"I think that they are doing a lot of good things," says Jason D. Birch, a first-year graduate student. "Students are excited."

Beaver says she is most impressed with the administration's responsiveness to the the ideas of the Quality of Life Committee.

"I think the department has been very receptive to our suggestions as far as what directions they should take to improve," she says. "A lot of it will take time before we see the effects of it, but we've had a lot of input in what's going on."

Saturation Level

Yet, these solutions can only go so far, some students say. A lot of the intensity in the Chemistry Department comes from the students themselves, and no amount of social planning can change that.

"My problem is that a lot of people who need to do it [socialize outside of the laboratory], don't," Birch says. "They think they can't. I don't there is anything that can be done. They just can't relax."

"The problems may be fundamental to graduate school in science, and may not be easily correctable," Finkelstein says.

Anderson says that the process of change is ongoing and will be reevaluated every year.

"I think the changes are going to have very powerful implications, he says. "We're just beginning see how it went this year, and keep making changes. Improving the department has become an abiding interest and concern."