Cerro Coso Community College Phi Theta Kappa Honors students Sam Irving and Annette Moreau presented at the HTCC (Honors Transfer Council of California) at UC Irvine this weekend.


Sam Irving won two scholarships, including the big award of the event.

News Release

All Campuses

Cerro Coso Students Selected for High Honors

March 12, 2008

Two Cerro Coso Community College students presented their research at the Annual Honors Transfer Council of California (HTCC) Research Conference at UC Irvine Saturday, March 1. Annette Moreau and Samuel Irving will be graduating from Cerro Coso's Honors Program this May and transferring in the fall, and their conference presentations will be published as part of the research conference.

Annette Moreau's poster presentation was entitled "U.S Foreign Policy: An In-depth Look at Darfur" and examines the transformation of U.S foreign policy in Africa during the Bush administration and investigates the changes that have taken place through our involvement in Darfur.

Samuel Irving's oral presentation, "Community- and Health Care-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus," addresses the genotypical differences between community- and health care-associated genotypic strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) within a small town setting. His presentation comes out of a project he is doing under Cerro Coso biology professor, Dr. Claudia Sellers.

Irving won two HTCC awards, including the Director's Scholarship of $800, the highest honor HTCC bestows on a student, and a $300 HTCC Exemplary Achievement Scholarship. Additionally, Samuel Irving and Annette Moreau both received a Cerro Coso Honors Faculty Scholarship for their research presentations.

Dr. Christine Swiridoff, Cerro Coso's Honors Program Coordinator, accompanied them to the conference. "Annette's and Samuel's presentations were wonderful and meant that Cerro Coso was represented for the first time at the UC Irvine Undergraduate Research Conference. We are very proud of their accomplishments," Swiridoff said. "Even though we are one of the smaller colleges in the Honors Transfer Council of California, Cerro Coso certainly made a great first impression, especially with Samuel's Director's Award. Out of all of the California honors students submitting proposals, Samuel's proposal was judged the finest."

"The conference publications will also help both students once they transfer," Swiridoff continued. "Hopefully their research, conference presentations, and abstract publications will help open up more opportunities for internships or research at their universities. As graduates of Cerro Coso's Honors Program and presenters at the HTCC conference, they stand a good chance to compete for these opportunities."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Joann Handeland, Director of Public Information (760) 384-6230