Writing Defined:

Lucerna, n: a light for undergrads

By: Megan Henderson

Posted: 9/17/07

Lucerna, Latin for "lantern," publishes the academic works of undergraduate students only.

The annual journal is funded by the UMKC Honors Program and the Student Government Association. The second volume was released Wednesday, Sept. 5.

"[Lucerna] is a collection of the best undergraduate student research on campus," said Jacob Westen, senior and editor-in-chief of the 2008 edition of Lucerna. "[It] allows students an excellent medium to participate in the conversation of academia."

Gayle Levy, director of the Honors Program, said the idea for the journal developed in 2005 when students in the Honors Program were brainstorming a new initiative to organize.

"They voted for an undergraduate research journal open to all UMKC undergraduates since one didn't exist," Levy said. "We hope to encourage the transmission of top-notch student research by allowing UMKC students a venue for publishing."

Students in the Honors Program make up the journal's editorial board and see each edition through to publication. Though Honors students run the journal, all UMKC undergraduates are encouraged to submit their work.

"Lucerna allows students to share their best work with the campus community and beyond the campus since the journal can also be read online," Levy said. "[A]ny UMKC undergraduate can submit a paper to the journal."

Editorial board member Dustin Jensen hopes UMKC students, when writing academic papers, will be inspired by the idea of having their work published.

"…[W]rite in a way that [does] more than fulfill an assignment," he said. "…[W]rite papers that might capture any readers attention."

Submitted papers are read by members of the Lucerna review board and given a score based on clarity, consistency, grammar, how well the paper sits in its field, and overall uniqueness, according to Westen.

Roughly eight diverse papers are chosen for publication.

"We want to have as many papers from as many departments as possible," Westen said. "Lucerna is a great resource because papers pertaining to all subject areas are welcome. If you have a paper you like that says something, submit it."

Volume two showcases Lucerna's diversity. Lisa Erickson's essay titled "Polygonal Numbers" is followed by Ashley French's "Determination of Magnesium Using EDTA." Then, Daniel Green philosophically scrutinizes the relationship between modern technology and friendship in "Aristotle on Friendship."

The UMKC Honors Program has partnered with the Miller Nichols Library for Lucerna. Levy said students can contact Diane Hunter at 235-1537 for "assistance identifying resources for their [research] topic[s]."

Papers submitted to Lucerna should be between 3,000 and 6,000 words and should be sent to umkclucerna@yahoo.com.

Submissions will be accepted until Feb. 1, 2008. More information about Lucerna can be found at http://cas.umkc.edu/honors/lucerna/. Free copies of the 2007 edition of Lucerna are available in Haag Hall 204.

"A university education is … learning the knowledge that already exists," Levy said. "But students also ultimately learn how to create new knowledge. That is [what] Lucerna seeks to publish."

Westen articulated the journal's ability to represent undergraduate students at UMKC in his editor's note in the 2007 edition.

"These few [essays] represent only a portion of light that fills our university," he said. "Let this journal be but a lantern by which you may gaze into a world of thought, curiosity and a yearning to wonder."

mhenderson@unews.com