James R. Brathovde and H. W. Johnston Whitworth College Spokane, Washington
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High S C ~ O Students O~ as -~esearchAssistants
Research by the faculty members of small liberal arts colleges need not be curtailed because of an inadequate budget for the remuneration of research assistants. Faced with a minimum budget and mith the utter lack of graduate student assistants, the authors found that the use of high school young people as summer research assistants v a s completely satisfactory. One of the authors had the assistance of two boys and a girl in a project involving a study of directional catalysts useful in cyanoethylation of phenol. Workiug three-hour shifts they quickly learned holv to assemble apparatus such as closed-system stirring assemblies, vacuum distillation setups, and a pressure reaction vessel made from pipe and scrap metal. Laboratory operations were modified to make best use of the combination of the high level of interest and the low level of specific chemical knowledge possessed by the young people. After detailed instructions were writtell on the blackboard and the use of apparatus was demonstrated t,hey were capable of following through wit,h dispatch and accuracy. A second project, a problem of phase modifications in crystals of the n-aliphatic amide series, utilized an addit,ional boy and girl, both high school freshmen. Working in t,he moruings, five days each week, t,hey helped mount crystalline samples and align them iu the X-ray diffraction cameras, develop the X-ray film, and reload the cameras. The tedious task of measuring diffr'action patterns was carried out mith eagerness and a high degree of precision. The five young people worked from mid-June until mid-August, shoving great interest and patience no mat,ter a t what pace the research proceeded. At no
time was an effort made to provide any special stimulus to their enthusiasm and no remuneration was paid them. I n each stage of the research the students were entirely trustworthy and scientifically reliable. Sincerity and interest marked their attit,udes all summer long. One boy felt so near his work t,hat he asked, apologetically, for an excuse t o make a two-day camping trip. One of the girls was so engrossed in her part in the project that she took baby-sitting jobs a t night in order to earn her bus fare from home to the college. A field trip to a local chemical plant climaxed the summer, serving to illustrate .the application of resesrch in industrial problems. The authors feel that the students gained an insight into a uon-glamorous side of science while the authors were gaining valuable assistance. I n the end the research advanced a t no cost to the budget. And the young people expressed a desire t o start again the following summer.
High rchool rtvdentr Joy L.rr0n tion equipment.
and Lynne Mothis operating X-ray diffrac-
Volume 36, Number 9, September 1959
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