Mississippi Junior Academy of Sciences.

2000 Research Paper Competition

The 2000 Mississippi Junior Academy of Sciences research paper competition was held at the Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center on the Mississippi Gulf Coast on February 11, 2000. This annual paper competition brought students from around the state to Stennis Space Center. Approximately fifty students represented the following schools, either as observers or competitors: St. Andrew's Episcopal School (Jackson), Cleveland High School, Morton High School, Weir Attendance Center, Jackson Academy (Jackson), Yazoo City High School, Jackson Preparatory School (Jackson), Mississippi School for Math & Science (Columbus), Poplarville High School, Hattiesburg High School, and Jim Hill High School (Jackson).

Six divisional competitions took place in the morning: Class J (9th & l0th grades) Biology, Class I Behavioral & Physical Sciences, Class II (11th & 12th grades) Computers, Mathematics & Physics, Class II Medicine & Health, Class II Behavior & Social Sciences, and Class II Biology. Thirty-two students competed in these categories.

Janaka Lagoo of St. Andrew's Episcopal School won the Class I Biology competition. Her research paper was titled "The Ability of Estrogen and Progesterone to Potentiate the Effect of Methotrexate and Vincristine on Human Leukemia Cells." Special Recognition was given to William F. Bryant, Jr., of Yazoo City High School for his paper, "A Study on the Effects of Acidic Rainfall on the Development and Sex Ratio of Mosquito Larvae."

In Class I Behavioral & Social Sciences, a research team won the competition. Christi Coleman and Carlin Williams of Jackson Academy won with their paper, "The Testing of the Conductivity of Wet vs. Dry Wood Using Balsa, Oak and Pine Woods."

The win in Class II Computers, Mathematics & Physics went to Alexander Grant Clark of St. Andrew's Episcopal School. His research was titled "Dependence on Cutoff Distance in Protein Fold Recognition Scoring Functions." Special Recognition in this division went to Alan B. Powell of the Mississippi School for Math & Sciences. Alan's paper was titled "Low Speed Wind Tunnel Acoustic and Pressure Measurements."

"Suture/Eyelet Orientation Effectors on Bone Anchor Failure Strengths: Improving Orthopedic Surgical Repair of Tendons Tom off Bone" by Philip Eichhorn of Jackson Preparatory School won the Class II Medicine & Health division. Cleveland High School's Jessica Burgos received special recognition for her work "The Effects of a Heavy Backpack on Adolescent Students."

Class II Behavior & Social Sciences division was won by Lawren M. Wood of Cleveland High School. Lawren' s work was titled "Effects of Extracurricular Involvement on Stress Levels of Elementary Youth: A Comparative Study." Derrick Spires of Jim Hill High School received special recognition with "Frequency and Type of Scent-marking in the Smalleared Bushbaby (Otolemur garnettii) in Response to Reproductive Condition of Female Conspecifics."

A tie was the result of the Class II Biology competition. Annie Vaughan and Tara Rosenberg, both of Yazoo City High School, worked as a team on "A Comparative Study of the Effects of Tartrazine on the Cellular Processes of Selected Organisms," while Adrienne Howse of the Mississippi School for Math & Science competed with her work "Where Have All the Frogs Gone? A Two-year Study."

After the participants enjoyed the keynote address by Mr. Michael Harris, who spoke on mapping and charting research at the Naval Research Laboratory, the winners were announced. After lunch, the Class II divisional winners competed for the Clyde Sheely Award (overall winner) and the Second Place Award.

Officer and board elections were held at the annual business meeting. The 2000 Mississippi Junior Academy of Sciences Officers are: Philip Eichhorn (Jackson Preparatory School) president, Gita Subramony (St. Andrew's Episcopal School) - Vice-president, Calm Williams (Jackson Academy) - Secretary, LaTonya Little (Yazoo City High School) - Reporter. Board members include: Christi Coleman (Jackson Academy), Donyale Parker (Yazoo City High School), Farzad Sadjadi (Cleveland High School) and Paul Varnado (Hattiesburg High School).

During the business meeting, Dr. Joan Messer officially announced her position as the new American National Junior Academy of Sciences director. She resigned as the director of the Mississippi Junior Academy of Sciences to accept this position,. Betsy Sullivan of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science will replace Dr. Messer as director.

At the end of the business meeting the Clyde Sheely winner and Second Place winner were announced. Philip Eichhorn won the overall competition to become the Clyde Sheeley [*] Award winner. Alexander Clark won second place.

Special thanks go to all the teachers for their time and efforts in promoting scientific research in high school students. Also, the judges of the written and oral competitions must be thanked for their time. Their dedication to the young researchers was obvious. Ms. Becky Rotundo and Dr. Portia Harris did a wonderful job organizing the competition at the Naval Research Laboratory. Thank you, ladies, for the extra efforts you put in. Lastly, a sincere thank you to the Naval Research Laboratory of Stennis Space Center. With so many people attending the competition, the rooms and parking were appreciated.

(*.) The Junior Academy award for first place had no formal name before 2000. The Clyde Sheeley award was the second place award. Last year the MAS Board of Directors voted to have the first place award designed as the Clyde sheeley award. The second place award has no formal name.--ed.