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Indo American News • Friday, June 17, 2011
UT Austin’s Bijal Mehta: Biking to Find a Cure for Cancer AUSTIN: Bijal Mehta, 23, Carrollton, Texas at this writing is peddling her bicycle through a scorching summer heat. Along with her 20 University of Texas at Austin fellow students she is riding to Anchorage, Alaska in what is considered the world’s longest charity bicycle ride. Bijal and her team kicked off their 4,775 miles odyssey on June 4 from Austin, Texas as part of the Texas 4000 organization. The team will crisscross five states –Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming – and three Canadian provinces –Alberta, British Columbia, and Yucatan – before entering Alaska. It is a long ride testing physical endurance and mental temperaments. The team will be on the road for 70 days in heat, rain, sleet, wind, and snow. Each day the team travels between 70 and 130 miles, and night-rest at schools, churches, host families, or camp out. With 1.6 million new cancer cases and 600,000 deaths in US alone, cancer has supplanted heart disease as the number one killer. There is hardly anyone who is not unfavorably impacted due to the destruction wrought by cancer. Interacting with many communities along the way Bijal and her team wants to raise awareness, educate prevention, and collect dollars for cancer research. Over the last several years the Texas 4000 organization has collected
and donated more than two million dollars for cancer research. They plan to establish a new biomedical research center at UT Austin. “ I have been undeservedly lucky in my life”, says Bijal. “I want to give back to the community. I have had an incredible network of friends, family, and well wishers in my community.” “This is also my Thank-you note. My uncle had a deadly cancer tumor knocking at the edge of his brain. With God’s grace, he survived miraculously, and we are all grateful”, Bijal continued. Months ago before Bijal Mehta, a 23 year old UT Austin graduate she graduated this May, from Carrollton along with other riders left Bijal landed a dream Austin for Anchorage. job at Amazon.Com in Seattle, Washington. The job $8,000. About Bijal Mehta: required her to start working in A former nationally ranked June, and she was reluctantly ready to turn it down because of high-school debate champion Bithe ride. She contacted the com- jal Mehta was born in Indianapolis pany and told them abut the ride, and raised in Carrollton, a suburb its mission, and her commitment. of Dallas, Texas. She graduated The company told her that was May of this year from Univergreat, and they would hold the job sity of Texas at Austin with maopen for her. Bijal has raised $12,000 so far. jors in Business Before she reaches Anchorage Honors; Supply she hopes to raise an additional Chain; and the
Plan II liberal arts program. As part of Business Brigade, a college organization, she has worked in Panama, Central America for developing entrepreneurs. She has won two national level Business Case competitions for starting sustainable, environmentenhancing businesses. She has
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travelled to more than 24 countries but her most favorite destination continues to be Mumbai spending lazy summer time with her grandma. For more information about her ride or support Bijal’s efforts, visit www.bijal4000.com
Help the Thirsty Trees in Your Area, Suggest Houston’s Tree Advocates (Yourhoustonnews) No rain —and none in sight — has local tree advocates concerned about the long-term effects of the drought on Houston’s tree inventory. Drought-weakened trees now means the city could potentially lose millions of trees later, setting in motion a long-reaching and long-lasting adverse environmental impact, said Trees For Houston. The plant and protect tree organization is urging Houstonians to water the thirsty trees in their neighborhoods since tree maintenance by city and organizations can only do so much. Without such immediate localized grassroots efforts to water neighborhood trees, the landscape of Houston and surrounding environs will look significantly different in five years as the full effects of the drought become apparent. Newly planted trees are especially vulnerable. Early signs of damage include yellowing leaves and premature leaf drop all over the crown. As the damage progresses, leaves will die from the bottom of the tree upward and from the inside of the canopy outward. Sometimes leaves simply wilt, or “burn” along their edges. Trees need a deep, thorough soaking once a week during the growing season. A watering schedule that is adequate to maintain a lawn will not maintain a tree. A rule of thumb during a drought is to give small, one-year-old trees 28 gallons of water a week, two-year-olds 56 gallons a week, and three-year-olds 112 gallons. Also, remove weeds and grass, which compete for water, beneath trees and replacing with a two- or three-inch cover of mulch. Adopt a tree (water edition) In a related outreach to mitigate the effects of drought on trees, Trees For Houston is operating a summer drought campaign to help fund watering of trees the organization maintains. The cost of watering one tree for a year is $75. A nonprofit organization, Trees For Houston plants and protects trees. During the 20102011 planting season, which ended in March, the organization and its volunteers planted about 42,000 trees along residential and commercial streets, in parks, along bayous and trails and on school campuses. Since its beginning in 1983, Trees For Houston has planted and distributed more than 420,000 trees and seedlings. For information or to underwrite tree watering, call 713-840-8733 or visit www.treesforhouston.org. Indo American News • Friday, JUNE 17, 2011 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com