After getting the table..
From: Steven Hurder
Subject: Re: ping pong rules
Date: November 3, 1998 at 10:18:47 AM CST
To: Henri Gillet
Cc: heitsch@newton.math.uic.edu, masur@newton.math.uic.edu
Hello all,
First, the table is sturdy with wheels, and folds up so that it can be put in
a corner when there are large social functions - like the big Friday Teas or
other events.
As for equipment, I have bought one set of simple paddles and several boxes
of PP balls to get things started. and suggested that the Undergraduate math
club open a concession in PP balls for after that.
But to the real point, we approached this viewing Room 300 as a social room.
The only activities I have observed happening there is:
- daily lunches by all those using the microwave
- friday teas
- Howie and Yitwah working on the blackboards
occasionally i also use those blackboards to talk to grad students, and
probably other faculty do to. My office has gotten so cluttered that its nice
to escape there. and that way dust doesn't get into the computer.
One inspiration for getting a table was the "saturday Seminar" at Tokyo tech
university, a celebrated long-running seminar where they have coffee, listen
to a speaker, break for a game of ping pong with the speaker, then back to
listen to more talks. That sort of idea is attractive - that the grad students
will use this as a break from their studies and as a reason to hang out in
300.
It is also an alternative to playing soccer, which has proven very popular
with the grad students the last few years.
And the overall response from graduate students has been an overwealming
"Hurrah!" - at least I havent had anyone say they are upset, and many are
really excited by it and putting up $5, $10 or $20 a pop.
There has also been a lot of faculty interest from a wide range of people:
Vera, Dybian, Paul Brown, just to mention the last few who have spoken to me
about it. So possibly it will also increase the social interaction of faculty
and grad students. At least, that is a possibility.
James and I have talked about "rules" for table use -- which Amy Shell also
said the MSGA asked about. Our response was to see what the usage patterns
are, what troubles arise, and address these as appropriate or needed. It seems
hard to predict the issues, and we can be flexible about deciding when use is
not appropriate, etc.
As for the noise level, closing the door in 300 will restrict the noise to
the room. When the Undergrad club meets in 300, they close the door for
example. Maybe we could set up with a "quiet time" during certain afternoons
to accomodate meeting with students in 300.
Other than that, I hope we can just wait and see and be alert to any problems.
Steve