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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