Excerpts from speeches:
Remarks made by Karoline Gilbert, class of 2002 physics / astronomy major:
I will take a lot of memories away from the time I spent in the physics depart-ment at Ohio State, and I have spent a lot of time. As a physics major, I fi gured out that I’ve spent over 800 hours sitting in physics classes alone. Then, there were the countless hours spent with my fellow students in the physics lounge, racking our brains trying to fi gure out how to do a problem. And then once we fi gured that out, spending the next two hours trying to mess with algebra to fi gure out what we did wrong.
Of course, we didn’t always get past the fi rst stage of fi guring out how to do the problem, and then we had to storm the professor’s offi ce to ask for help. I’ve spent my share of time in physics professors’ offi ces at Smith, and I can assure you that they will be quite happy to get new offi ce space.
My experiences as a physics major at Ohio State have prepared me well for my future studies in astronomy, in large part because of the support that I have received as an undergraduate physics major. The undergraduate physics lounge is an invaluable place the department has provided for us. It gives us a place to work in groups on homework and on the computers, hold meetings, catch up with friends, and occasionally even catch up on sleep.
I have fond memories of the picnics the department has every year, complete with food, a dunk tank, water balloons, ice cream made with dry ice, and the sledgehammer carnival game, which I’ve not yet done successfully, but maybe this year is the year.
The picnics and other functions the physics department sponsors give students the chance to interact and develop relationships with professors in a non-classroom setting. One of the most important assets of my education, however, is the support I’ve received from the physics professors. The professors in this department provide a great deal of encouragement to students. In addition to opening up their offi ce doors to students for questions about homework, courses, physics in general, or careers, they open their lab doors to undergraduate students who want to get involved in physics research.
I know many students who work in various labs at Smith. In fact, some of the memories I will take with me from my years at Ohio State are from the summer I spent working in the lab with Dr. Greg Lafyatis. It was the summer after my freshman year, and my parents were eagerly anticipating my return home for the summer break. Dr. Lafyatis sorely disappointed them, however. When I started working in Dr. Lafyatis’ lab, I didn’t even know which way to turn a screw to loosen it. Thankfully, Dr. Lafyatis was patient, and by the end of the summer I had spent time in the machine shop, learned what a lathe was and how to use it, worked a little with electronics, worked on lab view codes, helped take data on experiments, and yes, I even learned which direction to loosen a screw.
Most importantly, however, I learned how physics research is conducted. This experience has enriched my educationand been helpful in several classes I have taken.
One of the best things a physics major can do, regardless of their future career path, is to get involved in research early in their undergraduate career. There is no substitute for learning what physics is really about. The physics department and professors have often demonstrated that they are not only supportive, but committed to helping undergraduate students get involved in research.
The new building, by supporting cutting-edge research that professors will be doing, will also be supporting the undergraduate program. Although my memories will all be of Smith Lab, I look forward to visiting Ohio State in a couple of years and seeing the shiny, new, state-of-the-art building on that empty lot.
And now, I am pleased to introduce Robert Gold, Dean of the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, yet another mathematician-turned-administrator, proving that a mathematician can, perhaps, have some practical skills.
Remarks made by Robert Gold, Dean, College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
We’ve heard great things about the physics department today. I could go on in that vein; I am one of the department’s biggest fans. But I Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Physics Research BuildingFrasure at (614) 292-2653 or by sending her your name and address Renderings of the new Physics Research Building
2223thought I might take a different tack and tell you the “rest of the story,” as in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Of course the physics department has done well for itself. Like being the top place finisher in the first Selective Investment round. You need to remem-ber, however, that Physics is the only department on campus with nuclear devices. Who was going to turn them down?
In the area of research, the department has made a spectacular rise in the national rankings and many of our faculty and staff are among the best in world at what they do—real champions. On the other hand, it is true that the APS, the American Physical Society, does operate somewhat like the World Wrestling Federation. The champions are all determined in advance, somewhere in a smoke-filled room, or more appropriately, a cloud-filled chamber. The department is also a part of the international physics conspiracy to befuddle anyone who is not a physicist. Just take a look at the title of any physics paper you can lay your hands on.
The department does a great job of undergraduate teaching and has won more than its share of teaching awards, both individually and collectively. But let’s face it. Any student who even thinks of taking a physics course is self-selected to be in the top 5 percent of the under-graduate class, carries a 3.99 GPA, and is on target to graduate in three years, with at least two majors. Someone like Karrie here. How hard can it be to teach such a student?
Finally, the department’s service and outreach activity is phenomenal. Worthy of particular note is the Physics Open House where we bring to campus some of Ohio’s most creative and impressionable high school adolescents and show them how to explode pop bottles, electrocute their tongues, microwave various household objects, and expose a university president to acute embarrassment in front of a large audience. This sets a new standard in public service.
Now that you’ve heard the other side of the story, you can appreciate more fully how delighted we are to have this new building going up. I want to thank those of you who have worked long and hard to bring this building to fruition. I’d also like to thank and congratulate the university leadership for having the wisdom and the courage to place academic quality and academic need at the top of the list of capital building priorities.
