Mississippi Junior Academy of Science 2001 Research Paper Competition.

The Mississippi Junior Academy of Sciences held its annual Research Paper Competition on January 12, 2001, jointly at Millsaps College and the Mississippi Museum of Natural Sciences. Over fifty papers were submitted to the competition. Thirty of those were selected for oral presentation on January 12. Over 100 students, teachers and parents attended the conference.

Submitted papers were divided into two classes. Class I papers were from students in grades nine and ten, while Class II papers were those of eleventh and twelfth graders. Within the classes, the papers were further divided by subject matter.

Winners by division were: Class I Biological Sciences - Ruopeng Zhu of Jackson Academy, Jackson - "The Effects of Sugar Consumption on Short Term Memory," Class I Physical Sciences - Christi Coleman and Carlin Williams of Jackson Academy, Jackson - "The Comparison of Conductivity Using Varying Voltages," Class II Biology - George Zeng of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, Columbus - "A Study of Enzymes Extracted from Soybeans and Their Effects on Digestive Enzymes Derived from Lygus hesperus," Class II Biology Special Recognition - Emily Almas of St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Ridgeland - "The Effects of Androstene dione on Weight Gain in Female Balb/c Mice," Class II Physics and Engineering - Farzad Sadjadi of Cleveland High School, Cleveland - "Force Unification Through Interaction and Curvature of Multiple Dimensional Membranes," Class II Behavior Sciences, Sociology and Psychology - Ebone Ball, Deanna Longino, and Dwan Spires of Jim Hill High School, Jackson - "The Effects of Harp Music as an Environmental Enrichment for Captive Bushbabies," Class II Medicine and Health - Gita Subramony of St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Ridgeland - "The Effectiveness of Polymerase Chain Reaction for the Detection of Bacteremia," and Class II Chemistry - Paul Varnado of Hattiesburg High School, Hattiesburg - "Polymeric Enhanced Ultrafiltration in Wastewater Remediation."

The Class II divisional winners competed in an overall competition after a business luncheon. Special Recognition was given to Paul Varnado. Gita Subramony was the Second Place winner. The Clyde Sheely (overall) Award for 2001 was given to Farzad Sadjadi. All three of these winners are invited to attend the 2002 American Junior Academy of Sciences Conference which will be held in Boston, Massachusetts, in February 2002.

Representing Mississippi at the 2001 American Junior Academy of Sciences Conference is Philip Eichhorn of Jackson Preparatory School (Jackson), Adrienne Howse of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (Columbus), and Emily Almas of St. Andrew's Episcopal School (Ridgeland). This conference is to be held on February 14, 2001.

Each year at the annual business meeting a new executive board is elected by the membership of the Mississippi Junior Academy of Sciences. The following students were elected for the 2001 - 2002 executive board: President - Gita Subramony of St. Andrew's Episcopal School (Ridgeland), Vice-president - Ruopeng Zhu of Jackson Academy (Jackson), Secretary - Nick Norris of Cleveland High School (Cleveland), Reporter - Paul Varnado of Hattiesburg High School (Hattiesburg), and Board Members - Clay Stewart of Jackson Academy (Jackson), Shelia Sundaram of St. Andrew's Episcopal School (Ridgeland), Miranda Davis of Yazoo City High School (Yazoo City), and Andrew Steele of Cleveland High School (Cleveland).