Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 1/11/01
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   20

Editors: Photo accompanies release   Please note local interest
LOUISIANA SCHOOL STUDENTS BUILD MAGNETOMETER AT SOUTHEASTERN
     HAMMOND   Last year, Southeastern Louisiana University physics professor Gerard
Blanchard was invited to a career day at his high school alma mater, the Louisiana School for
Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches. Early this year, Southeastern hosted a return visit.
     Accompanied by their physics teacher, four LSMSA students spent their "Special Projects
Week" as guests of Southeastern's chemistry and physics department, where Blanchard showed
them how to build a magnetometer, an instrument for measuring magnetic forces. LSMSA sets
aside one week a year for special projects that include activities such as foreign travel, working
with Habitat for Humanity, and exploring topics such as science fiction literature or 3-D
computer graphics.
     Southeastern was eager to build a relationship with the prestigious state residential high
school for gifted students, said Daniel McCarthy, interim head of the chemistry and physics
department. "Hosting a special project is a really good thing to do," he said.
     "We're always looking for collaborators to work with our students in the fields that they
like," said LSMSA physics teacher Randy Beck. "It gives the students a better idea of subject
matter and career choices."
     The magnetometer, which only required approximately $75 worth of materials, "looks
crude, but it's very sensitive," Blanchard said. "It can detect a one hundredth percent change."
     After Blanchard put them through a drill of taking the magnetometer apart and
reassembling it, the students took the instrument back to Natchitoches where the data it generates
will give them information on topics from magnetic storms on the sun to weather satellite
communication. 
     "We're just going to keep it running, use the data to compare what other instruments
measure and see what we can learn," Beck said.
     The students, who were also treated to a tour of LIGO ("Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatory") in Livingston Parish, said building the magnetometer was a
"cool" experience. 
     "We're definitely going to keep our relationship with Southeastern going," Beck said.
"We hope to be back next year."
                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp01.htm