22 February 2001

Plainsboro, New Jersey -- Think of it as a day of Jeopardy-like tournaments, only all the categories are disciplines of science, all the participants are high school students, and the competitions take place locally. Oh, and instead of Alex, the moderators are volunteers from the area. The event is the New Jersey Regional Competition of the National Science Bowl® this Saturday, February 24, at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). Beginning at 9 a.m., 22 teams from 19 schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania are scheduled to compete in the day-long bowl where they answer multiple-choice or short-answer questions in biology; chemistry; physics; astronomy; mathematics; and general, earth, and computer sciences. Each team is made up of four students, a student alternate, and a teacher who serves as an advisor and coach.

Participating schools in the double-elimination tournament this year are: Carteret High School (Carteret, NJ), Cherry Hill High School West (Cherry Hill, NJ), Christian Brothers Academy (Lincroft, NJ), East Brunswick High School (East Brunswick, NJ), Governor Livingston High School (Berkeley Heights, NJ), Hamilton High-East (Hamilton, NJ), High Technology High School (Lincroft, NJ), Hopewell Valley Central High School (Pennington, NJ), Millburn High School (Millburn, NJ), Montgomery High School (Skillman, NJ), Neshaminy High School (Neshaminy, PA), Notre Dame High School (Lawrenceville, NJ), Princeton Day School (Princeton, NJ), Princeton High School (Princeton, NJ), Stuart Country Day School (Princeton, NJ), Watchung Hills Regional High School (Warren, NJ), Westfield High School (Westfield, NJ), West Windsor-Plainsboro H.S. North and South (Plainsboro, NJ), and Woodbridge High School (Woodbridge, NJ).

The top winner of the regional competition will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Eleventh Annual National Science Bowl®, scheduled to begin May 4, 2001.

The regional competition is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and hosted by PPPL. PPPL, funded by the DOE and managed by Princeton University, is a collaborative national center for science and innovation leading to an attractive fusion energy source.

Representatives of the media are invited to attend the Science Bowl® at PPPL. The Laboratory is on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus off U.S. Route 1 North in Plainsboro and not on the University's main campus in Princeton.

For further information, please contact:

Anthony R. DeMeo
Head
Information Services
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
(609) 243-2755
ademeo@pppl.gov

Patricia Wieser
Information Services
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
(609) 243-2757
pwieser@pppl.gov