2008 Proceedings - St. Cloud State University

Abstracts
Session P Management South Glacier
History of Business Organizations
The paper focuses on the development of business and commerce through history. Many historians cite the Magna Carta as the launching
pad of modern commerce and individual property rights. The development of trade guilds and merchants are likewise important to the
development of commerce. A dispute exists over the state of commerce in the modern age, its ethics, effects and meaning as well as
where commerce is headed in the future.
Presentation Index: P1
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Department: Management
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Saxton, Elliott
Polacco, Alex
Women in Global Entrepreneurship
Women entrepreneurs in the Midwest area face unique challenges, but they also have many opportunities in the increasingly diverse
marketplace today. This panel discussion, conducted by SCSU women entrepreneurs, will give students the opportunity to discover how
those women have successfully overcome their challenges, taken advantage of their opportunities and are realizing the dream of owning
their own business.
Presentation Index: P2
Time: 2:20 p.m.
Department: Management
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): M'Banga, Shandra
Polacco, Alex
St. Cloud State University Advising Program
Advising at St. Cloud State University appears to be a problem with both faculty and students. To understand what the root causes of the
problems really were, a team of MGMT 467 students did a survey of both faculty and students in Fall 2007. A new team reviewed the study
and expanded the root cause analysis. In filling out the survey, students‘ were asked their grade status, major and if they have changed
majors in the past. Faculty members also thought that departments were under staffed. The panel discussion expands upon the findings
and elicits recommendations for alleviating the problem.
Presentation Index: P3
Time: 2:40 p.m.
Department: Management
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Boser, Brett; Klaverkamp, Peter
Polacco, Alex
Session R English Granite
Learning to Write in English: An Analysis of ESL Students in the Writing Center
This presentation will examine ESL students at St. Cloud State University‘s Write Place. Four years ago, ESL students made up
approximately 17% of the writing center‘s cliental. Due to St. Cloud State University‘s well-respected ESL program, along with the growing
number of international students and refugee population, that number has more than doubled to approximately 40%. As St. Cloud State
University‘s ESL program grows, the role of the writing center becomes increasingly important. Multicultural Student Services has
provided a grant to the Write Place, which allows for in-depth data collection and analysis of the frequency of non-native speakers utilizing
the writing center. The presentation will introduce the data collected thus far concerning the demographics, various disciplines, and writing
issues for ESL cliental, as well as offer suggestions for future tutor training and education.
Presentation Index: R1
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Department: English
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Martin, Kari
Mohrbacher, Carol
Lloyd Alexander's, The Chronicles of Prydain, as Arthurian Literature
From its depictions of King Arthur, the Round Table and Lancelot, along with and his adulterous love affair with Guinevere, Arthurian
literature has captured the imaginations of readers for centuries. Lloyd Alexander continued that tradition when he wrote The Chronicles of
Prydain, a set of children‘s stories published from 1964-1968. Some names and plot elements in the series have already been shown by
scholars to share some of the same Welsh origins as Arthurian literature. Yet the books are not generally classified as Arthurian literature,
because they do not contain the major elements most often found in those texts. In this project I will start by arguing that thematic
elements in Alexander‘s novels are closely linked to Arthurian tradition. I will also seek to explain what it means to have Arthurian literature
that does not contain King Arthur or his Round Table. Finally, I will examine how Alexander alters many of the core concepts of Arthurian
Literature to better reflect the time in which he wrote.
Presentation Index: R2
Time: 2:20 p.m.
Department: English
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Heimermann, Mark
Davis, Glenn
St. Cloud State University Student Research Colloquium 49
April 22, 2008