R&D Magazine broke a story yesterday afternoon highlighting the journey of Lauren Hodge, a 14-year-old from York, Pennsylvania. After earning the top prize this summer at Google’s first Global Science Fair (which was a $25,000 Google Scholarship and internships at Google and LEGO), Hodge contacted a number of universities seeking a place to continue her research. She was interested in studying how discarded jack-o’-lanterns, left over from Halloween, could be used as a water purifier. Cornell’s Dr. Todd Walter, ’90, Associate Professor of Ecohydrology, took up the cause, and Hodge spent last week in Riley-Robb Hall, conducting her research alongside a Cornell graduate student.
Described by R&D Magazine contributor and Ithaca Journal reporter Stacy Shackford as an “ambitious school science fair project,” Hodge’s experiment involved “subjecting pulverized pumpkins to a series of tests to determine how the gourd reacts to water contaminated with hard metals.” The ultimate findings were not what Hodge had expected, but it’s the experience that counts, right?
“Cornell has been very generous and open, and it’s been a great experience,” remarked Lauren’s mother in the article. “We’ve been looking at colleges, and Cornell is definitely a good option.”
It appears our administration has pulled a fast one on the other top research institutions of the world. By dirty rushing Ms. Hodge, they have given themselves a truly remarkable advantage for when the time comes for this high school junior (she must have skipped a grade) and the rest of the Class of 2017 to pledge to a University. Touché Cornell. Just don’t tell Travis Apgar.
