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better way to do html updates then to expose javascript in rails3
<script type="text/javascript">

    // When DOM loads, init the page.
    $(function() {
      // Executes a callback detecting changes with a frequency of 1 second
      $("#id_element_placeholder").observe_field(1, function( ) {
        $.ajax({
        type: "GET",
        dataType: "json",
        url: "/students/get/" + this.value,
        success: function(data){
            $('#last_name').attr('value', data.student.last_name);
            $('#building').attr('value', data.student.building);
            $('#room').attr('value', data.student.room);
        }
        });
      });
    });

  </script>

def get
    @student = Student.find(params[:id])
    respond_to do |format|
        format.html
        format.json { render :json => @student }
     end
end