Students staying for summer

Outside of taking May Term courses or just wanting to hang around EMU a little while longer, several students will work on campus this summer as LEAP interns, editorial assistants, and research assistants.

Several perks come along with having a job on campus. These could include any of the following: housing, meal plans, paid classes, and money, as well as depth for future résumés. Students also point out that this experience will benefit them in more ways than just the material benefits. This experience will provide valuable hands-on experience and help students decide if they would like to pursue a career within the field of study that they are going to be working in for the summer.

Jeff Boodie, a first-year student who will be working as a LEAP intern, says he feels he "will be able to communicate better" as a result of working as an intern. Boodie is a former alumni of LEAP and is looking forward to "having a leadership position and seeing how much work it takes to send people around the world."

Boodie's job will last from May until the end of June, and he will be taking a seminary class as well. Richard Pannell, director of LEAP, will be in charge of the student interns, which also include Sarah Schlabach and Koren Dugan, who are helping to facilitate incoming LEAPers.

The Biology department has taken on several students this summer to help Doug Graber-Neufeld and Steve Cessna with laboratory research. Some of the research that will be done this summer includes projects with kidneys, plant cell defense response, and mercury. Yohannes Worku, who is one of the two assistants who will be working for Cessna, is "hoping that this research will help [him] to have a better idea of whether or not [he] would like to continue in this field of study."

Worku is currently a Biology major and will be working as a research assistant for nine weeks starting at the end of the spring semester. Cessna comments that having students as research assistants helps him cut down on his summer work load and offers students valuable "experience in research settings."

The bioethics conference, hosted by EMU earlier this school year, is working on a post-conference publication. Two students, Tim Shenk and Amy Stutzman, have been hired to work as editorial assistants to help Roman Miller and Beryl Brubaker in putting together this publication. Shenk and Stutzman are working during the May term and are being paid by the Lilly Grant to help edit articles by keynote speakers and community members who participated in the bioethics conference. Shenk is looking forward to "the experience of working with a publication." Shenk also realizes "writing has to be done everywhere in life" and feels that this experience will help in developing his writing skills.

Unless they opt to stay off campus, students who have a summer job will live in Maplewood with other students who will be staying for May term. To have a summer position on campus, there is generally an application process to go through during the second semester of the school year. For more information on possible summer jobs on campus, contact department heads or visit the LEAP website, http://www.leap.emu.edu.