[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9164]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO OTANA JAKPOR

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEN CALVERT

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 14, 2008

  Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to 
an extraordinary young woman from Riverside, California. Otana Jakpor 
may only be 14 years old and a sophomore at Woodcrest Christian High 
School but she is already establishing herself as a promising 
scientist. Otana is the Region IX recipient of the 2007 President's 
Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) for a science project titled ``Indoor 
Air Pollution: The Pulmonary Effects of Ozone-Generating Air 
Purifiers.''
  Young people from around the country are invited annually to 
participate in the PEYA program, which is aimed at encouraging 
individuals, school classes, summer camps, youth organizations and 
public interest groups to promote environmental awareness and encourage 
positive community involvement. One award is given for each of the 
Environmental Protection Agency's 10 regions. (EPA Region 9 includes 
California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii.) On April 17, 2008, President Bush 
presented the award to Otana at a White House Ceremony.
  Ms. Jakpor decided to focus her project on indoor pollution after she 
read a Consumer Reports article titled ``New Concerns about Ionizing 
Air Cleaners.'' The article reported that certain models of ionizing 
air cleaners emit high amounts of ozone, but it did not include any 
research data. Otana's findings indicated that indoor air purifiers, 
neck air purifiers and ionizers emit high amounts of ozone, one result 
was 15 times higher than the level of a State 3 smog alert.
  Ms. Jakpor's findings were significant and on September 27, 2007, she 
presented them to the California Air Resources Board at a hearing on 
indoor air purifier pollution. The Board voted to adopt a regulation to 
limit ozone emissions from air purifiers to less than 0.050 parts per 
million, and now California is the first state in the nation to 
regulate ozone generators.
  Recognition for her scientific achievements are not new to Otana, she 
has received the NAACP Los Angeles ACT-SO Competition Gold medal in 
Medicine; eight awards from the RIMS Inland Science and Engineering 
Fair for both her freshman and sophomore projects; and fourth place 
award in the Pharmacology/Toxicology Category in the Senior Division 
for her research on ozone at the California State Science Fair. She is 
a spokesperson for the American Lung Association and has appeared on 
the Discovery Channel.
  Ms. Jakpor is first in her class at an excellent and competitive 
school and has a 4.33 Grade Point Average. It is an honor to recognize 
Otana for all her achievements at such a young age. I commend Ms. 
Jakpor for her hard work, commitment and outstanding educational 
achievements. I have no doubt she will continue to contribute to the 
science community and look forward to hearing about the incredible 
discoveries of Otana Jakpor in the years to come.

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