580 students from 56 schools around Iowa traveled to Iowa State University on March 30th-31st for the Iowa State Science and Technology Fair.  Of those, 11 students from Rivermont Collegiate, an independent school in Bettendorf, Iowa, won an impressive 27 awards and scholarships.

For the third time in her high school career, top honors went to Rivermont senior, Pavane Gorrepati, winner of the prestigious Grand Championship award for her project on the impact different genes have on the nutritional characteristics of rice.  Pavane will represent the State of Iowa at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in May, 2012.  Pavane also won 1^st place in the Plant Sciences category, 3^rd place in the Senior Individual Biological Seminar, and was awarded over $7,200 in prizes and scholarships for her project.

 

Also high school students at Rivermont Collegiate, Maghana Pagadala (12^th grade) and Shravya Pothula (10^th grade) both had impressive projects that made them Semi-finalists for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.  Meghana won first place in the Cellular & Molecular Biology category and was awarded over $5,700 in prizes and scholarships for her project on the Mechanism By Which CD8+ FoxP3+ T-Cells Regulate Osteoclast Activity.  Shravya won second place in the Medicine and Health Science category for her project on how Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Reduces Mitral Valve Regurgitation.

 

But the high schoolers weren't the only winners at the competition!  Not to be outdone by her older sister, 7th grade Rivermont student Manasa Pagadala was the winner of the Grand Champion award in the Overall Junior High Biological division for her project titled How Do Spices Affect the Growth of Bacteria and Fungi? Manasa also won 1st place in the 7th Grade Biology division, a University of Iowa College of Engineering scholarship, and she will compete at the Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars) National Middle School Science Fair in Washington DC in the fall, 2012.  Sixth grade Rivermont students Collin Smith, Klaus Storl-Desmond, and Aviana Zahara will also compete at the Broadcom MASTERS.

 

Headmaster of Rivermont Collegiate, Rick St. Laurent, is extremely proud of this year's award winners and attributes much of the school's success to science teacher Linda Hampton who has been with the school for over 28 years.  "Rivermont has a long list of graduates who have gone on to do amazing things in science and technology.  Mrs. Hampton's passion for teaching science and inspiring students is one of the main reasons Rivermont does so well year after year at the State and National science competitions." says Mr. St. Laurent.  "We continue our commitment to outstanding science and technology classes as part of our students' education and look forward to seeing what our students come up with next year."

 

Rivermont Collegiate has approximately 200 students in PreSchool - 12th grade.  The science curriculum starts in Kindergarten.  With a dedicated science teacher in their Lower School, students as young as 5 go to the science classroom 3 times a week.  Mr. St. Laurent says, "Science is one of our younger students' favorite subjects.  They love doing hands-on experiments and learning how things work.  We tie science in with what they're doing in math, reading, and even social studies, so it provides a good, solid foundation for life-long learning."

Other Rivermont Collegiate winners at the Iowa State Science and Technology Fair include :

• Klaus Storl-Desmond (6th grade) - Do Moon Phases or Weather Factors Affect Different Coyote Calls? - 2nd place winner in 6th Grade Biological division and Broadcom MASTERS Junior High Finalist.
• Naina Ninan (6th grade) - How Does Temperature Affect Scindapsus Plants? - 10th place winner in 6th Grade Biological division.
• Lana Meier (6th grade) - Do Background Distractions Influence a Person's Hand-Eye Reaction Times? - 8th place winner in 6th Grade Biological division.
• Collin Smith (6th grade) - Do the Number of Magnets on a Guitar's Pick-Up Influence the Sound Frequency? - 4th place winner in 6th Grade Physical Science division, BroadcomMASTERS  Junior High Finalist, and Student Incentive Prize Winner.
• Aviana Zahara (6th grade) - Which kinds of Bacteria Do We Find in the Mouths of Cats, Dogs, Horses, and Humans - 3rd place winner in 6th Grade Biological division, Broadcom MASTERS Junior High Finalist, and Horizon Award winner.
• Sarah Bowman (8th grade) - How Does Road Run-Off Affect the Germination and Growth of Common Seeds?- 5th place winner in 8th Grade Biological division.
• Marta Storl-Desmond (8th grade) - Does Precipitation Influence the pH, D.O. or Nitrate Levels in a Local River? - 9th place winner in 8th Grade Biological division and winner of special award from the Association for Women Geoscientists.

 

When asked the secret to her success, teacher Linda Hampton humbly said, "I just love teaching science.  The kids come up with their own science fair ideas; I am just here to provide guidance and support.  Their enthusiasm and curiosity inspires me to keep learning myself.  I am always amazed by what the students here are capable of."

- END -

County Residents Take Advantage Of Free Discount Cards To Save Money On Prescription Drugs

April 12, 2012 ? The NACO program has changed with an option for a $1 per transaction
revenue sharing fee for participating counties. Scott County has decided not to participate
in the transaction revenue sharing fee and pass the savings onto our citizens. Last year, the
Scott County free prescription drug discount program, saved Scott County residents $349,481.
Chairman Tom Sunderbruch announced that 34,183 prescriptions were filled with the card last
year at discounts averaging 28.3% or $10.05 per prescription.

Scott County launched the program in September of 2007 to help consumers cope with the
high price of prescription drugs. The county is making the free prescription drug discount cards
available under a program sponsored by the National Association of Counties (NACo) that offers
average savings of 24 percent off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs.

Best of all, there is no cost to county taxpayers for NACo and Scott County to make these money
saving cards available to our residents.

The cards may be used by all county residents, regardless of age, income, or existing health
coverage, and are accepted at all the major pharmacies in Scott County. A national network
of more than 59,000 participating retail pharmacies also honors the Scott County Prescription
Discount Card.

Cards are available at County offices and participating pharmacies. County residents can call
the County Administration Office at 563-326-8604 or visit www.scottcountyiowa.com for
information on where to pick up the card. For assistance with the program, please contact your
pharmacy or www.caremark.com/naco.

"Using the NACo prescription discount card is easy," said Chairman Sunderbruch. "Simply
present it at a participating pharmacy. There is no enrollment form, no membership fee and no
restrictions or limits on frequency of use. Cardholders and their family members may use the card
any time their prescriptions are not covered by insurance."

WEST BRANCH, IOWA– Homeowners or anyone interested in learning about pruning trees and shrubs can join arborist Ed Rinderspacher and the staff of Herbert Hoover National Historic Site for an Arbor Day presentation on Friday, April 27. Arbor Day is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees.

The program is free and begins at 2:00 p.m. at the visitor center. It will last about one hour and may involve about a half-mile of walking to different plantings around the park. Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. In the case of inclement weather, please call (319) 643-2541 before attending. 

Ed Rinderspacher is the owner and operator of Rindy Tree and Turf Care, Inc. and a West Branch, Iowa  arborist certified by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). Mr. Rinderspacher will provide a one-hour, hands-on tree pruning demonstration of cuts and techniques for small, young, newly planted trees.   "There are about a thousand trees in this 187-acre national park," said Pete Swisher, superintendent of Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. "We hope our visitors can see examples of the careful work we do to maintain the landscape commemorating Herbert Hoover's life."

April 21 through 29 is National Park Week, the annual week for celebration and recognition of your National Parks. Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum are in West Branch, Iowa at exit 254 off I-80. Both are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time. Parking is limited so please allow extra time to find a parking space. For more information go online at www.nps.gov/heho or call (319) 643-2541.


Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
110 Parkside Drive
PO Box 607
West Branch, Iowa   52358

319 643-2541 phone
319 643-7864 fax
www.nps.gov/heho

Expert Says Closed-End Funds a Good Investment Option

Baby boomers stand to inherit $10 trillion in the next few years and women will get the bulk of it, according to a Cornell University study, because they outlive men an average of seven years.

"Women already control 60 percent of the nation's personal wealth - they outnumber men and they are traditionally the shoppers," says financial expert Scott T. Schultz, author of Scott Schultz's Guide to Closed-End Funds (www.closedendfundguru.com).

"It's sad that, despite the fact that nearly a third make more money than their husbands and they're starting businesses at twice the rate men are, 38 percent of women ages 30 to 55 worry they'll eventually live in poverty because they can't adequately save for retirement," he says.

With the first of the boomers hitting 65 this year, the nation will see an even greater number of retirement-aged women holding the country's purse strings.

"Many will inherit money and property from their parents and/or their husbands, and many will live another 30 to 40 years," Schultz says, citing the Cornell study. "They'll need to invest their money to ensure they have enough to avoid that impoverished retirement they fear, but they - and the nation - have lost confidence in the stock market; April 2011 saw the lowest number of investors since 1999."

What brokers don't tell clients about, he says, is closed-end funds. Schultz, ranked the No. 1 Separate Account Money Manager for three consecutive years by USA Today, says he earned that national honor by relying almost solely on these limited-issue stocks. Because they're available only in finite numbers and because watchful brokers can find them "on sale," they're a better bet as an investment for those who are willing to sit on them awhile.

Why is the American public so in the dark about closed-end funds? Noting his book is the first written on the topic in more than 20 years, Schultz says there are a few reasons:

• Brokers can't generate a lot of commissions from them. Brokers move open-ended funds quickly because they earn a commission with each transaction. It's easy money for them, Schultz says. Closed-end funds require a longer term investment strategy, so brokers who want to get rich quick won't use them.

• They require more effort from the broker, who has to work to find the "sales." One advantage of closed-end funds is that they can sometimes be purchased at a discount, so the investor starts off ahead of open-end investors who are paying full price for stocks, Schultz says. Even if the fund never gets back up to its full value, any increase at all is a gain. But the broker has to be willing to work to find the good investments with good discounts. And then he or she has to be willing to sit on them.

• Closed-end funds are boring! For a lot of brokers, it's just plain fun to trade stocks in products and initiatives with an exciting ring to them, whether it's Facebook or a treasure-hunting ship. These brokers are constantly trading stocks - and generating transaction feeds, lawyer fees and underwriting fees every time - because that's what they like to do. Closed-end funds require thoughtful, sometimes tedious research before buying, and then the patience of a saint as both the broker and the investor wait for the bid price to increase.

About Scott T. Schultz

Scott T. Schultz began his career in 1983 at E.F. Hutton and was ranked the nation's No. 1 Separate Account Money Manager by USA Today for three consecutive years using GIPS verified/audited performance numbers supplied by Morningstar, Inc. Schultz was a GOP nominee for U.S. Congress in 1988, and met with Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush at the White House. He graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in journalism.