McNeese State University - Log Yearbook (Lake Charles, LA)

Page 192 text:

David Chestnut, research technician with the CA- LECO Project, extracts water samples from Con- traband Bayou for use in testing procedures of water pollution. (Photo by S. Levy) Margaret Walther, research assistant, records data determined from water samples. (Photo by S. Levy) 188 Academics

Page 191 text:

Above: Marty Derouen, a sophomore electrical engineering major, applies class instruction and study to complete required assignments. (Photo by G. Edwards) Michael Howard, a freshman accounting maior, utilizes the computer hardware in the library com- puting center. (Photo by G. Edwards) Far left: Students enrolled in computer-related courses make use of the university computer sys- tem through the terminal hookups in the comput- ing center. (Photo by G. Edwards) Computer Center 187

Page 193 text:

Through extensive studying of area samples, a group of scientists are trying to determine if our water is Turning to Waste One of the many projects conducted through the McNeese Office of Research and Development during the past year. was the Calcasieu Ecosystem Project, better known as the CALECO project. The project was a two-year program fund- ed by a three million dollar grant from the Department of Energy. The program was designed to detect extensive pollution in the area of the Cal- casieu River from the saltwater barrier, north of Lake Charles, to the mouth of the river at the Gulf of Mexico. The team was looking for industrial, municipal, and agri- cultural pollutants. The first year of the three-year project was designed to observe the sources of discharge. The second part was to be an analysis of Calcasieu Lake to determine whether or not the pollutants were staying in the lake and affecting life forms in the lake. The project included several substu- dies: the chemical substudy, the water quality substudy, the primary producer substudy, the zooplankton substudy, the benthos substudy, the nekton substudy, the hydrology substudy and the date management substudy. Weekly and monthly samples were tak- en along with more extensive quarterly samples. The project leased a field sta- tion at Deatonville and operated from three boats: a twenty-two foot heavy work-boat, a sixteen-foot aluminum boat, and a fourteen-foot aluminum boat. At the conclusion of the project, McNeese will retain one-half to three-fourths of a million dollars worth of equipment. Dr. Larry DeRouen was in charge of the administrative end of the project while Dr. Harold Stevenson headed the technical side. The project was due for completion in 1986. Assisted by Margaret Walther and Phillip Rut- ledge, Dr. Gary Gaston (principal investigator of the CALECO Project) empties samples from the bayou floor, which will be analyzed to determine underwater soil pollution. (Photo by S. Levy) CALECO 189