2008-09 National Third-Place Winners
National Third-Place Winners
$20,000 Scholarship
Chelsea Jurman
Roslyn High School
Roslyn Heights, New York
Your Children May Pay More Attention than You Think: The Link between Teens' Perceptions of Parent Alcohol Use and Monitoring and Teen Alcohol Use and Acceptance
"My experiences as a peer drug educator inspired me to continue exploring the myths and realities surrounding adolescent alcohol use in particular. I began to pursue this area of research so that I could explore the relationship between parents and their children and the role that the relationship plays in predicting teen drinking."
Chelsea surveyed over 120 students at her school and found that teens were more likely to accept underage drinking or be underage drinkers themselves if they think that their own parents drank as teens. Her data indicated that the same was true if their parents permitted them to drink and did not closely monitor their activities outside the home. As a result of her findings, Chelsea recommends that parents shouldn't share stories of their own underage experimentation with alcohol; should pay close attention to their children's whereabouts and activities; and be firm rather than permissive about alcohol use.
Chelsea will be working as a camp counselor this summer and her hobbies include singing, creative writing, and photography. She has participated in multiple science fairs and placed fifth in the Intel Science Talent Search competition. Chelsea will attend Yale University in the fall and will continue to study different facets of human behaviors and health.
Joanna Kao
West High School
Iowa City, Iowa
Possible Roles of Bilirubin and Breastfeeding in Protection of Premature Infants against Retinopathy of Prematurity
"The most memorable part of the YES Competition was the people. The judges are at the top of their field and all the other high school students there were really awesome—I still keep in touch with them. One of the speakers said that we would be levitating due to the energy in the room. I wasn't sure I believed that at first, but I definitely did when I left!"
The goal of Joanna's study is to reduce the risk of blindness in babies born prematurely. Joanna investigated the possible influence of two factors on the risk of eye damage or blindness in premature babies due to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Previous studies of the possible relationship between bilirubin level and ROP, and between bottle versus breastfeeding and ROP, have conflicting results. Joanna designed a matched case-control study using data collected from 2001 to 2008 at the University Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa. Joanna found a positive trend toward higher bilirubin levels and breastfeeding being protective against development of ROP.
Joanna is a member of several school clubs including the Programming and Electronics Club and the student orchestra. She volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and is a member of the NASA INSPIRE program. Joanna will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall with an interest in electrical/biomedical engineering and computer science. Her career plans include a medical career in neonatology or developing medical-related technology and continuing research in the area of epidemiology and public health.