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Revved up for Physics
Roosevelt High students learn how science relates to their community
Most vehicles sail through the emissions test at Roosevelt High School Wednesday without a hitch as part of a physics-class project to address air-quality concerns. But then Mike Heinz pulls up in his 1969 Pontiac Firebird.
Heinz, a Roosevelt counselor and a selfdescribed "classic-car nut," drives past the pollution tester - a remote sensing device - and a thick, black plume of exhaust billows from the tailpipe. Event coordinators ask him to drive the vehicle, which isn't the car he drives every day, past the device again.
"His [emission] numbers are off the charts," says Sara Stephens, a staff member for Valley Clean Air Now, who gets results from each test via walkie-talkie and tells drivers the news.
Heinz, who is good-natured about the test because he purposely drove the classic Firebird, says it is a good car and doesn't usually emit such a blast of smelly exhaust: "It never smokes. It's just having a bad day. It's one of those things."
Juniors Abraham Soto and Abel Fernandez helped coordinate the test for their physics project. Abraham says he hopes the project raises people's awareness of air-pollution problems in the San Joaquin Valley.
"People need to know what they're doing to the environment and why it's happening and what they can do to help," Abraham says.
The San Joaquin Valley this month replaced Los Angeles as the worst air basin in the country for smog or ozone pollution.
Vehicles are one of the biggest sources of pollution in the valley. The autos that emit far more pollution than most others are considered "gross polluters." They make up fewer than 10% of California's cars and small trucks, but they account for more than half of the state's smog-forming emissions from cars and small trucks.
Physics teacher Gordon Wiens says he wants his students to focus their projects on issues that affect the community. He says air pollution affects people with asthma and other health problems related to air quality.
"As a physics teacher, I'd really like to take our science and make it apply to things that will help our community and see that the kids can make that connection, too," Wiens says.
Stephens says 65 vehicles, including a couple of hybrids, took the test set up in an eastside parking lot at Roosevelt. Environmental Systems Products donated use of the equipment and a staff member. Clean Air Now, an effort organized by the San Joaquin Valley's biggest industries and funded by $2 million from ChevronTexaco, assisted with Wednesday's event. Most of the vehicles, such as physics teacher Carlos Valencia's 1990 Honda Accord, aced the test. He and his wife, Carol, make sure the car is maintained and tuned up on a regular basis. In fact, Stephens says, the emission is on par with that of a new car. About 10 drivers learned their vehicles weren't up to snuff, including Wiens. He brought in a 20-year-old truck but declined to name the make and model. It's not his chief car, but he wanted to see how it would do. "It's just an older pickup and I knew it wouldn't do very well, but I try to keep it up," he says. "We're going to have to fix it up."
Stephens says Clean Air Now and other agencies and businesses are sponsoring a free Tune In and Tune Up event May 15 at the Fresno Fairground. The group will use the remote-sensing device at the event, which will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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