Northridge : Faulty Rubber Band Decides Tiny-Car Race

For four weeks they were comrades, classmates in a summer program at Cal State Northridge designed to introduce female and minority students in middle school and high school to science, math and engineering.

But for a few moments Friday they were competitors, out to make each other eat dust in a race of balsa wood cars they had designed.

After a series of elimination heats, it came down to teams led by 15-year-old Pablo Palma and 16-year-old Elizabeth Gonzalez, both of Pacoima.

Project leader Shawnette Sapp gave the signal and the cars were off, whizzing across the tiled floor of CSUN’s engineering building.

Suddenly, disaster.

Elizabeth’s car came to an abrupt halt while her opponent’s sped on. The cause? Engine trouble: The rubber band gave out.

A beaming Pablo explained that the group had planned to build “a more aerodynamic design” but instead settled on a lightweight craft modeled after a skateboard--a bit of engineering ingenuity that made the difference.

Friday’s race marked the end of the four-week Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement/Pre-Freshman Enrichment Program, a chance for educators to show families what their children had accomplished and for the children to share what they’d learned.

“I talk louder now when I speak,” said one, Arthur Buck. “I try my best and that’s what counts.”

As program director, Gillian Massey said that the most satisfying aspect to her is “to see the students blossom. . . . When they go back to school they’re more confident.”

A recent CSUN graduate in her third year with the program, Sapp said she enjoys being a role model and is always curious to see what her students will create.

“The designs they came up with this year are phenomenal,” she said.