uses computer skill to aid UA
Catalina Foothills' Galbraith
uses computer skill to aid UA
 Photo by Tomas Salgado, Special to the Arizona Daily Star Galbraith is a talented musician as well as developer of UA home pages and web sites. |
By Zachary Miller
Special to The Arizona Daily Star
Simon Galbraith spends more time at the University of Arizona than most UA students who live there - highly unusual, since Galbraith is a senior at Catalina Foothills High School.
For the past two years, Galbraith has worked at UA, developing home pages and web sites for the College of Agriculture's Cooperative Extension and 4-H programs. The primary goal of his work has been to make the university's research information more accessible to the people.
"Arizona is an agrarian state, even though you wouldn't think of it as such," Galbraith said, "and these web sites can bring information back to the large, urban areas so that a better understanding of agrarianism can be passed on to the cities."
One of the many people Galbraith has met at the UA is Shirley O'Brien, the Cooperative Extension program's associate director.
"He has accomplished very large tasks for us and has provided a foundation that others with much more experience and age have now taken over," O'Brien said. "The new folks are amazed at Simon's competency."
Galbraith's association with the university has not been limited to computers. He took three UA classes last year, helped fellow students learn the intricacies of the Internet and taught them how to build web pages.
He also assisted with the Orchestra Nova, a computer-synthesized UA orchestra.
Galbraith is also an active rock climber and salsa dancer, as well as a talented musician, playing the piano and the English hand bells.
He serves as an acolyte at St. Philip's Church. Although he doesn't consider himself a religious person, he says he enjoys his time there, and he feels that it is an excellent environment where he "learns new things every day."
Next year, Galbraith will be attending Cambridge University in London. His family is from England, and he is looking forward to returning to his roots. He said he is excited about the change in environment.
After finishing his undergraduate degree, he plans to pursue a doctorate and perhaps even a medical degree, and he hopes to return to perform research in the United States.
Zachary Miller is a senior at University High School.
Tomas Salgado is a senior at University High School.