'USA Today' honors students

They are called "The Best and the Brightest" college students in the nation -- and four of them come right from Penn. In a two-page color feature last Thursday, USA Today recognized College seniors Abby Close and Michael Wildermann, Engineering senior Alice Chong and College and Wharton senior Edton Mock as four of 124 students selected to the national newspaper's 1997 All-USA Academic Team. The University had more winners this year than any other school. With two students receiving honorable mention -- Wildermann and Mock -- and two named to the second team -- Chong and Close -- Penn topped such schools like Yale, Harvard, Columbia and Brown. USA Today selected applicants based on demonstration of leadership on and off campus in addition to scholarship. "We try to draw in as many students with various interests and achievements to apply," said Sandra Schwartz, assistant director of the College of Arts and Sciences, of the University's 20 applicants. All the applicants were nominated by undergraduate department chairpersons or administrators. The application process, which started last September, required all applicants to submit an essay describing their own original "academic product" or other significant accomplishment. Wildermann, a Biochemistry major, submitted a description of his biomedical research on infants who experience direct trauma to the head. His project seeks to understand the mechanisms behind the body's natural responses in order to help pharmaceutical companies improve their treatments. Wildermann, who plans to attend medical school next year, is a Penn Medical Scholar and has been involved in a number of volunteer activities, including tutoring neighborhood children at the Children's Seashore House, as well as University students through the Tutoring Center. This year he was a teaching assistant for organic chemistry. Noting that the USA Today award came as a complete surprise to him, Wildermann said he was "flattered to be placed in a group of finely accomplished students."He is one of 64 students nationwide who received honorable mention honors. And Mock expressed similar shock at receiving the award. "I definitely was not expecting to receive it," said the Multinational Management major. "But it's nice to receive recognition for something that I've been working on for so long." Mock, who also received honorable mention, is a member of Oute For Business and the Effect Project for Undergraduate Research, which award research grants to undergraduates. Through a grant awarded to him by the University of Nassau, Mock was able to travel to Bangkok, Thailand to conduct first-hand interviews for his honors thesis in the major. His research examines the rising incidence of child prostitutes and the possible international factors that have caused the increase. Close, a Biological Basis of Behavior and Environmental Studies double major who was named to USA Today's second team, developed an environmental education program for Shaw Middle School. "The program that I work on is a valuable one -- not just to me but to the volunteers," she said. "It is a good program that is helping the environment and the community." And Chong, who graduated in December with a degree in Biomedical Science and was also named to the Second Team, completed research on Chinese citizens coping with turbulent political history. Schwartz said she is proud of all four students and said such recognition demonstrates that the University has the nation's most outstanding students. "I find that students at Penn are incredibly intelligent, very involved, focused and well-oriented," she said. "I also find that many students play a meaningful part of the society in which we live." The All-USA Academic Team was sponsored by USA Today as well as other organizations, such as the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the National Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the Council for Advancement and Support for Education. Schwartz said she hopes more corporations will sponsor programs that raise the awareness and public support of education so that students can have "more funds for opportunity."