Hawaii students earn awards at science fair

Members of Hawaii's student delegation to the International Science and Engineering Fair last week in Indianapolis brought home an array of awards from the competition. Following are the students, their awards and the projects they entered.

» Jessie Ann Paahana, 17, Kamehameha Schools -- $1,000 third-place Grand Award, Botany; $1,000 from the American Indian Science & Engineering Society. Project: "Ohelo, Phase II: Identify BioActive Compound."

» Meghan Luther and Veronika Biskiss, both 15, Baldwin High School -- $500 fourth-place Grand Award, Team Projects, Behavioral & Social Sciences. Project: "Preconceived Stereotypes in School Children."

» Genevieve Pang and Alayna Betsill, both 17, Baldwin High School -- $500 fourth-place Grand Award, Team Projects, Microbiology. Project: "Fish Mucus: Antibacterial Property Unique to the Hawaiian Eleotris Sandwicensis."

» Kendra Ho Ching, 17, Kahuku High School -- $20,000 scholarship from Oregon State University. Project: "Laughter: The Best Medicine? Effects of Laughter on Blood Glucose Levels in Comparison to Exercise."

» Philip Mocz, 16, Mililani High School -- $3,000 second-place award from the American Astronomical Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (another $1,000 from the National Science Foundation goes to his school's science department). Project: "Group Analysis to Pattern Discovery in Stellar and Galactic Distributions."

» Lucia Mocz, 15, Mililani High School -- $500 from the American Association for Artificial Intelligence; Honorable Mention from the American Statistical Association. Project: "Computer-aided Identification of Cancer from Photomicrographs by Entropy Analysis."