Catfish a jumpin

Veteran academics, particularly we scientists at PUI/MCU institutions, know that it is best to avoid the neighbors during the summer.  I have even thought about having a red, white, and blue, flag emblazoned t-shirt made for the neighborhood 4th of July picnic that would carry the logo;

No! I work every day, all year! I just don't get paid in the summer.
Yes! I will take another beer!

The neighbors think that we have the summers off and envy our long "vacations".  We PUI/MCU faculty know that summer can be the best time to get research accomplished.  In synthetic labs where technique training is key, the summer with long uninterrupted days are ideal.  Since the new students need to be trained, it frequently falls to the faculty member to do this.  Since I am rebuilding my group, this summer is full of new students and devoid of continuing students to help out.  This means that all the training falls to me.  The month of June has been filled with twelve hour lab days, and evenings of SOP writing and analysis of data.  This explains why my blog prompts list is the longest it has ever been and the number of posting in June the lowest since starting this blog.

June may be the hardest summer month because the new students don't start getting results until the end of the month when their technique skills start to click.  With any luck July will bring armloads of data and a publication or two.

Since a research experience is central to the education of today's undergraduates perhaps colleges and universities should allow faculty and students to bank for use in the fall or spring semester of the following academic year three units of undergraduate research course training for every student working through ten or twelve 40 hour weeks.  At least then the students and faculty would get some credit/pay for their labor.

T.S. Hall