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Tag: Class of 2023

Microfinance as Tool to Reduce Global Poverty: VMI Cadet Presents During Honors Week

How can people living in extreme poverty in developing nations around the world lift themselves and their families out of hardship and provide a new life for generations to come? Brandon Marks ’23, an international studies major at Virginia Military Institute, conducted a two-year-long research project on microfinance, and presented his findings in his senior thesis titled, “The Impact of Domestic Context on Microfinance Provision and Effectiveness” during Honors Week, held March 20-28. 

Marks opened by telling two stories. This first about a woman named Jacqueline from a poor province in Rwanda. She had lost her siblings from disease and war, but she had a dream of starting a sewing business to take her family out of poverty. She took out a $100 microfinance loan, co-signed by eight other women, and bought a sewing machine. Six microfinance loans later, her business began to expand and became profitable. Once unable to provide schooling for her children, Jacqueline successfully lifted her family out of poverty, sent her daughter to college, and hired tutors for her three sons. Marks quoted Jacqueline as saying, “The loan changed my life.” 

The second story was about a woman named Madhuka from Sri Lanka, who had a similar dream as Jacqueline’s. She wanted to start a mat making company to lift her family out of poverty. Unbeknownst to her husband, she took out a $425 microfinance loan and started the company. However, when the rains came down and flooded the streets that she needed to sell those mats, she could not make the $30 monthly payment. Her husband panicked when he found out, and she fell into despair. In the dark of night, she went outside and poured kerosene over herself and lit herself on fire. Hearing her screams, her husband rescued her and took her to the hospital. Even at the hospital, the microfinance loan officers came to her bedside and demanded payment for the loan.  

The two very different stories led Marks to his research question: How do domestic factors influence microfinance provision and effectiveness?  

He stated that worldwide poverty effects nearly 698 million people, or 9% of the global population, who live in extreme poverty. “Roughly 2 billion adults across the world are unbanked, meaning they cannot apply for a loan. Microfinance is a tool that provides a way for people to take themselves out of extreme poverty, and build a new life for themselves and their families,” he stated.    

Microfinance provides capital in the form of small loans with high interest rates, joint liability, and no collateral, with the goal of creating entrepreneurship, productivity, and social capital in borrowers. Proponents of microfinance say it reduces poverty, uses capital for entrepreneurial pursuits, and increases economic growth, as seen in the success story of Jacqueline. Opponents of the practice though say it is a debt trap, demands high interest rates, and tends to saturate the market with similar businesses. Marks discovered that 50% of households eligible for a loan choose not to get one because they perceive it as a risky endeavor, are unwilling or fear of going into debt, and see the cost of the loan as too high.  

Theorizing that high trust and regulation would lower the perception of risk for the borrower, Marks’ hypothesis for his research project was, “All else equal, countries with a higher societal perception of regulatory quality should experience greater levels of microfinance provision.” After much research and statistical analysis though, he found that his hypothesis is suggested to be wrong. He found that the opposite was true, that as levels of trust and government regulations decrease, microfinance provision increases. Highly regulated and trustworthy institutions are associated with efficient microfinance operations that can offer lower interest rates to borrowers. Ironically, in areas where microfinance is most needed, institutions are the least efficient and loans are the most expensive, putting borrowers at risk. On effectiveness, Marks notes that market saturation of similar businesses has a strong impact on microfinance. Countries with low regulation continue to provide business loans even after markets reach capacity, leading to hyper-competition, decreased profits, and business failure. High-regulation countries provide fewer business loans and more household loans to avoid market saturation. To effectively reduce poverty, Marks argues government and microfinance institutions should regulate lending to prevent market disruption and indebtedness among borrowers. 

Maj. Megan Roosevelt, assistant professor of international studies and Marks’ advisor on the project said, “Brandon’s research is a great example of how the social scientific research method should work – with all its ups and downs. Trying to square a classroom discussion on microfinance with his travels in developing countries led him to an interesting and under-explored research question on an issue with major significance to policymakers, donors, and people living in poverty around the globe. Even when, after a year or more of gathering literature and quantitative data, his results disconfirmed his hypothesis, he used those unexpected findings to highlight a fascinating and maybe counterintuitive reason why microfinance has such mixed results for the poor. The whole research process has really been a testament to his creativity, hard work, and intellectual curiosity.” 

Marks is from Staten Island, New York, where he attended Staten Island Technical High School. He is the son of Len Marks and Cary Berwald. He is president of the Honor Court and operations officer of the Cadet Superintendent’s Advisory Board. After graduation, he will enter the field of real estate development, creating hotels. 

Dyslexic Cadet Focuses Research on ADHD and Dyslexia for Honors Week Presentation

“Good afternoon. I am a 1st Class cadet here at VMI, and I have dyslexia.” That is how Claire Curtis ’23, a biology major at Virginia Military Institute, began her senior thesis titled, “Learning Differences at VMI” during Honors Week, held March 20-28.   

To a captivated audience, Curtis shared that the U.S. Department of Education defines a learning difference as being “A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations.”

Curtis then focused her discussion on two fairly common learning differences: ADHD, a neuropsychological disorder characterized by hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsiveness; and dyslexia, a neuropsychological disorder personal to Curtis, and characterized by issues in reading, writing, and understanding written language, and affects 20% of the population. She postulated that because the two are the most prevalent learning disorders, there may be a number of students with one or both at VMI. 

Curtis shared that her parents believed her capable of reading at the age of four, but she had only memorized the story books that her parents had read to her. They became aware of a problem when she was off by a page, but told the story verbatim. She was officially diagnosed with dyslexia when she was in 3rd grade. However, she is considered to be a twice-exceptional learner, that is a student who has both a high cognitive ability and who has a learning disorder, which is why she is an honors student at an exceptionally challenging senior military college. 

Curtis cited federal and state laws currently in place that prohibit discrimination, and allow accommodations for students with learning differences. She examined several colleges and universities in Virginia, such as George Mason University, James Madison University, Randolph-Macon College, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Virginia Commonwealth University, who all offer between three to six different accommodations. But according to Curtis, using accommodations for learning differences disqualifies one from enlisting or commissioning, as well as attending a military college.

“VMI’s accommodations include assistive technology, priority registration, extra time on tests, a separate testing location, and academic assistance. I compared those accommodations to what is offered at the Citadel, a college very similar to VMI. Their accommodations include learning assistance, a test-taking center, assistive technology, peer note-takers as well as note-taking alternatives, and priority registration. Like VMI though, they cannot accommodate those who are commissioning,” she explained. 

Curtis spent much of the year researching, reviewing, and interpreting brain scans, and seeking best practices at places of higher education with regard to learning differences. She sought to educate and advocate, and identified ways to further support VMI cadets with learning differences, including additional funding for programs and support staff.  

Maj. Molly Kent, assistant professor in the Department of Biology and Curtis’ advisor stated, “Claire approaches material and data differently than many in the sciences, but her unique perspective and voice have been educational for me. I have learned so much from Claire’s project and hard work over the past several semesters. I can’t wait to see what she does next.” 

Lt. Col. Sara Whipple, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology said, “I’m impressed with the breadth of information Claire has covered, from the neuroscience of dyslexia and ADHD, to federal and state policies, down to an analysis of services and accommodations that a variety of colleges offer. Advising her on this project allowed me to recognize ways I could improve inclusivity and accessibility in my own classrooms.”  

Curtis is from Louisville, Kentucky, where she attended high school at Presentation Academy. She is the daughter of Diane and Brian Curtis. Her minors are history and chemistry. She is part of the Institute Scholar program, an S7 lieutenant, works as a cadet assistant athletic trainer, serves as an EMS member, is a member of the Cadet Superintendent’s Advisory Board, and plays volleyball. After graduation, she hopes to commission into the military and attend medical school.   

Honors Week: One Cadet’s Connection to the Greek Resistance

Cadet Chris Cocoris ’23 remembers growing up listening to stories about his great-uncle George Cocoris. They were passed down to his father since his great-uncle had passed before Cocoris was born. George joined the Greek resistance to oppose the Axis occupation in 1941 Greece, Cocoris said.   

For Cocoris’ senior thesis “Suppressing the Red Tide: Greek-American-British Counterinsurgency Efforts Against Greek Communist Insurgents During the Third Phase of the Greek Civil War, 1945-1949, he decided to dive into his Greek heritage.  

“I selected the topic to demonstrate how the Greek government, with American and British assistance, managed to defeat one of the earliest communist insurgencies,” the 1st Class Virginia Military Institute cadet said. “In addition, I wanted to work on a topic for which I could use my fluency of the Greek language, which in this instance proved to be instrumental for the completion of my project.”

The project took nearly two years, and according to his advisor Col. David Gray, it’s more of a graduate-level thesis than an undergraduate. Gray described Cocoris as a go-getter who’s self-motivated. He was impressed with his curiosity, which led Cocoris to visit multiple archives — including some in Greece, the National Archives, the Truman Library, and the George C. Marshall Library on post — to attain research for his thesis.  

“He’s got some good insights and as his young mind is developing both as a historian but perhaps more important in the near term as a future army officer, soon to be this spring, and an infantry man, he will for sure engage in some of these types of operations if he stays in long enough,” Gray said. “So this gives him a great intellectual foundation and hones his own judgment in thinking about these important issues.” 

Cocoris, a history major, will commission into the United States Army as an active-duty Infantry 2nd Lieutenant upon graduation.  

The biggest piece of research he collected was his great-uncle’s journal, something he wasn’t aware his family even possessed.  

“The resistance group he joined was ELAS, which during WWII, had kept its communist character hidden,” Cocoris said. “I was lucky to be given his journal ‘Why we Became Guerrillas of ELAS’ by my father, which unveiled the fact that upon the liberation of Greece, George Cocoris’ partisan group opposed the rule of the Greek government, which is the focus of my study.” 

His thesis was presented March 22 for VMI’s Honor Week. The Greek Civil War is one of the few successful counterinsurgencies in an era of defeats, he said. His great-uncle’s journal proved to give great insight into a firsthand account. Captured and imprisoned by the Greek National Army in 1946, George Cocoris was eventually released in 1947. 

“Military historians tend to focus on leading personalities in warfare, such as general officers and political leaders. While primarily focusing on WWII rather than the Greek Civil War, George Cocoris’ journal allowed me to observe the average insurgent’s opinions and way of life during the civil strife in Greece,” Cocoris said. “His journal reflects his reactions to the Greek government’s counterinsurgency efforts and the insurgent rhetoric’s shift from national liberation towards communism.” 

His thesis required lots of work and dedication — it was a three semester process to complete a 50-page report that went through a myriad of edits and refinements.  

“I truly immersed myself in the study of the Greek Civil War, researching archival sources from several countries, and exploring my family’s past during the civil strife in Greece,” he said.  

Gray gave Cocoris a series of 10 books to start out with the second semester of his 2nd Class year, in order to provide him with some background reading and perspective and context on the period of study.  

“That gave him some clues as to where to start,” Gray said. 

Research carried on over through the summer into the 1st Class year, where Cocoris began producing a thesis. After their first semester they must produce a draft of their thesis and give an oral defense, Gray said. His final semester was spent refining his research and reviewing edits from Gray after each draft of his thesis.