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Students Get Peek At Life Around The Globe

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 17, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - The school day wouldn't start for another hour at Schrader Elementary, but already seven students were signing onto computers in an effort to learn a little more about how they fit into the global scheme of things.

The students are part of a voluntary cultural exchange class overseen by Stephanie Bennett, the school's math/science resource teacher.

Using an Internet forum called ePals, they swap messages with children from all over the globe, learning about life in other countries and sharing what their lives are like here.

"It's fun e-mailing kids around the world," said Patrick Blum, 10, a fifth-grader.

The students gather one hour before school starts each Tuesday and Thursday.

Ronnie Blair

Teens Take Shot At Making Laws

TAMPA - Students have proposed mandatory driver education, school-business partnerships and the testing of elderly drivers' vision.

This year, more students will give lawmaking a try, taking their ideas to Tallahassee in the hopes that one meets legislative approval.

High schools across Hillsborough County will participate in the fifth annual "Ought to Be a Law" competition today. Students will present ideas they want to become state law to a panel of legislators.

The panel will pick a winner that Rep. Kevin Ambler and Sen. Victor Crist agree to sponsor during the 2009 legislative session. A group of students will see it through, researching, drafting and eventually presenting the bill to councils and committees in Tallahassee.

The students will argue for their bills to be selected from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the school board building, 901 E. Kennedy Blvd.

Courtney Cairns Pastor
Nobel Laureate Will Speak Today

TAMPA - Can the Internet stop the decline of rational thought in the face of the spread of ignorance, superstition and radical religion? Nobel laureate Harry Kroto will try to answer that question at 11 a.m. today at the Marshall Student Center ballroom on the campus of the University of South Florida.

Kroto was one of three recipients of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1996. He is now on the faculty of Florida State University, in the department of chemistry and biochemistry.

Kroto was awarded the Nobel Prize for his part in discovering Bucky balls. A Bucky ball is a collection of carbon atoms arranged in a spherical design that looks like the geodesic domes designed by architect Buckminster Fuller.

The Bucky ball discovery sparked a new interest in nanotechnology, which uses single atoms to build tiny machines and devices. It showed scientists that carbon atoms could be used to make tiny structures.

For more information about Kroto's visit, call the Center for Inquiry of Tampa, (813) 849-7571.

Lindsay Peterson

Buddies Fashion Show On Tap

PLANT CITY - The Plant City High School Best Buddies and Skills USA Club will host its third annual Every Buddies Beautiful Fashion Show at 7 p.m. Friday at the school auditorium.

Students with intellectual disabilities and their student buddies will pose on the stage in various costumes and fashions. Tickets will be sold at the door for $5. All proceeds will benefit Plant City High School's Best Buddies Club. Plant City High School is off West Alexander Street at One Raider Place.

Best Buddies Clubs pair intellectually disabled students with general education students in an effort to foster friendships and understanding.

For information, call Laurel Ritenbaugh or Sandy Denham at (813) 757-9370.

George H. Newman

Fletcher Avenue Is Focus Of Study

TAMPA - Hillsborough County next month will begin a $4 million study into the possible widening of Fletcher Avenue between Interstates 75 and 275.

The study to expand the road from four lanes to six lanes with raised concrete medians comes as planners anticipate traffic on Fletcher to balloon 40 percent to 50 percent during the next 16 years.

By 2025, 59,000 cars a day are expected to travel between Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and 56th Street and 70,000 per day between Florida and Nebraska avenues.

"It's a highly congested road already," project manager Tom Mueller said.

The project has not been funded and could run as high as $150 million or $200 million, with much of that tab going toward land acquisition for right of way.

Rich Shopes

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