2006 graduate Sarah Caudill’s research featured in ‘Posters on the Hill’
By Cindi Brownfield
“I love physics because I believe it can eventually explain all the mysteries of the universe.”
– Sarah Caudill
t 22, new Stetson University graduate Sarah Caudill is already a physics scientist and researcher working on problems way over the heads of average human beings. Caudill, who earned a degree in Physics with minors in Math and Chemistry in May, spent the summer of 2005 working on a research project at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. This spring, the research completed during her summer internship at Caltech was selected for the “Posters on the Hill” program in Washington, D.C. This intense, nationally competitive event, sponsored by Congress and the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, is a prestigious recognition of academic talent. LIGO is dedicated to the detection of gravitational waves, which are ripples in space-time. Albert Einstein predicted their existence in his general theory of relativity, but gravitational waves have yet to be detected by scientists. LIGO is now building interferometers in the hopes that scientists will “discover” gravitational waves within perhaps 10 years. Caudill’s research focused on testing data to determine the efficiency of the currently used computer “templates” that may eventually be used to detect gravitational waves. “I love physics because I believe it can eventually explain all the mysteries of the universe,” said Caudill, who now plans to attend graduate school.
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Sarah Caudill ’06 points to Albert Einstein’s first equation on this statue outside the National Academy of Science in Washington, D.C.
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CAUSE – Service with a smile
Members of Stetson University’s CAUSE (Campaign for Adolescent and University Student Empowerment) honored community youth April 8 at the second annual Youth Empowerment Awareness Day (YEAD). The students teamed with the Spring Hill Boys & Girls Club, Rotary Club of Downtown DeLand and the city of DeLand to celebrate everything that’s right about youth. Community youth and their parents were invited to enjoy games, music, food and fellowship at the event. YEAD also included motivational talks by speakers such as Spring Hill Boys & Girls Club Director Althea Chavers, top left, and DeLand Mayor Bob Apgar, pictured at top right with several 2005-2006 Stetson CAUSE members. Pictured, from left, are Jessica Walton, Mathias Haugner, Danielle Prior, Mayor Apgar, Jessica Simons, Jessily Ramirez, Casey Wagner and CAUSE founder Matt Morton ’06, who will serve in 2006-2007 as coordinator of Bonner Leadership and Community Outreach Initiatives at Stetson. Students who make up the 2006-2007 Stetson CAUSE team are pictured at center left. From left, they are Mathias Haugner, Derek Stottlemyer, Darius McPhall, Melissa Fontaine, John Tinnell and Satra Ahmadzadeh. (Photos by Gerri Bauer)
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