To the National Conference on Undergraduate Research We Go!

Christ College, Valparaiso's Honor's College, is a cause near and dear to the Becky and I's heart. After all, we met in our very first CC class and had some wonderful experiences there. So it was with great eagerness (it sat in the mail pile for 6 days before I got around to it) I tore open an envelope addressed to us from Christ College.

Inside was a letter from Dean Mel Piehl, who I hope very dearly does not remember who I am. After a disastrously failed joke he enlisted me for, I went out of my way to not cross paths with him during my last semester. ("Lose Yourself" anyone?) The hand-written "thanks much, Becky + Drew!" was inconclusive in revealing his memory skills. In actuality, I mention him not so much because of his relevance to the rest of this post but rather because I needed a good graphic for the piece, and he was just asking to be used.

But I digress, the letter also included a bright purple sheet listing the people and presentations that Christ College is sending to Dominican University in California for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Some titles are interesting, others odd, and some, well, I'll let you decide.

"Existential Syntheses in Kierkegaard's Stages on Life's Way"
Exactly what I would expect in a CC presentation. I'm sure it'll be very interesting to those that understand this stuff, but I'm confused and haven't even made it past the title.

"The Last Son of Krypton: American Millenarianism and the Myth of Superman"
I'm not sure that "millenarianism" is a word and positive that Superman is not a myth.

"Tolerance, Respect, and Charity: A Virtue-Ethical Account of Interaction with the Other"
Pretty sure that if I want someone to treat me with tolerance and respect, not calling me "the other" would be a good start.

"An Investigation into the Periodic Nature of Five Proto-Planetary Nebulae"
This presentation will not only win, it will continue on and capture a Noble Peace Prize.

"An Obituary for Dead Metaphor"
Death for all literary devices!

"The Chasm of the Age of Reform: Protestant and Catholic Aims at a Reformation"
Oh dear. Religion debates. Going to need prayer. Hail Mary, full of grace...

"Government's Treatment of Business is Undermining the Rule of Law"
I'm concerned that this presentation deviates from the seemingly mandatory usage of the colon. Wouldn't "Government's Treatment of Business: Undermining the Rule of Law" fit more with the accepted pattern? This one will fail miserably.

"Performance Enhancing Drugs in Professional Baseball: Making Things Right with the Past, Present, and Future of America's Pastime"
Featuring special guest speaker Pedro Gomez.

"Marriage with Christ: Beneficial or Frightening?"
So marriage with Christ is either one or the other? It doesn't strike me that those two adjectives even go together let alone provide interesting options into the premise.

"The Naked Young Man of Mark 14"
Fantastic! Bible pornography!