minutia press.

I went over to Louderman 458 to check out the room yesterday for my 102 class which met for the first time today. I had trepdations about doing this because interfacing with the Chemistry department when wanting to use one of their rooms is never easy. The last time I went through this, I was told I'd have to come by their department office every day I teach to pick up a key. Their office happened to close for lunch everday so they wouldn't even be open prior to that class's time. Fortunately, they yielded and gave me, a mere non-Chemist, a key to the AV cabinet.

Yesterday we reenacted much of the above, but when I went to try the system out, I discovered you couldn't see the screen even with the room lights off. THe projector has grown quite faint, and is clearly unusable for teaching. I dutifully called the University Office Responsible for Fainting Projectors (UORFP) and was told that 1) they know there's a problem with that projector, but 2) there is no money to fix it this semester.

Thus began my pilgrimage to find another room. There were two candiates: Brown 118 and Lab Sciences 300. The Brown 118 room is warm, inviting, but the chairs are old and it is a far walk for weary students from the South 40.

The Lab Sciences 300 room is new, plush, outfitted with the latest in nonfaint projectors, and a convenient trek from both my office and the South 40. The only problem is that it is about 3 times bigger than I need, but I solved that by offering the 5 points of "participation" credit to students who sit in the front 10 rows.

I tried to put a pointer to the new classroom location on the CS102 web page , but I discovered that the building is so secret that its existence is not published on the Wash U map. When I walked to the building, I almost missed it because there is no sign on the buliding.

So it's called Lab Sciences, but I think for $2 Million or so, your name could go on the front of that building. Who knows, they may even show it on the Wash U map.

Until it has an official name, I propose that it be called the Chris Hill Festival Memorial Lab Sciences Building.

Or better yet, if you call it the Monopaddle Hydrolocomotion Center for Laboratory Sciences, you might get no one ever talking about it, and it would become even more secret, not just dissapearing from all maps, but out of existance all together.

"Memorial" -- Chris have you or your blog died recently?

I'm in your CS102 class and I completely approve of the choice. Wow...that is an amazing room. I can't help but think it has something to do with the Chancellor being a Chemist...

What's so bad about a secret building? If nobody else knows about it, then there's no competition to get the rooms, now is there?

OT, but Smart and Pless are competing to see who has the largest CS class. Is 102 small this semester, or are they just ignoring it?

Neither I nor my blog have reached an untimely demise, but "Memorial" buildings sound much more distinguished and professional. If not we could always call it the Chris Hill Festival Lab Sciences and Monkey Butlery Complex, assuming of course that if I donated millions of dollars to the university I would make a wacky stipulation that part of my gift be used to further research in the training of simians to perform household tasks.

I think they should name it "Lopata Lab Building" further confusing students who already have to deal with Lopata Hall and Lopata Small Group Housing

OK, for a name, how about Cupples III Lab?

To answer the other question, CS 102 is above the fray of competing for large class sizes. We are likely to stay above the fray since we only have about 76 students.

I'm honored that 102 students read my blog!