Prof. hopes to offer more student lab space

Dr. Allen Shearn, chairman of the biology department, has a daring new plan to improve undergraduate collaboration in the sciences.

He wants to give students a new building for teaching laboratories.

This possibility has arisen thanks to the Carnegie Institute of Embryology, which will move to a new facility on San Martin Drive, behind the president's house, by this summer. At that point their old building, which sits on 115 W. University Pkwy, next to the Lacrosse Museum, will revert back to university ownership and control.

Shearn has proposed turning this space into a center for undergraduate teaching labs to replace the old and cramped McCauley Hall, where teaching labs currently take place. He envisions a cooperative "Center for Biological Learning," where students could have permanent lab spaces and share their discoveries with their peers.

"I just think it's a great idea," said Shearn. "There just isn't really a community of students taking biology courses right now."

He believes the conversion of the Carnegie building for student use could provide a boon in social and scientific interaction among students.

Not only would there be more room for teaching labs, but there would be space for hanging explanatory posters of student work, seminars and more tutoring between students.

The space would not be just for biology students, but also possibly for psychology and chemistry students as well.

While the plans are in no way concrete, they have emerged as one of the most innovative ways to use a site which sits on a prime space at the edge of campus.

An undetermined amount of renovations would have to take place before the building could become usable, but Shearn says the School of Arts and Sciences is committed to making this project a reality.

"I hope it happens. The sooner, the better," he said.

Dean of Research and biophysics professor Eaton Lattman made no commitments to the project, but does acknowledge that it has been seriously considered.

"Critical needs include more modern and spacious student laboratories," he wrote in an e-mail.

The Carnegie Institute is a private research organization which has long had their headquarters at Homewood, moving here in 1960 from the medical school campus in East Baltimore.

Over the years the institute has developed a close working relationship with the biology department, exchanging scientific methods and ideas. Today their research focuses primarily on cellular, developmental and genetic biology, and they have also been at the forefront of stem-cell research.

Their new building, which is scheduled to be completed on Mar. 7, will provide 79,000 square feet for biomedical research in an up-to-date facility. Carnegie Institute Director Allan Spradling said that the move to the new building would take one to two months after construction is finished.

Adjacent to the new Carnegie building will be a five-story parking garage, topped with two levels of office space for the University. A pedestrian bridge has been constructed over San Martin Drive to connect the parking facility to the campus.

US Lacrosse could also move in the near future

At the US Lacrosse headquarters, next to the old Carnegie building, a search has been initiated to find a new site for their organization, which includes the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum.

The membership of US Lacrosse has grown exponentially in recent years as the game has grown in popularity. Steve Stenersen, executive director of US Lacrosse, said the organization had simply outgrown its current offices.

"We definitely must move," he said. "Our goal is to move the whole organization."

Currently, their search is restricted to the greater Baltimore region, where they are looking for a site with more space, higher visibility, and more plentiful parking. Stenersen said the organization could move as early as the summer of 2006.

US Lacrosse currently has an 84-year lease on the land from Hopkins in an agreement that was signed in 1991. If US Lacrosse decided to terminate the lease, Hopkins would have the option of reacquiring the land and buildings on which it currently sits.

Until they move, US Lacrosse is renovating their current building in order to provide more office space. Either of the two buildings could be used as swing-space during an upcoming renovation of Gilman Hall.