Oak Ridge Today

High school students receive UT scholarships in math competition

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Larry Shen of ORHS, a Math Contest Winner

Larry Shen of Oak Ridge High School was one of 10 students who recently won $4,000 annual scholarships to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in a UT-Pro2Serve Math Contest. (Photo courtesy University of Tennessee)

KNOXVILLE—Ten students were recently awarded $4,000 annual scholarships to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in a UT-Pro2Serve Math Contest.

More than 600 students from 50 Tennessee high schools participated in the competition held Nov. 14 at UT.

The scholarship winners included Larry Shen of Oak Ridge High School.

The other nine winners were:

  • Jia Liang of Collierville High in Collierville
  • Sanghwah “Samuel” Rhee of McCallie School in Chattanooga
  • Jason Wen of McCallie School in Chattanooga
  • Anwesh Dash of White Station High in Memphis
  • Sajant Anand of Science Hill High in Johnson City
  • Saaber Pourmotabbed of White Station High in Memphis
  • Queena Lu of Pope John Paul II High in Hendersonville
  • Yunhua Zhao of Memphis University School in Memphis
  • Zachary Strickland of Webb School of Knoxville in Knoxville [Read more…]

GIS Day on Wednesday at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus

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Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge campus will host GIS Day from noon-3 p.m. Wednesday.

GIS Day is an international event that highlights the real-world applications of the geographic information systems, or GIS, field. Roane State offers a one-year certificate and a two-year associate degree in GIS.

“GIS is a great field that blends science, geography, mathematics and, in a way, art,” said Pat Wurth, associate professor and director of Roane State’s GIS program. “We want anyone interested in GIS to visit on GIS Day and learn more about how this technology and training is used in a variety of fields.” [Read more…]

Knoxville Regional LEGO tournament Saturday at Hardin Valley

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Knoxville Regional LEGO Tournament

About 100 students representing 18 Knoxville area teams will compete in a regional LEGO tournament Saturday at Hardin Valley Academy, working with miniature robots that perform required tasks on a table.

Robertsville Middle School is the defending state champion. Under the new format this year, the team needs to qualify in this regional tournament before advancing to the state tournament.

“This year’s theme in ‘Nature’s Fury,’” said John Tilson, a Hardin Valley science teacher and Saturday’s tournament director. “The students have a lot of problems they need to solve. They design and build a predominantly LEGO robot. They perform a certain number of challenges and they get points for each challenge. They have to do certain rescues, and they have to move certain items from place to place.” [Read more…]

State school report cards show growth in Anderson, Clinton, Oak Ridge

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Wednesday, the Tennessee Department of Education released the annual state Report Card and local school systems made significant gains.

In Anderson County, assessment scores in elementary and middle schools scored As in math and social studies and Bs in reading and science. A year ago, the system received Bs in math and social studies, a C in reading, and a B in science. [Read more…]

FORNL lecture features presentation on finding unmarked graves

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Katie Corcoran

Katie Corcoran

A lecture in Oak Ridge today will feature a presentation on finding unmarked graves.

Katie Corcoran is pursuing a doctorate in anthropology at the University of Tennessee, and she is also a graduate intern in the Geographic Information Science and Technology Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Her lecture at a Friends of ORNL meeting is titled “The Remote Detection of Unmarked Graves.” The meeting starts at 11 a.m., and the lecture begins at noon at the University of Tennessee Resource Center at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike. It’s open to the public. [Read more…]

ORNL retiree Claud Pugh inducted into NC State Hall of Fame

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Claud Pugh

Claud Pugh

Claud Pugh, a retired program manager at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was scheduled to be inducted into North Carolina State University’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Hall of Fame on Nov. 1.

At ORNL, Pugh served as director of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission program office, was head of the Engineering Technology Division’s pressure vessel technology section, directed the NRC-sponsored heavy-section steel technology program, and held various research and project management positions in programs sponsored by the NRC and DOE. [Read more…]

ORHS Masquers present ‘Emma,’ company’s first English comedy

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ORHS Masquers Jacob Moreno and Meghanne Hill

Pictured above are Jacob Moreno as Mr. Knightly in the ORHS Masquers’ production of “Emma” and Meghanne Hill as Emma Woodhouse. (Submitted photo)

By Dianna Williams, ORHS English teacher

The Oak Ridge High School Masquers will present “Emma,” a play adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma,” a beloved British novel published in 1815. Emma is the company’s first English comedy.

The play presents the story of Emma Woodhouse, a mischievous young woman bent on matchmaking whose efforts backfire when she sets her mind to finding a husband for her friend, Harriet Smith.
 Junior Meghanne Hill plays the starring role and senior Mackensie Russell will play Jane Austen herself, who comes alive as the narrator of the onstage version of the story.

“My favorite part of this production is that I’m finally getting to prove myself as an actor with as challenging a role as Jane Austen,” Russell said. “It’s hard to make a narrator a noticeable character.” [Read more…]

Stargaze at Roane State Observatory on Saturday, Sunday

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Submitted

Roane State Community College’s Tamke-Allan Observatory will have its first public stargaze of the winter season at 7:30 p.m. today.

Highlights will include a general astronomy presentation at 8 p.m., followed by a guest lecture on “Buying Your Christmas Telescope.” Following the lectures, there will be full evening of telescopic viewing. The TAOAS student astronomy club will be assisting amateur astronomers.

The Sunday sunrise at the observatory near Rockwood will occur at about 7:02 a.m., and the moon will rise two minutes later. [Read more…]

Willow Brook Elementary gets $1,000 for Top 10 recycling program

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Willow Brook Elementary Recycling Reward Grant

Bob Kesling, left, University of Tennessee broadcasting director and lead play-by-play voice of the Vol Network, and Teresa Shaffer, right, with Eastman Chemical Co. present Willow Brook Elementary School with its award as one of the top environmental programs in Tennessee schools. (Submitted photo)

Students at Willow Brook Elementary School in Oak Ridge were rewarded for their environmental efforts with $1,000 for having one of the top 10 school recycling programs in the state of Tennessee through the Good Sports Always Recycle, or GSAR, program.

Peter Blair and Christian Goethert from Willow Brook were recognized during an on-field presentation at the University of Tennessee vs. South Carolina football game, a press release said.

“We were so excited to learn that we were selected as one of the Good Sports Always Recycle school challenge winners,” Principal Lisa Light said. “We are proud to do our part in our community and are committed to teaching our students the importance of recycling. We are honored by this recognition and look forward to using this monetary award to strengthen our program.” [Read more…]

Intel funding for UT will develop codes, open computing center at joint UT-ORNL institute

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Joint Institute for Computational Sciences

The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is pictured above. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)

KNOXVILLE—Imagine going to the doctor and the doctor peering into your genetic code to determine the best medicine to treat what ails you.

The University of Tennessee in Knoxville has received funding from computer chip maker Intel to develop computer codes to make personalized medicine like this and other transformative scientific discoveries possible.

The funding will open an Intel Parallel Computing Center at the Joint Institute for Computational Sciences, or JICS, at UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Parallel computing, used in supercomputers, is a form of computation in which many calculations are carried out simultaneously. The focus of the center will be to take supercomputing to the next level to meet scientific computing demands. Today’s research faces limitations due to the amount of data, time, and energy it takes to run calculations. [Read more…]

Secret City Wildbots have ‘Tech or Treat’ on Friday

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Spook-Tech-Ular!

The Secret City Wildbots are hosting the first annual Tech or Treat at Oak Ridge High School on Friday evening. (Submitted image)

The Secret City Wildbots are hosting the first annual Tech or Treat at Oak Ridge High School on Friday evening.

Tech or Treat will support STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in Oak Ridge Schools and the surrounding areas.

Tech or Treat is similar to trunk or treat. STEM-related clubs and teams from around the area will set up booths in the Oak Ridge High School Cafeteria and hand out candy to community trick-or-treaters. There will even be special guests from technology research companies in the area, a press release said. [Read more…]

Five confirmed bullying cases in Oak Ridge last year, state report says

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Oak Ridge Schools School Administration Building

Oak Ridge Schools reported five confirmed cases of bullying in the 2012-2013 school year. The Oak Ridge Schools’ School Administration Building is pictured above.

There were five confirmed cases of bullying in Oak Ridge Schools last year, a number that is much lower than in many other school districts across the state and in some other nearby districts.

The numbers were reported in a new, first-of-its kind report that said there were 7,555 reported cases of bullying in Tennessee schools last year. Nearly 73 percent of them—or 5,478 cases—were confirmed after investigation.

The report said Oak Ridge Schools had 14 bullying cases reported in the 2012-2013 school year, but only five were confirmed after investigation. All five of those were related to sex or gender discrimination, the report said. [Read more…]