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~ PsychNews ~
VU Psychology Newsletter
Christmas Break Edition

Greetings! We hope that the semester is winding down successfully for you, and that you survive finals week. We also want to convey our warmest wishes for the holidays - enjoy your Christmas Break! This edition is devoted to student and faculty recognitions.

~ Student Lumina Scholars ~

Hearty congratulations to the following psych majors who received the Lumina Award for academic achievement. The Psychology Department had one of the largest group of scholars this year, which made us very proud! Please express your congrats to the following students when you see them: Emily Batteiger, Myranda Bellman, Brittany Engen, Margaret Felde, Mallory Gill, Heidi Golz, Julie Hamaide, David Hillhouse, Megan Hoffman, Debrah Kite, Katie Patrick, Lindsay Preuss, Lillian Strand and Brittany Winebar.

~ Faculty Achievements ~

We're also proud of the recent scholarly and professional achievements of our faculty, and would like to take this opportunity to recognize these as well. As you can see, we have a very active and productive faculty!

Prof. Kieth Carlson has had an article, “The impact of humor on memory: Is the humor effect about humor?” accepted for publication in HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research.

Prof. Stewart Cooper has been elected President of the Society of Consulting Psychology (APA Division 13) and has been elected to the national APA Membership Board Committee. He also just completed work on an invited Special Issue of the Consulting Psychology Journal on “Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in Consulting Psychology.”

Prof. David Rowland was featured in an article of Medical News Today, “Professor Sparks Debate on Treatment of Sexual Dysfunction,” based on his article, “Will Medical Solutions to Sexual Problems Make Sexological Care and Science Obsolete?” which was published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.

Prof. David Simpson recently published an article, “Spirituality and personality: Accumulating evidence,” in the Journal of Psychology and Christianity. He also has had an article, “Sex and gender differences in Religiousness and Spirituality,” accepted for publication in the Journal of Psychology and Theology.

Prof. Angela Vernon has been awarded a $7,500 Wheat Ridge Foundation Grant to develop a “Vibration Assistive Device” to help individuals with autism cope with sensory dysfunction. The project involves a number of students from both engineering and psychology (including Mallory Gill, Heidi Golz, and Kayla Grutz), and Prof. Vernon welcomes participation of other interested students!

Prof. Jennifer Winquist has had an article, "Does the Stepladder Technique Improve Group Decision Making? : A Series of Failed Replications," accepted for publication in the journal, Group Dynamics.

We wish you safe travels and happy times with family and friends, and we look forward to seeing you in 2008!

Sincerely,

Dan Arkkelin
Chair of Psychology _____________________________________________________________________________