Policies

General Lab Rules

  • The lab may be used only by Political Science faculty, staff, and graduate students, as well as authorized research assistants. Undergraduates are allowed access only in special circumstances.
  • Except in emergencies or for planned maintenance, the lab is available 24 hrs/day . The door requires a code for access. Do not give this code to anyone.
  • Keep the door shut and locked at all times.
  • The lab is a research lab and generally may not be used for teaching.
  • A friend or relative may accompany you into the lab as your guest. However, you are responsible for that guest and their behavior. Please do not share the door code or your account information with them.
  • Eating is not allowed in the Star Lab (please use the lounge next door). Drinks are permitted provided that they are kept in closed containers.
  • Talking is not only allowed, but encouraged. However, please be considerate of other users. Do not be disruptive.
  • Take care of the equipment, tables, and chairs. Please clean up after yourself.
  • Do not park your things at workstations.

Computer Use

  • Your userid and password are provided for your use only. Do not share your password - you are responsible for any activities that occur during the use of your account.
  • Bear in mind that this is a shared environment. It is strongly recommended that users refrain from saving data to the desktop or to the computer. Although the saving of data to the Star Lab workstation is allowed, your data is vulnerable to deletion or to viewing by other users unless you save it to a personal drive, a personal CD, or to your designated network space (Z: drive).
  • Administrators of the lab reserve the right to remove any files from the lab computers at any time. It is your responsibility to store important data to a personal drive, a personal CD, or to your designated network space (Z: drive).
  • You should log out or "lock" (CTRL-ALT-DEL, LOCK) your workstation when leaving the room, even for a short period of time.
  • The computers should not be used for harassment of any form. This includes harassing in chat rooms or sending harassing emails, or displaying material on the monitors that create a hostile environment for your peers.
  • Illegal file downloading (especially of music) is prohibited.
  • Ethernet and power ports are available under the conference table.
  • Wireless networking is also available. To access it, first see the system administrator.
  • Please do not install any software on the computers. If you would like something installed, contact the system administrator.
  • Users may not leave a workstation running for more than 10 minutes unattended. Longer statistical analysis and monte carlo simulations should be conducted on the cluster.
  • Individual workstations may only be used for extended analysis with direct permission from the sys admin. Failure to follow these procedures will result in termination of the program running on the cpu.

Printing

  • When possible, please print duplex (i.e., both sides of the paper). Some programs also allow you to print multiple pages per side of paper. Check the "page setup" for the options available.
  • Please do not use the printer as a photocopier. That's why we have a photocopier.
  • Recycle any scrap paper.