B Y    K A T I E   M O N S E N  '9 6

In the blink of an eye, students in Rieke Science Center can connect themselves to the World Wide Web and explore everything from organic chemistry to plant anatomy at PLU and at schools thousands of miles away, conversing with other students or even researchers themselves.

As the first part of a $250,000 grant from The Kresge Foundation of Troy, Mich., classroom, lab and office computers in Rieke Science Center have been linked with each other and the Internet. "Students have easy access to powerful software run on the division servers," said Sheri Tonn, dean of the Division of Natural Sciences. "This allows students to do simulations, computer chip design, DNA sequence analysis, molecular modeling and a variety of other high-tech applications."

A vision of such tools for undergraduate students to experience discovery-based learning is the driving force in the Science Equipment Endowment Challenge (SEEC), now in its final months.

The challenge began last fall, when The Kresge Foundation donated funds to PLU, and promised a quarter of a million more if the university could raise $1 million of its own for a science equipment endowment fund by this Nov. 1.

"The university has raised $910,000 so far, and we are looking for a push to the end of the goal and beyond," said Faye Anderson, director of corporate and foundation relations.

Tonn sees the long-lasting effects of the fund. "The endowment will provide stable funding for updated lab and classroom equipment for future generations," she said. The ability to update research tools is especially important in the rapidly-advancing world of the natural sciences.

Students exploring class lab work, independent study projects, or lab research with professors will be able to use the equipment to help solve scientific questions. With the help of the new scientific equipment, students can collaborate more effectively with professors and each other to gain new insights into the natural world - from biology to geoscience to math, and chemistry to computer science to physics.

For more information on how you can be part of the fulfillment of the fund, call Faye Anderson at 253-535-7422.