[Geoldept] Thin Section Room.

[Ben Paulson]

Geofolks,

There is a new sign-in book in the thin section room.  The sign-in sheet will be familiar to most users, but in addition to marking which machines you are using, there is now a line added for you to describe the activity you are doing.  For example, "Making a thin section for mineralogy" or "Cutting rock slabs for a research project" etc.  The description does not need to be long, we simply want to better track the various activities done in the room.  I would also like to reiterate that you should sign-in before you begin working.  If you are working in the thin section preparation room and did not sign in, you may have your privileges to use the area suspended.

In addition to simply tracking what people are doing, we also need to hold people accountable if they fail to clean up the equipment after using it or if something breaks.  Over the long weekend there were a couple of incidents that resulted in broken equipment.  The hair dryer in the thin section room was burned out and ruined.  The main trim saw blade was also destroyed.  The blades that cut our rocks are embedded with industrial diamond and the way "cut" is to grind through rocks.  Water flushes away the ground material and cools the blade during cutting.  It looks like a someone used the saw without water, which resulted in total devastation of the saw blade.  Currently nobody can use this saw as we wait for a replacement blade. Whoever destroyed the blade did not sign in.

If you break something, let me know!  Things break - it happens, but don't pretend like it nothing happened and have the next user show up to broken equipment.  You need to contact me so I am aware if something breaks.  This should be for ALL equipment around the department, be it a thin section from your mineralogy lab that you dropped on the floor, or the hair dryer in the thin section preparation room - if it breaks, let me know and here is how:


*         Email - Benjamin.Paulson at wwu.edu

*         In Person - ES 208

*         Phone Call - 650-3585

*         Tape a note to my door (ES 208) or put a note in my mailbox in the main office (ES 240).

Lastly, I would like everyone to be aware about some occupancy restrictions in ES 06 (the thin section room).  According to the fire code, there cannot be more than six users in ES 06 at any given time.  If you show up to use the thin section preparation room and there are already six people working, you will have to come back later.

Thanks,

Benjamin Paulson
---------------------------------------------
Instructional and Classroom Support
Geology Department
Western Washingon University
360-650-3585

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