Janet D. Stemwedel
Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an associate professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry.
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Posts by this author
December 31, 2007
The One Laptop Per Child program's Give One Get One promotion (which I blogged about back in November) has been extended through the end of December 31 (today!!).
If you're in the U.S. or Canada, for $399 ($200 of which is tax deductible) you can donate a spiffy new and super-cool XO laptop to a…
December 31, 2007
Over at Bioethics Forum, Carl Elliott has an essay questioning the wisdom of the "convention interview" in the academic hiring process. As he notes, it is a fairly standard practice for philosophy departments to schedule a round of preliminary interviews for job candidates -- those who make the "…
December 29, 2007
On that beach walk the other day on which we saw the various shorebirds, we also got a peek at some tidepool inhabitants, notably anemones.
The tidepool dwelling anemones may look like flowers, but they're actually invertebrates.
There are a bunch of species of anemone within the genus…
December 29, 2007
As the new calendar year approaches, I can't help but anticipate the coming spring semester -- and to hold out the hope that this one will be the semester in which none of my students commits plagiarism. Otherwise, I'm facing a perfect 12-semester streak.
Near the end of last semester, one of my…
December 28, 2007
My better half and I were able to join friends on a beach walk yesterday. We hiked a little more than five miles from Goleta to Santa Barbara, and along the way we saw at least eleven sandpipers.
At least, I think the birds we saw were sandpipers. Perhaps those of you who are birders can help…
December 28, 2007
With only a few days left in 2007 (and having temporarily fled my children for a cat-free location, so as to give my immune system a chance to recover from cat allergens), this Friday I offer the sprog blogging year in review:
January:
Sunrise, sunset (Jan. 5), in which the sprogs think about the…
December 25, 2007
The tradition in the Free-Ride family (passed down from my family) is that, on Christmas morning, no one gets to start opening presents until everyone is awake and ready to start opening presents. It doesn't matter how early the kids are awake. Until the last sleepy parent is ready, you just have…
December 24, 2007
Given the available options, would you be stirring?
You could, after all, be sunbathing on the beach.
Of course, you might have to haul yourself out of the waves every now and again.
Or you could nap in a sunny wading pool with your siblings.
Maybe you could relax among the orchids.
Perhaps a…
December 24, 2007
Having filed grades and extricated myself from the demands of my job, at least temporarily, I have come with my better half and offspring to the stomping grounds of my better half's youth.
Well, kind of.
The grandparents-who-lurk-but-seldom-comment actually live a couple towns over from where they…
December 23, 2007
Here are some more jelly pictures from my most recent visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Today, the Spotted jelly (Mastigias papua).
I really like the coloration of these critters, as well as the way that they swim together in patterns that look like a complicated water ballet.
According to the…
December 23, 2007
As I mentioned earlier, the sprogs and I decided to try our hands at building an entry for the contest to build a gingerbread house using sustainable building design practices. We read up on principles of sustainable design and stocked up on unsulfured molasses and powdered sugar.
Here's what we…
December 21, 2007
Have you ever tried to have a conversation about one thing and found that, almost immediately, the conversation veered someplace else entirely? This is one of those.
I had heard the horrifying news that there are high school teachers -- in our pretty good school district -- who actually tell their…
December 20, 2007
The grades are filed! I have officially dodged the bullet of delaying the family's get-away with my incessant grading (since it turned out to be cessant, I guess).
It seems only right to mark the occasion with a meme -- the "seven random things about me" meme, for which I have been tagged twice.…
December 19, 2007
In the 20/27 December 2007 issue of Nature, there's a fascinating commentary by Cambridge University neuroscientists Barbara Sahakian and Sharon Morein-Zamir. Entitled "Professor's little helper," this commentary explores, among other things, how "cognitive-enhancing drugs" are starting to find…
December 17, 2007
Grades are due this Friday. Last Friday, the grader assigned to one of my courses was supposed to get me the grades for the online reading discussions that he was weeks behind on grading.
He didn't.
Nor has he responded to the emails I've sent him since then inquiring as to when he will give me…
December 15, 2007
When I partook of this last year, I thought it was a one time thing. But by golly, John Lynch seems to have established this meme as an annual tradition, and I kind of like traditions.
The rule: post the first sentence of the first post for each month.
January: Don't update your blog for a few…
December 15, 2007
Today I stumbled upon a story the elder Free-Ride offspring wrote. Possibly intended to strike a Charles Dickens-like tone, I think it ended up a bit closer to Dostoevsky.
Of course, I have to share it:
When Mice Go Caroling
When mice go caroling, you better watch out.
When they're done, they…
December 15, 2007
There are lots of cool things to see at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but my favorite by a fathom is the assortment of jellyfish. And somehow, among all the jellies they have, it's the moon jelly that sticks in my mind as the canonical jelly.
As it turns out, probably it shouldn't. According to the…
December 14, 2007
*For Hanukkah this year, the elder Free-Ride offspring got E. coli and the younger Free-Ride offspring got Rhinovirus -- not the actual microbes, but the Giant Microbes stuffed versions. These gifts actually exploited a convenient loophole in Casa Free-Ride's moratorium on new stuffed animals,…
December 12, 2007
In light of the ongoing flap about Iowa State University's decision to deny tenure to Guillermo Gonzalez, I thought it might be worth looking at an actual university policy on tenure -- the policy in place at my university -- and considering the sorts of judgments required by policies like this.…
December 11, 2007
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 terrible idea.
It's not just that the commenters think that the presidential…
December 11, 2007
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 were to demonstrate that one of your policy…
December 11, 2007
David Ng at The World's Fair asks what kind of scientist Santa Claus might be. I'm not sure I have the answer to that, but I at least have a hunch about what kind of scientist might make the most headway studying Santa. (Of course, if Santa followed Socrates' advice to "Know thyself," that would…
December 10, 2007
Do furnaces break more frequently in the winter than the summer, or do people just have occasion to notice non-functional furnaces when the weather gets really cold?
(Why yes, our furnace has broken, and our temperatures have been dipping below freezing. Why do you ask? Is it my pathetic…
December 10, 2007
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 where the people lined up to get the job of President of the United States…
December 9, 2007
On a recent trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium I snapped this picture of an underwater garden of the sort you might find in mangrove forests and shallow lagoons along tropical coasts.
It gets some of its food by way of photosynthesis, but not all of it.
Another important source of food for this…
December 8, 2007
My better half and I have been catching up on movies (thanks to Netflix and our DVD player). Last week we watched 28 Days Later .... Last night we watched 28 Weeks Later. It is my better half's view that the rage virus has burned itself out, so to speak, and that there won't be another movie in…
December 7, 2007
Signs are not the boss of me (or of you), but they often convey useful information. For example, this sign reminds of us of responsibilities that come with being a dog owner (or dog guardian, depending on your jurisdiction):
You'll notice that the sign advising you to clean up after your pet…
December 7, 2007
We've arrived at the portion of the school year in which it is dark when I walk the Free-Ride offspring home. This means that a good bit of our observation during the walk depends on our ears instead of our eyes.
Elder offspring: (in response to the high-pitched screech-y song of a bird-like…
December 6, 2007
Taking a very brief break in the dungeon of grading to partake of this meme, with which I have been hoping to be tagged for months. (Indeed, I wasn't really officially tagged -- Julie was, but she's busy writing papers and stuff, so I'm helping her out by pinch-hitting for her on the meme.)
No…