FYI
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News
Number 73: June 12, 2003
Societies Honor U.S. Physics Team and Promote Science Education
In late May, 23 of the most talented physics students from high
schools around the country came to the nation's capitol. These
students had competed against hundreds of their peers to earn a
place on the 2003 U.S. Physics Olympiad Team, and were in town for
a week-long training camp at the University of Maryland. While
they were here, they participated in a "Tribute to the U.S.
Physics Olympiad Team 2003" Capitol Hill ceremony at which Members
of Congress, federal officials and Member Society officers honored
their accomplishments and wished them well. At the end of the
training camp, the top five students were selected to represent
the Team in international competition.
Representatives Vern Ehlers (R-MI) and Rush Holt (D-NJ), both
physicists, co-hosted the May 20 reception and ceremony on Capitol
Hill for the Team members and their parents and teachers. During
the reception, a number of the students had an opportunity to meet
and receive congratulations from their Members of Congress. The
Team heard words of welcome and inspiration from Reps. Ehlers and
Holt; Norman Neureiter, Science and Technology Adviser to the
Secretary of State; David Bohlin, Deputy Associate Administrator
for Science at NASA; and Peter Faletra, Assistant Director for
Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists in DOE's Office
of Science. The keynote speaker for the event was James Mather,
the James Webb Space Telescope Senior Project Scientist from
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, who shared with the Team
members some results of his research into the physics of the early
universe. The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT),
the American Institute of Physics (AIP), and NASA's Office of
Space Science sponsored the event.
Since 1986, AAPT and AIP, with support from other societies, have
recruited, selected, and trained teams to compete in the
International Physics Olympiad. This year the International
Physics Olympiad is scheduled to be held in Taipei, Taiwan. Due
to concerns about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the
competition has been postponed until August 2-11, and a decision
on whether the U.S. Team will participate has not yet been made.
In conjunction with the Physics Team's visit to Maryland and the
Capitol Hill ceremony and reception, AAPT and AIP sent a brief
policy statement to all Members of Congress. The statement calls
on Members to support the Math and Science Partnership programs in
NSF and the Department of Education. Both programs are intended
to build partnerships between university science, math or
engineering departments, local school districts, state education
agencies, and other stakeholders to improve K-12 science and math
instruction. The text of the statement follows:
"To support K-12 science and math education, particularly programs
that enable professional development for teachers and preparation
of new teachers, we urge Congress to:
"- Provide the FY 2004 requested level of $200 million for the NSF
Math and Science Partnerships, and
"- Provide at least $200 million for the Education Department Math
and Science Partnerships, as progress toward full funding of $450
million."
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Audrey T. Leath
Media and Government Relations Division
The American Institute of Physics
fyi@aip.org www.aip.org/gov
(301) 209-3094
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