April 7, 2006: Volume 67, Number 3

Union responds loudly to science's 'quiet crisis'

A team from Union College's Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) took top honors in the Biological Science Division at the 8^th annual STEP conference recently.

The first-place winning abstract, "Does the Root of the Common Dandelion Contain Concentrated Levels of Antibiotic Activity?," was entered by Schenectady High School students Ben Acevedo, Ezria Brown, André Butler and Demire Coffin-Williams.

Union students Charelle Carter ‘06 and Lorlette Haughton '07 were mentors on the project, and Brian Cohen, professor of biology, advised the group.

Educational institutions nationally are proactively trying to combat what's been called the "Quiet Crisis" in America – the concern that the United States' ability to be an innovative global technological leader is in jeopardy because of the looming shortage in the nation's science and technology workforce.

Union College, in partnership with the New York State Department of Education and STEP, coordinates the program for Schenectady County middle and high school students. Its purpose is to prepare historically underrepresented or economically disadvantaged secondary students for entry into college.

Participants focus on science, technology, math and licensed-professional fields. 

STEP programs are established at colleges across the state including RPI, Syracuse University and Hofstra University. Union has been involved with STEP since 1996. 

This year, Union had two science research team entries accepted into the STEP Statewide Conference out of the more than 65 science projects allowed. Each project was judged on abstracts, oral presentations, research methods, knowledge of subject matter, lab reports, handouts and poster displays.

Students tried to determine whether dandelions held antibodies. The dandelion roots were ground up and put onto three agar plates with E. coli bacteria. The plates contained acetone, ethanol, or tap water. The positive control for the experiment was Ampicillin. Their study concluded that the roots do not contain high levels of antibiotic activity.

In the second abstract, "London Bridge Is Falling Down," the objective was to design a bridge that can support its own weight and the weight of a 3-to-4 ton vehicle while keeping the price of construction under $350,000 on the West Point Bridge Design 2006 computer program. Through trial and error, the truss bridge met all of the specified requirements.

The students who presented this project were Brandon Burke and Marsé Pulley, both 9^th-graders at Schenectady High School, Jonpaul Brown, an 8^th-grader at Draper Middle School, Nathan Kipniss, an 8^th-grader at Central Park Middle School, and Jocelyn Girigorie, a 7^th-grader at Iroquois Middle School. Union mentors were Simi Koshy '07 and Kevin Jaquez '06, and Professor Ashraf Ghaly, Engineering, assisted with the project.

Students also attended numerous workshops during the March 31– April 2 conference, including sessions related to financial aid, strategies for approaching the new SAT, aircraft design using NASA simulation application, the internship process, and more.

The Union College STEP Program is coordinated by Angela Blair and directed by Gretchel Hathaway Tyson. Union hosts Saturday workshops and a summer program. It is one of 10 community outreach programs that operates through the Kenney Community Center.

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