General Information

9th Annual Lester Andrews Graduate Research Symposium

Addresses to the conference center and conference hotels are given below.

Hand Chemical Lab
310 President’s Circle
Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762
(662) 325-3584

Conference Hotel
La Quinta
982 Highway 12 East
Starkville, MS 39759
(662) 270-4100

Tuesday Night Poster Session
First Baptist Warehouse
210 S. Jackson Street
Starkville, MS 39759

Wednesday Night Banquet \ The Bull Barn

Conference Hotel#

La Quinta is the conference hotel available for the LAGRS meeting. The La Quinta is located is 2.6 miles from Hand Chemical Lab, which is about a 7-8 minute drive (see map above). La Quinta is conveniently located near the new Walmart Neighborhood Market. La Quinta includes free Wi-Fi, complimentary breakfast, outdoor swimming pool, and other amenities.

Parking Information#

Parking at both the conference hotel and Hand Lab is free, but be sure to pick up a parking pass when you check in at registration. Conference parking is in the lot marked with a star. Be sure to park in the designated lot, and to keep your parking pass visible in your car, or you may be ticketed.

Conference Internet Access#

Free Wi-Fi is available for the duration of the conference on the msuguest wireless network. You will need to obtain the daily guest password, which will be available at the registration table.

Tuesday Night Poster Session#

This year’s poster session will be on Tuesday night, and will be held off-campus at the First Baptist Warehouse. We ask that those presenting posters be at or near their posters for the duration of the session to answer any questions presented by guests or judges. Poster boards and easels will be provided at the session, as well as refreshments.

Wednesday Night Banquet#

The conference banquet will be held at the Mississippi State University Bull Barn, please use the following direc- tions as a GPS does not work well for this location. The Bull Barn is located off of Highway 182, and there is parking on-site. From Hand Lab, turn onto Hardy Rd until you veer right onto Lee Blvd. Follow Lee Blvd until it meets Highway 182. Take a left onto Highway 182 and follow it for 1.5 miles until you see a power plant on your right. Take a right onto the road immediately past the power plant, take the left fork, and follow the tree line to the Bull Barn. Parking is alongside the row of trees.

Monday after the Banquet#

After the banquet, we highly encourage all our attendees to continue networking and socialization with each other. Here is a list of places that you may want to go after the banquet:

• Fountain Bar, 700 University Dr
• Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern, 410 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Dr E
• Cowbells Sports Grill, 1545 St Andrews Ln
• The Klaasroom, 701 University Dr
• Blue 22 Soul Kitchen & Bar, 101 Hollywood Blvd
• Rick’s Café American, 319B Hwy 182 E
• Gringos, 700 University Dr
• Southern Billiards, 103 S Washington St
• Bin 612, 612 University Dr
• Rosey Baby, 300 S Jackson St
• Strange Brew Coffeehouse, 605 MS-12
• Many More

Local Restaurants for Lunch#

Here is a map of the local restaurants within a mile or so from campus that are great places to eat. The types of food at these locations include Italian, Cajun, Greek, BBQ, burgers, steaks, sandwiches and wings. There should be a restaurant for everyone to enjoy.

• Bin 612 – General Americana Style Foods

• Buffalo Wild Wings – Wings and Sports Food

• Bulldog Burgers – Specialty Burgers

• Harvey’s – Soups, Salads, Chicken, Steak, Fish, Pastas, etc.

• Mugshot’s Burgers – Burgers and other Sports foods

• Newk’s – Soups, salads, sandwhices, and pizza

• Old Venice – Upscale Italian Eatery

• Restaurant Tyler – Upscale Southern Style Cooking

• Rosey Baby’s – Crawfish and Seafood

• Starbucks- Coffee, light lunch options, and desserts

• Starkville Café – Southern style home cooking

• Stromboli’s - Mom and Pop Italian Eatery

• The Grill – Soups, Salad, Chicken, Steak, Fish, Pastas, etc.

• The Little Dooey – BBQ, Chicken, and Fish

For other Restaurant ideas for lunch or dinner you can visit: http://www.starkvillemenus.com/

Recording and Photography of Sessions and Posters#

While we encourage collaboration and discussion of data, photography and recording of conference sessions is strictly prohibited without the presenter’s consent. Attendees found in violation of this rule may be asked to leave at the discretion of the Chemistry Graduate Student Association (CGSA) officers.

Acknowledgements#

This conference could not happen without the support of so many people, and we would like to take this chance to thank them for their help.

We would like to thank Dr. Marcetta Y. Darensbourg for taking time out of her busy schedule to be our keynote speaker for the 9th Annual Lester Andrews Graduate Research Symposium, and Dr. W. Lester S. Andrews for giv- ing the opening talk, as well as for his continued interest in the conference.

We would like to thank the Hand Lab office staff, Reatha Linley-Fielder, Kathy Johnsey, and DaMonique Maclin, for everything they did to help with the planning and organization of this year’s symposium. We could not have accomplished any of this without their help.

Many thanks to all the judges and moderators for giving their time and talents to help provide feedback to the many presenters of the symposium. Thank you as well to Dr. Eric Van Dornshuld and Dr. Jason Denny for the improvements made to the judging rubrics.

Thanks to Dr. Todd Mlsna, our CGSA advisor for helping us throughout this past year.

A very special thank you to Dr. Steven Gwaltney, who advised us through the planning process and provided in- valuable advice, feedback, and assistance for the past few months.

Last but not least, thank you to all the participants for taking the time to attend this symposium and for your continued support for these past few years.

Officers of the Chemistry Graduate Student Association
Danielle Pitre, President
Maggie Leake, Vice President
James Cope, Secretary
Robert Lamb, Treasurer