LADWP Science Bowl XIII Results: Venice High School Captures Title; Team Wins
Fifth Regional Trophy, First Since 1997; North Hollywood ”A” Team Places
Second and ”B” Team Third
Business Wire
Feb 27, 2005
Granada Hills Charter High School “B” Team Places Fourth
Venice High School won first place today in the annual LADWP Science Bowl
Regional Competition.
The Venice High School “A” Team will receive an all-expense paid trip to
Washington, D.C. to represent the city of Los Angeles at the U.S. Department of
Energy’s National Science Bowl April 28 to May 2, 2005.
“The Venice High School Science Bowl Team will represent Los Angeles very
well. The team demonstrated great skill and determination. We are proud of them
and all participating teams,” said Melinda Rho, chair of the LADWP Science Bowl
Volunteer Steering Committee.
“Science Bowl not only recognizes academic excellence, but provides
outstanding platforms to encourage students to pursue studies and careers in technical
fields while also helping them develop teamwork skills and to ‘think on their
feet.’ These skills are invaluable to future employers, such as LADWP, in
maintaining a technologically current and motivated workforce,” said Robert K.
Rozanski, LADWP Chief Administrative Officer.
The winning team members are Captain Jonah Rosenthal, Nicole O’Keefe, Seth
Rotkin, D’Amico Lorenzo and Andrew Bernstein. Their coach is Richard Erdman.
The competition at the National Science Bowl is expected to be tough. A total
of 66 regional finalists are expected from 40 states, the District of
Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This year, 11,000 students will participate in
regional competitions.
Each Venice High School “A” Team Member receives the Hitachi Scholarship of
$1,000. The school will receive the LADWP prize of $2000 for science
instructional materials or equipment and a trophy. As runner-up, the North Hollywood
High School “A” Team members will each receive the LADWP $1000 U.S. Savings Bonds
Scholarship. The school will also receive a trophy and $1750 for the purchase
of science materials.
North Hollywood High School’s “B” Team placed third. The school will also
receive $1500 in science materials or equipment from LADWP and a trophy. Team
members will receive a $300 IEEE Scholarship. Fourth place team, Granada Hills
Charter High School’s “B” Team earned $1250 for science materials and a trophy
for the school with students receiving an Office Depot purchasing card of $200
from LADWP.
Members of the runner-up North Hollywood High School “A” Team include Captain
Jensen Law, Jennifer Yeh, Clifford Shin, Timothy Hsieh and Alex Yen. The
coach is Len Soloff. North Hollywood High School “B” Team Members are Melisa Lin,
Denise Ye, John Chen, Matthew Kim and Joseph Chang. Coach is Rishita Shah.
Granada Hills Charter High School “B” Team Members are Marena Lin, Angela
Liu, Alan Nam, Jared Needle and Steven He. Coach is Bob Demetrion.
In addition to the regular buzzer competition, the special Franklin Lu
Hands-On Competition was held. The competition is named for Franklin Lu, an
electrical engineer and devoted Science Bowl Volunteer, who passed away suddenly in
Nov. 2001. This year the competition involved a series of brain twisting
puzzles.
In this competition Downtown Business Magnet High School placed first. The
school was awarded the Franklin Lu Hands-On Trophy. Each team member received an
Office Depot purchasing card for $250 from LADWP.
Second place was presented to TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian School. Team
members received purchasing cards to Office Depot for $200 from LADWP. Third
place was won by Hamilton High School. Each team member received a purchasing card
to Office Depot from LADWP for $150. And fourth place was won by Gardena High
School. Each team member was awarded a purchasing card to Office Depot for
$100.
The LADWP Science Bowl follows a fast-paced game show format in the style of
the vintage “General Electric College Bowl” academic quiz show. Team members
answer toss-up questions worth four points in order to earn the right to answer
10 point bonus questions. The team with the most points wins the match.
During today’s competition more than 150 individual matches were held, 126
during the morning’s round robin league play and the remainder in the
afternoon’s Double Elimination Championship Tournament of 16 teams. A total of 42 teams
from 26 public, private and parochial high schools participated during the
LADWP Science Bowl.
Subjects cover computer science, biology, physics, earth science, chemistry,
astronomy, mathematics and new advances in technology.
In addition to LADWP and the U. S. Department of Energy, local event sponsors
include the Hitachi Southern California Regional Action Committee, the
Hitachi Foundation, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE),
the San Fernando Valley Engineers’ Council, the Water and Power Community Credit
Union, and the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Annually, about 100 volunteers, mainly LADWP employees and their families,
serve as moderators, timekeepers, and scorekeepers at the regional competition.
The LADWP Science Bowl is an official, regional qualifying tournament of the
U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl. This year local tournaments
will be held in 66 regions located in some 40 states, the District of Columbia,
the Virgin Islands and American Indian Nations. Nine regional competitions
are held in California including one at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for
schools outside the city of Los Angeles. Annually, more than 11,000 students from
1800 high school participate in the National Science Bowl program.
LADWP is one of only a few utilities in the nation that is a coordinating
regional sponsor and host. LADWP is also involved in a number of educational
partnership and community programs including the Teacher Workshops, Youth Service
Academy and the Adopt-A-School Program.
Further information about LADWP education programs can be received from the
LADWP web site at, , clicking on the Community and Safety Section
and then Educational Services.
LADWP, the nation’s largest municipally owned utility, has provided service
to city residences and businesses for more than a century.Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power Walter Zeisl, 213-367-1342 or 213-792-5521 (cell)
Kimberley Hughes, 213-367-4417 or 213-792-9599 (cell)