Laura Boehm '08, David Vock '07, and Nicole Novak '08 presented their CIR work on U.S. rice subsidies and their effect on Costa Rica at the State Capitol on February 14, 2007 through the Private College Scholars at the Capitol program.

Their research, advised by Rebecca Judge (Economics) and Julie Legler (Statistics), studied the claim that farm subsidies lead to international trade imbalance, specifically examining the case of US rice, a heavily subsidized crop, and Costa Rica which has become increasingly dependent on US rice. They have developed a system of simultaneous equations that models the various and interrelated factors relating to the international rice trade.

The Scholars at the Capitol Program, which invites scholars of all disciplines to present their work at the St. Paul Capitol Rotunda, gives students an opportunity to interact with state legislators as well as student researchers and faculty from other Minnesota private colleges. Three other St. Olaf groups also presented research at this event.

Elizabeth Atchison '08, Jamie Carlyle '07, and David McClure '08 presented their CIR work on assessing the uncertainty associated with the estimate of the global burden of rotavirus at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in San Fransisco, California.

This conference brought undergraduates from all over the US to present their research in either poster or lecture form. It was an opportunity to hear distinguished lecturers and see other students' work on everything from what anthropologists can learn from the postures depicted on ancient Greek urns to new software that allows animators to create a short movie based on just a few sketches on a tablet PC.