Lumen Prize

Heart attacks and other cardiovascular conditions kill thousands of Americans every day, and as a high school student, that statistic turned personal for Elon University senior Amanda Clark. The biochemistry major focused her undergraduate research while at the university on identifying some ways that heart disease develops, which could in turn lead to better treatments, and her work is the latest to be featured in a series of E-net profiles on Lumen Scholars in the Class of 2011.

Historically, North Carolina has voted Republican in presidential elections, but many political observers were surprised two years ago when President Barack Obama won the Tar Heel State. Elon University senior McKenzie Young investigated the factors behind the state’s recent voting behavior, and her work is the latest to be featured in a series of E-net profiles on Lumen Scholars in the Class of 2011.

Since the arrival of the Spanish to Ecuador, indigenous peoples have struggled against political and economic elites trying to introduce Western norms that undermine cultural identities. Elon senior Chris Jarrett is examining how groups interact with Ecuadorian society through political activity and development projects, and his research on the Amazonian Kichwa people is the latest work to be featured in a series of E-net profiles on Lumen Scholars in the Class of 2011.

Four Elon students presented their research at the 2011 NC Political Science Association meeting at UNC-Charlotte on Feb. 25, 2011.

More than 5.3 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia that impairs memory and behavior. Elon University senior Caroline Peckels is analyzing compounds found in walnuts that may one day lead to new treatment for patients with the degenerative condition, and her work is the latest to be featured in a series of E-net profiles on Lumen Scholars in the Class of 2011.

They are common stereotypes of Africa often portrayed in media: poverty, AIDS, a “primitiveness” of people who live there. As Elon University senior Maggie Pahos prepared for a semester abroad in Ghana, she wanted to find ways to dispel those stereotypes through her own research, photography and creative writing, and her project is the latest to be featured in a series of E-net profiles on Lumen Scholars in the Class of 2011.

Thousands of people went into exile when Augusto Pinochet established a military dictatorship in Chile in 1973. Elon University senior Renee Zale is studying how their return home was influenced by memories of the South American nation before Pinochet, and her work is the latest to be featured in a series of E-net profiles on Lumen Scholars in the Class of 2011.