BOARD MATTER

July 26, 2004

Madam Chairman: I recently learned that one of my constituents, Miss Divya Nettimi of Oakton, was one of 40 finalists in the nationwide 2004 Intel Science Talent Search. For this honor, she won a $5,000 scholarship and a notebook computer. However, this honor is not the extent of her awards: she was one of 20 students chosen by USA Today for its 2004 High School Academic Team and also received a $16,500 Micron Science and Technology Scholarship.

Divya recently graduated from a school with which I am very familiar: the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. There, she helped start the Assistive Technology Club that makes reading devices to help children with motor-disabilities learn to communicate. She has also received the Congressional Award Bronze Medal for exceptional community service and personal development.

Also, Divya was recognized by the Siemens Corporation in the Awards for Advanced Placement as the National Female Winner. In 2003, she was a semi-finalist in the National Chemistry Olympiad and in 2002 she received the AP Scholar with Honor award from the College Board.

Divya will be attending Stanford University and hopes to become a research scientist. Her work has focused on developing a method of theoretically calculating the rate at which myosin reacts with ATP and drives muscle contraction. Her findings note that the reaction rate is primarily affected by myosin, and only indirectly by ATP, suggesting more and denser muscle tissue is needed to add more myosin in order to perform more strenuous activity.

Therefore, I move that the Office of Public Affairs prepare a Certificate of Recognition for Divya to recognize her outstanding commitment to the citizens of Fairfax County and to the field of science. Further, I ask that Divya and School Board member Phil Niedzielski-Eichner be invited to come before the Board of Supervisors at our September 13, 2004 meeting before she leaves for Stanford.