THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503100027
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
We write to comment on the picture, with its three-lined caption, of Griffin Weber, the Newport News High School student who was named a finalist in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search (news, Feb. 28). The picture, with no accompanying text to explain either the Westinghouse competition or Weber's project, exemplifies the paltry coverage routinely given by this newspaper to academic subjects, intellectual pursuits and, most glaringly, to students who excel at academics, as opposed to those who succeed on the athletic field.
The Westinghouse Talent Search is a highly selective contest for which many competitors prepare through their entire high-school careers. The contest requires the students to produce original scientific research, and more than 1,600 high-school students submit detailed and complex projects on topics from topology to weather patterns. A majority of Westinghouse finalists obtain doctorates in the sciences, and many have become Nobel laureates.
Griffin Weber, whose project deals with asthma, was the only student from Virginia selected as a finalist this year, an achievement made even more amazing by the fact that many finalists attend large New York City public high schools that groom students for the Westinghouse competitions beginning in ninth grade. Certainly Griffin Weber's achievement in being selected a Westinghouse finalist merits more coverage than a picture and a three-lined caption.
DOUGLAS S. and SUSAN S. HULBERT
Virginia Beach, Feb. 28, 1995 by CNB