Description

Steel linear measuring rule with flexible metal blade (or strip) 12 feet in length marked with units rangeing fromt 1/32 of an inch to 1 foot on the topside and "useful" information on the bottom including: decimal equivalents; nail sizes; nails per pound by common nail sizes; wood screw information [gauge no., body diameter, pilot hole diameter for soft wood]; sharpening chisels and plane irons [grind and hone angles]; useful formulas; conversion tables; coated abrasives; and common soft wood lumber. The metal housing contains a winding device that automatically retracts the blade unless the yellow plastic stopper button is locked. The outer edge of the housing has small metal ridges to improve handling. The back side has metal belt clip. The front of the tape housing has a yellow sticker with black letters indicating the manufacturer (Stanley), model (Power Lock II, 33-312), length (12') and location of manufacturer (USA). On the back the markings cast in the metal indicate the width of the housing (+2 in/50mm); U.S. patent numbers 3,716,201; 3,689,004; USTM Reg.1,217,xxx (number obscured by belt clip)

When Professor Nancy Hopkins decided to begin research on the development of zebrafish, she made a simple request for an additional 200 square feet of office space. Repeatedly denied, Hopkins used this tape measure to compare the size of her research space with that of her colleagues. The results were shocking. Male junior professors averaged 2,000 square feet; full professors ranged between 3,000 and 6,000 square feet. She had 1,500 square feet. The ensuing struggle to get that extra 200 square feet would transform the experience of women scientists at MIT and elsewhere. Following the 1999 release of MIT's faculty study and President Charles Vest's bold public admission of discrimination at MIT, other universities began to study the problem using similar methods. MIT has made a significant commitment in the past decade to transforming its policies and practices first on gender and most recently for under-represented minority faculty as well. It remains a work-in-progress because, even as all of the recommendations made in the 1999 report have been implemented, the numbers of women and minority faculty remain low. [MIT 150 Exhibition label text]