Media Advisory:
Saturday, April 12, 2008 - 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Engineering and Technology Building - Cal State L.A.

Could you compete in middle-school science?

Note to editors and news directors: What’s the C in “E equals M-C squared”? (Answer: C = speed of light.) About 40 science scholars from four nearby middle schools will gather Saturday, April 12, at Cal State L.A. to compete for the right to advance in the National Science Bowl, a fast-paced, question-and-answer competition sponsored by the Department of Energy. Though the students’ response times won’t approach the speed of light (about 186,000 miles per second), if students answer correctly and quickly often enough, they could be headed to the Nationals (held in Denver, June 19-22).

Reporters are welcome to cover the event. To make arrangements, contact Thelma Federico, director of MESA Schools Program at Cal State L.A.: (323) 343-4565 (office), (661) 878-2217 (cell), [email protected]

WHAT:
National Science Bowl regional competition, one of five competitions statewide for middle schools in California.

WHERE:
Engineering and Technology (E&T) Building, California State University, Los Angeles. The University is located at the intersection of the 10 and 710 freeway.

WHEN:
Saturday, April 12, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
8:30 to 9 a.m. - Welcome Ceremony in the Engineering and Technology Quad
12:30 to 3 p.m. - Competitions in classrooms E&T A127, E&T A129, E&T A226, and E&T A227
3:30 to 4 p.m. – Awards ceremony in the E&T Quad

WHO:
Students and teacher-coaches from the following:
Florence Nightingale Middle School in Los Angeles
El Sereno Middle School in Los Angeles
McPherson Magnet School in Orange
Camino Nuevo Charter Academy - Middle School in Los Angeles

For more details on the National Science Bowl regional competition, go to www.scied.science.doe.gov/nsb/index.html.

Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 200,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu