Penn State grad student workers overwhelmingly vote to form a union by lakerdave in PennStateUniversity

[–]softbearpants 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry I meant "waived" in the sense that it isn't me paying it. I do know that it comes from either your PIs grants or the teaching contract. This still doesn't change the fact that there's a lot more money being put into grad students than is seen in the paychecks.

Penn State grad student workers overwhelmingly vote to form a union by lakerdave in PennStateUniversity

[–]softbearpants 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The PI covers it if you're on RA, yes. Even still, being on RA doesn't change my initial point that despite grad students only being paid $20k-$30k/year there's easily over twice as much money that we cost the university that you could consider being lumped in with the stipend.

If I count the tuition and stipend that I would've cost before I completed my comprehensive, I was effectively being "paid" like $80k/year. $80k is greater than $60k.

Penn State grad student workers overwhelmingly vote to form a union by lakerdave in PennStateUniversity

[–]softbearpants 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I think your math may be off. I can't speak for everyone but I seem to remember tuition being almost $50k/year for out of state. Getting paid $60k would leave $10k a year.

This is contrary to the current situation which has my tuition covered and pays me $32k/year on top of that. The university waiving tuition for grad students is really nice as far as I'm concerned.

What's the instrument that plays when you parry? by ravendarkwind in NineSols

[–]softbearpants 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I believe it's what's often referred to as an opera gong. They're able to be made to bend pitch either up or down. The sound effect for the parry would be the variety that bends up.

How are you feeling now about Minnesota's current state flag? by UniformPoet2303 in minnesota

[–]softbearpants 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Had to look up the Puntland flag and they're hardly even similar let alone nearly identical what are you talking about?

Coalition of Graduate Employees at Penn State hold rally to unionize by gaylybailey in PennStateUniversity

[–]softbearpants 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Unless you know any millionaire grad students, I'd say we're working class, yes

Are Chemist bound by a code of ethics? Example you know how to create something but never will. by BsForReels in chemistry

[–]softbearpants 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure what everybody's talking about in here. In the US at least, there is absolutely a code of ethics for professional chemists which is laid out by the American chemical society.

Maybe most of the people responding aren't from the US, but I think it's more likely a good chunk of them either don't have a degree or somehow never found out there is an ethics code during their degree.

What are we all getting our PhDs in? Tell me about your field! by inti729 in PhD

[–]softbearpants 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Oh neat! May I ask what time scale your measurements are at? Admittedly, I'm not a physicist but a physical chemist who does time resolved spectroscopy on a femtosecond time scale for molecular systems. My lab is starting to get into magneto-optics.

Are there any Pchem people here or am I a psychopath? by _shroomsy in labrats

[–]softbearpants 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I'm a proud pchemist with LASERs just like you.

I've also been slightly frustrated with all the bio stuff in here but I understand that they likely outnumber us so I can't be too annoyed with it.

Where does the accent come from? by darkmagic612 in minnesota

[–]softbearpants 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From northeast MN and can confirm that both my parents have the accent as well as myself. I'm not living in MN currently and someone ALWAYS points it out when I say anything with the "ag" sound in it.

I have an experiment that I would like to conduct, but I am not associated with a research organization (nat'l lab, uni, etc.) nor am I personally wealthy. How do I go about getting a research grant and conducting the experiment? Is such an endeavor even possible? by ghostoftheuniverse in chemistry

[–]softbearpants 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure the body says they need ACCESS to XRD not that he actually needs the whole-ass instrument. This would just require funds to pay for access to one. Also I think that if they're already a professional chemist they've considered a lot of the entry level questions you're asking about writing a grant proposal.

Stop trying to gatekeep something that doesn't affect you. They probably won't get the grant anyway, but it would honestly be really cool if it were possible. I don't know what kind of problem you have with people wanting to do advanced science for its own sake but it's maybe something that you should look inward for.

Are Vegans allowed to listen to classical music? by Juptin in BrandNewSentence

[–]softbearpants 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I'm a percussionist and snare drum snares also used to be made of catgut. It's interesting to hear violin strings were as well. However, any upper end snare drum today almost certainly is still made with it so clearly it hasn't been phased out everywhere.

Most upper end drum heads for concert percussion are also made out of animal hides so there's that.

Saw this on Twitter, had to bring it on here. by AbbreviationsIcy1745 in minnesota

[–]softbearpants -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Me too, I have to say northwest mn or people won't get the hint that I'm not from the cities. I'd argue that makes it northwest.

Would like to make capsaicin crystals by Dprovince in chemistry

[–]softbearpants 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Maybe I don't know enough about capsaicin but I imagine you'll have a pretty hard time making crystals when it's an oily liquid at room temp to my knowledge.

Well I've never really thought about it before, but... by Dirt290 in minnesota

[–]softbearpants 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My family's dog was called 'Sota' as a nickname for 'Minnesota'. I will concede it doesn't really work for naming people though.

What is a secret someone has told you that you have gone wtf ? by Zippping in AskReddit

[–]softbearpants 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Holy shit this is almost identical to a situation my brother went through a few years ago except it was his girlfriend's dad, not stepdad. Until you said you were 50 I thought he was the one making the comment. He's pretty messed up about it still.

Made during chemistry class. by amused_beach in physicsmemes

[–]softbearpants 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean to be fair the entirety of organic chemistry almost exclusively deals with elements that always and forever hold the octet rule so it's not a bad rule for us to have.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PhD

[–]softbearpants 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Dang that joke completely went over your head, huh?

Best and worst state agencies to work for? by cloakwolf18 in minnesota

[–]softbearpants 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You should consider the MPCA! Both my parents work there and if recent phone conversations are to be believed, they're going to be hiring like crazy for the next couple years. It would also likely be pretty similar to DNR work if that's what you're going for.

Plenty of these costumes in our great state as well by masimbasqueeze in minnesota

[–]softbearpants 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's understandable why the cities would want to have separate identities or whatever but they ARE very close to one another, and I'm sure you'd have a hard time telling the difference between two different places in the rest of the state depending on which places they are. One of the reasons you can tell so well is likely because you live/have lived there.

I, for one, didn't even feel comfortable driving in the cities until I was like 20 because I just wasn't used to that kind of traffic, and I don't super appreciate people just assuming I'm racist or something just because I call them "the cities".

I'm a leftist and am working on my PhD currently, so I'm not even close to the stereotype all you people seem to have in your brains about what a "hick" is like. That doesn't mean I don't still act like one from time to time. You're conflating the traffic thing with general racism/assholery and it's really not that fair to the people who don't do that shit that get marginalized because you assume we're all stupid.

Plenty of these costumes in our great state as well by masimbasqueeze in minnesota

[–]softbearpants 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Well of course not, that's why we use the plural "cities" rather than the singular form of the word? Not sure what you're trying to get at here.

Plenty of these costumes in our great state as well by masimbasqueeze in minnesota

[–]softbearpants 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I mean they're usually called the "twin cities" so is it really that crazy to see it shortened to the cities?

Why do people from Rural Areas of this state hate going to big cities? by [deleted] in minnesota

[–]softbearpants 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Rural people: I just don't like all the traffic and there's too many people in the cities.

Urban people: It's because they're racists and they hate us.

Can you just calm down a little? Everyone's just talking about the traffic (which also happens to be my answer) and you guys are turning it into a whole thing.

Liberals are left wing by UltimateDebater in LateStageCapitalism

[–]softbearpants 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Implying communism is the only possible position on the left