Press Releases

May 6, 1999
Sarah Sedoruk of Crystal, Minn., Named 1999 Valedictorian at Southampton College

Psychobiology Major Earns Praise for her Research on the "Stingray Shuffle"

Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
Joe Dionisio
(516) 287 8313
Fax: (516) 283 4081

Southampton, NY -- Beach lovers who swim in fear of stingrays can thank Sarah Sedoruk for attending a college surrounded by water.

Sedoruk, the 1999 valedictorian at Long Island University's Southampton College, is intrigued by an animal most swimmers go out of their way to avoid. She has conducted extensive research on the effectiveness of the "Stingray Shuffle," a technique used by beach-goers to avoid being stung by stingrays.

On May 23, she will receive a degree in interdisciplinary Psychology/Biology, one of the hottest new fields in science. Psychobiology, as it is best known, is the study of the brain and how it controls behavior. Because Southampton College is encircled by the bays and the ocean, Psychobiology students can closely study marine life, as well as animal behavior.

Sedoruk, a native of Crystal, Minnesota, currently is investigating the visual behavior of stingrays in the College's psychobiology laboratory.

During an internship arranged by the College's Cooperative Education and Career Development Center, she and two other researchers spent much of last summer along the southwest coast of Florida, where they caught and tagged stingrays. Their study determined that the stingray shuffle reduces the chances of getting stung, but that beach-goers are as likely to make contact with stingrays whether walking normally or shuffling.

"When you drag your toes along the bottom, you are most likely to bump the stingray's pectoral fins," said Sedoruk. "This contact does not trap the ray so it simply startles and swims away. By walking normally, you are much more likely to step directly on top of the ray, trapping it beneath your foot. Since the ray cannot escape, its only option is to sting you."

"When I first decided to be a marine biologist I thought I'd want to study marine mammals, but four years ago I was intrigued by a stingray exhibit I saw at the Baltimore Aquarium," said Sedoruk, the daughter of Diana St. Denis of Crystal, Minn., and Paul Sedoruk of Salem, Oregon. "I've since learned more about stingrays. Not only do I find them interesting, but they have not been extensively studied so there is a lot to learn about them. I was able to pursue these studies at Southampton College so I have really enjoyed my classes here."

Sedoruk, who has compiled a 3.98 GPA, will receive Summa Cum Laude honors on Sunday, May 23 at 2 p.m., during commencement exercises to be held outdoors in front of Southampton Hall, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and Shinnecock Bay.

She also is conducting an experiment with rats to determine if adding phosphocholine to infant formula can improve learning and memory in young animals.

"Sarah rapidly surveyed the literature and designed an important and novel experiment on the effects of choline on learning," said Dr. John Neill, a Southampton College psychology professor. "Her work is already highly regarded by some of the top researchers in the field, who are anxious to see what she found."

She is graduating in only three years, having enrolled at Southampton College in 1996 with 28 advanced placement credits earned at Cooper High School in New Hope, Minn. She has been involved in a variety of activities, including the Marine Biology Club, Geology/ Outing Club, Ultimate Frisbee, intramural soccer and volleyball, and has been on the Dean's List for all three years. She is a member of Psi Chi, the Psychology National Honor Society.

Sedoruk, who has earned several honors at Southampton College, last week received the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award from Long Island University President David J. Steinberg.

In her first year at the College, she was recognized as the Social Science department's top freshman, won a Student Activities Service Award, and won a $1,000 scholarship as a member of the winning team for Get It Together, a contest sponsored by the Freshman Program.

After completing graduate school, she would like to study the behavior and visual capabilities of stingrays and manta rays.

Following Sedoruk's valedictorian speech, Jules Feiffer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for New Yorker magazine, will deliver the commencement address. Receiving an honorary degree will be Bruce Menge, a marine scientist renowned for his research on ecological communities in biologically diverse marine environments. Menge earned a B.A. in Zoology at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis in 1965.

At Southampton College's 36th annual commencement, Dr. Steinberg will confer degrees upon 290 undergraduates and 42 graduate students.