Communications students present research at NCUR

Editor's note: This story was submitted by senior Jessica Vitak.

Five senior School of Communications students were among more than 2,600 students from around the country to present their research at this year's National Conference of Undergraduate Research, which was held at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, April 25-27.

The communication students were among 20 students from Elon who attended the conference. Over two days, students presented past or ongoing research in oral presentations and poster sessions held on Whitewater's campus. The students' presentations concerned research conducted in previous classes taken at Elon, as well as independent work.

Shelby Brown presented her paper, "Gender, Race and Ethnicity in America's Top-10-Selling Video Games," a paper she researched in Senior Seminar with Dr. Connie Book during fall semester.

Taresa LaRock discussed the changing role of women on television in her oral presentation, "Sex and the City: Images of Women on Cable Television." To conduct her research, LaRock coded the first season of the show for instances of characters on the show doing domestic activities, as well as mentions of sex, men, work, beauty, weight and love.

Erica Stanley and Betsy Snavely presented results from their 2001 Winter Term class, "One Neighborhood, One Week on the Internet." In the class, which was taught by journalism professor Janna Anderson, students surveyed Elon families on their Internet uses and gratifications. Stanley also presented research looking at changes in reporting since Sept. 11. Stanley's paper was titled, "Ethics and News Reporting of the Sept. 11 Attacks and Aftermath: The Fourth Estate or the Fourth Branch of Government?"

Jessica Vitak presented her research on the drug war during a poster session. The project, "Investigating America's War on Drugs," began during Senior Seminar and has also been published as a continuing weekly series in The Pendulum.