By: Hector Flores
Four of the semifinalists attend Kennedy: Gayle Denman, 17, Carol Eisenstat, 17, Julie Friedman, 18, and Samantha Goldman, 17, all of Merrick. Three attend Mepham: Miles Davison, 17, of Bellmore, and Benjamin Jackson, 17, and Jessica Sorrentino, 17, of North Bellmore. Rounding out the list is Helaina Skop, 17, of Merrick, who's a student at Calhoun.
Eight is the greatest number of Intel semifinalists the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District has ever had in a year, and students and faculty members say the district's fledgling Authentic Science Research Program deserves much of the credit.
Dr. Thomas Caramore, the Central High School District superintendent, said, "The success of our students in Mepham, Kennedy and Calhoun is a reflection of the district's ongoing commitment to excellence. We congratulate all of the outstanding students who have participated in our research program and acknowledge the contributions of the Bellmore-Merrick teachers, administrators, parents and Board of Education, whose support and encouragement made this achievement possible."
Mepham High School Principal John Didden said, "This has been a banner year for the science department."
Denman said the research program "is one of the most wonderful features in the school district and has opened a world of opportunity for us students." Bellmore-Merrick science-research teachers "have helped us along the way," she said, "and our placement in the semifinalists would not be possible without their help."
Denman's project explored a cancer-detection procedure, radiation-force elastography, which uses focused, high-intensity sound beams to identify malignant cells.
Barbie Frank, a Kennedy High School science-research mentor, described students who enter the research program as academically motivated and intelligent. The young people must apply to get into the intense, three-year research program. The application process includes essays, recommendations letters and a student-teacher interview.
Once accepted into the program, students begin research projects the summer after freshman year. Over the summer between eighth and ninth grades, students must read as many newspapers, magazines and science journals as possible in search of research topics.
Frank said, "The most important thing we want from the program is to provide students with the opportunity to do Ph.D.-level research."
By December of their sophomore year, students have an idea of the topics they're interested in studying. They then reach out to the authors of articles that piqued their interest, who in turn refer them to professors who have experience in their chosen subjects or to laboratories where they can do research. They then must apply to conduct research with particular professors, college programs or research labs.
If students encounter difficulties researching a given subject, they can choose another. One student who changed her mind was Eisenstat, who began researching Parkinson's disease, but later discovered her findings would not be conclusive enough. "To be an Intel semifinalist," she said, "your findings must show something new, a new idea, thought or theory -- something that is innovative."
Instead of Parkinson's, Eisenstat looked into the possibility of increasing cotton output by enhancing the production of microscopic fibers.
"Each year, 37 pounds of cotton is used by one person," she said. "Cotton is even used in food -- margarine, salad dressing and to feed poultry and livestock by farmers. By meeting the United States' demand for cotton, there will be a decrease in the national trade deficit and curb America's need for foreign cotton."
Aside from assisting students in their research topics, Bellmore-Merrick teachers also help students cope with difficult times. At one point during her research, Eisenstat contemplated quitting.
"I remember crying to my teacher because I had to count so many fibers [more than 100,000], " she said. "I felt like quitting, but Mrs. Frank told me I could do it."
Student researchers say they are grateful for all they've learned. Goldman, who studied the connection between children's sensitivity to bitter tastes and their intake of high-fat foods, said the program has taught her skills that will prove useful later in life.
"We have learned public-speaking skills, how to give a presentation, time management and how to dissect a science journal by breaking the journal into its parts," she said. Dissecting science journals also helped Goldman write her own research article, which is to be published.
Goldman added that the program taught her about time management. Throughout the school year, the student scientists had to log nine hours of research a week while maintaining a rigorous, often college-level course load and staying involved in extracurricular activities.
Friedman, who studied hormones that aid seed germination, was particularly adept at time management. In addition to her research, she served as her class treasurer and played on the tennis, basketball and lacrosse teams.
Sorrentino, who studied the effects of ephedrine on brain cells, said there is a wonderful camaraderie that develops among student researchers. She said students often edited one another's writings, and at times stayed up late into the night, working together and eating pizza.
Not just biology
The majority of Central students studied a biological process during their research. There were, however, a handful of students whose research dealt with psychology and social behavior.
Davison studied how people perceive and interpret information. He created two Power Point presentations on stem-cell research. One was designed to be less factual, but visually attractive, with graphs and colors, and the other more accurate, but presented in plain black and white. One hundred students viewed the two presentations and were asked to fill out a survey.
"I found that the students viewed the first presentation [as] more accurate because it was more attractive," Davison said. "There have been studies showing similar things, and I thought that it applied to the Internet because there are many Web sites that are flashy and look appealing, but may have misleading information. I just think people should be more skeptical of what they read."
Jackson focused his research on economics. "I am also interested in social studies," he said. "You don't have to study chemistry or biology to be a scientist; there is science in everything."
Jackson examined religion through economics. He wanted to see if religion influenced the economic behavior of rabbis. He asked 50 rabbis to fill out a survey to see how much money they would give to a friend or partner who was Jewish and one who was not.
His research showed that rabbis, on average, were likely to give more money to fellow Jews. His research wasn't statistically significant, however, because not enough rabbis took part in the study, Jackson said. Still, the project made the Intel semifinalists list.
"You do not need to go into a lab or be a big science person," Jackson said. "You just have to want to achieve."
A parent's joy
Indeed, parents of Intel semifinalists are as ecstatic over their kids' success as the researchers themselves. Just ask Joanne Skop. Skop, a kindergarten teacher and the mother of Helaina Skop, said she first noticed her daughter's interest in science at an early age and made it a point to nurture her curiosity.
For her entry in the science competition, Helaina studied the genes involved in the reproduction of microscopic worms, spending most of last summer conducting her research at Hofstra University.
"This program was a dream come true for her," Joanne said. "You would think, what teen wants to be cooped up in a lab all summer? But Helaina loved it. The whole experience was great, and being named one of the [semi-finalists] is just icing on the cake."
The eight semifinalists will learn on Jan. 29 whether they are among the 40 finalists. Finalists will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., where they will compete for $530,000 in prizes and a first-place $100,000 scholarship.
