Politics:
I was reading John Timmer's post on Ars Technica about the call for a presidential debate on science and technology and found myself surprised at how many of the commenters on the post think such a debate would be a...
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Posted on December 11, 2007 10:03 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In response to one of my science-related questions for the presidential candidates, Drugmonkey points out that the question might not work the way I want it to because of the chasm between science and politics: "8. If sound scientific research...
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Posted on December 11, 2007 2:06 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Science matters. It's hard to make good decisions in today's world that aren't somehow informed by sound science -- especially if you're the head of state of a country like the USA. This means that it's important to know...
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Posted on December 10, 2007 2:00 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Fifty years ago today, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, Earth's first artificial satellite. I don't remember it (because I wouldn't be born for another decade), but the "BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP" heard 'round the world left indelible traces on...
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Posted on October 4, 2007 12:48 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Perhaps you've already seen the new(ish) AAUP report Freedom in the Classroom, or Michael Bérubé's commentary on it at Inside Higher Ed yesterday. The report is such a clear statement of what a professor's freedom in the classroom amounts to...
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Posted on September 12, 2007 2:57 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Three reasons I think PRISM's plans to "save" scientists and the public from Open Access are a bad idea.
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Posted on August 29, 2007 4:40 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The news today from Inside Higher Ed is that the University of Colorado Board of Regents voted to fire Ward Churchill. You may recall that in May 2006, a faculty panel at the university found that the tenured ethnic studies...
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Posted on July 25, 2007 2:08 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In the July 16 issue of Chemical & Engineering News (secure behind a paywall), the article "FBI Reaches Out to Campuses" [1] caught my attention. The gist of it is that academic scientists are increasingly the targets of foreign espionage,...
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Posted on July 24, 2007 5:05 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Almost a year ago, I learned about the case of the Tripoli six, five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian physician in Libya sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of children with HIV despite the fact that the best scientific evidence...
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Posted on July 24, 2007 12:29 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In the June 4, 2007 issue of Chemical & Engineering News (which is behind a paywall accessible only to ACS members and those with institutional subscriptions, I'm afraid) there's an article on how college and university labs may be impacted...
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Posted on June 7, 2007 6:03 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Ann Althouse asks why schools should bother having kids read fiction: And why does reading even need to be a separate subject from history in school? Give them history texts and teach reading from them. Science books too. Leave the...
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Posted on May 18, 2007 12:53 PM • 24 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Since many of you were kind enough to suggest questions to ask of Margaret Spellings at SJSU's Founders Day "The Future of Higher Education" panel last Friday, I thought I should report back on that session. First, the bad (but...
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Posted on May 9, 2007 1:40 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Feed me some questions to ask Margaret Spellings in a panel on the future of higher education.
Posted on April 30, 2007 12:06 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
There's been some blogospheric blowout (see here, here, and here for just a taste) about a recent PETA ad that many viewers find gratuitously sexist. To me, the ad and the reaction to it are most interesting because they raise...
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Posted on January 30, 2007 1:16 PM • 39 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Only a few days out from the 19 December verdict in the Tripoli 6 case, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that the Bush administration honestly couldn't be bothered that Libya shows every sign of being ready to...
Posted on December 16, 2006 11:19 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
You may remember the plight of the Tripoli Six (also known as the Benghazi Six), the physician and five nurses on trial in Libya for infecting 400 children in the hospital where they were working with HIV even though there...
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Posted on December 6, 2006 2:30 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an assistant professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. Email her at dr.freeride@gmail.com.
