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ITic Blue Banner —Serving the University of North Carolina at Asheville since 1982
October 13, 2005
jenior
Profile
Senior chemistry student takes research to next level
By Allle Haake
STAfF WRtTER
Senior chemistry and environ
mental science student Laura
f’riederich said while she looks
forward to having time to relax
after graduation, she truly enjoys
spending time working on her
research project in the laboratory.
‘Tve had so many bad jobs
where I scooped ice cream, served
people, baby-sat kids, or wiped
sweat off benches at the gym,”
Friederich said. “My summer job
was doing chemistry research. I
feel like I was ripping someone off
becau.se I was getting paid for
doing research.”
Friederich, who came to UNCA
as a freshman from Atlanta, started
a re.search project with chemistry
professor Bert Holmes. She con
ducts experiments with a bromine
substance similar to CFC’s, chem
icals that destroy the ozone layer.
‘The time just flies by,” said
F'riederich. “As opposed to other
jobs, where I count every 15 min
utes that pass, in the lab I’ll look
up at the clock and realize 1 only
have an hour left.”
Friederich said she surrounded
herself with science all her life.
"My dad was an engineer, so 1
was kind of brought up around it,”
Friederich said. “I did a bunch of
science programs in Atlanta when
I was younger.”
F’riederich .said she did not think
she wanted to be a chemist when
she first came to college.
“I always assumed 1 was going
to be an engineer or a scientist
when I grew up, and one day 1
realized 1 never actually sat down
and thought about what I wanted.”
With an original major of music
engineering, Friederich said she
was glad she tried something dif
ferent before deciding to become a
chemist.
“Now that I’ve gone everywhere
Blake Becker- Staff Photographer
Laura Friederich, senior chemistry and enviornmental science student spends numerous hours in the lab of
Rhodes—Robinson for research in chemistry she hopes to someday publish in a journal.
else and come back to (chemistry).
I’m really happy,” Friederich said.
“I'm here because 1 want to be, not
because it was how 1 was raised
when 1 was a kid.”
Friederich, who also involves
herself in Alliance and Habitat for
Humanity, said environmental sci
ence is a very relevant issue in our
world today.
“1 think it’s one of the biggest
problems facing us, because we
are so unenvironmental in a lot of
the things we do,” Friederich said.
With one more year left at
UNCA, Friederich said she will
miss the pieople and scenery of
Asheville.
“1 couldn’t have asked for a bet
ter place to have ended up, in
terms of professors, a major and
research opportunities,” Friederich
said. “It’s not like a larger school,
where you can’t really talk to the
professors and there are tons of
kids everywhere. People are very
approachable.”
Before working on her current
research project, Friederich com
pleted research involving mercury
levels in fish.
“I was trying to relate how much
mercury was being deposited out
of the air and how much was
appearing in fish,” Friederich said.
“It ended up being pretty inconclu
sive. There’s no simple correla
tion between the two because there
are so many factors that influence
the results.”
Friederich said her current proj
ect will help determine how
HCFC’s, a new substance replac
ing CFC’s, are reacting in the
atmosphere.
“HCFC’s are not causing as
much damage to the ozone layer,
but there are some issues along
with them,” Friederich said. “I’m
looking at one particular inter
change of atoms within this mole
cule.”
Friederich said that although she
does not possess the resources to
focus on the entire issue concern
ing ozone depletion, she hopes her
conclusions will he useful to other
scientists.
“I’m working on a tiny piece of
the experiment that Dr. Holmes
has been doing aspects of for 10 or
15 years,” Friederich said. “I’m
trying to figure out if these two
atoms are switching places by
combining gases and photlyzing
them.”
Friederich said she hopes to get
her work published in a journal.
“I’m going to try to get enough
information to present a poster at
the American Chemical Society
meeting in Atlanta this spring, and
will continue the research next
summer,” Friederich said.
“I will have done two summers
of research and hopefully will be
able to get it published in a journal
during my fifth year here at
UNCA.”
During the school year,
Friederich said she does not spend
as much time on her research proj
ect.
“I’m doing the project in my free
time, so I don’t work on it as much
as I did this summer,” Friederich
said. “I was working from 8 a.m.
until 5 p.m., five days a week. I’ll
do some more work over
Christmas break and next sum
mer.”
Friederich said although she
likes school and research, she
looks forward to taking a break
after graduation.
“I went into college right after
high school, and I would like to
take some time off to travel,”
Friederich said. “I’m kind of
burned out on the constant stress
level.”
Friederich said she wants to do
things she has missed out on
before attending graduate school.
“I’m definitely going to grad
school, but I need a break,”
Friederich said. “I’m ready to take
the time to go to movies, take road
trips, and see music shows.”
Friederich said although she is
passionate about chemistry, it is
not her entire life.
“I want a job that I enjoy and
that doesn’t take up my life,”
Friederich said. “I don’t have any
aspirations to take over the world
or anything.”
Out and About: On Campus
Alana Bade - Staff Photographer
Students, faulty, staff and friends of UNCA attended a free lunch
on the quad to welcome our new Chancellor Anne Ponder.
A buffet was pnivided, where those attending piled up their plates,
above, and congregated on the quad.
Nathan Watkins, Junior student, right, enjoyed his free lunch on
the quad where he interacted with other friends of the university.
Alana Bade - Staff Photographer
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Students
can embraci
invesments
funds may hil^\
nd
pay off loan.
By Shannon Roberts
Staff Writer
For student low-on-cash «
college loans to pay off, inve|
ment might seem like a waste j
time. However, according t
magazines like Young Moncj
investment is full of diversta
and might not be as costly*
students believe.
“I’m probably not going j
have any more money after ;
graduate than I do right now
said Mary McCoy, sophoniort
“I won’t have a lot to spend tl
anything other than my esscii
tials.”
Students on a budget can si
invest. An Internet search wi
reveal a number of funds w|
starting investments as low j
$250.
However, the history of aiJ
fund should always be thoij
oughly investigated before
potential investment.
Employers sometimes off(
investment options, so student
should investigate what tieii
place of work has to offer,
Starbucks, for example, alloij
its employees to invest uft
five percent of their paycheiSlI
into stock options, with the co
pany matching the invests
amount.
Students paying off coUcj
loans can still net a profit
investing, according to You
Money.
If students select investmetl
that provide higher returns
the interest on their studel
loans, they net a profit,
profit can be used to help payi
loans, or reinvested for greaj
returns.
According to Young Moiiij
the type of investment a studa
makes depends on how mucj
financial risk a student is
to take. Higher-risk options
such as stocks, generally pip
vide higher returns. Mutua
funds are generally less risk
but tend towards lower potentia
returns.
A way of reducing the risk 5
investment, according to Youi^
Money, is diversificatioa
Students interested in stock
should invest in several differei(
types of stocks. Mutual
are inherently less risky becaua
the investment is dividei|
between a variety of stocks
bonds.
Stocks can generally be diviil
ed up and classified accordingt
size, style and sector. The sizeo
a company is how mud
investors think the entire con
pany is worth, based on the cut
rent share price.
Stock sizes range from nricro
cap (less than $500 million) ®
mega-cap (greater than $100 bil
lion).
Bonds are certificates of deb
issued by a government or c»
poration.
The issuer is required to annu
ally pay a fixed sum until rau®*
rity, and then a fixed sum
repay the principal. If the pricj
of a bond rises, its interest rar
falls, which is good for bou
investors.
If the price of a bond ■
however, its interest rate rises'
which is generally bad
investors.
Savings accounts and moo^fl
market accounts can also tumr
profit in the long term. Monejj
markets require a higher balan*'
than savings accounts but ret
a higher interest rate. The mis*|
mum balance for a money matj
ket can run anywhere betweej
$1500 and $5000, according
Young Money.
For some students, investing
just doesn’t seem worth it-
“I don’t think it’s anything
would consider in the imniedw
future,” said McCoy, sopW
more. “Just because numne^
one, I don’t really know m®^^
about it, and number two, I f
that it’s a little bit risky.”
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