thusspakezuska | January 30, 2008The Philadelphia Inquirer has an interesting article today about the "issue of cultural sensitivity...in the world of comedy". Comedy: When The Laughing Stops looks at how comedians struggle with knowing where to draw the line - and when to go ahead and cross that line.
Some people fear that when comics don't delineate boundaries, it gives the public the impression that it, too, can freely utter offensive comments. [Chris] Rock addressed the subject during his sold-out New Year's Eve show at Madison Square Garden. Fat girls make fun of skinny ones, he said, but skinny ones can't do the…
thusspakezuska | January 28, 2008Mrs. Whatsit pointed out that Propter Doc has recently written on the topic of blogging under a pseudonym. It's a very thoughtful post and touches on many of the issues we discussed at the NC Science Blogging Conference. In the middle of the post, Propter Doc says the following:
If you blog about being a scientist then you are probably in a position where you need to take steps to conceal your identity. The world doesn't need to know what flavor of scientist you are, or even your gender.
Is this really the case? That is, does your gender not matter in science blogging, even (or especially…
thusspakezuska | January 28, 2008Here's the paradox: there are differences between men and women that manifest themselves in engineering practice, so diversity is good, except there aren't really any differences between men and women that matter in engineering practice, so diversity doesn't matter to the profession. Huh? Who's making these contradictory arguments, and why?
There's a research report on gender in technology by Wendy Faulkner (you can download it from here) which examines this remark:
Women into engineering campaigners often claim that women bring a different approach to engineering.
Do women have better…
thusspakezuska | January 26, 2008Hooray! I have some new Sciblings!
Drugmonkey and Physioprof are now co-blogging at Scienceblogs. Visit them here and tell them how happy you are they joined Sb. Check out this excellent post Science Pays:
This brings today's discussion around to the topic of diversity in science, careers in science and a much under appreciated goal of "outreach" efforts. That's right people, we scientists are out there to get hold of your impressionable children and sway them into our "lifestyle"!
And Physioprof has a new blog of his own, called, amazingly enough, Physioprof. With the delicious…
thusspakezuska | January 24, 2008Make your blog more interactive! but do it ethically..
Two great sessions at the 2008 NC Science Blogging Conference offered up great insights on these two aspects of the blogger's craft. Janet Stemwedel ran the session on ethics and Dave Munger did the one on interactivity. That truly was an opportunity to learn from the experts. So just what did they have to say? You may want to read Janet's report, in which she calls for readers to help build the science blogging ethics wiki. Dave has posted "helpful stuff from my presentation..."
Their posts are very helpful but I thought I'd give…
thusspakezuska | January 22, 2008Coffee, good food, and the world's best popsicles - these were just a few of the perks associated with attending the 2008 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference! Not to mention mingling with 200 other bloggers, journalists, educators, and students. I've been so out of touch with the blogging world for so long recently; it was delightful to feel the energy and ideas sparking off each other. Plus, I got to meet Sciencewoman and Minnow!
Karen Ventii and I had planned to webcast our session on Gender and Race in Science Blogging, and we did, in a manner of speaking...unfortunately, it…
thusspakezuska | January 17, 2008Just yesterday I posted information about a new resource on recruiting women and girls into information technology. Ironically, the same day American Public Media ran this story about Jean Bartik, one of the original "computers".
Yesterday in San Francisco, Apple released its new computer, the MacBook Air. The notebook has an eighty gigabyte hard drive, is a mere three quarters of an inch thick and weighs three pounds. Dick's guest today can certainly put that achievement into perspective. Jean Bartik's first job was as a "computer" - a human one. She went on to help program one of the…
thusspakezuska | January 17, 2008Karen Ventii has posted information about how to join our session online at the conference wiki. Here's the details:
[The Gender and Race in Science Blogging] session will be broadcast LIVE on Saturday January 19 at 11am on Ustream.tv. Please tune in and participate online. Please note that you DO NOT have to register on Ustream to post comments. We look forward to hearing from you and reading your questions. Use the link above or copy and paste the address (http://ustream.tv/channel/gender-and-race-in-science-blogging) into your browser.
thusspakezuska | January 16, 2008Some interesting things came across my listservs this week; one from WEPAN, another from the WMST-L listserv: a new book on recruiting women in IT, and a very interesting call for papers. Details after the jump.
Reconfiguring the Firewall
A comprehensive volume authored by three Virginia Tech professors, (published by AK Peters, Ltd.), "Reconfiguring the Firewall" addresses the global challenge of recruiting girls and women into majors and careers in information technology. Written and researched by Carol J. Burger, Elizabeth G. Creamer, and Peggy S. Meszaros, all faculty members in the…
thusspakezuska | January 15, 2008I thought things would settle down a bit after I got back home, but it appears my life is still more or less consumed with endless amounts of paperwork relating to my mother's finances, change of addresses needing to be made, dealing with the insurance companies. I am sure this will all settle down into a normal routine of monthly paperwork soon, but right now it's still an issue a minute. I seriously do not know how people deal with this when they have full time employment.
This all means I have little time/energy to spare for good blog posts still, so I thought I'd just offer up to you…
thusspakezuska | January 11, 2008Karen Ventii of Science to Life and I are hosting a panel next weekend at the NC Science Blogging Conference, and we'd like your input. The title of the panel is "Gender and Race in Science". I think it was supposed to be "Gender and Race in Science Blogging" but oh well. We can make the conversation a little broader if that's what you want! We are planning to webcast the panel so it will be possible for you to participate even if you aren't attending. Even before the panel, you can participate at the conference wiki.
Our panel consists of Sciencewoman, Pat Campbell of Fairer Science,…
thusspakezuska | January 10, 2008Today I introduce a new category, "Outrage of the Week", just so I am able to tell you about the nice young men who recently competed in the New Jersey King of Campus Comedy contest.
As reported in the Chronicle (Jan. 11, 2008 issue):
The competition's most popular topic was, believe it or not, rape. The first comic told two rape jokes. Another said he could never be a rapist because he likes to sleep after sex. Yet another said he would call his victim the next morning because he's such a nice guy.
Er, ha.
Later one of the competitors began his act by promising the audience that he wouldn…
thusspakezuska | January 9, 2008Hmm. I seem to remember this thing called blogging...used to do it all the time...lo these many weeks ago. Let's see if I'm able to get started again.
The past month and a half I've been taking care of mom and working with my siblings to arrange everything for her to move into assisted living. Let me just say it takes a great deal of time and emotional energy to accomplish something like this, especially given that my mother still lived in the house she was (literally) born in. All along the way, I kept thinking (and my siblings kept saying), how in the world would we ever get this done if…
thusspakezuska | December 11, 2007Sheril Kirshenbaum and Chris Mooney, over at the Intersection, have organized a call for a presidential debate on science and technology issues.
Given the many urgent scientific and technological challenges facing America and the rest of the world, the increasing need for accurate scientific information in political decision making, and the vital role scientific innovation plays in spurring economic growth and competitiveness, we, the undersigned, call for a public debate in which the U.S. presidential candidates share their views on the issues of The Environment, Medicine and Health, and…
thusspakezuska | December 10, 2007
Earlier this month, my siblings and I were out on a daylong excursion with my mother. It was lunchtime, and we decided to go to local restaurant for our meal. We pulled into the plaza parking lot and my brother headed for the handicapped parking spot near the restaurant entrance, as my mother has a handicapped license plate. She can't walk very far at all without getting fatigued.
Unfortunately, the one accessible spot was taken. By a car with a regular license plate and no handicapped sticker. Was I ever pissed. But I became even more angry when the car's owner came bounding blithely…
thusspakezuska | December 10, 2007Fellow Scienceblogger Steve Higgins over at Omnibrain introduced me to the Daily Coyote. I have fallen in love. And I bet you will, too.
thusspakezuska | December 7, 2007I have no time for a real entry, but if you haven't yet had your daily quota of sexist nonsense, check out these two links.
Melissa McEwan parses the gender segregation at the Discovery Channel Store. (Thanks to Bora for tipping me off to that post.) In case you were wondering where to get your scientific nail polish kit, you now know. And just in time for the holidays!
And the Chronicle news blog reports on the continued sorry state of tenure for women at MIT. The comments will annoy the piss out of you. I swear someday my head will explode when I have to listen yet again to some…
thusspakezuska | December 3, 2007
Ask a Scienceblogger asks: " What's the deal with "virgin birth" (parthenogenesis)?"
Many people, when they hear "virgin birth", think of the Virgin Mary. But all good Catholics know that Mary, Queen of Heaven, is not a true example of parthenogenesis. Really - do you imagine that the Catholic church would let a mere female lay sole claim to giving birth to the God-child? God had to send his "Holy Spirit" down to help Mary along and cuckold poor Joseph. Mary may be the Handmaid of the Lord and the Vessel of Selfless Service but no pope is going to give her sole credit for Jesus.
No,…
thusspakezuska | December 2, 2007I finally had a chance to check in and I discovered three comments languishing in the junk folder, waiting for me to promote them to publication. A few were weeks old. I'm really sorry about that. I'm involved in a 24/7 caretaking situation and just don't have much spare time. I'll try to pay attention a little more frequently.
thusspakezuska | November 8, 2007Hi folks. Just wanted to say that blogging's going to be a bit thin in the next few weeks. Got some family health issues I have to deal with. I don't know how long this will take to sort out, and don't know if I'll be able to do any blogging at all in the near future, though I'm going to try.
If I do manage to post, please bear with me if I don't respond to comments, or if a comment of yours gets hung up in moderation and I don't get to it right away. I'll do my best to check in at least once a day if I manage to post but I can't promise.
You'll see me when you see me!