Letter from the Editor

Dear Readers:

Since its creation, Catalyst has always strived to showcase a sample of the best undergraduate research conducted and experienced by undergraduates at The University of Southern Mississippi. Our idea of research is broad, as we do not accept it to mean only laboratory research, but we allow its meaning to encompass other aspects of scholarship that are essential to a quality undergraduate education; interactive and experiential methods of learning such as study abroad and internship programs and service-learning opportunities are included in our considerations of “research.”

We believe that undergraduate education achieves its purpose through exercise in the traditional areas of laboratory research and research papers, but we further adhere to the belief that learning is not limited to the classroom, school or university. Being a learner involves asserting an active and intelligent approach to one’s surrounding world. One of the award-winning articles in this issue is the result of this exact critical and intellectual view of the world: Chris Hare’s article “U.S. v. Booker and Its Ramifications on the Use of Federal Sentencing Guidelines in the Criminal Justice System” won the title of Best Contemporary Commentary for his close look at the professional reception and potentially guideline-altering effects of a recent criminal case.

However, traditional laboratory research remains crucial to academia, and one Catalyst submission exemplifies this. The Best Original Research award is given to Sarah Hasler’s article “Elucidation of the Cysteine Dioxygenase Gene (CDO1) of the Pathogenic Dimorphic Fungus Histoplasma capsulatum.” Intense molecular biological research is taking place at The University of Southern Mississippi, and Sarah’s article attempts to underpin how an important pathogen functions on a molecular level. This is significant scientific research, and I believe Sarah has made an amazing contribution through her role as an undergraduate researcher.

All of the students whose writings are featured in this issue, including the staff writers of Catalyst, are outstanding individuals with a commitment not only to learning and researching but to participation in university and community activities that enhance their experiences as undergraduate students.

We hope that this issue of Catalyst impresses upon yoFebruary 9, 2007 2:56 PM>9, 2007 2:35 PMng you with the knowledge and contact information you need to stretch yourself farther into the processes of learning and discovery.

--Carrie E. Gray

Carrie Gray is a senior Honors College Presidential Scholar from Columbus, Miss. Carrie is a member of Kappa Delta and is an Honors College Ambassador. She has been on the Catalyst staff since her freshman year and studied abroad at L’Abbaye, Pontlevoy, France, in the spring of 2003. A President’s and Dean’s list scholar, Carrie has been named “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges” for 2004. Her senior thesis is titled “Paradoxes of Community in The Parliament of Fowls.” After graduating with a double major in English and French in May 2005, she will attend the University of Alabama School of Law, beginning in August 2005.