Student's science savvy brings rewards - finalists at the 54th annual Westinghouse Science Talent Search - Brief Article

Science News, Jan 28, 1995 by T. Alder

Forty high school seniors will compete for $205,000 in scholarships as finalists in the 54th annual Westinghouse Science Talent Search in Washington, D.C., March 8 to 13.

A 41st finalist, Soo Yuen Kim, 17, of Brookville, N.Y., died in an auto accident Nov. 28, 1994, shortly before completing her project. Friends put the final touches on her application, and her teacher submitted it. Because judges must interview finalists before awarding the top scholarships, Kim's project is not eligible for further awards.

However, Westinghouse Electric Corp., which sponsors the competition in partnership with Science Service, will give $5,000 to Jericho High School, which Kim attended.

The top three finalists will win scholarships of $40,000, $30,000, and $20,000, respectively. Other top 10 finalists will receive $15,000 or $10,000 each. The remaining students will receive $1,000 scholarships.

New York produced the highest number of finalists - 15. California, Florida, and Michigan tied for second place, with three each.

The finalists are:

* California: Franz Edward Boas, Irene Ann Chen, and Elaine Wei-Yin Yu, La Jolla H.S., La Jolla.

* Florida: Neil Ashok Hattangadi, Winter Park H.S., Winter Park; Kara Jane LeVine, Rutherford H.S., Springfield; Christian Basil Miller, The Benjamin School, North Palm Beach.

* Indiana: Daniel Kalman Biss, Bloomington H.S. North, Bloomington.

* Iowa: Nathan Daniel Holmes, Davenport West H.S., Davenport; Amy Rosemary White, Fort Madison Senior H.S., Fort Madison.

* Kansas: Martin Tibor Stiaszny, Shawnee Mission South H.S., Shawnee Mission.

* Maryland: Samit Dasgupta, Montgomery Blair H.S., Silver Spring.

* Michigan: Katherine Ann Duncan, Pennfield H.S., Battle Creek; Prashant Mishra, Detroit Country Day School, Beverly Hills; Daniel Brandon Wolfe, The Roeper School, Bloomfield Hills.

* Minnesota: Anil Samoilenko Menon, Saint Paul Academy & Summit School, St. Paul.

* Mississippi: Leah Katherine Barron, St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Ridgeland.

* New Jersey: Jordan Matthew Cummins, Livingston H.S., Livingston.

* New Mexico: Katarzyna Lubowicz, Armand Hammer United World College, Montezuma.

* New York: Paul P. Bongaarts, Byram Hills H.S., Armonk; Supinda Bunyavanich and Minsu De Bortoli Longiaru, Paul D. Schreiber Senior H.S., Port Washington; Jenelle Cassia Holder and Laura Manfield, Bronx H.S. of Science, New York; Aleksandr Leonidovich Khazanov and Chit-Kwan Lin, Stuyvesant H.S., New York; Soo Yeun Kim, Jericho H.S. Jericho; Reed Loring Levine and Daniel Billy Sims, John F. Kennedy H.S., Bellmore; Gina Petrocelli, Edward R. Murrow H.S., New York; Tracy Caroline Phillips, Long Beach Senior H.S., Long Beach; Debleena Sengupta and Neil Castillo Srivastava, Ward Melville H.S., Setauket; Joel David Wollman, Lawrence H.S. Cedarhurst.

* North Carolina: Peter Matthews Kasson, Durham Academy, Durham; Ronald Worth Sutherland, North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics, Durham.

* Oregon: Jacinta Carmel Conrad, South Eugene H.S., Eugene; Courtney Christine Joan Voelker, Oregon Episcopal School, Portland.

* Texas: Thomas Joe Harris, Academy of Science and Technology, Conroe; Deborah Chuan Yeh, Plano Senior High School, Plano.

* Virginia: Griffin M. Weber, Denbigh H.S., Newport News.

* Washington: Jeremy David Kassebaum, Sunnyside Senior H.S., Sunnyside.