News — March 30, 1999 Media contact:  Anne Mack  412-281-2345 Local Students Tackle Fire and Pedestrian Safety and Agricultural Threats and Win National Recognition WASHINGTON, D.C., March 30 -- Middle school students from Lansing, Mich., Madison, Wis., and Minot, N.D., received national recognition today for their innovative solutions to significant community problems. The students were named semifinalists for Region Four in the Bayer/NSF Award, a nationwide competition that challenges students to apply science and technology to community issues. Motivated by a local house fire that killed a pregnant woman, Marcus Alston, Ben Pedersen, Nancy Xiong and Rebekah Savoie propose "Alarmists: The Light for Life Project" to decrease the number of house fire deaths. Coached by Andon Pogoncheff, the eighth-graders from Pattengill Middle School in Lansing, Mich., want to modify smoke detectors to signal a light in bedroom windows to flash, notifying firefighters of bedroom locations. Sara Velden, Alicia Sprecher, Louise Jones and Whitney Henningfield, sixth-graders at Akira Toki Middle School in Madison, Wis., are concerned about a busy intersection's unsafe crosswalk on Madison's Westside. Coached by Jo Olson, the team's project, "Traffic at McKenna and Hammersley," suggests constructing a pedestrian underpass that will let area resident travel safely to a nearby park. A team of sixth-graders from St. Leo's School in Minot, N.D., are working to eliminate a fungus, known as scab, that has an economic impact on our nation's wheat crop. Lindsey Wolf, Kathleen Weber, David Skowronek and Eric Hodgson, coached by JoAnn Schapp, propose rotating scab-susceptible wheat with more resistant crops to reduce the occurrence of the costly plant disease. The Bayer/NSF Award will name one finalist team from each of 10 regions nationwide in April. These top teams will win all-expense-paid trips to Epcot® at the Walt Disney World® Resort, May 31-June 5, in conjunction with the prestigious Discover Awards for Technological Innovation. While at Epcot®, the finalists will present their community solutions to a renowned panel of judges and compete for more than $35,000 in US savings bonds. In addition, one team will win the $25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant to help bring its idea to life in the community. They also will attend the Christopher Columbus Academy, a custom-designed educational program. Conducted by scientists, engineers and educators, the program reveals the science and technology behind the thrills and excitement of Epcot® and the Magic Kingdom®. Sponsored by the Bayer Corporation, as part of its Making Science Make Sense program, the National Science Foundation and the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation with Discover Magazine, the Bayer/NSF Award is turning kids on to science. Its cross-curricular, team-oriented, inquiry-based, real-life approach to science education attracts kids of all interests and ability levels. Nearly 2,000 students nationwide participated in the 1999 Bayer/NSF Award. Entries have doubled since the program's premiere in 1996. The program has earned the endorsement of the National Middle School Association. Entries are gathered in ten regions nationwide from teams of four middle school students. The teams are lead by a coach and encouraged to seek the assistance of community mentors. Region Four includes: Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Entries were judged by panels of community leaders, scientists and experts in science education.