WVU--community partnership that provides science and math enrichment for underrepresented high school students.

In response to the need to help West Virginia secondary school students overcome educational and economic barriers and to increase the number of health professionals in the state, the Health Sciences and Technology Academy (hereafter, "the Academy") was established in 1994. The Academy is a partnership between West Virginia University (WVU)--including the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Human Resources and Education--and members of the community, including secondary-school teachers, health care professionals, and other community leaders. The Academy targets students from underrepresented groups (mainly African Americans and financially disadvantaged whites) in grades nine through 12. By November 1997, 290 students (69% girls and 33% African American) from 17 counties were Academy participants. Funding is from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the Coca-Cola Foundation, and other sources. Academy programs are an on-campus summer institute and community-based clubs, where students engage in activities for science and math enrichment, leadership development, and health careers awareness. In the Academy's clubs, students carry out extended investigations of problems related to human health and local communities. Most students report that the Academy has increased their interest in health care careers, and almost all who have continued to participate in Academy programs through their senior year have been accepted into college.

Interactive effects of resource availabilities and defoliation on photosynthesis, growth, and mortality of red oak seedlings.

Responses of forest trees to defoliation by insects such as gypsy moth vary greatly from site to site and from individual to individual. To determine whether some of this variation could be explained by variation in other stress factors, red oak (Quercus rubra L.) seedlings were exposed to low and high light, water, mineral nutrient, and defoliation treatments, in a complete factorial design in a greenhouse. Significant interactions were observed among factors for photosynthesis, growth, and mortality, indicating that the response to defoliation was influenced by other stresses. Defoliation increased the photosynthetic capacity per unit leaf area of seedlings grown in the low-water, but not in the high-water, regime. In response to defoliation, growth of seedlings in a low-mineral-nutrient, or low-light, regime was depressed less than that of seedlings grown in a high-mineral-nutrient, or high-light, regime. However, defoliation resulted in a similar percent reduction in biomass in all seedlings in both the high and the low light, water, and mineral nutrient treatments. Defoliation-induced mortality of shaded plants was twice that of plants grown in full sun.

Effects of leaf nitrogen availability and leaf position on nitrogen allocation patterns in Vaccinium vitis-idaea and Vaccinium uliginosum.

Nitrogen allocation patterns from leaves of Vaccinium vitis-idaea (evergreen) and Vaccinium uliginosum (deciduous) were assessed using a foliar application of 15N labeled ammonium sulfate. These are wild perennial shrubs inhabiting arctic and subarctic regions. More label was transported from labeled leaves of Vaccinium uliginosum then Vaccinium vitis-idaea. In Vaccinium uliginosum, the amount of label transported from the labeled leaf increased as the concentration of nitrogen in the label increased. Current growth in Vaccinium uliginosum was a strong sink for nitrogen because most of the 15N transported from the labeled leaf was contained in this region. In addition, when greater quantities of nitrogen were applied, larger quantities were retained in current growth. Current growth of Vaccinium vitis-idaea, on the other hand, was not as strong a sink because regardless of the nitrogen available thru various label concentrations, the enrichment of current growth was not affected and was not significantly different from older stems or leaves. Yet, in both species, nitrogen was transported freely from leaves of all positions along the stem to all parts of the plant including roots and rhizomes. The position of the leaf along the stem had no effect on the patterns of allocation to other organs.