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International Science and Engineering Fair in Louisville

by Theresa Fritz Camoriano

This week, Louisville has the honor of hosting the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, in which 1250 high school students from 38 countries, speaking 13 different languages, will be presenting their science fair projects. (My husband still needs more volunteer translators, so let us know if you are available!) These students have already won local, regional and national science fair competitions in order to qualify to attend this fair.  After the projects are judged on Wednesday, the fair will be open to the public, on Thursday, May 16, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on Friday, May 17, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

If you saw the movie October Sky, you are familiar with a group of "Rocket Boys" from a mining community, who fought all the odds to develop a rocket as a science fair project.  From the Homer Hickam web site, we are reminded that the residents of his mining community  "were in fact filled with a sense of purpose and driven by a set of four attitudes about living that made them resilient and fearless in the face of everyday danger.

We are proud of who we are
We stand up for what we believe
We keep our families together
We trust in God but rely on ourselves"

Not a bad set of attitudes for anyone who wants to succeed!  Those Rocket Boys are all grown up now and will be making presentations to the students.  Two of those presentations will be on Thursday, at 11 a.m. and at 1 p.m.  Four Nobel Laureates also will be walking around during the fair, meeting with the students.  There will be a panel discussion on women in science and technology.  The students will take tours around the area, to Berea, the Newport Aquarium, the Corvette Museum, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky Horse Park, the Derby Museum, Rauch Planetarium, U of L Hand Surgery Center, Jewish Hospital's Rudd Center, Shakertown, Falls of the Ohio, UPS Midnight Tour, McAlpine Locks, Maker's Mark, Bernheim Arboretum, Printing House for the Blind, and more. 

There is great excitement in the air, because we all know that these students have great minds, as well as the drive, dedication, and attitude to achieve, which will enable them to make contributions to our future technical progress.  We are all pulling for them, and we are excited about their dedication and their achievements. 

But how will we treat them when they become successful adults?  What will we think of them when they are successfully making new products and earning lots of money by serving our needs?  Will we then think of them as evil businessmen? Will we become jealous and begin to hate them when they earn a certain amount of money, or when they acquire a certain degree of fame?  Despite all the time, dedication, effort, and sacrifice that will be required for them to achieve success, will we then think it right to punish them by plundering half or more of their income to give to somebody else who did not earn it?  Exactly when, in the eyes of the public, does a person make the transition from the highly acclaimed role of great student, with great potential and hope for the future and tremendous public support, to the despised role of successful, achieving adult to be punished by confiscatory taxes, heavy-handed regulations, and perhaps even punitive antitrust lawsuits?   Just wondering.

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