2004-2005 National Second Place Winners
Second Place Winners
$35,000 Scholarship
Gregory Bruich
La Jolla High School
La Jolla, CA
Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents Increase after the Fall and Spring Time Changes
"My hope is that this will help improve highway safety and lead to better driver education."
For many years, Gregory has attended the annual meetings of the Western Psychological Association (WPA) and has been fascinated by the world famous psychologists and their research. Having long been intrigued by the effects of fatigue on human performance, he tracked the increased incidence of fatal motor vehicle accidents in the United States for the three days following both the fall and spring Daylight Savings Time changes. His research was also accepted for presentation at this year's WPA meeting in Portland. Gregory played center for his high school football team and was twice named to the San Diego Union-Tribune All-Academic Team. He plans to study economics and psychology at UC Berkeley.
Joshua Pepper
Edison High School
Fresno, CA
Asthma Disparities in Fresno Unified School District: Mapping Socioeconomic Status and Prevalence
"I have always been aware of asthma's effects. Any research in this area could potentially help tens of thousands of suffering people."
Joshua grew up with an asthmatic brother, and he has many friends with asthma. While working as a computer technician at a local community hospital, he became aware of the high asthma rates in Fresno. After talking to several medical professionals, he also learned that the San Joaquin Valley has the highest number of asthma sufferers in the country. His project examined the relationship between the incidence of asthma and annual household incomes in the metropolitan Fresno area. His research revealed a pattern never seen in any asthma research study-reported asthma rates increased with rising income levels. Besides serving on the North American Federation of Temple Youth board for the Central Western Region and teaching Hebrew for the past six years, Joshua leads the Know More teen relationship abuse program at his high school. He plans to participate in a Dual Degree Engineering Program where he attends UC Santa Cruz for three years while earning a B.A. in Environmental Studies followed by an additional two years at UC Berkeley where he will pursue a B.S. in Bioengineering.