Vol. 8, No.2, January, 1992
75-40 Parsons Boulevard. Flushing, NY 11366
Townsend Harris High SChool at Queens College
Westinghouse winners announced:
Duong named finalist by NeftaU Serrano Senior Daihung Duong was named this week r , as one of40 final ists in the 5 1st annual Westing'! house Science Talent Search, and Yujuan Choy , and David Mayer placed as semi-finalists. Daihung's winning entry was in physics, while Yujuan and Dav id submitted projects in bio logy and social science. Daihung will be awarded $2000 and an allexpenses-paid trip to Washington D.C. March 5-9 to compete for scholarships ranging from $ 10,000 to $40,000. David and Yujuan are among 300 semi -fmalists sele cted from the 1,705 entrants this year. Daihung 's entry, a research project on the physical properties of polymers, was actually an outcome of his ongo ing research at Queens College . With the help ofWestinghouse advisor Susan Appel , supervising scientists Dr. M ii-iam Rafailovich and her husband Dr. Jonathan Sokolov , and phys ics teacher Phillip Jone s, Daihung studied the effects of heat on polys tyrene, more commonly known as styrofoam . "Bas ically what 1 did was take two different types of polymers and mix them together to get a blend. And, 1 found out that by heating them, they segregate; one diffuses out of the other," I explained Daihung. The crux of his projectlay in heating the blend at high temperatures in high vacuum. Since hig h vacuum ovens didn't exist, Dr. Rafailovich asked Daihung to design a special high vacuum oven to be paid for by Queens College. "I think we went through hundreds of different designs before fmally settling down to one," said Daihung. The oven, now in use at Queens College, cost over $ 1000. ''Daihung's project was at an unbelievably lhigh level," said .Ms . Appel. '1 don't think 1
know many graduate students, let alone high school students, who could do something like . that. II While Daihung's project took two years to develop, Dav id's social science study on students' use ofstudy guides and its impacton their creativity, took abou t two months to research. "By administering...a standardized test ofcreativity," said Dav id, "I discovered that there was no correlation between students' use of study guides and their creativity." Dav id, supervised by Ms. Appel, surveyed Townsend Harris students in Howard Wagner's psychology class and the Westinghouse class. Despite his success, David felt his chances of advancing as a fmalist were slim. "I think it 's very tough hav ing a social science project and expecting to go further....The problem is that about 10% of the fmalis ts have social science projects; the res t are pure science," he no ted. Last year only three of the forty fmal winners worked in the soc ial sciences. Yujuan's research into the phenotific reversibility of the Eschenicia coli mutant covered over a year's worth of work, starting after her internship at Michigan State University. There, she learned techniques in microbiology which she utilized in her Westinghouse. "I discovered that one of the phenotypes did have a phenotific reversibility, and that the others are not totally reversible," she said . Since similar spontaneous mutations occur in nature, Yujuannotes, understanding the mutations is very important in practical applications. Yujuan was supervised by Dr. Irvin Hirshfield of St. John's University and Ms. Appel. Michael Manson, Joseph Horn, and Harriette Blechman were other faculty members who worked with the Westinghouse entrants.
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JPQP~lf JR~c'Cliftg -25% of the fibers used In paper Industry of the U.s. comes from recycled paper. . -A tree can be saved with each 4- foot stack of paper that Wrecycled. -150,000 trees could be saved every year If 100,000 Americans dlsc:ontlnued their Junk mall. -40 million acres of forest are destroyed each day to produce paper. -50 to 100 acres of Rain Forest are destroyed every minute of every day. -17 trees are saved with each ton of recycled paper. -There 1574% less air pollution when recycled paper Ismanufactured as opposed to paper manufactured from virgin wood pulp. -Enough omce:a~d writing paper wthrown away by Americans each year to build a wall 12 feet high from L.A. to N.Y.C. Source: Anderson.Bruce N. - editor,The Environmental Catalogue and Consumer'sGdidefor a Safe Earth, New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1990. Compiled by Olga Mazyuk
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Spring brings birds, bees - and condoms by Jennifer Mattucci The condom availability pro;gram for New York City high schools will be instituted in Townsend Harris by the beginning of the spring term along with approximately 50 other schools. Health teacher Ellen Schwartz is serving as Team Leader of the program. Students will be able to receivecondoms, which have been donated by Trojan and Ramses, from one of six staff members. The condoms will be available ten periods a week in specific classrooms, which will be posted or announced. They will also be made available to seniors at Queens College. The six staff members who volunteered for the program are Mrs. Schwartz, health teacher Keith Hanson, guidance counselor Marilyn Blier, history teacher Myron Moskowitz, Coordinator of Student Affairs Judy Beiner, and secretary Joan Starr. ''[They] sit in room, the.kids come in, they are given [two] condoms, a card [with a warning thatcondomscanbreakandleak], and they can ask questions,"said Ms. Schwartz. Teachers will also be able to refer students to resource places such as hotlines, mental health centers, or specially trained counselors. The program prom-
a
ises completeconfi dentiality for the students. There will be six mandatory on-going AIDS prevention lessons for students of all grades, the first in one ofMs. Schwartz's Health classes on January 29. ·T wo representatives from the Board of Education will be pres.ent to observe the class. The team includes a few students, faculty members, and Lore Wolf, motherofsenior StephanieWo lf. Students may come in as many times a week as they wish to ask for the condoms, but only two will be given per visit. All staff members taking part in the second phase of the program attended two full-day meetings mandated by the Board of Education in the middle of December held at Forest Hills High School. They were given sensitivity training to make them more comfortable with the program and therefore more helpful to the students, and information to answer students' questions. The first phase of the condom availability program began on November 26, 1991 at John Dewey High School in~rooklyn. and City-As-School in
second phase and another 50 in the third phase. All of the 120 city high schools will be participating by the end of the school year, acco rding to Schools ChancellorJoseph A. Fernandez (New York Times, 11(27/91). Ms . Schwartz admits she has some mixed feelings about the program. "I don't like to see the school taking over what 1 perceive to be pare ntal roles . The role of the school is to educate students. Since we live in a society whe re parents aren 't always able to fulfill their roles ,...since we are dealing with a viru s that is fatal, and since this is a way to reach teenagers, 1 accept it as a place where condoms sho uld be madeavailable to them," she said " People are likely to use something if it is easy to get. " I t is hoped this program will lower the number of cases of AIDS in New York City teens. The city's teenagers constitute 20% of the adolescent AIDS cases in the nation, yet only 3% of. America's teens live in the city, according to the Center for Population Options (New York DailYlYews, 11(26/91). -'This is not condom distribu- I,
Greenwich Village. Fourteen other New York City high schools joined the program in the next two weeks. There are approximately 50 schools in the
tion; it is availability," stresses Assistant Principal ofHealth and Physical Education Harry Rattein.
Environmental group launches paper recycling by Diana Tuite Everyone throws out three pounds of paper weekly, reports the Sanitation Department. To combat this waste, Students for the Preservation of the Earth (S.P.E.) and their advisor Odile Garcia instituted a school-wide recycling program in early November. The group placed recycling bins in the general office, room 216, and the teacher's room. Originally planning to place cans in every classroom, butshort on funds, the club 'set up several more stations in areas like the library and halls , and placed cartons in some classes. During lunch or after school, S.P.E. members empty the cans into a large
container outside the building. The refuse is later picked up by the Sanitation Department as part of the city's Paper Recycling Program. "Everyone will love the idea of recycling because it is different and it helps the environment. I hope students will become aware and look into it in their own community," said President' of S.P.E., Lynette Cegelski. A speaker from the Sanitation Department, John Cho, visited the organization on October 30 to prepare students for the project. Mr. Cho praised the club as one offew in flushing with such a program. Many members feel that not enough
Miss Teen N.Y.
Junior Banquet
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of the students and faculty are being reached, "Some teachers still throw paper out," said junior Melina D'Amico. "We need more announcements. Teachers should collect scrap paper after exams and put it in the cans." In addition, S.P.E. has encouragedteachers to conserve paper by using both sides of sheets when making copies. Eventually, Lynette hopes to "recycle other things that we cannot now, like newspapers." The group is also responsible for the recycling ofsoda and juice cans in the cafetorium. Some members propose that in the future, S.P.E. tackle the recycling of sporks used during lunch.
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Intramurals
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