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Show HILLTOP TIMES 10 TIME S Feb. 2, 2012 ERIN HOOLEY/Standard-Examiner Julia Satterthwaite (from left), Austin Hecht and Jon Donley of Weber State University compete Jan. 28 at the Vex Robotics tournament at Northridge High School in Layton. Students built robots to compete against other teams to complete tasks and score points. Design teams compete at Vex Robotics Tourney Hill STEM, idesign help sponsor tournament to promote science, technology, engineering and math BY BRYON SAXTON Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau L AYTON — Five years of video game experience and a eye for engineering gives Davis High School junior Brianne Condie an edge over her competitors in robotic game-playing. Condie's team was one of 32 high school and middle school teams from Utah and southern Idaho participating in the Vex Robotics Tournament on Jan. 28 at Northridge High School. "For us, it is all about the driver. (Condie is) a video-gamer," said team member Alicia Parker, a senior at Davis High School. "It is just really cool to build something and see it perform as I thought it would," Condie said, whose all-female, three-member team from Davis High had already captured top finishes at the two previous robotic tournaments they had joined. The object of the tournament: Student teams design a small, remote-control robot under teacher supervision and then drive it within a 12-square-foot arena to scoop or grab small plastic blue and red balls and barrels to put in 12- to 30-inch tall baskets to score points. Each robot costs about $1,000, so they don't battle each other in the 2-minute, 20-second matches, outside of blocking an opponent from reaching the basket. "The robot has to meet (the requirement of) being 18-inches cubed," said Dane Leifson, Davis High School pre-engineering and drafting teacher. "It's really cool to see how each team comes up with executing that," Leifson said. The challenge is to design a robot that can extend up to drop balls and barrels into the taller baskets. "It's a blast to watch all of this," Leifson said. The tournament has been held quarterly in different regions for the past six years. The top three finishers will compete in the state tourna- HEALTH From page 8 best address pharmacy use. "It's not just about specific formulary or nonformulary drugs," Rooney said. "It's about shaping behavior so that we can best use our resources in pharmacy and pharmaceuticals to support war fighters and their families." Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, a registered nurse, said the Army has executed the health Above, a robot stands ready to perform at the Vex Robotics tournament. ment Feb. 25 at Utah State University in Logan. The top five teams from there will compete April 18-20 at the national Vex Robotics Tournament in Anaheim, Calif. The key to having a winning team, ranging from one to six members, is to have a well constructed and well programmed robot and someone at the controls who can maneuver it, Leifson said. That's why Condie's gaming experience is critical: It's made her fingers fast and sure on the remote control. Most of the students at Saturday's event said they participated in the event because they enjoy tinkering with tools and toys. "Ever since I was little, I loved building things," said Jacob Lowry, a sophomore at Copper Hills High School in Salt Lake City. "It's fun to see the actual results of your labor." "It's like playing with erectors, to a point," Mountain Crest High junior Ben Stewart said of his interest in the competition. "This program inspired me to be an engineer. It's like Legos on steroids," said Julia Sattenth- care mission with remarkable success through trying times, but that's not good enough. Despite a 90.1 percent survival rate in Afghanistan and 2011 investments of $315 million in enhanced behavioral health programs and $50 million in patient-centered care, Horoho described Army health problems still to be addressed. In 2011, she said, more than 21,460 Army soldiers were medically nondeployable, 2,290 sexual assaults — which Horoho considers a medical problem — occurred, 278 soldiers committed suicide, and one soldier died from rabies, a preventable disease. "My challenge and my personal belief," she said, "is that we can be better. We absolutely must be better." The Internet and social media also will play a role in improving health, not just health care, for service members and their families, Horoho said. In the future of military medicine, Horoho said she sees the support of military leadership, family and Students compete at the Vex Robotics tournament at Northridge High School in Layton on Jan. 28. waite, a Roy High School junior enrolled in an engineering class at Two Rivers High School in Ogden. "It's a good opportunity to explore creativity," said Weber High School sophomore Austin Hecht, also a Two Rivers High engineering student. Teachers agree. "This opens up a level of knowledge for (participating students) we didn't know they had," Leifson said. The Vex Robotics Tournament, named after Vex Robotics of Greenville, Texas, is locally sponsored by Hill Air Force Base and idesign. friends and outreach to patients through the Internet and social media with health care apps for vital signs, behavioral health and chronic disease management. "Should we continue to invest in brick and mortar to enable our 100 minutes of health care," she said, "or should we arm our beneficiaries with a Bluetooth-enabled scale and blood-pressure cuff for their home?" Such technology will become more and more influential, she said. "World class health care is what we do. We do it well, and we have international recognition for that," the Army surgeon general said. "But we have to focus on health" — what Horoho calls the 99 percent of a patient's life that occurs when they're not spending 100 minutes at their annual medical appointment. For military health patients, health happens between the 100-minute medical visits, Horoho said, "and that is where we as individuals, we as the military health system and we as a nation absolutely must go." |