RMSLA - RMSLA - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

The 2008 Arkansas Science and Engineering Fair was held at the University of Central Arkansas on April 4, 2008. Representatives from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), College of Medicine, Rural Medicine Student Leadership Association (RMSLA) judged science projects for the Arkansas Mentor Award, one of many specialty prizes at the science fair. The Arkansas Mentor Awards are sponsored by the UAMS Regional Programs and the Arkansas Farm Bureau. These specialty awards are aimed at projects that may improve the health and well-being of rural Arkansans.

1^st Place ($125): Bayley Shields, a 9^th grader from Alpena High School. Her project, To Preserve or Not to Preserve, studied the effectiveness of sodium benzoate, a preservative commonly found in foods, as an insecticide. She found that the sodium benzoate is effective in killing fruit flies and corn worms, and subsequently calculated the most effective dose and mixture of sodium benzoate to be used as an insecticide. She hopes that this may lead to the development of a more consumer-friendly, less toxic future insecticide for the agricultural industry.

Text Box: (Left to right) Paige Lawson, RMSLA Co-President and 2nd year UAMS medical student; Bayley Shields, Alpena High School 9th grade and 1st Place Winner of the Arkansas MENTOR Award; and Aaron Mitchell, RMSLA Co-President and 2nd year UAMS medical student.

2^nd Place ($75): Emily Smith, an 11^th grader from Alpena High School. Emily's project entitled, The Effect of Thimersol on Hamsters, Phase II, investigated the effect of thimersol, a preservative found in many childhood immunizations, on the birth rates and abilities of the hamsters exposed to the substance to navigate a maze. She also tracked how much of the thimersol was excreted by the hamsters and how much each hamster retained. She discovered that the thimersol did have a negative impact on the hamster's ability to navigate a maze and the birth rates of hamsters born to mothers exposed to the thimersol. She hopes that this research could shed light on the debate linking Autism to thimersol found in many childhood vaccines.

3^rd Place $50): Mandy Burkhart, a 12^th grader from Alpena High School. Her project entitled, Phosphoric Acid vs. Sugar, Phase IV, explored the effects of phosphoric acid and sugar on teeth strength and enamel. While she found that both sugar and phosphoric acid alone weakened teeth enamel, she discovered that the combination of the two, as present in most soft drinks, significantly decreases the strength of teeth.

Judges were: Paige Lawson, M2 and RMSLA co-president; Aaron Mitchell, M2 and RMSLA co-president; and Rebecca Mitchell, 4^th year pharmacy student.