Two California State University, Bakersfield students earned plaudits at the 14th annual statewide student research competition sponsored by The California State University held recently at the Cal Poly Pomona.

Dustine Rojas-Kraft won first place in the graduate division, behavioral and social sciences; and Ruth Veinote earned a second place in the undergraduate division, biological and agricultural sciences.

Rojas-Kraft investigated the acculturation pressures that Mexican- American women face from Mexican culture and American society; Luis Vega was faculty mentor. Veinote presented her research into a key enzyme activity of common horehound; Roy LaFever was faculty mentor.

Other CSUB students presented their original research.

• Jason Anthony studied risk assessment and remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater.
• Kaye Lynn Falconer examined contrasting definitions of modern depression and melancholy in the 18th century.
• Gale Grasse studied cave art in the San Emigdio Mountains. She examined local rock art that appears to illustrate solar alignments.
• Victoria Harvey studied social status in a prehistoric community in the Mojave Desert. She examined burial goods and artifacts to determine differences in status and rank in the community.
• Misty Hendricks examined the physiology of exercise, specifically how certain muscle adaptation occurs.
• Christopher Hinton presented quantum mechanical calculations to show the difference between C-H bond dissociation enthalpies in methane, ethane, and toluene.
• Irma Morales Waugh examined some of the obstacles, including domestic violence, that women face that make permanent employment difficult.