LAST Wednesday, feeling punk from the first signs of a spring cold, I miraculously began to feel better after a shot (not in the arm) at the doctor's office, and a visit later that evening to the 40th Annual Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair at the Neal Blaisdell Center. Have faith in the
scientists of tomorrowA look around the enormous exhibition area, filled with hundreds of eye-opening science projects by intermediate and high school students throughout Hawaii, is the best medicine for any ailing enthusiasm in the state's education system.
Who cannot be impressed by the energetic crowd in the packed exhibition hall, filled with young people, teachers and parents waiting to hear the names of award winners? Heck, while we're waiting, it's fun just to sit back and read some of the senior research titles.
In the behavioral/social sciences category, there's "Oh, My Gosh! I Married My Mother!" a Freudian-sounding offering by Leilani Johnson of St. Andrew's Priory. In the eye-glazing/say-what? division, contemplate Blair Yamashita's biochemistry project, "Hyperaccumulating Rice: Assessing the Phytoremediative Value of Oryza sativa Using EDTA and Citric Acid to Enhance Heavy Metal Uptake in Contaminated Soils." (Boy, they must really take their rice seriously at Kapaa High.)
Then there's the practical-sounding experiment like Kalaheo's Daniel Ellis, who looked into "How Chlorine Affects the Fibers in My Swimming Suit," and the unappetizing-sounding number called "The Effect of Molasses on Oil-Contaminated Soil," served up by Deirdre Bradley of Roosevelt.
It seemed like scientific curiosity ran rampant, and gloriously so. Anyone who thinks most kids are lazy, Nintendo-playing troublemakers hasn't seen the creations of these early Einsteins, who shyly came forward to accept ribbons, plaques, trophies and envelopes for their excellent endeavors.
Later, a quick look at the displays shows no lack of brainpower in Hawaii.
Take the trail-blazing work of Kamehameha Schools' Alika Maunakea, who has discovered that an extract from the Noni plant can inhibit the growth of cancer cells.
From Hawaii Preparatory Academy on the Big Island, three-time winner Jan Malasek has programmed and built a robot that can follow him via two spinning sensors, while Ben Schmidel designed a computer program which plotted the evolution of communication in an artificial population.
Then there's Christine Miyasaki of Waiakea High School, winner of the best public school senior research project in the state. She studied the ovarian development of the Malaysian fruit fly, the most recently introduced fly in Hawaii. Why care how this winged pest reproduces? Because in order to foster its eradication, we need to experiment on a large number of them, so Christine tested what kinds of food would stimulate its growth -- by feeding it everything from ripe papaya to jalapeno peppers.
EVERY time the Legislature or the governor talks about cutting funding for public education, my blood runs cold and it's not because of the flu. It's because the promise of the next millennium -- including our future doctors, scientists and researchers -- is in our schools right here, right now.
Education needs the bulk of supportive money and attention, not the state bureaucracy, the prisons or even same-sex marriage.
Today, a science fair project. Tomorrow, a cure.