The purpose of BIOFEEDBACK is to provide an important and timely vehicle for the transfer of information concerning BOTH faculty and students of the Biology Department. Any notices or information that you wish to include in BIOFEEDBACK should be submitted to either Dr. Carolyn or Dr. Alan Jaslow. BIOFEEDBACK will be published each semester.

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The Chair’s niche:

The last several months have been particularly busy for Biology students and faculty. Numerous invited speakers have presented seminars as part of the biology seminar series and for job interviews. I hope you have been able to attend some of these seminars. If not, please try to do so in the future. It is a great way to make or renew acquaintances with both biology faculty and other students interested in biology. One of the very tangible results of these seminars is that two new faculty will join our department next fall. Dr. Mary Miller has accepted the genetics position to replace Dr. Jones, and Dr. Romi Burks will be joining us as a Teaching/Research Fellow. Drs. Lindquester and Kesler did a great job chairing the respective search committees that recruited these two new faculty members.

Some exciting opportunities are currently being discussed (and in some cases implemented) that will provide students access to both the faculty and resources at St. Jude (see p. 3). Dr. Blundon has served as our departmental representative on an interdisciplinary group that is working to develop some new intitatives between Rhodes and St. Jude. Some of the initial student opportunities include the Rhodes Summer Plus program and an interdisciplinary senior seminar on cancer research and treatment. I hope you will take full advantage of these new opportunities and future initiatives from this program.

--- C.S.

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Primary Productivity and Secondary Growth

The following is a list of honors, awards, publications and meeting participation of our faculty and students since October 16, 2000.

Honors and Awards:

CONGRATULATIONS TO ...

……the six students who were selected for this year’s “Summer Plus” Program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: Kim Bartmess (’04), Marian Butcher (’03), Emily Cunningham (’03), Crescent Rowell (’03), Christine Dietz (’02) and Forrest Busler (’02).

Grants and Fellowships:

In December, Dr. John Olsen received a grant of $35,000 from the Assisi Foundation of Memphis, Inc., to support the Young Scholars Science Initiative at Rhodes College. This brings their total support for the Young Scholars Biology Program to $70,000.

Publications: (Be sure to send us copies of your publications when they appear! Thanks!)

Reichard, H.U., G.T. Cole, T.W. Hill, R. Rüchel, and M. Monod. 2000. Molecular characterization and influence on fungal development of ALP2, a novel serine proteinase from Aspergillus fumigatus. International Journal of Medical Microbiology. 290:549-558.

Meetings:

Dr. Kesler chaired the Zoology Section at the Annual Tennessee Academy of Science Meeting, held at Belmont University on November 17, 2000. Abstracts of these presentations may be viewed at http://www.tnacadsci.org/tas/zoology_abstracts.htm

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Curricular Evolution:

Course Changes and Announcements

Senior Seminar

Next year, the Biology Department will again offer multiple sections of Senior Seminar (see below for details). Dr. C. Jaslow and Dr. Blundon will each offer a section in the fall, along with a special interdisciplinary section taught in collaboration with faculty from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In the spring, Dr. Hill and Dr. Mary Miller will each teach one section. Seniors must reserve a slot in a senior seminar section prior to registration. This will be done via lottery starting at 12:15 on Tuesday, March 13. The reserved senior seminar section should then be listed on the preregistration tree under the category of “Other Courses.” Students will not be allowed to enroll in a seminar section other than the one which they reserved.

Bio. 485(1): Dr. C. Jaslow’s fall senior seminar is entitled “Reproductive Biology,” and it will meet at M hour. In the first half of the semester, this course will focus on human reproduction, with students reading and presenting background information and primary literature on predetermined topics such as sperm maturation, hormonal control of egg development, and blastocyst implantation. During the second half of the semester, students will select a topic to research and present concerning any aspect of reproductive biology. Topics may range from human issues (male contraceptives, immunology and the fetus) to more general topics (parthenogenesis, effects of pollutants on sex hormones). All students will be responsible for submitting summaries and discussion questions from the assigned readings and for evaluationing one another’s work.

Bio. 485(2): This fall, Dr. Blundon will be offering "Current Research in Neuroscience." This class will meet at P hour. Students will select research topics of interest to them and prepare two oral presentations on the material. Another topic will be presented in the form of a research paper. Possible topics may include, but are not limited to, research into the cellular processes and pharmacology of the brain, investigations of the biology of normal cognitive functions, and current studies on brain disorders and diseases. Bio 370 Neuroscience is not a prerequisite for this senior seminar. For more information, visit the course website at:

/biology/blundon/seniorsem.html.

Interdisciplinary. 485(1): Beginning in the Fall of 2001, Dr. Jay Blundon, along with Drs. Robert Strandburg, Darlene Loprete, and Ann Viano will offer an annual interdisciplinary senior seminar open to seniors in the departments of Biology, Psychology, Chemistry, and Physics. The title of this year’s course will be “Interdisciplinary Approaches to Cancer Research and Treatment”. Guest lecturers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will deliver weekly seminars about their latest research. Prior to each guest presentation, a student will preview the guest’s topic, providing the class with background information and a preview of the research to be presented by the St. Jude faculty member. Some of the lecturers and their topics scheduled are: Peter Doherty (Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1996) – “Viruses and cancer,” John Cleveland – “Signaling pathways in apoptosis,” Linda Hendershot – “Pathways controlling growth in cells experiencing physiological stress,” Richard Kriwacki – “Mechanisms of cell cycle regulation: cyclins, cdks, and their regulators,” Peter Houghton – “Animal models of human cancers,” Tom Merchant – “Radiation therapy in pediatric oncotherapy,” Suzanne Gronemeyer – “Radiation physics in cancer therapy.” This senior seminar will be offered to 10 Rhodes students in the four departments. It will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:15 – 5:45 PM. Biology seniors interested in participating must contact Dr. Blundon prior to March 9. This course completely satisfies the Biology Department senior seminar requirement. Students in Psychology, Chemistry and Physics should contact their advisors to determine to what extent the course satisfies the senior seminar requirement in their department. Note that this seminar is listed under department number 42 for interdisciplinary courses

Bio. 486 (1) (spring semester). As the population of immunosuppressed individuals increases because of diseases like AIDS and advances in organ transplantation, so does the frequency, variety, and severity of fungal infections in these patients. Dr. Hill’s senior seminar entitled "Medically Important Fungi" will examine the nature of fungal disease through a study of some of its most significant examples. The basic biology of the major fungal pathogens and efforts to develop effective antifungal therapies and vaccines will be included among other topics. Students will read, discuss, and present articles from the review and research literatures in medical mycology, employing among their perspectives those of ecology, evolution, microbiology, cell biology, and genetics, in addition to the more clinical aspects of the subject. The course will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at an hour yet to be decided.

Bio. 486 (2) (spring senior seminar): Dr. Miller’s spring senior seminar is entitled “Cancer Biology.” Discussions will focus on the molecular basis of cancer, including impacts on cancer diagnosis and treatment. Students will read and discuss primary literature on topics including cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, signal transduction, DNA/RNA tumor viruses, the Rb tumor suppressor family, mouse models for human cancer, and the use of genomics in cancer diagnosis. Students will research a topic of their own interest that is pertinent to cancer biology, provide a summary of their findings, present this topic to the class, and evaluate the presentations of other students. This class in tentatively scheduled for H hour.

Comparative Vertebrate Morphology (Bio-350) will again be offered with two B hr. lecture meetings most weeks. This course requires two (but unequal) formal lab meetings a week. One is Tue (R) lab which will meet from 1-4 pm. The second meeting each week is for one hour minimum starting at either 1 or 2 pm. This will allow students to enroll in an E or F hour class. Two additional hours of lab are required, but these may be done at other times of the week. See Dr. A. Jaslow if you have any questions.

New Laboratory Course in Biology and Chemistry

Students intending to take Biochemistry and/or Cell Biology should be aware that a new fall-semester 2-hour course, Methods in Biochemistry and Cell Biology (BIO/CHEM 310), has been created, which can count as laboratory credit for Cell Biology, Biochemistry, or both. With the recent elimination of both Monoclonal Antibodies (BIO 308) and Electron Microscopy (BIO 309), this new course will be the only option by which students can get laboratory credit with Cell Biology. Methods in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, taught jointly by Drs. Hill and Loprete, will provide instruction in the theory and application of a variety of research techniques dealing with the structure and function of proteins in biological systems. Techniques to be studied include enzyme assays and characterization, peptide sequencing, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, antibody production, immunoblotting, and immunofluorescence microscopy. Prerequisites are Chemistry 112 and 112L (or 122 and 122L) and at least junior standing. The class meets on Thursday afternoon for lecture and laboratory instruction, and students will be responsible for an equal investment of time in independent projects.

For information and syllabi for courses offered by the Biology Department, check out the Biology Department local home page. This is accessible either through the Rhodes home page or via:

/public/2_0-Academics/2_1_1-biology/2_1_1-Index.shtml

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Signals and Displays

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Rhodes and St. Jude Formalize Collaboration

In support of President Troutt’s initiative to increase the undergraduate research experiences at Rhodes, representatives from Rhodes departments of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Psychology have met with administration officials and faculty from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to explore the potential for collaborations between the two institutions. Two programs are already underway to facilitate the exchange of ideas, talent and people: a “Summer Plus” research exchange program for our undergraduate students and an interdisciplinary senior seminar series.

While many of our students have worked in research laboratories at St. Jude in the past, the “Summer Plus” Student Research Program is the first formalized plan to expand undergraduate collaboration between the two institutions. Beginning this summer, six Rhodes students will spend 12 weeks in a research laboratory at St. Jude, being trained and mentored by St. Jude faculty in areas such as infectious disease, molecular biology and pharmacology, genetics, neurobiology, and radiation oncology. Students will receive a stipend for the summer from funds provided by St. Jude and will also have the option of living on campus here at Rhodes. As part of a long-term research commitment, participants will then continue their research during the following academic year, working 10 – 15 hours per week while earning academic credit toward their degree major. There is also the possibility of continued funding for a second summer and additional academic credit in the form of directed inquiries or honors thesis research. In talking about the program, Dr. Suzanne Baker of the Department of Developmental Neurobiology commented, “This is just the kind of opportunity I wish I had when I was an undergraduate. At that time I had no idea of what actual research was really like.” Other St. Jude faculty have voiced their support of a program that provides them with high quality students who are committed to spending a minimum of one summer and two semesters in their laboratory. Dr. Jian Zuo, a St. Jude research biologist studying visual and auditory degenerative diseases, added “It’s difficult to get a student involved in a project if they’re only in the lab for two months. Once you get them trained to do any research at all, they’re gone!”

St. Jude faculty will also involve themselves here at Rhodes by participating in a new interdisciplinary senior seminar available to majors in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Psychology. The topic of the first seminar series, offered this fall and directed by Drs. Robert Strandburg, Darlene Loprete, Ann Viano, and Jay Blundon, is “Interdisciplinary Approaches to Cancer Research and Treatment.” See p. 3 for additional information about this seminar.

TAS Meeting Coming March 24th

Make plans to attend the Tennessee Academy of Science Collegiate Division Meeting on March 24, 2001. It will be held at the University of Memphis. Come learn about the research conducted by undergraduates around west Tennessee. Presentation of your work at such meetings greatly strengthens your resume, so come check it out for next year if you are not presenting in March. You can learn more about this meeting from Dr. Kesler.

The Biology Department is looking for students who would like to work in the department next year as laboratory assistants. If you are interested, please speak to Ms. Christian Hardin (x3561, FJ 127w).

Optimal Foraging The following courses will be offered next semester For information and syllabi, and a tentative list of courses to be offered next spring, check out the Biology Dept. home page: /public/2_0-Academics/2_1_1-biology/2_1_1-Index.shtml
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NUMBER	COURSE TITLE	HOURS OFFERED
^{__________________________________________________________________________}
120	Botany	L or N
200	Evolution	F
307	Cell Biology	M
310	Meth. in Biochem. & Cell.	T
315	Ecology	B and R
325	Molecular Biology	C and S
340	Animal Physiology	N and Q (1-5pm)
350	Comp. Vert. Morph.	B, R and U
360	Histology	A and T
451	Research in Biology	TBA
460	Biology Internship	TBA
485(1)	Reproductive Biology	M
485(2)	Neuroscience	P
42 485(1)	Interdisciplinary (St. Jude)	Tu,Th 4:15-5:45
^{__________________________________________________________________________}
	FOR NON-MAJORS
^{__________________________________________________________________________}
105(1)	Biology through Bees	M and T
105(2)	Disease and Immunity	M

This spring, the Biology Department will again be presenting the "Award for Outstanding Student Research in Biology". Any student who has completed research at Rhodes or elsewhere is eligible for this award and cash prize. To be considered, a student must submit a three to five page research paper, plus a recommendation from the research supervisor, to Dr. C. Jaslow by Thursday, March 29. Copies of the recommendation form may be obtained from Dr. C. Jaslow. Announcement of the award winner will be made at spring awards ceremony.

TRI-BETA NEWS

Beta Beta Beta (bbb) is the biological honor society for the Rhodes Biology Department. bbb has a two-fold purpose here at Rhodes. The first is to provide a club where individuals with a shared interest in biology can get together, in a setting free of classroom pressures, and have a little social interaction and fun. The other purpose is that of an honor society. bbb is a national honor society and is dedicated to the enrichment of its members’ scientific experiences and to the sharing and dissemination of information gleaned from those experiences. It also provides a forum to recognize those students, with biology as their undergraduate major, who excel academically.

There are two forms of membership with the following requirements:

Associate Membership:

+ 1 completed course of a natural science class

+ An interest in biology

+ One time $20 initiation fee

Regular Membership:

+ Must be a Biology Undergraduate

+ 3 completed semesters of Biology at Rhodes

+ At least a “B” average in Biology at Rhodes

+ General good academic standing at the college

+ One time $30 initiation fee

Please note that there will be a picnic at Dr. Kesler’s home on April 5^th where officers’ elections will take place. Also, please look at the bbb bulletin board across from the Biology office for updates on current activities. If you have any questions, or are interested in initiating this spring, please contact Ruchir Patel (email: PATRP) or Monica Lewis (email: LEWMB).

Tales From the Front

Many of you are considering applying to medical school. Here is some advice about the process from a senior and an alum. who were successful in their quest for admission.

Vanessa Hardin ’00 earned a B.S. in biology and did several research projects during her undergraduate years. She has been accepted by the medical schools at UT Memphis and ETSU (Eastern Tennessee State University). Regarding the application process, she advises, “Apply early! This cannot be overstated. I applied to AMCAS in mid-June, and then it takes about a month for AMCAS to process your application. Then you will start hearing from the schools in late July/early September. I completed my secondaries/supplementary applications, setting my own, rigorous deadline, by October 1st. It takes a long time to complete them - there are lots of essays and lists of activities, so give yourself sufficient time and don't let it waste away. You will then hear from the med schools about interviews as early as October and as late as March.” Vanessa also sent these comments about the interview process, “My advice, especially for women wearing semi-dressy heels, is to wear comfortable shoes! At UT Memphis we walked a lot that day, from 8 AM to 4PM. I wore some uncomfortable, fashionable heels, and my feet became blistered and sore. That night I ran to the mall and bought some fantastic Aerosoles. Other than that, the interviews were very friendly, and I really enjoyed visiting the classes of some of the 1st and 2nd year med students. At ETSU I had a scary interview. One of my interviewers (1 of 2) was hard to converse with. He even asked me, ‘If you were any fruit or vegetable, what would it be and why?’ I was a bit shocked. In encounters like these, my only advice is to keep your composure and to try to remain focused. The second inteview was with a 2nd year med. student, and it was much, much better and relaxed.”

Kasey Sweeny is a senior biology major who also did research in the Biology Department. She has been accepted at Emory University and the Medical College of Georgia, and is trying to decide where she will go next year. Kasey comments, “My tour guide at Emory, who was a third-year medical student on the group interview panel, told us that he was suprised by what the faculty interviewers were looking for. Although we had already completed our interviews, he was hesistant to tell us everything. However, he did tell us that the main thing was confidence. You must be confident with your answers (or at least act like you are). Basically, there are no wrong answers--as long as you can support your answers and are comfortable with them. Here are some other suggestions for a good interview:

--Prepare. Do mock interviews. Get a book of sample questions and think of important points you would mention in the answer. It is hard to predict what an interviewer will ask aside from: Why medicine? Some of the more difficult questions that I or other people in my interview groups have been asked include: What is a virus? What do you consider the most problematic virus? Have you ever been in a leadership position where you had trouble getting people to do what you tell them? What is the biggest challenge you have faced and failed at? To get an idea of the type of question that a specific school might ask, I suggest visiting www.interviewfeedback.com. It contains numerous evaluations of interview experiences for almost every school. At the last school I visited, the head of Admissions asked us if we had seen that web site and encouraged the use of it.

--If a certain school is your first choice, tell your interviewer. After your interview, the interviewer must fill out an evaluation form, which (among other things) usually asks the interviewer to assess the interviewees motivation for practicing medicine and motivation for attending this school.

--Be truthful. Don't answer a question in a certain way just because it is the ideal answer. You want to show the interviewer that you are realistic, not that you think you can save the world.

--If you don't know the answer to a question, say so. You look like an idiot if you try to make something up. The interviewers can tell that you don't know the answer.

--Relax. Everybody that I've come in contact with has been extremely friendly. Remember that although you're trying to impress them, they're also trying to impress you.”

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