higher potential energy. The following analogy illus- trated how addition of the same entity can benefit one recipient more than the other: An extremely wealthy person (allow students to select) and I jointly win the $100 million Ohio Super Lottery. While each of us gains $50 million, | stand to benefit more. The wealthy person will not alter his or her lifestyle, but I undoubt- edly will move to a larger house, buy a fancy car, and opt for early retirement. Well-known analogies are easily modified to include humor. For example, chemistry textbooks often com- pare resonance theory (molecules viewed as hybrids of two or more forms) to a mule; it is not a horse part of the time and a donkey part of the time. To modify this popular analogy, I cross a greyhound with a blood- hound. The offspring is a blend of both parents—it does not race at the track by day as a greyhound and then sniff out criminals at night as a bloodhound. ¢ Although the chemistry laboratory exemplifies a setting for disciplined behavior, inclusion of humor need not sacrifice safety. In 20-minute pre-lab sessions, procedures are reviewed. Demonstrating the proper use of a pipet with rubber bulb brings a smile. As an undergraduate, I was instructed to suck liquid into the pipet by mouth. The archaic practice astonishes contemporary students. However, | assure students that safety really was a concern 35 years ago—instructors warned us not to get any liquid in our mouths, especially sodium hydroxide (lye) solution! After performing a specific experiment, students are instructed to place recovered silver in a jar labeled “Silver: Dr. Thall’s Retirement Fund.” With retirement a few years away, I explain how the precious metal will help me through the golden years. Some students see humor in the situation but are hesitant to laugh— everyone knows retirement is serious business. Then a quick calculation reveals the entire class will generate silver worth less than $4. Former students remember this episode and inquire about the “nest egg.” ¢ Textbooks are generally quite somber, but when a chemistry book contains a dash of humor read the excerpt in class. For example, Organic Chemistry (Morrison and Boyd) introduces alcohols with the following passage: If allowed to choose ten compounds with which to be stranded on a desert island, you would almost certainly pick alcohols. From them you could make nearly every other kind of aliphatic compound. On your desert island you would use your alcohols not only as raw materials, but frequently as solvents in which reactions are carried out and from which products are recrystallized. Finally, Suanne D. Roueche, Editor March 29, 1996, Vol. XVIII, No. 10 © The University of Texas at Austin, 1995 Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER institutions for their own personnel. E-mail: sroueche @ mail.utexas.edu hot and tired after a long day in the labora- tory, you could refresh yourself with an (isopropyl) alcohol rub and perhaps relax over a cool (ethyl) alcoholic drink. * * * 1 will use humor several times in a typical 75-minute class session. Besides making class more enjoyable, humor provides valuable feedback for the instructor— students do not laugh unless they are paying attention. And when instructors use humor, students often feel com- fortable enough to try some of it themselves. For example, techniques for DNA testing were described in conjunction with the chapter on nucleic acids. Un- doubtedly due to a highly publicized trial, the issue was raised regarding the jurors’ competency to evalu- ate DNA evidence. So when I mentioned that qualified professionals such as physicians and science teachers can avoid jury duty and that when summoned a few years ago I pleaded hardship and was excused, one student vehemently insisted that it was my obligation as a citizen to serve, especially if called in the very near future. And, finally, after studying the chemistry of the three major food classes, and everyone preparing a healthy dish for a special lab session, one student inquired about my dish, kasha, a grain high in fiber/ protein and popular in eastern European countries, “How many bowls of this stuff do I need to eat to get an A?” Edwin Thall, Professor, Chemistry For further information, contact the author at The University of Akron-Wayne College, 1901 Smucker Road, Orrville, OH 44667. INNOVATION ABSTRACTS (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms of the academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Second-class postage paid at Austin, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to INNOVATION ABSTRACTS, SZB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1293.