As part of the Department’s effort to upgrade its instructional computing facilities, the Star Lab in Ellison Hall 2610 has been renovated and a new spatial@ucsb computing lab (SCL) has been created next door in EH 2616 (the old grad lounge). In both labs, wireless access has being made available; the security access system has been updated; the labs have been painted, carpeted, and fitted with new furniture; a motorized screen/projector/podium with a laptop has been installed in each; and new computers, monitors, and printers have been installed.
The Jeffrey L. Star lab is named after an Assistant Professor of Geography who helped to establish the core curriculum in remote sensing in the early 90s, and who, along with Jack Estes, identified the need to integrate remote sensing and GIS. Jeff had a PhD in Oceanography from Scripps and was a brilliant computer scientist; his career was cut short by cancer. The Star Lab is an undergraduate computing facility with 30 PCs used primarily for instruction, and only Geography students and students enrolled in Geography courses are authorized to use the lab.
The spatial@ucsb computing lab (SCL) is a resource for geography graduate students and is an extension of the spatial@ucsb center–an innovative university-wide resource and research center directed by Mike Goodchild at UCSB. Its mission is to facilitate the integration of spatial thinking into processes for learning and discovery in the natural, social, and behavioral sciences; to promote excellence in engineering and applied sciences; and to enhance creativity in the arts and humanities.
The SCL consists of 15 high-end computers, 9 of which have dual monitor stations to enhance spatially related visualization. The lab is used for walk-in assistance and for workshops that promote spatially related research and teaching for the entire campus, as well as for all disciplines that share an interest in the importance of spatial thinking in science, in artistic endeavors, in the development of spatial analytic tools, and in the role of place in society. The lab is reserved for training sessions and workshops by spatial@ucsb staffer Karen Doehner (email kdoehner@spatial.
ucsb.edu); at all other times, the room is open to all Geography Graduate Students. For any lab-related hardware or software issues, please email request@geog.ucsb.edu, and, for more about each lab, see the Labs and Support tab on our home page menu bar.
Of course, in order to begin these major renovations, the old stuff had to be removed first—a particularly difficult task in terms of keeping the disruption of the Star Lab’s functionality at a minimum. And, of course, the timing of the removal was dependent on when the electricians could (and actually would) start (rewiring was the first step of the renovation). Mo Lovegreen sent the following email to all staff on September 9: “at 2:00 pm we have access to the star lab and Gwen (Raubal), Dylan (Parenti), Guylene (Gadal), Mark (Probert), and I will dismantle all the computers and empty out the room (with help from the furniture services crew). We have to have the space completely empty so the electricians can start at 5:30 the following morning.” Bernadette Weinberg, Bill Norrington, and Jose Saleta also “volunteered,” and the eight of us, plus the furniture services crew, actually began the “demolition” about 1 pm. It was after 5 pm when the job was finally completed.
By the third week of September, the renovation was finished and it was time to install all the computers, monitors, and etc. in both labs—a major job. The installation of the equipment was time consuming and tedious, but the packaging used presented unforeseen difficulties, if only in terms of unpacking everything (we had to use box knives on the “childproof wrapping”) and then recycling it all (including 120+ plus cardboard boxes and an alarming amount of Styrofoam and plastic bags). Rather than carry everything downstairs, we used a window.
Yes, it was a lot of work; yes, the eight staff members involved now have “demolition experts” and “lab assistant lackeys” in their job descriptions; and, yes, at last, your editor can justify using the word “defenestration” – the act of throwing someone or something out of a window.
