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.
jstemwedel
Posts by this author
June 22, 2007
Another article from Inside Higher Ed that caught my eye:
The chancellor of the City University of New York [Matthew Goldstein] floated a unique approach this week to dealing with the long lamented problem of low enrollments in the sciences: Offer promising students conditional acceptances to top…
June 22, 2007
Recently Inside Higher Ed had an article about a study (PDF here) coming out of the University of California on the predictive power of the SAT with respect to grades in college courses. The study, by Saul Geiser and Maria Veronica Santelices at the UC-Berkeley Center for Studies in Higher…
June 22, 2007
On a busy weekday morning as members of the Free-Ride family prepare to get out the door:
Elder offspring: Let's check if you have psychic powers.
Younger offspring: How can you check if I have psychic powers?
Elder offspring: We'll see if you can tell which Pokemon is on the card before I flip…
June 21, 2007
Zuska sent me an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education (behind a paywall, I'm afraid) that's more than a little connected to the thought experiment I posed earlier in the week.
The article was written (under a pseudonym) by an assistant professor whose nomination for a university award…
June 21, 2007
I'm late to this round of the discussion about scientists and journalists (for which, as usually, Bora compiles a comprehensive list of links). The question that seems to have kicked off this round is why scientists are sometimes reluctant to agree to interviews, especially given how often they…
June 20, 2007
You've probably seen the posts (here, here, here, here, here, and here.) responding to the University of Florida study claiming that women's names affect the social support or discouragement they'll get for pursuing technical subjects. (Those with the more "feminine" names will tend to be…
June 19, 2007
Because not every ethical matter involves serious misconduct, or even conscious efforts to grab someone else's credit, I thought I'd describe an utterly mundane scenario and canvass your reactions.
Let's say you've worked very hard on a project. You've been part of the organizing from the outset.…
June 16, 2007
I was reading the comments on Dr. B's brief query on ethical lines in response to a horrific story about the feeding of a live puppy to a large snake for the "entertainment" of teenagers, and I could not help but recall a conversation I had with my children a couple years ago about the feasibility…
June 15, 2007
As you might guess, my site is one of the sources of content. If you're reading this post at New York Articles (or at "Articles", whose tagline is even more grammatically incorrect) rather than at my actual site, you are partaking of a suboptimal experience.
I'm not going to give you the URL for…
June 15, 2007
The comments on post about final exams seem to be bringing out related questions about all the stuff that happens (or doesn't) in a course before the final exam. They're important questions that deserve their own post.
What's the point of homework assignments?
To give you practice solving…
June 15, 2007
Most weeks the Friday Sprog Blogging post draws on some conversation I have had with my kids that has something to do with science.
This week, knowing I had a Friday Sprog Blogging entry to write, the younger Free-Ride offspring presented me with a drawing -- and with the explicit message that the…
June 14, 2007
To address an issue that came up in discussion of posts on other blogs, I want to make clear the principles I follow when dealing with real-world scenarios here or via email:
My overarching goal is to foster reflection and dialogue among people (particularly scientists) working out how to behave…
June 14, 2007
While our exams were weeks ago, I know that some folks (especially high school students) are just finishing up. So these observations sent to me by a reader may be timely:
I believe that if students are passing their classes with a B and above they should not have to take final exams.
Most…
June 12, 2007
I haven't abandoned you, dear readers, I've just been attending to some tasks in the three-dimensional world. In the meantime, I want to recommend some great posts on other blogs. While some may leave you feeling reasonably good about doings in the world of science, I'm afraid others may break…
June 9, 2007
Quoth the younger Free-Ride offspring, "The rabbits are mating because they want to have bunnies."
While I would not presume to know the volitional states of rabbits, whether real or plastic, I agree with the child's assessment of the activity in which the rabbits are engaged.
June 9, 2007
On this blog I occasionally note a major motion picture that is (tangentially) related to ethics in science, not to mention seeking your advice on my movie-viewing decisions (the votes are running 2 to 1 in favor of my watching Flash Gordon; if I do, I may have to live-blog it).
Today, I'm going…
June 8, 2007
One year ago, ScienceBlogs experienced a major expansion. In that year, I've been lucky enough to meet some of my fellow ScienceBloggers, though given the size of this operation, I've only met the proprietors of about a fifth of the blogs here.
So far.
Happy blogiversary! Cupcakes for everyone,…
June 8, 2007
One of the Free-Ride offspring (which one? who can tell; it was last week) brought home a plant grown from seed as part of a school project.
"We planted the seeds in yogurt containers," said whichever child it was, "except they didn't have yogurt in them anymore, just dirt."
"Well, that's good,"…
June 8, 2007
Assuming the post title hasn't already scared you away, I wanted to share a conversation I had with the elder Free-Ride offspring about a potentially scary-to-talk-about subject. As you'll see, it went fine.
And, as a bonus, there's a cake recipe at the end of the post.
Dr. Free-Ride: (trying to…
June 7, 2007
Because I know some of you are better acquainted with late 20th century science fiction movies than I am, I'm asking for your input on this.
Today, I find myself possessed of a serious hankering to track down and watch Flash Gordon -- not the Buster Crabbe version from 1936 (which I watched on…
June 7, 2007
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 by the interim final regulation on chemical security…
June 6, 2007
My better half dropped a comic strip conspiracy theory on me last night. Usually I don't lend any credence to such theories, but this one has the ring of truth to it.
You know the one-panel strip "Love Is ..." that's been syndicated since 1970?
The one that Homer Simpson described as being "…
June 6, 2007
In my last post, I examined the efforts of Elizabeth Goodwin's genetics graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to deal responsibly with their worries that their advisor was falsifying data. I also reported that, even though they did everything you'd want responsible…
June 5, 2007
One of the big ideas behind this blog is that honest conduct and communication are essential to the project of building scientific knowledge. An upshot of this is that people seriously engaged in the project of building scientific knowledge ought to view those who engage in falsification,…
June 4, 2007
I fell prey to another silly internet quiz, which deigned to tell me which science I am.
It wasn't chemistry, but ...
What Science are You?
You are Physics! You're quirky and you set yourself on fire alot. You're really really into your science. I had a physics teacher who singed his…
June 4, 2007
Via a press release from Consumers Union, the July 2007 issue of Consumer Reports will include a call for more testing and regulation of nanotechnology:
[T]he risks of nanotechnology have been largely unexplored, and government and industry monitoring has been minimal. Moreover, consumers have…
June 2, 2007
The ScienceBlogs servers are undergoing some serious spa treatments this evening (Saturday, June 2nd, starting at 9PM EDT) to rejuvenate them and help them achieve inner peace.
Or something.
Their massage and facial package (or whatever) is projected to last about three hours, during which time the…
June 2, 2007
Today the soccer team I coach (on which the younger Free-Ride offspring is a player) had its last game of the spring season.
"Yay! Trophies!!" screamed the players at the end of the game. So, off we all went to the traditional end-of-season pizza party and trophy distribution event.
At the pizza…
June 1, 2007
I'm recycling another post from the ancestor of this blog, but I'm adding value by adding some newish links to good stuff on other blogs.
* * * * *
How much does it matter that certain groups (like women) are under-represented in the tribe of science?
I'm not, at the moment, taking up the causes (…
June 1, 2007
I've been flailing lately (most recently in this post) with the question of how to reconcile how science ought to be done with what actually happens. Amidst my flailing, regular commenter DrugMonkey has been doing what some might characterize as getting up in my grill. I'm inclined to view…