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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="" title="&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/boatthumb.jpg&quot; width=&quot;75&quot; alt=&quot;Building a ghost pirate ship&quot; hspace=&quot;4&quot; vspace=&quot;2&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /&gt..." target="_self">Goofing off</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">12 Sep 2009 11:40:00 CDT</span><br />');
document.write('<div><p><img src=\"http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/boatthumb.jpg\" width=\"75\" alt=\"Building a ghost pirate ship\" hspace=\"4\" vspace=\"2\" border=\"0\" align=\"left\" /> <p>As my research students know, when I go visit my parents, which I did this past Labor Day weekend, my Dad usually comes up with some crazy project for us to do. This weekend\'s project was worth talking about, both from a wackiness and fun perspective. My nephew, Nicholas, who will be turning 5 soon, is a big fan of pirates, so my Dad felt his grandson needed a ghost pirate ship themed treehouse. When I arrived, the <a href=\"http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/itbegins.jpg\">floor planks of the boat</a> were already in place. Dad needed help getting the frame of the boat put together, and we needed to brainstorm how to make the ship sturdy enough so that Nicholas can climb on top. Now everyone knows that the way to construct a high-quality ghost pirate ship is to make sure there is plenty of <a href=\"http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/beer.jpg\">beer.</a> My Mom and wife thought it best to go shopping as we popped open the brewskis and turned on the power saw. Both Dad and I agreed. While we were hammering away, Nicholas was playing on his swing set (he brought his Fisher Price chainsaw to help out) all the while yelling, \"work harder!\" We\'re not sure where he got that from, and he didn\'t quite understand that half his family members belonged to unions, so working harder just wasn\'t going to happen. After a few hours of cutting, drinking, and hammering (note, measuring was <b>not</b> included in that list, we came up with a design that should work. <a href=\"http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/boat-sorta\">It doesn\'t look like much,</a> but we completed most of the work that required two sets of hands. Most importantly, Nicholas got a chance to <a href=\"http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/testing.jpg\">check it out,</a> and we confirmed that our design will hold 50 lbs or so. I told my sister that if Nicholas doesn\'t want to eat his dinner, don\'t force him, because I\'m not sure the pirate ghost ship could tolerate him gaining weight.</p> <p>Back to more serious stuff in the future</p></div>');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="" title="&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&lt;img src=&quot;http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/acme.jpg&quot; width=&quot;75&quot; alt=&quot;Acme and Big March&quot; hspace=&quot;4&quot; vspace=&quot;2&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /&gt; &lt;p&gt;Last sem..." target="_self">Calumet Grand Challenges Symposium</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">12 Sep 2009 11:16:50 CDT</span><br />');
document.write('<div><p<img src=\"http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/acme.jpg\" width=\"75\" alt=\"Acme and Big March\" hspace=\"4\" vspace=\"2\" border=\"0\" align=\"left\" /> <p>Last semester, I organized a one day symposium to discuss some of the environmental challenges facing the Calumet region, and invited regional experts to provide some insight into how CSU could help to address these issues. I hoped that the <i>Calumet Grand Challenges Symposium</i> would provide a starting point for a dialog about interdisciplinary environmental research at Chicago State. We had speakers from the Chicago Department of Environment, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, the Illinois State Water Survey, the USDA Forest Service, and the Field Museum. Also taking part in the conversation were representatives from the Southeast Environmental Task Force, the Calumet Heritage Partnership, The Calumet Stewardship Initiative and the Lake Calumet Ecological Partnership. The symposium was well attended, and a lot of great ideas were presented. I collected the <a href=\"http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/files/CGCoutcomes.pdf\">outcomes</a> of the event, and I encourage you to have a look.</p> <p>With a set of outcomes in hand, my hope is that researchers and faculty at Chicago State will think about how to incorporate Calumet-based environmental projects into their research and teaching activities. It\'s true, that many of us are not in a position to refocus all of our activities towards environmental issues in the local area, but I think people will agree that many of the ideas listed in the outcomes brochure could be addressed by a small contribution from multiple researchers.</p></div>');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="" title="&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/lafayette.jpg&quot; width=&quot;75&quot; alt=&quot;Lafayette College&quot; hspace=&quot;4&quot; vspace=&quot;2&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /&gt; &lt;p&gt;..." target="_self">Guest speaker at Lafayette College</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">04 Jul 2009 10:18:18 CDT</span><br />');
document.write('<div><p><img src=\"http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/lafayette.jpg\" width=\"75\" alt=\"Lafayette College\" hspace=\"4\" vspace=\"2\" border=\"0\" align=\"left\" /> <p>A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days visiting the Chemistry department at <a href=\"http://www.lafayette.edu\">Lafayette College</a> in Easton, Pa. After bad weather (in June?!?) delayed my flight into PA until about 2 AM, I spent a (slightly drowsy) day meeting with faculty, presenting a seminar about my research, and joining the Nataro lab for group meeting. Nataro\'s students were well prepared for their informal presentations, and professionally handled my grilling of their electrochemistry data. My reserach has moved away (temporarily?) from mechanistic electrochemistry, so it was a pleasure to hear about EC mechanisms, bond formations after (or concerted with?) electron transfer, and the miraculous effects of fluorinated tetraphenylborate salts as supporting electrolytes. Nataro\'s lab brought back fond memories of my graduate work, which reminds me I need to take another look at the draft of that gold dithiolate paper sitting in my inbox...</p> <p>The purpose of my visit to Lafayette was two-fold. Not only did I want to spread the word about work being done in my lab, but I\'m also interested in a comparison of the strengths and limitations of Chemistry research at private, liberal arts colleges versus public comprehensive institutions. Conversations during my visit focused mainly on student preparation (or lack thereof) in math. Both institutions admit students with math skills below expectations, and it\'s not clear how one brings a students\' math skills to an appropriate level while simultaneously teaching them Chemistry.</p> <p>I spoke briefly with the (then) department chair, Dr. Bill Miles, about how they engage students in summer research. In case you don\'t know, CSU requires faculty to hire summer students as Extra Help (they are <b>not</b> students), get approval from the Board of Trustees, fill out paperwork, have the students (sorry, <i>employees</i>) fill out paperwork (which is different from what they filled out when they are considered students during the academic year, but asks for the same information), and then get fingerprinted. Personally, I thought I was on the ball this year, having started the process at the beginning of April. Sadly, the first week of the summer was spent in a frustrating panic as lost paperwork was refiled and rules were changed. Surprisingly, only two students didn\'t get their first paycheck.</p> <p>I wonder how this process could be improved by implementing a program similar to Lafayette\'s <a href=\"http://www.lafayette.edu/academics/excel.html\">Excel program</a>? Student hiring would be more streamlined; more faculty would have access to research students; and the university could use the program as an effective recruiting tool. Heck, Lafayette does.</p> <p>This post is long enough, but I wanted to also mention my Saturday morning birding trip with <a href=\"http://baypoll.blogspot.com/\">Corey Husic</a>, son of Lafayette Biochemist David Husic. Corey brought me to the Blue Mountain Superfund site turned Nature Preserve, where we enjoyed a pleasant nature walk, and I saw my first prairie warbler. The restoration of 2000 acres of landscape, defoliated from years of smelting operations, with zinc tolerant grasses got me thinking about the Calumet, and how undergraduate students can become involved in local environmental issues. But I\'ll save those ideas for another post.</p>');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="" title="&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/graduation.jpg&quot; width=&quot;75&quot; alt=&quot;Graduation&quot; hspace=&quot;4&quot; vspace=&quot;2&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /&gt; &lt;p&gt;It\'s ..." target="_self">Congrats ERG Grads</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">27 Jun 2009 11:58:31 CDT</span><br />');
document.write('<div><p><img src=\"http://webs.csu.edu/~rlesuer/images/feed/graduation.jpg\" width=\"75\" alt=\"Graduation\" hspace=\"4\" vspace=\"2\" border=\"0\" align=\"left\" /> <p>It\'s a bit late, but I wanted to congratulate two ERG members who graduated this year from Chicago State. <b>Ed Glover</b>, who worked on making liposomes attached to a planar surface, will be sticking around for a bit longer as he prepares for the MCATS and works on med school applications. He\'ll continue to work on the bioelectrochemistry collaboration I have with Juanita Sharpe in Biology. <b>Lila McKay</b> was one of my first research students, and we recently published her work on di-tertbutyl nitroxide electrochemistry. Lila was just awarded a NOYCE fellowship and will be working towards her teaching certification. Best of luck to both of you.</p>');
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