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THURSDAY APRIL 2, 2015 H
COURSEY • HARRELLS FERRY • MILLERVILLE • OLD JEFFERSON • PARKVIEW • SHENANDOAH • TIGER BEND • WHITE OAK THEADVOCATE.COM
LSU grad students present nanotechnology BY C.J. FUTCH
cfutch@theadvocate.com Ye Fang, a graduate student in computer engineering at LSU, held a magnet to a dollar bill clipped to a stand Saturday at the Highland Road Park Observatory. Slowly, the dollar bill moved toward the magnet, eventually touching it. The ink used to print U.S. currency contains a metallic liquid called ferrofluid, Fang said, to prevent counterfeiting, and he had tubes of the black liquid in sealed test tubes to show families at the sixth annual NanoDays.
It was one of several examples graduate students from multiple disciplines at LSU used to demonstrate the advances made possible by nanotechnologies. John Mathaga, who is studying chemistry, demonstrated how an electric current can be used to remove the copper plating from a penny and transfer it to a nickel, which 9-year-old Sterlin Tate, at NanoDays with his dad, David, watched, smiling, before they lined up for the only non-nano event of the day — the solar viewing. NanoDays is a nationwide
festival of programs meant to demonstrate the power of tiny things, said Juana Moreno, associate professor of both the Center for Computation and Technology and the Physics and Astronomy Department at LSU. Moreno said attendance is pretty good every year, and this year, about 100 people came through the exhibits. In addition to the ferrofluid demonstration, children and their parents explored the nano world with a scanning probe microscope, learned how stain-free clothes are made and heard about the work of Michal Brylinski, a
David Tate, left, and his son Sterlin, 9, look at gold particles at NanoDays 2015 on Saturday at the Highland Road Park Observatory.
nanoscientist and professor in the LSU Department of Biological Sciences who is researching ways to kill bacteria on a nanoscale. NanoDays sponsors include the LSU Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Center for Computation and Technology, the Department of Chemistry, the Society of Physics Students and the Louisiana Alliance for Simulation-Guided Materials Applications. For more information about LSU NanoDays at the Highland Road Observatory, visit www.bro.lsu.edu/programs/ nano.html.
Advocate photo by C.J. FUTCH
Woodlawn Middle performs at assessment
Advocate staff photo by BILL FEIG
Woodlawn Middle School’s concert band, led by Brianna Anyigbo, performs March 25 at the District IV Instrumental Middle School Large Ensemble Louisiana Music Educators’ Association music performance assessment at Episcopal High School. Bands from around the district performed for a panel of judges.
Turn plastic bags into yarn Learn how to turn plastic bags into plastic yarn called plarn during an April 7 workshop at the Jones Creek Regional Library Branch. Instruction on two simple crochet stitches turns plarn into a lightweight, weather-resistant sleeping mat that can be used by people who are homeless, living on the street. Crochet skills are not needed to help out with the Crochet Compassion program, which starts at 1 p.m. Call Yvonne Hull at (225) 7561180 or email yhull@ebrpl.com.
Walking club
The Your Pace or Mine Walking Club meets at 6 p.m. April
Darlene Denstorff AROUND THE SOUTHEAST
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8 at the Jones Creek Regional Library Branch. All levels of fitness are represented so everyone is welcome to join. For information or to sign up, call (225) 756-1150. äSee SOUTHEAST, page 2G
Spotting signs of cancer at Fest for Life Event aims to educate public about detection, treatment BY C.J. FUTCH
cfutch@theadvocate.com Chiquita McKinley has a history of breast cancer on both sides of her family, she said, so she was always careful about self breast exams. When she found a lump in 2012, she “was very emotional at first.� “I sat down, and I let myself have one good cry, and then I embraced everything (about the treatment process).� She researched her options and asked so many questions
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that everyone in the hospital, from the nurses and doctors to the billing clerks in the business office, knew her by her first name. After rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery to remove the lump, she’s been cancer-free for almost three years now, she said, and she made one final decision as part of her personal healing journey. “I’m going to talk about it,� she said. With her friends, with her cousins, with her sisters, with anyone who will
listen. She’ll talk about cancer to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 11 at Fest for Life, an outdoor festival at the Bon CarrÊ Business Center that just happens to include free screenings for several types of cancer, along with heart disease and stroke risk assessments, said Johnnay Benjamin, director of early detection and education at Mary Bird Perkins-Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center. There’s a disparity in both detection and treatment out-
comes for many minority groups when it comes to certain kinds of cancers, Benjamin said, and this event, which includes free screenings for breast, prostate, colorectal, skin and oral cancer, along with blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol testing, is the center’s way of trying to make a difference in those statistics. äSee FEST, page 4G