1988 Gallimaufry

" H o w D o Y o u D o S c i e n c e ? " ^A.. II of a sudden, the room seemed _A\L to be closing in around you. *JTM There wasn't enough air to •f —f breathe. Desperately, you —I—-—I clawed off your safety goggles and clutched your white paper coat. You were trapped in a lab for an hour and a half and there was nothing you could do except hope you didn't break any more glassware. You looked down at the stone lab table in front of you. With a sinking feeling in your stomach, you realized that you should have read the lab manual last night instead of talking on the phone. Maybe then, you would know what to do with the strange pile of equipment sitting before you. With a sigh of despair and resignation, you began to read the instructions in the lab manual. You knew you would never get everything done before class ended. Sound familiar? If it never happened to you, consider yourself lucky. Labs were simply a fact of life in most science classes. Sophomore Chemistry had a lab about once a week to investigate the many exciting prin– ciples of chemistry. Organic chemistry also did some interesting labs — one lab which involved synthesizing aspirin. Both Soph– omore and Modern Physics classes did labs or classroom exercises about every week or ten days. In the spring, biology students could be heard discussing fetal pig dissec– tions. All year long, chemistry and biology students sported their paper lab coats around campus. Science classes were not exclusively lab– oratory exercises, though. Lectures were an integral part of the science experience. Most classes met for a lecture two or three times a week, although Organic Chemistry and Astrophysics tended to meet as a lec– ture gruop more often since these classes had fewer labs. The lectures ranged from mildly boring to amusing, depending on the teacher. Mr. Meyer developed a song and dance routine designed to entertain even the most weary physics student. In one of the more memorable biology lectures, Dr. Pine faced his class and demanded, "Why have sex?" Science classes were sometimes amus– ing, usually interesting, and always chal– lenging. With labs, lectures, and classroom demonstrations there was something for everyone. "If 3.00 g CO gas is introduced into an evacuated 6.00 L container at 86 degrees Celsius, what is the pressure in atmospheres in the container?" Tony Tosi makes careful measurements in the Physicists AdamTaylor, Jong Ho Kim, and Dar Chem lab. Mueth study the intricacies of an air track. 40 i * Academics