Quote:
I currently log in a a simple user, but "su" to root to compile so the app is owned by root so that it can access "/dev/mem".

The ownership of an application's binary has nothing to do with what files it can access when it's running. That is determined by the permissions of the user that runs the program. Even if it were true (which it actually is if you set the suid bit on the program's permissions, but I seriously doubt you've done that), you needn't compile as root to set the ownership. The chown program can do that for you.
_________________________
Bitt Faulk