Doing more with less

 
Southern University’s labs are outdated and require an upgrade to prepare science majors for careers in their field.​
Terri Turpeau, a junior chemistry and chemical engineering major from Lake Charles, La., said that administrators need to look toward funding the department to prepare for future careers.
“If I could talk to the administrators I would tell them that we need funding. We need funding for our labs; in order for us to thrive in the work forces that they are preparing us for. We need to make sure that our students have the proper equipment and resources,” Turpeau said.
Pushpa Samkutty, chair of biological sciences, said current fees that the university is accessing is not adequate for the department to purchase all of their resources in the classroom.
“With the lab fee money we are able to purchase some of the items we need for the lab,” Samkutty said.​
Turpeau said that the outdated equipment requires students to alter their experiments to adapt to the dated resources.
“We really need to update our equipment. The glassware really needs to be updated. Our chemicals are limited and without the proper glassware with the right measurements we are forced to alter our experiments by guessing the right amount or doubling the measurements,” Turpeau said.
Another problem that has SU students and faculty upset is air-conditioning; James Hall and Fisher Hall are without decent air-conditioning. ​
“We don’t have a proper air-conditioning system. In Lee, if the first floor is freezing cold, then the third floor will be very hot,” Samkutty said.​
Without air-conditioning, keeping the labs well ventilated has become a problem.
“We don’t have proper fume-hoods so, students are inhaling chemicals when they shouldn’t be,” Turpeau said. “We need proper ventilation for certain labs because certain chemicals need a normal room temperature in order to react properly.” ​
In a chemistry lab, the fume hood is used as a safety measure to keep a person safe from hazardous or noxious fumes. The chemist performs their reactions in the fume hood and any fumes generated are drawn up by a fan to be filtered or released outside.​
“The labs actually function well but the equipment is limited,” said Ashley Wallace, a senior chemistry major from Columbia, La.​
Aside from ventilation, the labs are low on sufficient supplies. ​
“We don’t have all of the proper utensils we need to perform ​our labs and we need more glassware,” Felton Brown, a senior biology and chemistry major from Baton Rouge, said, “If we don’t perform the necessary labs we need, then our education will be hindered.”​
The labs are low on proper glassware, clamps, utensils, and chemicals. “The problem we are having here is a budget issue. The labs in Fisher and James hall are pretty old as far as structure is concerned,” Samkutty said. “Instead of having all the electrical outlets working, in most labs there are only three or four functioning outlets. That is not ideal.”​
​