Earl Ubell Grant Awarded to SarahMay Harel 11S

SarahMay Harel 11S has been awarded an Earl Ubell Grant. Ubell Grants support journalism-related academic projects.

Harel is interested in the new field of "positive psychology," the science of happiness. She has designed a Stress Less! Workshop, for her Division III (senior) project.

"My goal is to proliferate popular knowledge of positive psychology techniques for a happier and healthier life in the Hampshire College community. Specifically, of their simplicity and accessibility," she said.

"College students, especially first-year students, experience high levels of stress, anxiety and other mental health issues. Self-reported stress rates for first-year students are at an all-time high," Harel said.

"Preventative mental health should be promoted. My goal is to implement a brief educational program to inform students of basic techniques of positive psychology and to measure the changes in their knowledge, attitudes, and practices after my programming."

The Earl Ubell Grant program recognizes and supports exceptional student work that in some way seeks to make the scientific method or scientific findings accessible to nonscientists. The grant is named for Earl Ubell, whose distinguished career has influenced generations of American science writers.

Ubell began his career at the New York Herald Tribune as a messenger and rose to science editor, a position he held from 1953 to 1966 before transferring to the then-new medium of television. He was health science editor for WCBS-TV from 1966 to 1972, and from 1978 to 1995. He served as the news director for WNBC-TV News from 1972 to 1976.

Ubell covered such notable events as the first Sputnik flight in 1961 and the first U.S. manned space flight in 1962. He carried out scientific research at major laboratories, and was the author of eight books (one co-authored). His numerous awards for journalism, medical reporting and science writing include an Emmy in 1970 for the New York area of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Donald Salmon Award for significant contribution to development of the arts in that same year. Ubell died in 2007 at age 80.

Hampshire College alumnus, and the son of Earl Ubell, Michael C. Ubell 70F established the grant program in honor of his father.