in the news
skookumchick | August 17, 2009I'm back. In person, and online. And not all that thrilled about it, but I'll cope. ;-) I'll regale you with updates on our fab trip out west, and on how my fall is shaking out, including teaching and research plans, but I first have to finish reading a dissertation that is being defended tomorrow, and writing an activity report, also due tomorrow. Offlinelessness has its price, but at this point I still think it has been worth it.
In the interim, let me share with you a video of a tug accident that happened in the Skookumchuck Narrows near my parents' cabin. The Skookumchuck (Chinook…
sciencewoman | July 30, 2009If she lives in New Jersey, she might be. Because apparently, refusing a C-section (and then successfully vaginally delivering a healthy baby) and acting "combative" "erratic" and "noncompliant" during labor is considered child abuse and neglect and is grounds for the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services (NJ DYFS) to immediately take away your newborn child and permanently terminate your parental rights.
Sounds unbelievable, right? But I am so not making this up.
In the case of New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services v. V.M. and B.G., In the Matter of J.M.G., new mother…
skookumchick | June 17, 2009Recall that for the month of June, a group of bloggers are trying to draw attention to the horror of violence against women and girls across the globe. Along this theme, I could write about sex tourism in Mombasa (a direct result of increased regulations in Cambodia) or the conversations about legalising sex work so that sex workers can organize , or a continuation of the discussion on mass rapes in Liberia, or the case of a waitress in China who, in self-defense, stabbed a man who, prosaically, "was trying to force himself on her". (What the hell does that mean, anyway? Talk about…
skookumchick | June 17, 2009The New York Times Lens blog is regularly fascinating, especially to a wannabe photographer. Did you see the post on the Tiananmen Square "man and tank" photo? There's also incredible photos from the protests of the election in Iran. This week, the Lens blog as part of the Second Chances series, tells the story of Terry Cummings, who finally has the courage to go through gender re-assignment surgery. Watch the audio/video here.
skookumchick | June 15, 2009Blog friend Pat Campbell and her colleagues Susan Metz, and Jennifer Weisman gave a great talk at JAM on getting your research message out to the press.
Key ideas, themselves tailored to this audience:
MEDIA SURPRISE: don't agree to an on the spot interview; research the journalist first. What part of the newspaper are they writing for? Who are they writing for? What is the angle? What is the deadline? Who else are they interviewing? Get background material on the journalist and have it written down.
HAVE A MESSAGE and tailor it to your audience. Your results are going to be…
skookumchick | June 3, 2009A friend of my dad, Paul Robinson, who is also a professor here at Purdue, has just reported that he has successfully climbed Mt Everest to raise awareness and funds for a cheap, low-tech diagnostic test he is developing to diagnose HIV/AIDS. Read his blog here, and about his preparation here. Even better -- donate some money to his non-profit organization's cause.
skookumchick | June 2, 2009Cornelia Dean at the New York Times reports on a new report by National Research Council on the status of women faculty in STEM fields. I haven't read it yet (just ordered a copy), but Dean reports one particular item of note, "The panel said one factor outshined all others in encouraging women to apply for jobs: having women on the committees appointed to fill them."
Hark at this, faculty search committees. And please figure out ways to value women faculty members' time on search committees, because everyone will ask the few women there are to serve on all the search committees, which can…
sciencewoman | April 25, 2009ScienceGrandma pointed me to this recent article in the Wall Street Journal. It's titled "So You Want to Be a Professor?" but I think it should have been called "The Perils of a Ph.D."
The article begins by citing some examples of graduate schools that are reducing admissions of PhD applicants for next year, in what may be a cost-cutting move. As we all know, graduate assistantships cost $25K or more per year, even if the grad student doesn't see much of it and returns those costs to the university by teaching labs, grading papers, and doing other grunt work. Apparently, some universities…
skookumchick | April 24, 2009There's an article on the New York Times Online about Allannah Thomas, founder of Helicon, a non-profit that helps low-income women learn math skills they need for better jobs. Thomas's courses are called "math boot camp" because of their focus on fundamental skills, and she works with women to help them develop those skills you need for business, quantitative reasoning, scaling, or technical work.
The article reminds me a bit of the philosophy of Bob Moses, founder of the Algebra Project -- somehow, we live in a culture where it is somehow okay for adults to say to kids asking for help on…
sciencewoman | March 9, 2009 President Obama's picks for science advisor (John Holdren) and NOAA administrator (Jane Lubchenco) are being blocked from receiving confirmation because of the anonymous holds of one or more Senators. Mike Dunford at The Questionable Authority has been following the story for at least a week and writes today that:
As I've already said - possibly to the point of inducing tedium - the scientific community needs to keep pressure on the Senate. There are so many other things going on in Washington right now that this issue is not going to get much more attention from the traditional media than…
skookumchick | February 17, 2009A colleague of mine sent around this link to the Chronicle (behind firewall, boo!) for some advice on how to stay healthy, even perhaps happy, while working on your dissertation. See the ideas after the fold.
By author Piper Fogg:
Learn to recognize the signs of depression and anxiety and don't be afraid to seek medical evaluation and treatment. Consider various options -- such as therapy, medication, relaxation techniques, and other forms of alternative medicine. Familiarize yourself with the campus counseling center as well as off-campus options.
Follow your mother's advice: Eat a…
sciencewoman | February 11, 2009"Have you been following what's happening in Australia?"
That was the question I asked my morning class, even though it has nothing to do with the topic of the day's session. I was very pleased to see most of the heads nod and the hands raise in answer to my question. My students knew that the Australian state of Victoria is being devastated by wildfires that have killed at least 181 people and untold numbers of livestock. The fires have turned to ruins whole towns, with people trapped and unable to flee in time. It's awful to contemplate, but there is strong reason to suspect that at least…
skookumchick | January 20, 2009Slightly less significant... Apparently both Diane Feinstein and Obama are left-handed. Let's hear it for lefties! ... forgetting that so were GHWBush and Ross Perot. ;-) Clinton (him, not her) is left-handed too.
skookumchick | January 20, 2009I spent my lunchtime today watching the inauguration of our new president. (W00T!) In between screen freezes and buffering, I noticed an article to the side of my video window in the NYT titled: "Female Scientists" and the lead line was "The inauguration brings some new home for lifting women in science." Written by Science Times writer Natalie Angier, the article wonders whether women will have a more equal time of it in science now we have a pro-Science administration (and smart is the new cool, apparently. I thought smart was cool all along but I realize I may have been in a minority…
skookumchick | January 15, 2009A friend of mine posted this article to his Facebook page, and I thought it well worth pointing your attention to it. Researchers at University of California, Berkley surveyed over 8,000 doctoral students from the UC System about their career, family and life plans. Unsurprisingly perhaps, they found that "major research universities may be losing some of the most talented tenure-track academics before they even arrive. In the eyes of many doctoral students, the academic fast track has a bad reputation--one of unrelenting work hours that allow little or no room for a satisfying family life…
skookumchick | December 23, 2008Last night on the News Hour, essayist Nancy Gibbs read another good essay about the confluence of the holiday season with the current economic collapse. Read it here; listen to it here.
skookumchick | December 12, 2008I am a total sucker for StoryCorps - I think it is a brilliant brilliant project, and wish I had brought my parents in to be interviewed when the recording trailer came to my hometown. I keep telling myself I'm going to record them - I'm planning another attempt when I go home for Christmas.
In the meantime, you should listen to the story of Ledo Lucietto and his daughter Anne, and how they've been mechanical engineers for generations, and how Ledo told people off when they dismissed his daughter's aspirations for becoming a mechanical engineer, too.
skookumchick | December 9, 2008Linda Hirshman has a good op-ed in today's New York Times, arguing that the jobs Obama is proposing to make are in industries where men constitute the majority of workers. She writes:
The bulk of the stimulus program will provide jobs for men, because building projects generate jobs in construction, where women make up only 9 percent of the work force.
It turns out that green jobs are almost entirely male as well, especially in the alternative energy area. A broad study by the United States Conference of Mayors found that half the projected new jobs in any green area are in engineering, a…
skookumchick | December 6, 2008I send this information around every year on December 6 because, while the Montreal Massacre is a big deal still in Canada, fewer people know about it in the States, and we should know about it.
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On December 6, 1989, an armed gunman named Marc Lepine entered an engineering classroom at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec. He demanded all 48 men in the class leave the room, lined up all 9 women against a wall, and, shouting "You are all a bunch of [expletive] feminists!", proceeded to shoot them. He went into the hall and shot 18 more people, mostly at random. He finally shot himself.…
sciencewoman | November 6, 2008I still get a little chill down my spine when the news announcers say "President-elect Obama," but already I am being reminded that we can't just sit back and wait for him to save the world. We still need to do our part, and one of the things we need to do right now is be vigilant to make sure that the most competent people are running the bureaucratic machinery of the country.
So I was very pleased when a list-serv to which I belong circulated an email from a major research organization saying that they were being contacted by the Obama transition team and asked for nominations of people…