs.upenn.edu and http://www.ccn.upenn.edu  

Poster info is displayed in the Psych Department. 

Department Resources Available
Several printed resources are available for you to browse in the department's resource center (SSC 26). You will find information about graduate schools and career paths. Graduate School bulletins are also available. See Lee for more information.