On space and time

So. I wrote for a while, then gave in to some really crippling depression and didn't for most of 2007, then I didn't in 2008 because I hadn't for most of 2007. But recently EE, a "new" grad student in my group (she's been here since August), wanted to know if I had a blog and I realized maybe I should revive this.

I'm still at SRU, plugging away in what is kind of my third year but also kind of my second still. My status for that first spring semester in which I was writing was kind of nebulous, and the above-mentioned crippling depression ensured that I didn't get much done. Working under Dr. TX really didn't help.

Ah, yes, Dr. TX. There are things that need to be said about him, things I shared with a small inner circle but wish I had done here. I might at some point. But today what I want to talk about is space. Lab space, office space, etc. This is mostly inspired by the fact that recently the people in charge of allocating lab space to faculty came around to make sure our group is optimally using our space and it shouldn't be reassigned to some other, more deserving professor. This happened at CIT too, and we had to seriously fight to keep half of one of our labs. I think we're fine here at SRU--bigger group with need for more space anyway.

Anyway, there are twelve hoods in our lab, two post-docs, eight grad students, and one undergrad in our lab (not counting the folks who just graduated, neither of whom is using a hood right now). Sounds like it'd be easy to distribute things, even when you take into account that two of the hoods are in use for specific shared items and can't really be used by individuals.

Here's how it actually pans out: The two post-docs share a hood with a huge amount of space around it. The undergrad has his own hood with plenty of extra storage space. One of the grad students has taken over two hoods and basically one entire lab of extra storage space. And EE and I are sharing a hood. In fact, it's the only hood with absolutely zero extra storage space and the smallest shelves. What fun!

EE chose to work in my part of the lab with less storage space because, as she tells me, a helpful little bird let her know that she would be expected to be there all day, every day, all the time if she got a huge amount of storage space, kind of to justify the space she got. I offered to share with her because I like her, and because my research at the time didn't really require much space anyway. But things are getting a little cramped as both of us ramp up our lab activities to things that take up more space. I've been plotting, recently, to take over part of the lab space of the guy who has two hoods (one hood and one large storage area) when he graduates this summer.

EE told me the advice she got about expectations to be there. I don't work the same hours a lot of people do, and worry about resentment. Then again, none of the students with seniority over me will take that spot, so probably a new student would get it anyway (not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's a whole lot of space for a first-year who's probably more focused on coursework). So why not take it? It's kind of a delicate situation. We'll see how it plays out--I've got plenty of time to think about it.