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NASA likes student�s view of history Photo by Jim Craven Jennifer Williams� prize-winning Hubble project garners extra recognition in D.C. By Vicki Guarino A view of history that takes in star nebulae and crashing comets � not covered wagons and gold strikes � is earning one Medford student some national recognition. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has asked North Medford High School 10th-grader Jennifer Williams to bring her winning history competition entry on the Hubble Space Telescope to its Washington, D.C., headquarters. Jennifer�s NASA display will be part of her round of appearances at the National History Day competition in mid-June. While other students entering the nationwide history contest typically turn their attention to a long-gone event, Jennifer focused her near view of history on exploration in outer space and the Hubble telescope. The Hubble was just launched in 1990, but History Day contest rules set no date restrictions. And Jennifer�s research convinced her that the telescope is, indeed, an historic development, meeting the basic contest standard. "My own passion about space got me to think about the exploration of space as a turning point," Jennifer says. "I am enthralled by space,�� she says. "I think the research stands by itself: Hubble was definitely a turning point in history.�� NASA officials said much the same in their invitation to Jennifer: "We appreciate your contribution to exposing these momentous achievements in history, science and knowledge." Because of its unique space perspective, Hubble gives Earth-bound researchers their first glimpse into space without the distortions of Earth�s atmosphere. The space telescope, Jennifer says, has changed the way doctors detect tumors, the way physicists look at dying stars, even the way some theologians view the origins of the universe. "It is affecting us now, and it will effect us tomorrow,�� Jennifer says. "It is rewriting the science books.�� What she says is most fascinating are the parallels she has discovered between what researchers have to say about Hubble�s findings, and what the Bible says about creation. "It combines religion and science," she says. "I�ve found they can be mixed.�� She sets out the Bible alongside a book on space exploration in her history display. Jennifer�s Hubble research took her from the Bible to the Internet to the national Space Telescope Science Institute, also in Washington, which controls the distant telescope. Jennifer figures she spent about 40 hours on the project, including writing a report, collecting photographs from the space telescope institute, and making her own floating model of Hubble itself. It was her first entry in the History Day competition, which includes middle school students, and she didn�t know what to expect. She got the basic guidelines from the Southern Oregon Historical Society. "I was kind of on my own," she says. Her effort was good enough to earn her second place in the senior division at Oregon�s National History Day competition in Salem last month. Top three finishers in the event�s junior and senior divisions qualify to compete in National History Day at the University of Maryland. Jennifer will join at least eight other Jackson County students leaving for the national competition next Friday. But the NASA display is a bonus. Only about 20 competitors from across the U.S. have been invited to display their work and meet NASA representatives. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA