MALDEN COUNCIL GIVES $50,000 TO UNIVERSITY

MALDEN -- The Malden City Council has donated $50,000 to Southeast Missouri State University to make possible a science laboratory in the Bootheel Education Center.

The gift, given on behalf of the citizens of Malden, was presented to University President Kala Stroup on Friday by Malden Mayor W. M. Johnson.

Southeast operates the Malden facility as the site for classes offered by the Bootheel Educational Consortium, a cooperative post-secondary education organization which includes the university, Three Rivers Community College, University of Missouri Extension and area vocational schools.

Stephen M. Port, president of Three River Community College, participated in the ceremony on behalf of Three Rivers.

Dr. Robert Foster, executive vice president of Southeast, said the physics and chemistry laboratory, a space of 1,400 square feet, will be equipped with student tables and storage, an instructor's demonstration desk and side desk, chalk board, a safety center, sink and sink cabinets, including one for acid storage and one for flammable materials, and a fumes hood.

It will be located next to an existing classroom in the renovated portion of the Harry L. Crisp Bootheel Education Center.

Dr. Shiela Caskey, dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Extended Learning at Southeast, said the Malden donation provides "another vivid demonstration of the power of the best example of community-higher education collaboration in the United States."

Caskey said it has been impossible until now to offer laboratory science classes at the center due to the lack of a properly equipped facility. In addition, she said the gift will serve as the required matching funds for a National Science Foundation grant to purchase scientific equipment needed to provide quality educational experiences for students.

The new lab means that students will be able to complete the laboratory science requirement for the Associate of Arts Degree at the center, and will be prepared to transfer to Southeast to complete the bachelor's degree, said Caskey.

In addition, she said, special classes for high school science teachers, to assist them in updating their skills, and classes for advanced high school students in after school programs and summer programs for area youth can now become a reality.

Foster noted that the demand for classes at the center has become so high that it is time to consider expansion of the remodeled area to include not only science lab but additional classrooms.