Three Nominated For Goldwater Competition

Three Kansas State University students have been nominated to represent K-State in competition for the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. According to scholar adviser James Hohenbary, Goldwater results will be announced in late March. K-State’s nominees are Kara Gray, Lansing, and Mark Norfleet and Julie Stilson, both of Wichita.

Students who have at least a 3.0 grade point average, major in science, math or engineering and plan a career in research are eligible to apply. The students were asked to fill out an application form consisting of biographical information, four mini-essays and one 600-word essay explaining scientific research they had done. The applications were judged by a panel of K-State professors. The students will represent K-State at the national level and to compete for one of the 300 scholarships to be awarded nationally this year. If selected for the scholarship, the students will receive up to $7,500 annually. Sophomores are eligible for two years of funding.

Kara Gray is a junior majoring in physics. At K-State she has been active as chief justice for the Moore Hall Judicial Board, and on the Moore Hall governing board. A National Merit Scholar, she won a Kassebaum Scholarship and a Katherine Berman Scholarship, both awarded through the KSU Foundation. She is researching the Force Concept Inventory, a learning assessment tool, with the Physics Education Research group under the mentorship of professor Dean Zollman. A 1999 graduate of Lansing High School, she is the daughter of Laura and John Gray, Lansing.

Mark Norfleet, junior in mathematics and music, is a 2000 graduate of Wichita Collegiate High School. At K-State, he is vice president of the Math Club, treasurer of Chess Club, and plays the string bass in jazz orchestra (Big Band), jazz combo and orchestra. He is researching the properties of strong divisibility sequences under the mentorship of professor Andrew Bennett. He is the son of Charles Norfleet and Rhonda Norfleet, Wichita.

Julie Stilson, senior in computer science and mathematics, is a member of Silver Key honorary, tutors math and computer science, and is a HOSTS tutor for elementary school students. She has also worked as an Enhanced University Experience lab instructor during the last two fall semesters for College and Intermediate Algebra.

Stilson is researching algorithms applied to Bayesian networks, with the Knowledge Discovery in Databases lab with professor William Hsu. A 1999 graduate of Wichita Southeast High School, she is the daughter of Evelyn and Mickey Stilson, Wichita

K-State students have won 43 Goldwater Scholarships since the program began in l989. K-State is ranked first in the nation among public universities in the number of Goldwater winners. Among all colleges and universities in the nation, only Princeton with 45 winners has produced more Goldwater scholars.

Goldwater Scholars

Top 10 of the 2,000 four-year colleges in America: 500 state; 1,500 private

1. Princeton University — 45

2. Kansas State University — 43

Harvard University — 43

4. Duke University — 40

5. California Institute of Technology — 38

6. Montana State University — 35

7. University of Chicago — 35

8. Penn State University — 34

9. University of Illinois — 33

10. Brown University — 33