USD Magazine, Fall 1996

"Our mission is to turn these disaduantaqed students in the direction of uniuersity study.

and 1·m happy that almost all of them qo on to colleqe careers in the sciences . SUMMER SCHOLARS

T he office of Sister Patricia Shaffer is crammed floor to ceiling with notebook_s, texts, folders and the_paraph_erna– lia of a 37-year teaching career. Yet when this chemistry professor turns from her de~k to consult the wall of shelves behind her, she alwhs seems to know exactly- h h . . I w ere everyt mg 1s. So it is no surprise that Sister Shaffer also knows the where– abouts of almost every high school student she has invited to work at USD for the past 10 years. They come to her through Project SEED (Summer Educational Experience for the Disadvantaged), a quarter-century-old program designed to encourage bright but eco– nomically deprived students to pursue an education and a career in science. They work with her for 10 weeks over one summer, and some come back for a second stint the following summer. Then they go on to pursue their educations and their careers. But Sister Shaffer almost always knows where they are. "The students keep in touch with me. They stop by or they call or e-mail," says Sister

lem. Most are studying the side effects of the gene source now being used. My hope is to eventually provide this gene as a I ew source." With a project this complex, student participants get to dq a little bit of everything, Shaffer says. "The SEED students, who work with current undergraduates, learn everything from how to cut and splice DNA to how to perform computer searches and present the results of their work." The students also get an early look at what a career in research might be like. For Leeda Haidary, a student who spent the past two summers with Sister Shaffer, the SEED experience solidified her desire to become a biology researcher. Haidary not only has a leg up on her college peers, who are learning to operate equipment she already is familiar with, she knows how her work fits into the world outside the lab.

"We weren't just told what to do; we were told why we were doing it," says Haidary, now a biology major at Grossmont College. "Seeing the big pic– ture makes you take pride in your work." The students are not the only beneficiaries of the program. Shaffer is keeping an anxious eye on the calendar as she races to complete this project before her retirement two years hence, and the budding scientists are a boon to her work.

Shaffer, who fondly remembers the troubles and triumphs of each student's summer work. "Our mission is to turn these disadvantaged students in the direction of university study, and I'm happy that almost all of them go on to college careers in the sciences." Sister Shaffer proudly points out the universities her summer students now attend - Whittier, Tulane,

"Some of them are just as good as college students at working the equipment and performing computer tasks," Sister Shaffer says. "I spend time teaching them while they are here, but sometimes they learn to work equip- . ment that even I can't operate." Those learning opportunities are what Sister Shaffer believes Project SEED, which is funded by the American Chemical Society, is all about. The students learn about science, about teamwork, and about hard work. And when Sister Shaffer smiles and tells you where they are now, it's clear they also learn to succeed.

U .C. Santa Barbara, among others - and can provide a litany of their achievements. She points just as proudly to the meaningful work they do while in her charge. "For several years, we've been working on cloning a gene that can be used in the treatment of childhood leukemia," says Sister Shaffer, explaining that her work will lead to an alternative cure for children who have negative reactions to the current form of treat– ment. "Not too many people are working on this particular prob-

- Michael R. Haskins

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