Student catapults to scholarship
Patrick McLaughlin, a senior at Salem High School in Salem, N.H., had already been accepted into the civil engineering program at Merrimack College in North Andover when he learned of a unique scholarship opportunity. So on a recent Saturday, the 17-year-old joined four other students in seeing who could launch an egg from their homemade, medieval-style catapults closest to a frying pan 54 feet away.
The students were judged on catapult aesthetics and individual presentations in addition to the median distance of three egg launches. McLaughlin sealed the scholarship - worth $25,000 a year for four years - when his egg landings averaged within 18 unches from the target. Second-place winner Jakub Kovac and third-place winner Ghassan Naim both attend North Andover High School.
Students designed and constructed their own catapults using a maximum of $50 in building supplies. The competition took place during Merrimack College's second annual ThinkFEST, in which students in grades 6 through 12 experimented in a variety of hands-on science and engineering demonstrations.
McLaughlin said the skills he learned in a high school computer design class were essential in allowing him to evaluate design modifications in 3-D. He completed the construction - which largely consisted of 2-by-4-inch pieces of wood, 1-inch metal pipes, string, and sand bags for weight - in just two days.
"My mind was set on going to Merrimack, but this scholarship will make things much easier on my parents," McLaughlin said. "I tried to put in as much effort as I could because school is so expensive. I'm definitely thankful to Merrimack for this opportunity."
PICTURE PERFECT: Neil Tischler cultivated an appreciation of photography while watching his father develop photographs in a darkroom in the family's home in rural upstate New York. He soon began taking his own photographs, from classmates at high school track meets to intricate frost formations on wintry windows. After several years, however, long work hours as a mechanical engineer and product design consultant forced him to put his camera aside.
Tischler, who moved to Acton in 1972, said his love of photography was rekindled when he bought his first digital camera in 2001. Then, a curious thing happened as he shared photographs with friends: They began asking if they could purchase them. With additional encouragement from a local gallery, Tischler began selling prints and images on note cards.
Specializing in capturing the "intricacies of nature" with a hand-held digital camera in natural light, Tischler photographs birds, insects, flowers, fruit, water reflections, and landscapes.
Dozens of Tischler's prints will be on display at the Sargent Memorial Library in Boxborough through Friday and again throughout June. He will also be playing percussion in The Concord Players' production of "West Side Story" through May 10 at 51 Walden St. in Concord. For more information, visit neiltischler.com or concordplayers.org.
STEPPING OUT: When she learned about the Harvard University Arts First Festival during college orientation last summer, Colleen O'Brien (far right) of Woburn said she knew she wanted to be part of it. In fact, she and her fellow members of the Dunleavy-Shaffer School of Irish Dance - including her 17-year-old brother, Brendan - compose a dozen of the 3,000 students who will share the spotlight next weekend.
Initiated by actor and Harvard University alumnus John Lithgow in 1991, Arts First is an annual performing arts festival celebrating Harvard student and faculty creativity. This year's event, which runs campuswide Thursday through next Sunday, will feature more than 200 music, theater, dance, film, and visual arts events. Most are free.
O'Brien, who is studying history and literature at Harvard, began taking Irish dancing classes when she was 4 years old.
"The audience can expect a high-energy, enthusiastic performance, because we're all putting in a lot of work," said O'Brien, who has traveled to California, Canada, and Ireland for dance competitions. "They can also expect big smiles, because we love to entertain."
The Irish dance team will perform at Arts First at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Harvard University's Lowell House. For more information, call 617-495-8676 or visit fas.harvard.edu/arts.
People items may be submitted to Cindy Cantrell at cantrell@globe.com.
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