1. HELPING CHEMISTS FIND JOBS IN A TOUGH MARKET. 2. TOWARDS A QUANTITATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE QUALITY OF THE CHEMISTRY JOB MARKET.
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Going in a completely tangential direction, I have a 10 mL rb that I inherited with my lab bench. I have never used it, and really wonder what the hell it's good for (besides looking cute, of course).
ReplyDeleteelectrion
ReplyDeleteLeigh, I use those on occasion when I'm not sure whether a particular reaction will work and I'm only willing to sacrifice a little starting material (usually that means it's expensive or took a long time to make). You should see the mini stir bars that go with it, they're a pain in the a-- to keep outta the sink drain!
ReplyDeleteany chance of a copy and paste of the linkedin discussion for those of us that can't be members of that group?
ReplyDeleteThe LinkedIN is way too long for a cut&paste. Initial post is a look at the statements of the ACS presidential candidates from the point of view of the unemployed/underemployed chemist, concluding that neither looks like much of a champion for the laid off chemists.
ReplyDeleteThe discussion touches many areas, but includes national labs having effective age discrimination by including a "x years beyond last degree" clause, costs of courses for retraining, advocacy for jobs in America going to Americans and discouraging outsourcing.
10 mL (14/20 joint) flask is quite useful for collecting fractions on small scale distillation.
ReplyDeleteI have also used them recently for small-scale reaction where the crystallization/filtration had to be done at minus 20C and the compounds were quite soluble but formed a thick voluminous precipitate - so the volume of the mix and the flask size was an issue.
Another lab that was closing up shop (professor retiring) had a give-away, and I was lucky enough to find a 2mL 14/20 neck round bottom - the bulb part is basically the same width as the neck. I also acquired an rbf that holds probably 500 microliters at most. The ground glass joint on that one is super skinny, I have no idea what size to call it. And I got a tiny 2 mL Erlenmeyer. All three are adorable, but I can't fathom a reason to ever use one, especially the Erlenmeyer. I mean, a disposable vial would just as easily do the trick.
ReplyDeleteJust today I was remarking in lab about the awesomeness of *flat*-bottomed flasks with 24/40 joints. Keep your pear-shaped flasks; I want ones that you can rest on the countertop without worry.
ReplyDeleteThe discussion on LinkedIn started with a letter that I wrote to C & E News. That letter analyzed the positions of the two ACS presidential candidates (or rather, lack thereof) on the tens of thousands of unemployed American chemists. Baum refused to publish the letter.
ReplyDeleteBoth my letter and Baum's response can be viewed/downloaded at:
http://fentonh.webs.com/Gmail%20-%20ACS%20presedential%20candidates'%20statements%20on%20employment.pdf
and
http://fentonh.webs.com/Baum%20refuses.pdf
Wow, people do really use those! Cool. I tend to crystallize in tubes, and my compounds are barely soluble in most things so I have to do even small scale reactions in larger flasks.
ReplyDeleteI do also have a 2 mL beaker, but I actually use that.
"Dear Mr. Heirtzler:
ReplyDeleteYour letter will not appear in C&EN.
Rudy M. Baum
Editor-in-chief
Chemical & Engineering News"
Yet another piece of evidence that Sir Rudy will not deign to converse with all the lowly serfs who so naively provide his salary and tickets to Paris.... jesus, what a staggering response to a nuanced, earnest letter.
Fenton,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you sharing your letters here. I am no longer a member of the ACS, forfeiting my "years of service". I just can't see what the point would be.
C&EN Sep. 6, 2010
ReplyDeleteBaum writes:
When C&EN writes a story that you think is inaccurate or incomplete or naïve, why don’t you write us and express that opinion? I have never been shy about publishing letters that criticize C&EN. I think it would be healthy to hear what other chemists have to say about your plight. Let’s open a dialogue.
Dialogue Number 1:
ReplyDeleteThe ACS' continued and total lack of recognition or response to the issue (singular) that is most important to the vast majority of dues- paying members is nothing short of shocking. Moreover, it brings up real and valid concerns about where exactly the ACS' primary allegiances lie.
Ironically, it would be difficult to even identify a C&EN article this would be responding to, when the entire issue is conveniently invisible in those august pages.
Actually, I have recently received private correspondence from staff at C&E News supporting the contents of the unpublished letter. It's pretty obvious that people working there can't be public about it. Ironic, too, that hypothetical fear of losing one's job could preclude the "dialogue" that Baum refers to.
ReplyDelete