It’s a good question and deserved an answer.
Is it possible the interactive classroom could be sectioned off into smaller classrooms divided by office dividers or something for multiple classes to take part in at the same time? I know i don’t attend everything in there, but i feel much of the space towards the back of the interactive classroom goes un-utilized during most classes and the space at the front could be rearranged and optimized to make it work during partition setups. For big 'ol meetings like woodshop, it might be possible to book the entire room and remove the dividers for such a meeting.
Obviously the solution, is to build a 2nd floor/lofts. Onward and upward we go.
Glad to hear everyone’s thoughts. I think we can safely conclude we are going to continue build Science. All of the concerns you stated will be noted and addressed to the best of our abilities.
Don’t fuck it up. That’s what @AndrewLeCody told me in March last year and it seems to have worked.
Ok, another BoD member opinion:
I’m a big fan of science at DMS however you have to overcome the past on this one. I know that is not particularly fair but each area has to be a value for the space and valuable for as many members as possible. Past history has not been good for utilization of space or tools. Think of the poor goldfish!
If we spend $15k-$20k for a committee that has ~20 members then we are the ones that will have to answer to the rest of the membership. Questions are always “why did they get money and we didn’t?” Ditto on what @lukeiamyourfather & @AndrewLeCody said.
I know the hoods where a good deal, now we have to face the fact that implementation is going to be very expensive. Going forward, any request for equipment by ANY committee needs to include the costs for the full implementation, not just the amazeballs deal portion.
I’m on a mission to make this not the case
That is a fair statement, but lets not hold Science accountable for the ‘BET’ if they are not given the resources to complete the installation.
As I recall Ebony was clear that there would be additional costs beyond the purchase of the hood and that she was unsure what they would come to at the time. But she wanted to purchase the hood because it was a great opportunity.
The board should have had a feel for what the venting was going to cost since we had prior experience with the cnc plasma cutter.
Well hopefully we will not have buyers remorse for spending 3-4X more money that the hood cost.
I for one look forward to the possibility of doing flame color tests.
Given my advanced age I am looking forward to our science group creating me synthetic replacements for my organs.
I think “tangible outcomes” is the result of two different levels of “making”; There is very little research/experimentation or pure science involved in Wood Shop, Metal Shop, Automotive, Lasers, 3d Printers. You push a button, turn a wrench, or run some wood through the table saw and you’re done. Basic math is sometimes involved, but not much more.
Science and Electronics are different in that more of the unseen action goes on in people’s minds or engineering notebooks. Once an idea takes form, there is a flurry of work in the lab to collect data on a hypothesis and, perhaps, make something cool. Should this not be at least as valuable as yet another bowl turned on the lathe or a wheel bearing replaced on a car?
Wait a minute. While I have no opinion to offer respecting the Science committee at this time, I find this post incredibly offensive, Perhaps you meant something different, perhaps not. But speaking as a person who has built many electronic gadgets, written many computer programs, fixed many cars and motorcycles, spent lots of time in labs, and is attempting to learn woodworking and machining, I find the diffident and preposterous way you dismiss craftsmanship in favor of purely mental exercises to be ridiculous.
Just about anyone can write a computer program. But it takes practice and study to write a good one.
Just about anybody can solder up a simple circuit, but it takes study and practice to do something really interesting with one.
Just about anybody can change a tire, but it takes practice and study to do anything serious to a vehicle.
And just about anyone can nail two boards together, but it takes long practice and study, to design and build in wood. Or metal. Or whatever.
As to the difference - different disciplines, different tools, same hard work and dedication.
The Chinese expression “Kung Fu”, literally means “something you work your ass off at until you master it”. I think most of our shops, are full of people studying Kung Fu. Maybe that’s really our mission.
As to the question at hand, it’s simple. We have roughly $130K a year to invest in tooling and support for making in our community workshop. So what investments with that limited money, best serve our mission and our membership? There’s a million ways we could spend, but only $130,000 to go around. We have to decide which few things are a yes, and all the rest are just a no.
There’s no such thing as a person in a political job that wants or enjoys saying no, yet it must be done. I don’t envy the Board in these decisions one bit, but I hope they have the strength to say no, and the wisdom to know when to say it.
Hey, can somebody tell me what the sweet potato emoji means? I can’t keep up with what the kids are saying these days or how they communicate but I can’t figure out what the sweet potato (at least I think it’s a sweet potato) means? I put a fried shrimp here instead.
Don’t nobody tell me this post on my thread is off topic. This entire thread has been off topic
A fing men! 1234567890
Oh man, I’m in the same boat as Walter… has it really come to this already
I was not addressing craftsmanship at all. The barrier to entry is much higher for some of our committees due to the subject matter. Yes, it make take years to become a master craftsman, but it takes even longer to master the abstract principles of science and mathematics. As a result, you’ll find that 1) there are fewer people involved in these fields, and 2) the “tangible results”, which I was addressing, do not seem like much to those not skilled in the art.
Everyone knows what a chair or a tire can do for them. There are far fewer who understand why altering some yeast at the genetic level to glow in the dark or building low-noise amplifier might be useful.
Lighten up, man. You’ll live longer.