Bill Merka, Texas A&M's glassblower
THE OLD SWITCHEROO
The article in the spring issue about Bill Merka , Texas A&M’s glassblower, reminded me of a story of my own. It was the spring of 1965, and I was in my last organic chemistry lab class. I was looking forward to returning to Dallas, starting my summer job and having some money in my pocket again.
Unfortunately, the 125 ml separator funnel which I had not used all semester had a frozen stopcock, and the graduate student would not accept it as I attempted to turn it in without paying the $12.50 to replace it. I needed that $12.50 to pay for transporting me and my stuff home in a communal trailer with other Dallas boys.
As I tried various methods to get it unstuck, I noticed my lab mates checking out after returning their inventory. The graduate student would lock their separator up and move on to another student. I knew the combination to the lock, so as you have probably figured out, I opened the cabinet, switched separators and checked out with the substitute!
I really liked working with all of that glassware and am glad to see that Texas A&M has its own shop. I often wish I had some of it now. I had one lab partner who would bring a bottle of wine, put it in a flask and distill it down to 80 proof alcohol.
John Choate ’67
Pearland, Texas