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Townsend Harris High School at Queens College
Biener~ reaches by Bonnie Y ee and Michael Munoz The judges of the 1996 Westinghouse competition recently chose the finalists and semi-finalists amongst the Science Talent Search applicants. Senior Ofra Biener was named . a finalist in the renowned competition, while seniors Emily Haisley and Wendy Chen finished as semi-finalists. On January 22, senior Ofra Biener learned that her social science project, "A Comparison of Paper and Computer Screens in Deleting Errors in Written Texts," had secured her a spot as one of the 40 nationwide finalists, $1,000, and a trip to Washington, D.C., in order to compete for one the top ten spots and prize money totaling $40,000. Ofra was overjoyed that her hard work had paid off. "I feel great," she said. "I never expected this." For her project, Ofra relied on the help of the word processing
by Richard Capone What would you do if someone smacked a flying object into your face at over 100 miles per hour? Well, if you were a contender for the 1996 Summer Olympics, like senior Karen I. Chang, you would probably return fire with a whirling loop. Karen is a competitive table tennis player and will be heading to the Summer Olympic Tryouts in Flint, Michigan . From February 21-23, the topranked ping pong players in the nation will face off in order to get the opportunity to be among the three men and three women selected to represent the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympics. In order to be invited, Karen had to rank among the top 30 ping pong players in the U.S. "Initially, I was surprised and excited at having been invited," said Karen. "Now, I think about my chances and how difficult it would be. Most of the other contenders are in
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finals in Westinghouse contest
classes. The subjects were asked to read two texts. One was on a computer screen and the other was a computer printout. The readings were embedded with grammatical errors. No spelling mistakes were included, because they would have been easily detected with the computer's spell-check. The purpose of the project was to see which medium allowed students to pick up more errors. In the end, Ofra discovered that paper was much better for error detection. "Many businesses are thinking about going paperless and just using computers," said Ofra. "Getting rid of paper is not the answer. It may be quicker to do things on computer, but you're giving up quality in the final copy." According to Susan Appel, Assistant Principal of Science, contestants take part in a research program, a social science research program, and an independent study when preparing for the competition.
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Emily and Wendy both did their research in the biological sciences .. For her project, Emily spent a great deal of time working in New York University's plant molecular biology laboratory to conduct research on the genetics of a model plant. Specifically, she was studying how one gene is regulated in a plant. In order .to do this, Emily grew a plant in an agar media. After reaching a certain age, the plant was treated under experimental conditions. A protein (RNA) · was extracted from the plant, frozen and ground up. The purpose of the experiment was to discover the function of the gene, how the plant regulates the gene, and to "extrapolate information to plants used for crop production to make better plants," according to Emily. Such research was time-consuming, but Emily felt it was worth it. "I love working in the lab. I've learned how to present results with scanners and computer graphics," she said.
Becoming a semi-finalist for mous amount of time and effort her project, "Opioid Receptors into the project, Wendy is not in Rodent Testes," was a very rewarding feeling for se- · nior Wendy Chen. The purpose of her project was to locate a type of receptor on reproduCtive cells. An opioid is a chemical compound ...<.> neurotransmitter c <.> used in intercellular iii communication that <!:: "' 0 is found in the tes'0 tes. Wendy was re>. "'<.> searching intercelt:: :::: 0 lular comunication. u 0 '~It means a lot to 0 ..c -me, because I put so "'much time into this project and it's sort Westinghouse finalist Ofra Biener. Her of like you get a project dealt with the detection of typing compliment for errors on paper and computer screens. something you do and it makes you feel good," upset that she did not become a said Wendy. "It's like a pat on finalist. "Nobody's effort is less the back." Continued on p. 4 Although she put in an enor-
champ -chang tries out foi -olyinpics men and 16 women divided into four teams," explained Karen. "My team won the silver and I placed third out of eight in the Women's Doubles Competitions." In the Junior Olympics, an annual national tournament for Juniors Under 18 held in Des Moines, Iowa, Karen placed third in the 1995 Under-18 Singles tournament, came in second in 1994, and in 1993, won the gold in the Under-16 Girls' Singles competition. Karen has also participated in competitions abroad, including some in Taiwan, her parents' birthplace. In Taiwan, table tennis is the number one sport and is called, "The People's Sport." "Playing in Taiwan is a very different experience from playing in the U .S.," explained Karen. "There are different•· types of training, different styles, and different strategies. People even bow to each other before a competition." Continued on p. 4
first lessons at a Chinese community center. From §0. there she went on ~ z to compete in local tournaments and ~ <.> c then moved up to :.2 u national competi"@ tion1), under the E :::: guidance of her .Q ::9 coach, Liu Hui ~,; Yuan. Some of tournaments :e these have included the ·:; ::r: U.S. Open, the bo c U.S. Olympic Fes<.> ..c tival, and the Junu >. .0 ior Olympics .. 0 Karen has proven 0 ..c that she could be "'-' successful in these member. prestigious competitions. h1 this year's U.S. Open, her Junior National Team beat Sweden and placed second. The U.S. Festival schedules competitions during the non-Olympic years. "All top athletes in the country compete. There are 16
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SSSWACK! Senior Karen I. Chang competes as a National Junior Team their twenties and thirties and have more experience." Karen is also worried about an injury from a recent ski trip and whether it will affect her performance. "I pulled a muscle in my back while I was skiing. In
the beginning, I could not even bend down. Now I've started training again, but not as intensively as I want to or should be," said Karen. Karen was only ten years old when her mother sent her to her
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Senior-Varsity Game . Page 10
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Girls' B-Ball Page 12