Best of Florida Schools 2004
General Categories—Page 4

Best Research Experiments
Rocketing for Research
Last year, while most coeds were working out like mad to stave off the “Freshman 15,” brainy students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University lost hundreds of pounds instantly and effortlessly. This wasn’t due to a new crash diet or miracle pill. Two teams of ERAU students experienced weightlessness, conducting experiments of their own design aboard a KC-135 aircraft as participants in NASA’s Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program.

Each team flew for two days during their 10-day experiences in the RGSFOP, which NASA holds from March to August at its Ellington Field and Johnson Space Center facilities in Houston. After participants passed a complete flight physical, NASA officials inspected their experiment and issued a “go” for flight aboard the KC-135. Nicknamed the “Vomit Comet,” this plane performs 30-40 carefully choreographed parabolic maneuvers, reminiscent of a roller-coaster ride. Students experienced zero-gravity conditions for 25 seconds on the down slope of each flown arc, allowing them to run tests in microgravity that could benefit upcoming NASA missions and lead to new technologies.

NASA chose two ERAU teams after reviewing their detailed proposals and outreach plans. By writing a proposal, creating a timeline and budget, communicating with suppliers, and working together to build and implement the experiment, these students gained valuable experience in hands-on, real-world engineering management. “I’m definitely a lot less shy about fixing things around the house now,” says Shandy Asturias, former ERAU student and member of the Centrifugal Air Filtration Experiment (CAFE) flight crew. Currently an aerospace engineer for the Federal Aviation Administration, Asturias says working on the project made her confident that she was entering the right career.

Following their out-of-this-world experiences, the ERAU students visited local high schools to tell about their projects and inspire a new generation’s interest in space science and exploration. The Houston trips weren’t just a great learning and teaching opportunity, however—team members also toured the space center, met astronauts, and rubbed elbows with key NASA officials. CAFE team member and astronaut-hopeful Algeria Q. Morse landed an internship with Boeing through contacts made during the program, and Boeing has offered to pay for her last two semesters at ERAU, plus a graduate degree. “This is one volunteer project that paid off big time,” Morse says. —AMC

Contact Asturias at shandy_a@hotmail.com, Morse at morsea@erau.edu, or visit http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov.

Best Scheduling
Minis are in Style
They say good things come in small packages. A diamond ring may not await the students at Santa Fe Community College, but students get something just as precious--the chance to graduate faster.

SFCC students can now take classes in mini-mesters. Rather than take courses over the traditional 16-week semester calendar, the classes are modeled after a summer term, with an eight-week course load. This allows students to gain the same amount of credit hours as a regular term in just half the time.

"The courses are easier to manage as far as scheduling, and provide another venue to complete their education," says Bennye Alligood, interim vice president for academic affairs. "We want to be as innovative as possible and give our students any kind of support we can."

Mini-mesters were designed to meet the needs of students who found it difficult to commit to 16 weeks because of outside factors like work. Associate Vice President for Information Management and Education Technologies Anne Kress says that students who attend a class on a daily basis, as opposed to three to four times a week, show higher retention and achievement rates.

"We're really just meeting student demands," Kress says. "We're also doing more for the students in terms of retention and success so they can hit their education and career goals." —LF

Contact Alligood at bennye.alligood@sfcc.edu.

Best Volunteer Program
UCF’s HEROs Aim to Help
Superman, Spiderman, and Captain America—it’s not the tight pants that they all have in common but their heroic titles. At the University of Central Florida, you can be a hero too by joining the Burnett Honors College HERO (Honors Educational Reach Out) program.

When Hillcrest Elementary School in Orlando requested assistance with their after-school program, UCF didn’t waste a second. Through HERO, groups of two to four student volunteers attend the elementary school one hour each week, working with the specific age group of their choice. “Through this program, children are able to learn about college and the things they hope to achieve down the road,” says Jill Painter, director of honors student affairs. “We plant a seed of interest and see that it blooms.”

Painting pictures for parents, playing kickball with classmates, and pondering science questions are just some of the daily activities that HERO volunteers participate in with the children. At Hillcrest Elementary, the volunteers set up games such as translating words into French and Vietnamese and playing musical chairs.

In addition to Hillcrest, UCF’s HEROs began an after-school volunteer program at Bonaville Elementary School in Orlando, where the main objective is to provide FCAT tutoring and homework help.

HERO is a one-of-a-kind program aiming to form life-long bonds with children. “Volunteers learn about the lives of the children and how amazingly smart they are,” says Brittany Bernstein, HERO’s student coordinator. “Children, on the other hand, gain aspiration to attend college and receive a higher education thanks to their HERO role models.” —OB

Contact Bernstein at hero@mail.ucf.edu or Painter at jpainter@ucf.edu.

Best Campus Sculpture
Sculpting Outside the Lines
It’s kind of like a Rorshach test. When some people look at a 1989 Honda Accord, they see a hunk of junk barely surviving monthly trips to the supermarket. Andy Johnson sees the makings of a pirate ship. Jennifer Rados and Dreama Landrum envision the human form in piles of PVC pipe and copper wire. These three South Florida Community College students accepted a challenge from their Design II professor that motivated them to create unusual sculptures to display on campus.

Professor Cathy Futral hoped to inspire their creativity when she gave them one month to create art that could outlast the elements on a scale on which humans could relate. To up the challenge, students were given no budget to work on the project. Everything they used in their piece had to either be donated or found.

“I wanted to show them what art really is--a creative problem-solving method,” Futral says. “I feel it was a challenge to them creatively and showed them that in the real working world they are given a very low budget to say something through their art.”

These eccentric artists put their designs into action. Johnson’s 1989 Honda Accord evolved into a pirate ship, complete with a gangplank and sail. Rados created a medieval woman framed by copper piping. Using PVC pipes, Landrum built a man with one hand behind his back and the other sticking straight up, waving to the crowd. Each sculpture passed the challenge, and they now welcome visitors and students coming up the college’s driveway.

“The other students loved our sculptures. They thought we all did a really good job and kept saying that they didn’t think they could build something like them,” Landrum says. “I’m proud of the work I put into my project.” —JT

Contact  Futral at 863-784-7160.

Best Exam Warm-Up
The Cure for Finalitis
You haven’t taken a shower, there are pizza boxes piled up in the kitchen, your bed hasn't been made in the past week, and you’re so grumpy that not even your roommates want to talk to you. The symptoms are clear: You've got finalitis.

The Student Council from Florida Christian College understands what you’re going through, and after years of research, they've come up with the cure: a pre-exam campus party. WARNING: This medicine might cause relaxation.

"We usually have some kind of singing, perhaps a band, we have a speaker on some topic or even something as informal as devotions…[in short] we have a big party!" says Terry Allcorn, vice president for student life.

For now, the treatment is free to all students, and its duration extends until the last person leaves. The party usually takes place in the Student Union during finals, but can also be held during midterms if finalitis symptoms occur earlier.

Finalitis isn't a terminal disease, and the pre-exam party treatment guarantees generating plenty of energy for those last hours of extreme concentration. —MAC

Contact Allcorn at terry.allcorn@fcc.edu.

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