January 9, 2009

Evergreen SchoolScene

Students compete in tenth annual sciencepalooza! science fair

Students from Evergreen Valley and Silver Creek High Schools will join more than 900 potential future scientists from the East Side Union High School District and compete for prizes and recognition at the tenth annual sciencepalooza! on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009 at Expo Hall at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.

Evergreen students explain their display about water contamination at last year’s sciencepalooza!

sciencepalooza! is one of the largest competitive science fairs in California and will showcase creative and fascinating science projects by East Side students in grades 9-12.

“sciencepalooza! has become a wonderful tradition at East Side schools. Students enjoy an invaluable experience when they undertake the challenge of exploring science with their own hands. East Side students get to view science from an important perspective as they choose their own project topics and see the process all the way to conclusion,” said Heidi Black, science fair coordinator for the ESUHSD.

Over 125 volunteer judges from industry and academia will review projects from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Winners of Albert Einstein Prizes (first place projects, $50 Amazon.com gift certificate) and Galileo Prizes (projects deserving Honorable Mention, $25 gift certificate) will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at noon. Prizes will also be awarded to school science departments in several areas, including best projects in engineering, environment and innovation. The school with the best overall projects will receive a $2,500 cash award.

Many sciencepalooza! participants will advance to the county, state and international science fairs later this year.
sciencepalooza! is an annual event sponsored by the nonprofit Synopsys Outreach Foundation. This year’s sponsors include Kaiser Permanente, Sims Metals and Stellar Solutions. Community sponsors include the College of Science and the College of Engineering at San Jose State.

Matsumoto students compete in robotics

By Ann Fleischer
Special to the Times

Students from Matsumoto School participated for the first time in the First Lego League’s Robotics competition at Valley Christian High School on Dec. 13 in San Jose. This year’s competition, entitled “Climate Connections,” consisted of four elements: student project, teamwork, robot design and robot competition.

“A lot of learning, creativity and quick thinking is cultivated with this FLL program,” said Anu Choudhury, a parent who helped the Stormbots prepare for the competition. “Lots of teamwork and the ability of not faltering under pressure goes into this process,” she continued.

Members of The Brainstormers modify a software program between competitions.

Matsumoto fielded two teams: the Stormbots and the Brainstormers. Members of the Stormbots were: Rohan Shanker, Neelesh Dodda, Devon Le, Joel George, Viraj Kadakia, Aditya Mamtora, Raeek Rahman and Tejas Manjunath. The Brainstormers included: Pratima Manga, Divya Nekkanti, Sravya Rallapalli, Meghna Kolli, Katie Thi, Harika Kalluri, Divya Chandrupatla and Amulya Yerrapotu.

Students invited Mary Tucker, a climate specialist from the Environmental Division of the City of San Jose, to speak to them about the causes and effects of carbon emissions on the environment. She said that the number one cause of pollution was from transportation devices and another significant cause was from how we currently generate energy to power our world.

With these insights, the Stormbots decided to do their project on how the carbon footprint could be reduced if industry used more efficient means to power office buildings and complexes. The Brainstormers focused their project on reducing emissions caused by transportation.

“I thought the experience was really fun and I learned a lot,” said fifth grade Brainstormer Haika Kalluri. “We were able to learn from our mistakes and try again,” she concluded.

“The whole thing helps us get ready for the future,” added Raeek Rahman from the Stormbot team.

The Valley Christian Tournament, organized by Technology Teacher Annette Lane and staffed by parent volunteers, had panels of judges scoring each element in sequestered meeting rooms (with the actual robot competition taking place in the gym before cheering families and friends). Sixteen teams competed and winners were announced at the end of the day-long competition.

Although not among the top scorers, students felt that participating was well worth the four months of preparation that led up to the final tournament.

Creative writing class creates new published authors

In the past two years, three students have published books while taking Metropolitan Adult Education Program’s (MAEP) 50+ (Older Adult) creative writing class.

Lynn Rogers has been teaching the Creative Writing Class for MAEP since 1997 and in that time has helped several students publish books. The class itself has published anthologies featuring stories and poems.

The latest book, Sometimes She Gits In Trouble Cuz She Fits Too Soon, by Virble Kathleen Mabry Yeadon was released at the end of October and was written during Ms. Rogers’ class. It is available on Amazon.com.

Other new authors from Rogers’ class include Katharine Wilson’s poetry book, Talking to the Wall, and Wana Perry’s book, This Much I Remember. Perry is 80+ years young.

Rogers, who recently published her seventh book, Valley of Ashes, said that while it is difficult to break into the publishing industry, many in her class are able to publish by connecting with independent publishers such as Inkling Press.

Students take field trips to readings and published authors visit the class to teach students more about the publishing industry. Rogers also teaches students how to edit and illustrate concepts.

The class meets on Thursdays at the Kirk Community Center. Enrollment is ongoing and pre-enrollment is required. To register, call MAEP at 723-6450 or visit www.metroed.net.

SJSU Osher Lifelong Learning Center begins classes

San Jose State University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute begins a partnership with the Morgan Hill Centennial Recreation Center Senior Center this month. Osher Institute programs are for people ages 50 and above. All programs are at university level, but there are no papers, tests or grades. The first two courses focus on A Century of Jewish Humor in America and Infection and Immunity.

Jewish Humor in America examines why Jewish jokesters have had a disproportionate influence on 20th century American comedy. It includes vintage recordings and clips of performers such as Fanny Brice, Jack Benny, George Burns, the Marx Brothers, Myron Cohen and more. Course instructor is Mark Levy who has performed and taught in the Bay area for 25 years. He has appeared throughout the country and abroad and is a singer and lecturer who specializes in older Judaic folk music in Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino, Klezmer history and theory, and Jewish music history in general. Mark taught this class for the Osher Institute before and received the highest participant feedback. Fee for the course is $60 and it is scheduled for Mondays, Jan. 26 through Feb. 16, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Centennial Center in Morgan Hill.

Also at the Centennial Center on the same dates, but from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, is Infection and Immunity taught by Linda Caren. Dr. Caren received her Master’s and Ph.D. in the Department of Medical Microbiology at Stanford University. She is Emeritus Professor of Biology, California State University, Northridge. The course will focus on infections, vaccines, allergies and autoimmunity, immunodeficiencies and transplantation. Fee for the course is $60.

For more information on either of these courses, or all the Osher Institute programs slated for Morgan Hill this spring, call the Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning at (408) 924-2734 or stop by the Morgan Hill Centennial Recreation Center Senior Center, 171 West Edmundson Avenue.

Complete course descriptions:

Nu (So), You Think That’s Funny?
A Century of Jewish Humor in America

Mondays, Jan. 26, Feb. 2, 9, 16
10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon
Centennial Recreation Center, Morgan Hill
Fee: $60

From Myron Cohen to Rita Rudner, Jewish jokesters have had a disproportionate influence on 20th century American comedy. Hear and see vintage recordings and clips and learn why and how Jews have made us laugh for a hundred years.

Oy, Vey Iz Mir examines the types of jokes and venues Jewish comedians found to express their feelings as immigrants in a new country, honing their skills in vaudeville, on the streets and on early recordings.

Jewish Comics Go Mainstream traces the careers of some of the most successful mid-20th century Jewish comedians who moved up onto the Broadway and Hollywood stage and screen as well as national radio airwaves. Some changed their names, like Fanny Brice, Jack Benny, and George Burns, but their humor still retained a uniquely Jewish ring. Come hear and see them as well as the Marx Brothers and others in action on vintage clips and have a good laugh for this heyday of entertainment.

Jews ‘R Us! During the latter half of the 20th century, Jewish comedians began “coming out” openly and using their experiences as Jews in America as material, feeling a bit more comfortable to keep their names and air “dirty laundry.”

Mark Levy has performed and taught in the Bay area for 25 years. He has appeared throughout the country and abroad and is a singer and lecturer who specializes in older Judaic folk music in Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino, Klezmer history and theory, and Jewish music history in general. Mark has taught this class for the Osher Institute before and received the highest participant feedback.

Infection and Immunity: Why are we so healthy?

Mondays, Jan. 26, Feb. 2, 9, 16
1:00-3:00 p.m.

Centennial Recreation Center, Morgan Hill (Note: The Villages will have a second section of this course later in the term; Mondays, Feb. 23, Mar. 2, 9, 16, 1:00-3:00 p.m.)

Fee: $60

The immune system is a double-edged sword. Although it protects us from infectious disease, it can also be too powerful, harming us with allergies, autoimmune diseases and graft rejection. The immune system uses a dynamic network of cells and molecules to recognize and eliminate invaders.

Week 1 – Introduction: Infection and how the immune system responds
Week 2 – Vaccines (e.g., smallpox, influenza, shingles, Pneumovax)
Week 3 – Allergies and autoimmunity (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, MS)
Week 4 – Immunodeficiencies and transplantation

Optional text for background reading: In Defense of Self: How the Immune System Really Works by William R. Clark (2008), available in paperback.

Linda D. Caren received her Master’s and Ph.D. in the Department of Medical Microbiology at Stanford University. She is Emeritus Professor of Biology, California State University, Northridge. Some of the courses she has taught are immunology, medical microbiology, hematology, cell and tissue culture and genetics. For the last few years she has taught “Principles in Immunology” at UCSC Extension.