[FPSPACE] Dr. J. monitors students half a world away

[LARRY KLAES]

>From: cunews at cornell.edu
>Reply-To: cunews at cornell.edu
>To: CUNEWS-CAMPUS-L at cornell.edu (CUNEWS-CAMPUS-L)
>Subject: Cornell News: TEWS camp concludes
>Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 16:17:17 -0400
>
>Impressing Dr. J: Middle and high school students conclude month of 
>science, exploration on the Cornell campus
>
>Aug. 1, 2005
>
>Writer: Lauren Gold
>Phone: (607) 255-9736
>E-mail: lg34 at cornell.edu
>
>Media Contact: Press Relations Office
>Phone: (607) 255-6074
>E-mail: pressoffice at cornell.edu
>
>
>ITHACA, N.Y. -- Dr. J was a hemisphere away and could not see the July 27 
>culmination of her students' four weeks of work in person. But from 
>somewhere in China, thanks to modern technology, Dr. J was watching.
>
>And that made the young presenters very nervous.
>
>Not that Harriet, Yasmine and Val and the others wouldn't be a little 
>jittery before delivering 30-minute presentations under the best of 
>circumstances. But Dr. J -- otherwise known as space shuttle Endeavour 
>astronaut Mae C. Jemison -- is the One To Impress.
>
>She is a medical doctor, after all. And a CEO. And an author, as well as 
>being a former NASA astronaut.
>
>So they were all dressed in their best -- conservative skirts or khaki 
>pants packed from home in Hackensack, Houston or Seattle for the occasion 
>-- or, for some, bright, flowing blue-and-orange-and-gold dresses and 
>scarves brought from home in Ghana.
>
>The students, ages 12 through 16, have been at Cornell University since 
>July 1 participating in The Earth We Share (TEWS), an annual international 
>science camp founded by Jemison in 1994. This is the camp's first year at 
>Cornell; in previous years it has been at Dartmouth College, Colorado 
>School of Mines and Choate Rosemary Hall, among other sites.
>
>Jemison, who earned her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College 
>in 1981, came to Cornell to meet the students earlier this month. She 
>returned for a day on July 18 to check their progress.
>
>Meanwhile, under the guidance of four teachers and interns, each student 
>has been researching one of two topical scientific issues. Along the way, 
>each has learned skills like framing a question, focusing a search, 
>gathering information from different sources and working together as a 
>team.
>
>On the morning of July 27, the students presented their conclusions.
>
>The 12- through 14-year-olds, charged with finding a solution to the 
>world's garbage problem, presented "The Four Bin Solution," complete with 
>plans for disposing separately of hazardous, nondegradable, recyclable and 
>organic waste.
>
>The 15- and 16-year-olds discussed how free trade affects the environment 
>and designed a fictional (for now) global organization to regulate 
>pollution and monitor workers' rights.
>
>Both groups handled audience questions with grace. Both earned Jemison's 
>praise.
>
>The anxiety over, then, it was time for the fun -- and reflection.
>
>Edwin Acosta, a 16-year-old from Dover, N.J., used his time during the 
>afternoon cultural program to discuss free trade from a personal 
>perspective. The policy, he said, led developing world workers like his 
>parents (who immigrated from Honduras 20 years ago) to the United States. 
>In their time here, he said, they have seen discrimination -- and risen 
>above it.
>
>"Slowly, myself and others are making a better life to transcend 
>obstacles," he said. "One of my aspirations is to go to Johns Hopkins 
>University to study neurochemistry and bioethics -- but my greater 
>aspiration is to repay the debt I've built up to my parents."
>
>He will start, perhaps, by following Jemison's advice as delivered from 
>China. "I'm excited to see what you do with this," she told the 22 
>students. "How you use it to move forward to a beneficial future."
>
>The camp was funded by the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, named 
>in honor of Jemison's mother.
>
>
>Related World Wide Web sites:
>
>	The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence: 
><http://www.jemisonfoundation.org/dorothy.htm>
>
>-30-
>
>The web version of this story, with accompanying photos, is available at 
>http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Aug05/TEWS.conclusion.lg.html
>--
>
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