It's "Mad Science" at Lehigh Valley Science Fair

For more than twenty years, Lehigh University has made it possible for high school and middle school students from all over the Lehigh Valley to showcase their love of science at an annual science fair. This year, 281 students participated with some pretty amazing experiments in the annual Lehigh Valley Science and Engineering Research Fair at the Rauch Field House, conducted March 14-15.

Like what?

How about a vehicle that runs on nothing more than recirculating water? Parkland's Atharv Gupte has done it through the use of magnetic energy. Problem. His vehicle only travels 3.71 cm/sec. He's still working on the need for speed.

Think that's cool?

Well, Becahi's Austin Sanders has concentrated his prodigious intellect on the pop-ability of popcorn, noting all those unused kernels that break teeth. His conclusion?  "Movie theaters will make more money if they hydrate their popcorn."

Just how much do caffeine and alcohol affect our heart rates? Pretty much, according to Emmaus High School's Jacob Licker. Caffiene sends it up there to 112.13 beats per minute, while moonshine (ethanol) sends it down to 53.3.

Which bridge would be safest for Gupte's 3.71 cm/sec magnetomobile? According to Orefield Middle School's Alexandra Fry, it would be a truss bridge. Using popsicle sticks, she built a variety of different kinds of bridges, including suspension and beam bridges. Then she subjected them all to heavy loads of sand. The truss bridge held up best.

One student, St. Theresa's Kevin Yusella, had a science fair exhibit, but baseball is on his mind. His experiment, "Dominant Distance," determines the optimal leg position for throwing a baseball the longest distance. After countless experiments measuring distances with different stances, Yusella's scientific opinion is that the crow's hop is the best way to get a baseball from deep center into a catcher's mitt. Numerous coaches have always preached that, but now science is on their side.

With this Winter's bitter cold weather, ice storms and salt shortages, Becahi's Maria Macaluso experimented on different substances that might prevent ice from forming on your sidewalk. Her conclusion? Stick to salt. Sugar does not work.

One young man, Valmiki Kothare from Orefield Middle School, is very interested in how the brain works behaviorally and studied differences between man and women as well as three different age groups. Using 63 subjects and 315 data points, his conclusion is that children (under 21) have a better sense of hearing and touch, while young adults (ages 21-59) have the best sense perception overall.

Believe it or not, there was even a science project dedicated to blogs. Parkland's Mugdha Gupta studied whether negative comments posted by trolls tend to make people disbelieve the article in question. Her conclusion is that they do, although she cautioned that she only used 15 test subjects.

Is this mad science?

"No science is good science unless it's mad science, answered Lehigh's Jennifer Shah. She, along with Mike Keener and Arianna Caruso, wowed the students with some crazy chemistry experiments, including foam eruptions and the production of slime.

Robert Haines, the LU alumnus who both founded and helps fund this event, calls it a "labor of love". Angela Nicole Scott, Lehigh's Director of Academic Diversity and Outreach, was able to juggle students, anxious parents and over 100 judges from local colleges and the corporate sector.

$10,000 DCED Grant Funds Ice Hockey For Parkland Elitists

Last week, I told you about Allentown's Wall2Wall urban youth organizers, a group that dedicates itself to the Queen City's greatest asset - its kids. Over two years, this grass roots group has mentored over five hundred children in the area with the Lehigh Valley's highest poverty level.

It has done so with very little help and without forming a fancy 501(c)(3) nonprofit corportation. It's only getting around to that now. Kids always come first.

Today's story is about another Lehigh Valley youth sports group. This one's in the burbs, and is located in one of the Lehigh Valley's more affluent areas - the Parkland School District. It has already formed a fancy nonprofit - The Parkland Trojan Ice Hockey Club.

I called Parkland today to learn a little about this club. Before learning I was a blogger, school officials told me there is a JV and varsity program, and the hockey program is available for all grades. The school district pays insurance, advertises games, gives the kids some recognition and even provides transportation. But it's still not cheap. I was told I'd need at least $850, just for the ice time. Skates and helmets cost another $400. A varsity skater can expect to spend around $2,000 every year.

Let's face it. You don't see many poor kids at an ice hockey rink. It's not for the peasants.

Well-to-do Parkland parents got that way because they know how to get money. Amazingly, Parkland applied for and got a $10,000 state DCED grant, with a little help from state rep. Jenn Mann, before the club even bothered to form its nonprofit. Why Jenn Mann took it upon herself to get this $10,000 grant for an ice hockey club completely outside her own very impoverished Allentown district is beyond me, but that's what happened. The school district passed this dough right to the club.

I saw the grant application, which claims the money would give the "club the ability to include more students from lower economic backgrounds, and help subsidize the program for the benefit of all the students." That's a great idea, but unfortunately, that's not what happened.

In fact, nothing happened at all, according to former club prez Richard A. Plinke. After he was no longer involved in the ice hockey program, he received a nasty letter from the DCED Office of Audits and Compliance, asking to explain what had happened to the money. Plinke advised that "[t]he grant was not used because the on-ice staff did not develop a plan for using the money to fulfill the grant's objectives."

In a nice way, Plinke makes clear that no effort had been made to include poorer students. Why should they? It might ruin their exclusive little club. But once the state started nosing around, how was that money used?

That's the $10,000 question. According to one anonymous source, the grant funded a party at the end of the 2006 season, in which coaches entertained players by drinking several pitchers of beer in front of them. It also funded ice time for an independent team made up of players from all over the area, including New Jersey. In effect, a Pennsylvania DCED grant funded Jersey hockey players. Finally, the state grant was used to form the nonprofit.

Include poorer kids? Forget it. The state told me it has now received all necessary reports and considers the matter closed. The last thing it wants to do is admit it's an open cash faucet for the right people.

School district officials were very nice to me, but tell me I have to make an appointment to come and see them in person and present my questions, preferably in writing. No one from the school would agree to being quoted, and they pretty much dismissed my concerns as the sour grapes of disgruntled parents.

I don't think so. An affluent group obviously used its influence with the state to get $10,000 for more toys based on the canard that it was looking out for the little guy. And a wealthy school district helps finance this group of elitists. An Allentown resident who did something like that would be prosecuted for welfare fraud, but Parkland last March celebrated a championship.

Whoopee! Those kids are learning real valuable lessons.

Clarification: Contrary to the impression left by the Parkland School District web page,my astute readers inform me that a small portion of Allentown is, in fact, located in the Parkland School District. I verified this through Lehigh County assessment records.