Education
Tag archives for Education
A Real Horror Story
Posted by ERV on February 5, 2013 I hate scary stories. They annoy me. Its the same reason I dont fall back on pop-culture ‘viruses’ to explain real virology– I dont need to make up fake scary viruses. There are REAL scary viruses. Likewise, you dont need to make up scary stories about ‘mad scientists’. There are very real humans who were…
Wrangling bad pop-science journalism
Posted by ERV on December 5, 2012 We all are familiar with the headlines: “SCIENTISTS SAY BROCCOLI CURES CANCER????” We all also know that pop-science articles are, functionally, useless. Sometimes its editors manipulating article titles to make them more ‘catchy’, sometimes journalists trying to stir up controversy, sometimes its scientists and PR departments trying to oversell interesting (sometimes not so interesting) research.…
Attn Professionals: There is NO REASON to go on the Dr. Oz show
Posted by ERV on November 30, 2012 Lets say you are a professional/expert on Topic X. One day, you get a call from an Emmy winning, top day-time talk show. They want you to come on their show to talk about Topic X! “OMG!!! YAAAAAY!!!” you would surely be thinking. “A platform to educate the public about Topic X! Millions of people…
Dan Savage at OU! Judge Jones at OU!
Posted by ERV on November 28, 2012 Whos next, David Bowie?? Dan Savage will be THIS THURSDAY, November 29 at 7 pm: The event will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Molly Shi Boren Ballroom, according to the event’s Facebook page. Free food will be provided at 6:30 p.m. before Savage’s keynote at 7 p.m. A…
Science News Update
Posted by ERV on September 21, 2012 Jerome Horwitz, the man who invented AZT, died– Being in the basic virology realm of HIV Research World, I dont always pay as much attention to the clinical side of things as I should. Thus I didnt know about the really interesting history of Jerome Horowitz and AZT. Apparently he invented it as an anti-cancer…
Audience members: Thank you for all the Qs!
Posted by ERV on September 5, 2012 Last week I gave my departmental seminar. Im pretty sure every school does this– while you are getting your PhD, every so often you have to stand up in front of everyone and tell everyone what you are doing, and why, and what it means. A lot of being a scientist is knowing how to…
Bad words harm children
Posted by ERV on August 21, 2012 This is beyond absurd. A young woman in Oklahoma– her class valedictorian, going to college this fall on a full ride– is being denied her high school diploma because of this: Nootbaar says, “Her quote was, when she first started school she wanted to be a nurse, then a veterinarian and now that she was…
HB1551 is dead
Posted by ERV on April 2, 2012 The Young Earth Creationist Intelligent Design Creationist ‘Academic Freedom’ bill ‘authored’ by infamous Young Earth Creationist Intelligent Design Creationist ‘Academic Freedomist’ Sally Kern (introduced this year by King Gus of the Playground) is dead. The Education Committee didnt even talk about it. Cant wait to see the exact same bill introduced by the exact same…
Help stop Creationism and Anti-Global Warming in Oklahoma schools
Posted by ERV on March 29, 2012 So a lot of you saw my recent ‘debate’ with Pastor Steve Kern. People who do not live in this part of the US often say that religious radicals like Kern, and his infamous wife Sally Kern, dont really exist. When people like me address/confront people like the Kerns, people who dont live in this…
Shit grad students say
Posted by ERV on February 3, 2012 Im more than usually swamped for time right now, and dont have time to get more deeply into the conversation, but I wanted to post this glimpse into what I am doing in the lab right now: I am infamous for several of those, plus I would have added “I am going to die here.…