For the most part there isn’t much of a division here. For the little you can see, I think it’s driven by the shortness of the science season and the amount of work that needs to be done to keep the science projects on time. We are here to support them and try as we might there are odd times when we can’t live up to expectations, but I guess the same would be true in any work environment.
On the other hand a lot of work goes into making sure the community is aware of what we are supporting. Twice a week the science groups put on programs about their projects. Sunday night is geared to the non science minded. The mid-week program is more technical. Sometimes community members are invited to help on their time off. Often the people catching fish for study will ask for help and the dive program is always looking for dive tenders to sit in the shacks and help the divers with whatever they need.
The recreation department invites everyone to all the functions. That includes the air crews fromt he National Guard and Airforce. I think there is a little more division between the military people and civilians, though that is getting less year after year. Maybe it’s the way the military works. They maintain their own bar in the military dorm and the rest of the community is not allowed to visit without being escorted. A holdover from the officer club days? It riles some that they are invited to our functions but we are not invited to theirs, but in the end it isn’t much of a problem.
mike