Category: Labs

The office hour scheduled for Monday, Sept 23, is canceled. I have a doctor’s appointment in NE Portland at that time. I will be on campus for lab on Monday and will answer questions that you bring there. Normal office hour schedule resumes on Wednesday, Sept 25, 10:30-11:30.

Not everyone has found a place in lab yet (see previous post), but that’s OK because we aren’t going to do any ‘wet’ experiments during the first week of classes. Here’s the plan for week #1 broken down by day and lab section:

• Sept 2, M – Labor Day (no class)
• Sept 3, Tu – Tu lab meets at Chemistry loading dock at 1:10 PM for fire extinguisher training. From there go inside to C209 (our lab) for the first half of a safety and lab policy meeting (starts at 1:30). Next, if you haven’t already done so, read the relevant portions of the Chemistry Safety Manual. Complete the Safety Quiz that will be distributed in lab. Sign the Safety Contract. Meet back at C209 at 3:00 to go over the Quiz and turn in your signed Safety Contract and Quiz.
• Sept 4, W – same as Tu
• Sept 5, Th – same as Tu
• Sept 6, F – same as Tu, but meet at loading dock at 2:45 PM and in C209 at 3:15/4:30

If you are enrolled in the Tu or W labs, please attend on your lab day. If you are enrolled in the M lab or if you haven’t yet found a lab, you can attend any day, but W/Th are best and Tu/F are worst.

Wondering what is coming ahead? Check out the lab manual link and the lab calendar link (click on a blue box to see what is scheduled).

61 students had signed up for lab lecture as of last Wednesday. As of today (Saturday), there are 68 lab students: 24 students in the M lab, 24 students in the Tu lab, and 14 students in the W lab (and 10 students on wait lists). We have room for 72. There should be room for everybody, but I have learned the hard way that allowing students to sign up for all of the classes they need (or want) independently of other students almost never produces a useful set of enrollments.

I don’t have a solution for any of this yet so I am going to spend the next few days playing ‘wait and see’. Here’s what I think will happen:

• The wait list students will come tell me their stories (why you need to take Chem 201 and why you need to be in the M/Tu lab instead of W)
• Some students will do us all a Big Favor (really!) and switch from M or Tu labs to the W lab
• The wait list students (and maybe others) will ask themselves some existential questions about class schedules: Do I need to take Chem 201 right now or is it something that can wait until another year? Do I need to take the course that conflicts with the W 201 lab right now or can that course wait until another year? Is there more than one way to be happy?

In the meantime some lab periods will slip by and we will approach the Add deadline (Sept 13). Don’t worry about missing lab. We won’t start ‘wet’ experiments in Chem 201 during the first (shortened) week of classes. But that’s the subject of another post …

Hi, This is Alan Shusterman, your Chem 201 instructor.

Classes get underway tomorrow and the first o-chem lecture will be in Eliot 314, but o-chem will actually start earlier in the day for some of you. Confusing? Let me tell you exactly what you need to know.

Lecture this week. There are two lecture sections for Chem 201 this year: MW 3:10-4:30 & TuTh 10:30-11:50. Both meet in E314. The caps have been lifted a bit in order to make room for 82 students (45 in MW F01 and 37 in TuTh F02). Please attend only the section that you have registered for. If you are still trying to add this class, you must come see me and persuade me to sign an ADD form because online registration is closed.

CLICKERS this week. I plan to use clickers starting on Day 1. Bring your clicker to every lecture. If your clicker needs to a little tender care or a juicier battery, take it to the Bookstore on Monday morning. If you can't find your clicker, you can buy one at the Bookstore.

>>> LAB THIS WEEK <<< Labs will meet every day this week, starting tomorrow. We have four lab sections for Chem 201 this year: MTuF 1:10-5:00 and Th 12:30-4:20. Lab lecture takes place in Psych 105 for all students on F, 9-9:50. Please attend only the section that the Registrar has placed you in. (Note: the Registrar reassigned several students to new lab sections last Friday nite so your schedule may have changed.) If you were on a waiting list or if you would like to change lab sections, you will need to come see me and persuade me to sign an ADD form. If you absolutely cannot make it to your assigned lab section, then please come to the section that you would like to be in. Here's our tentative lab schedule for this week:

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