UCI’s Preparatory Program Is for Gifted Students

A college preparatory program will be offered by UC Irvine this summer for gifted junior high and high school students who qualify in what UCI called a “talent search.”

Students with exceptional math, verbal or overall academic ability are being sought for the first-time program, said Jim Waldron, the program’s director in the UCI Office of Relations with Schools and Colleges.

To qualify, students in grades 7 through 12 must score as well as or better than the average high school senior on either the SAT or the SCAT examination.

The deadline for registration for the SAT--the Scholastic Aptitude Test for college admission--is today, although late registration is permitted until Feb. 15, and students may be able to take the test as walk-ins at test sites, Waldron said.

The final day for registering for the SCAT--a shortened version of the SAT, and which is not used for college admission--is Feb. 22.

Classes will be taught by UCI professors, who will include such subjects as international relations, critical thinking and writing, physics, jazz-dance, sailboating and college survival.

“This is a very selective program for high-achieving students,” Waldron said. “Our goal is to offer especially stimulating educational experiences not usually available to these students.”

Applicants must pay a $15 fee. In addition, tuition for the 5-week session--offered June 26 to Aug. 3 --is $585. High school and junior high students may enroll in the 3-week session, scheduled July 10 through 28, for $535.

Scholarships are available. Students may commute or live in campus guest quarters with a chaperon. Minibus service is also available in Orange County.

“The most chronic sneezing fit ever recorded is that of Donna Griffiths (born 1969) of Pershore, England,” according to the Guinness Book of World Records. “She started sneezing on Jan. 13, 1981, and surpassed the previous duration record of 194 days on July 27, 1981. She sneezed an estimated million times in the first 365 days. She achieved her first sneeze-free day on Sept. 16, 1983--the 978th day.

“The highest speed at which expelled particles have been measured to travel is 103.6 m.p.h.”

Guinness also reports: “The record for voluntarily staying underwater is 13 minutes 42.5 seconds by Robert Foster, age 32, an electronics technician of Richmond, Calif., who stayed under 10 feet of water in the swimming pool of the Bermuda Palms at San Rafael, Calif. on March 15, 1959. He hyperventilated with oxygen for 30 minutes before his descent.”

“When we talk to God, we’re praying. When God talks to us, we’re schizophrenic.”

--Lily Tomlin