Ten of Great Neck's high school seniors were honored for their excellence in science and named semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search. This was the 61st Annual Contest of America's oldest and most prestigious science contest for high school seniors. The Great Neck Public School District, with its 10 semifinalists, has more winners than any other school district on Long Island! Congratulations to the six seniors from North High and the four from South High who are among 300 semifinalists (88 from Long Island) in this nationwide contest. This science competition is currently sponsored by Intel and is often considered the "Junior Nobel Prize" of science competitions. It was formerly known as the Westinghouse competition.

North High School semifinalists, listed in alphabetical order, are Ian Leslie Cadieu, physics, Magnetically Generated Light Pulses for Use in Fiber Optic Communications; Raphael Farzan-Kashani, medicine and health, Identification of Tripartite Motif 9 as Novel Onconeural Antigen Implicated in the Pathogenesis of Paraneoplasia-associated Autoimmune Neurological Degeneration; Sarah Lindsay Hersh, behavioral science, The Relationship Between Apparent Spatial Orientation and Perceived Albedo; Rebecca Jacobs Gordon, medicine and health, Comparative Computer-assisted Analysis of Resting Tremor in Parkinson's Disease Patients; David Ethan Leiberman, biochemistry, Forecasting Neuronal Death: Evidence for an Active Zn2+ Transporter in Mammalian Cortical Cells that can be Noninvasively Monitored Through Application of a Self-referencing Zinc-selective Microelectrode; and David Willcox, computer science, Application of Genetic Algorithms in the Development of the Gamma Ray Positioning Algorithm for the Segmented Germanium Detector Array at the National Superconducting Cyclotron.

Representing South, in alphabetical order, are: Leslie Erin Cohen, social science, Presence of the Golden Ratio (Phi) in Facial Proportions of Ancient Egyptian Mummies and Famous Western Portraits: Two-year Study of the Connection Between Perceptions of Beauty and Mathematics; Angela Soeun Kim, biochemistry, HIV-1 gp 120 Increases Ligand-dependent Transcriptional Activation of Estrogen Receptors; Grace Yun Kim, biochemistry, DNA-Binding Properties of Hemolysin II Regulatory Protein; and Daniel Cyrus Rafii, medicine and health, Recruitment of Bone Marrow-derived Stem Cells Are Essential for Tumor Growth.

The science research advisors from North are Thomas Elkins, David Keith, and Alan Schorn. A proud Keith commented, "The students in the research program are an extraordinary group of youngsters who share in each other's achievements.... We are very excited to see them recognized for their hard work." Carol Hersh is the science research advisor at South. She expressed, "All of the entrants worked very hard and put together terrific applications. We are proud of all of them and thrilled that four of our students were given the honor of being named a Semifinalist ... They were a really special group of kids."

This year's 300 semifinalists in the Science Talent Search will each receive $1,000 scholarship awards. In addition, each of the schools that placed a semifinalist in the competition will receive $1,000 per semifinalist to support science and math education programs. All semifinalists and their teachers will also be honored with certificates of merit. Science Service, the organization that administers the competition, will also recommend the semifinalists to select colleges and universities for admission and financial assistance.

In total, there were 16 entrants from both schools: nine from North High and seven from South High. Other students from North High's research program who entered the competition were: Daniel Bassiri, Deborah Birnbaum, and Corey Horn. Included with the South entrants were: Diana Chang, Arthur Lipstein, and Neha Mehta.

The Intel contest is a comprehensive competition that evaluates the applicant in many different areas of involvement. The research report is just one of many criteria used to select the semifinalists. Each talent search applicant is required to submit a school transcript, standardized test scores, records of community service, extracurricular activities, and a faculty recommendation, along with the research report.

Students must submit a written report on an independent science research project that is five to 20 pages in length (including appendices, tables, and charts). From early summer to late fall, the students continually revise their work, sometimes beginning as early as a year prior to the competition. There can be anywhere from five to 15 written drafts of a paper before a final version is reached. This year, entries were accepted in areas including biochemistry, medicine and health, chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, social science, and biology. Applicants were judged on their research ability, scientific originality, and creative thinking.

The semifinalists, all high school seniors ranging in age from 16 to 19, were selected from 1,562 applicants and represent 173 high schools in 31 states and the District of Columbia

On Wednesday, Jan. 30, 40 finalists will be selected. Then, in March, these finalists will attend a Science Talent Institute in Washington, DC, for a week of activities. The final judging and awards will be announced at a banquet on Monday, March 11.

Intel will give out $530,000 in scholarship awards to the 40 finalists, as it did last year. The top prize will be a $100,000 four-year scholarship; the second-prize winner will receive a $75,000 scholarship; and the third-prize winner will receive a $50,000 scholarship. Fourth- through sixth-prize winners will receive $25,000 each; seventh- through tenth-prize winners will receive $20,000 each; and the remaining 30 will receive $5,000 each. In addition, attending Finalists will also receive a high-performance Intel processor-based mobile computer.

The Science Talent Search has existed since 1942. Its alumni hold more than a hundred of the world's most coveted science and math honors, including three National Medals of Science, 10 MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, two Fields Medals, and five Nobel Laureates.