Surprise Surprises

Today in the frog room, as I picked out frog poop from the eggs, I was ruminating over the conversation that I had last night...

Strange how even after over 3 years, I am still sometimes caught completely off guard by the depth of thinking and personality from the one who I am most closely tied to here in Baltimore.  Odd how  the logic behind advice we have been receiving (and ignoring) for some time suddenly snaps into place when just one additional bit of information is given to us.  Disconcerting to realize how easy it is to miss obvious clues when they are right in front of our faces.  

Amazing how I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the person whom I love...

Different worlds

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/20/transgender.prom.king.ap/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/23/turner.prom/index.html

Holy time-warp Batman!

Selfish Science?

So...  I have a question for  you fellow graduate students.  This has been kicking around in my head for a couple of years now, but recently has occupied more of my attention.

Is modern science an inherently selfish endeavor?

I was talking with a professor about science a few years back and I remember being shocked when I was told that they believed that their profession was a fairly selfish one.  It was a foreign concept to me, after all, I don’t know many lazy professors (pre-tenure) and aren’t we putting in all of these tireless hours in the name of ‘The Truth’?

Over my years of grad school, this thought has incubated in the back of my mind, occasionally popping up to put forward awkward questions.

“You used to be much more of an activist and more socially-minded.  What happened?”  Well, durh, graduate school happened.  I don’t have time for all of that stuff now.  This excuse isn’t without merit, but it isn’t precisely true either.  In high school and undergrad, I was much more connected to a group of other students who did care more about social issues.  I did get out on occasion to go to a protest, or to volunteer my time at one organization or another.  Grad school, the post-doc and the early professorial positions seem to be all about focus.  Focus on the science.  Focus on your career.  Focus on yourself.  Does the complexity of modern science in a heightened atmosphere of tough competition for dwindling resources demand a single-minded obsession with science that must block out other interpersonal and community commitments?

“Why, as academics, are we taught to look down our noses at scientific work that is geared towards application?”  We regard the justification of our research as a chore, that we need explain to ‘the masses’ why our research is important.  AIDS, Alzheimer’s and especially ‘The Big C’ (Cancer) are words to toss around to get your grant funded.  But it’s the research that matters, the unquenchable personal curiosity that is regarded in high esteem.  I came in, a freshly released undergrad, full of naïve ambitions to be researching a topic that had immediate grounding in a topic that has great importance in today’s society, or in our newly arising global landscape.  What is it that has changed that desire in me?  I realize that a deeper understanding of science certainly makes the issue more complicated than “I’m going to go out there and cure cancer!”.  But are socially-minded projects and academic research diametrically opposed?  To be a mature scientist does one have to be an immature neighbor?

Alright, that is enough for tonight.  Perhaps there will be a part 2 later.  But I’d be curious to hear any of your thoughts, on this forum or over coffee/martinis!

 

Wahoo!

My bestest friends are coming to visit tonight!  

Debauchery will ensue.

Fame! It will be mine!

Ah ha!  I have conformation!  At least one person is reading my journal!  Soon you will all fall under the spell of my powerful writing and I will be known across the galaxy!!!!

... but...  failing that, leave a comment or two just so I know I'm not talking to myself....

That Little Plastic Castle - Gets me every time!

Ah ha!  So that is why we're having so many problems these days at home and abroad!  Our country is being run by goldfish!

'http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fired_prosecutors
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, fighting to save his job, said in prepared Senate testimony Sunday he has "nothing to hide" in the firings of eight federal prosecutors but claimed a hazy memory about his involvement in them.' 


Does anyone in the administration have a good memory?  Could we assign more tasks to him/her? 

Where is that little black book?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney_libby;_ylt=AriVjKL4WXIk8XK03VaLiH7MWM0F
'Cheney hasn't called Libby since trial
WASHINGTON - In the nearly six weeks since his close friend and former chief of staff was convicted of lying and obstructing an investigation, Vice President Dick Cheney has not once spoken to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.'


Its okay Libby...  Its not that Dick doesn't want to hang out with you anymore, he's probably just forgotten your number.