Dr. Freese is asking "How many sociologists does it take to screw in a light bulb?"
I do not know about that, but I could just as easily ask "How many graduate students does it take to screw in a light bulb?"
While you're pondering possible punchlines to that riddle, I'll provide my true life light bulb and graduate student story:
Once when I was a graduate student at one of the two universities where I have grad studented, there was a burnt out light bulb in a room used as a common space by all of the grad students. (It was not actually a "bulb" but a tube, one of many in a row of tubes.) When we inquired about getting the bulb changed, we were told that Someone in Charge would fill out the appropriate paperwork, which would then be forwarded to the appropriate Facilities Office.
After several weeks with no replacement, we returned to the Someone in Charge and suggested that, if we were merely given the correct fixture, perhaps we graduate students might change the bulb ourselves. Oh no, absolutely not, we were told. That would require using a ladder, and since--as graduate students--we were not employees of the university and thus not covered by workers' compensation policies, our using the ladder to change the bulb would constitute a liability risk for the institution.
Just be patient, we were told. The paperwork had been filed. It is just that, since the room was a common room for graduate students (and not, say, a faculty member's office or instructional space) it was lower priority in the Lightbulb-Getting Queue.
After a few more weeks of still no lightbulb, we graduate students hatched a plan. One of us went to a local home supply store to look for the light. They did not have the correct one. We thought our plan was foiled. But then another one of us happened upon a propped open and unsupervised utility closet in the building. What was in that utility closet, right inside the door? Yes. The correct light fixture. In a moment of lapsed moral judgment but heightened pragmatic confidence, that student carefully lifted one of these tubes and carried it back to the graduate student common space.
Then, several other students rigged a system of moved-around desks and stacked text books. (I am sure this would not have met any Safety Guidelines.) We replaced the old bulb with the new one.
Many, many weeks later someone from Facilities came to replace our burnt out bulb. It was OK, though. By this time another bulb had failed.
Posted by perry032 at May 1, 2006 07:42 AM | TrackBack