She’s traveling to Pittsburgh in July to begin working with the conference planners then expects to attend the National Collegiate Honors Council conference in Seattle in October.
NRHC conferences offer students forums for panel presentations, poster presentations and round table discussions on their research. The northeast region stretches from Quebec, Canada to Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico
“It’s really cool to see what other students in the region are doing,” Caires said.
Caires presented her research on the “Negative Economic Impact of the Automation of Low-Skill Jobs” during the regional conference held at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, in Cambridge, Mass. March 31-April 3. Her research highlighted the E-Z Pass system and the elimination of toll workers who had supported their families through their jobs. Caires argues against increasing the minimum wage because it encourages employers to further automate their operations and cost people their jobs.
“I didn’t think I’d get a lot of agreement but I did,” Caires said of her research presented at the conference.
Caires, of Merrimac, Mass., is a member of Merrimack’s Honors Program with a double major in secondary education and English.
The self-starter is a manager at a McDonald’s franchise working 60-70 hours a week during the summer and 15 hours on Sundays during the school year. She also works as a secretary for interim-Dean Sean Condon in the School of Liberal Arts.
