Rachelle's Reading List, Wednesday February 8th, 2012

President Obama tests marshmallow launcher [AZCentral] [PatsPapers] God I love Science Fairs! Apparently the Secret Service has nothing on a pint sized geek:

Fourteen-year-old Joey Hudy of Anthem had been warned. Whatever you do, White House officials told the young inventor, don't let President Barack Obama talk you into firing your Extreme Marshmallow Cannon in the historic State Dining Room. But when the president asked Joey for a demonstration at the White House Science Fair on Tuesday, the eighth-grader hesitated for only a moment before giving the go-ahead. Obama cleared media from in front of the cannon and pumped up the cannon's compressor, announcing, "The Secret Service is going to be mad at me about this." "You can't really say no to the president," Joey said later, shrugging and grinning. "It was fun." Joey, who attends the Deer Valley Unified School District's Canyon Springs School in Anthem, was among more than 100 students from throughout the country -- and the only one from Arizona -- to have their inventions and discoveries featured at the second White House Science Fair. The event celebrates student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math competitions from across the nation. The president used the occasion to announce steps that his administration is taking to prepare 100,000 math and science teachers to train 1 million additional science and math graduates over the next decade. The president said he was impressed that the teen was handing out business cards with his name and the message, "Don't be Bored, Make Something." "You're gonna invent all kinds of important things," Obama told Joey. "Congratulations. I'm gonna take a card, just in case."

[Photo: Joey Hudy, Barack Obama]