SCIENTIFICALLY SPEAKING .... IT'S FAIR WEEK

"Natural Reaction Boosters" is the science fair project by Cecilia Kuntz, a student at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School, which will be entered this week at the Southeast Missouri Regional Science Fair.

One year before the Russians launched Sputnik, Southeast Missouri students had already joined the race for improved science and technical skills.

In 1957 the Southeast Missouri Regional Science Fair gave students their first chance to show off their expertise.

This year the science fair celebrates its 40th year. The fair begins today and continues through Thursday.

The science fair opens today with judging of projects by junior high and high school students from Southeast Missouri. The projects are on exhibit through Thursday, when top prizes are announced.

The top two winners and their teachers will receive an all-expense paid trip to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Tucson, Ariz., May 5 to 11. The top eighth-grade students and their teachers also receive a trip to the fair. At the international fair, students compete for cash prizes and scholarships.

The goal of the fair is the same as it was the first year, said Ruth Hathaway, director of the science fair.

"The whole idea is to get talented Southeast Missouri kids involved in science," she said.

John Blue, who helped coordinate the science fair for 25 years, said organizers were quite proud they saw the coming importance on science education even before the national call to action.

"When Russia put up Sputnik in 1968 it was really a warning to this country that we needed to concentrate on science education," said Blue. "The science fair grew from that point on. It expanded phenomenally."

This year, 273 projects, by 374 students from 30 schools will participate.

As the regional fair has grown in size, so has the complexity of the science projects. In the early years, Blue said, students made lots of volcanoes and a simple model showing how the heart works could be a competitor for top prizes. Today, students have complex, multi-year studies with names that non-scientists have trouble pronouncing, let alone understanding.

Today, for example, Teruko Lilly of Cape Girardeau Central Junior High investigated "Growth of Schizophyllum commune on Sawdust," and Susan Ellis of South Pemiscot High studied "The Inhibition of Galactosidase (Gz) Enzyme Found in Microorganisms."

Blue, who attended the international fair several times, said science exhibits are phenomenal. "They're brilliant," he said. "They are something to see."

Hathaway said several years ago she was a international fair judge. One of the exhibits by a high school student was on the same topic she studied for her doctoral degree.

Over the years, students have reported that the science fairs helped shape their career goals. One student received a patent for his science fair project, an unmanned robot designed to extinguish coal mine fires.

The fair was started when Dr. Homer R. Bolen, head of the science department at then Southeast Missouri State College, talked with Blue of the Southeast Missourian newspaper about the university and newspaper jointly sponsoring a science fair. Several years ago, Environmental Analysis South joined as a co-sponsor.

The first fair brought 98 science projects from Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois to Houck Field House for 1 1/2a days of fair.

As the fair grew, the Missourian and university branched out into the community for sponsors, judges and awards.

Among awards is the Cape Girardeau Area Medical Society's "Wish Awards" for first- and second-place winners. Students may purchase scientific equipment they wish for through this award.