Liz's Bloglet - Wednesday 4 March 2009

Since people were interested in my last post about grants and economic stimulus, NIH has posted the RFP for their "Challenge Grants" that are also part of the stimulus. Little ecological work falls under the auspices of NIH, but I still like seeing this stuff.

One part of it is an aspect of President Obama's healthcare reform that I find very exciting as both a scientist and a patient: comparative effectiveness research. Basically, these are studies that compare a range of options for care (new drug, old drug, combinations, other things like exercise and diet) in a rigorous clinical setting, so we can get some actual data on which treatments work best.

Right now the vast majority of drug research is focused on whether or not the newest (most expensive) drug is safe and better than a placebo, which is what it takes to get FDA approval. But what patients really want to know is if the newest drug is better than what we're currently on. Right now this is largely left to the professional judgment of individual doctors, who frequently have little more to go on than patient anecdotes.

Some people are worried that this will lead to rationing of care--if a cheaper treatment works better than a more expensive treatment, insurance companies (or whoever is paying for our healthcare in the future) will require doctors to prescribe the cheaper treatment. The flip side of this, is if the expensive treatment works better than the cheaper one, we'll have good scientific data to support getting the drugs that really work, even if they're more expensive. _
respond?
05:11:24 PM, Wednesday 4 March 2009

It turns out all of the weird hangs and freezes on my Mac were due to the virus software the Department requires me to have on my computer malfunctioning. It was auto-set to scan each file as I opened it and to continuously check with McAfee for virus updates, but the "virus engine failed". I reinstalled it and changed the settings to a more rational approach. I appreciate security, but one reason I use a Mac is to avoid things like having to scan each file as I open it and continuously check for virus updates. _
respond?
10:59:52 AM, Tuesday 3 March 2009

Spring and Fall, to a Young Child -- Gerard Manley Hopkins

Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow's springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for. _
respond? (3)
09:40:46 AM, Tuesday 3 March 2009

Our ever thoughtful moderator deals with the important issues on his personal blog, like the Top 10 Presbyterian TV and Movie Characters _
respond? (3)
09:41:10 AM, Monday 2 March 2009

It really did snow.
The footprints are evidence of the Tuxedo cat's many attempts at going outside for the day. _
respond? (2)
07:34:55 AM, Monday 2 March 2009

We got a Wii Fit. We've had it for about a week. I was waiting for it to be available on Amazon so I could use my combination of Amazon credit card gift certificates and Amazon Prime to basically get it for free.

Awesome things:
-decent mix of exercises
-since it is all totally your choice, you can completely design your own workout and not be forced to try to do things you can't do
-for some things the balance board works really well
-several of the games are quite fun as well as being exercise (I really like the boxing and the downhill skiing)
-gets me exercising on days that swimming is not even a possibility

Not awesome things: -enough with the button pushing. Most of the exercises can't be done easily with the Wiimote in hand, so the pattern is push A button 5 times, toss Wiimote on floor, exercise (1-8 minutes) dive for Wiimote, push the button 5 times to get through the results section, select new exercise, repeat. That sucks. There ought to be either preset series of exercises or even better an option to plan out your workout then run it in order for 30 minutes or whatever. At the very least, there should an option to skip some of the screens (I don't need a whole screen for "high scores" for a yoga pose, or another whole screen telling me I just completed 1 minute of exercise).

-The balance board is made of really, really hard plastic. For your safety(?), they say you should not wear shoes on it, but I have to wear shoes or my feet are killing me after 5 minutes. They sell "sleeves" for it, but shoes work fine and I already have them.

-The emphasis on weight loss, weighing you everyday and giving you a hard time if you gain a pound, etc, is pretty frustrating, especially since it acknowledges I am right around my ideal weight and I personally am not exercising for weight loss. But I can also imagine it being pretty frustrating for someone who is using it to lose weight, especially since weight naturally fluctuates and gaining a couple pounds in one day is pretty meaningless. And it's all based on BMI and completely ignores the idea of "healthy at any size".

-The emphasis on "scores" for each exercise means that even if you do something really well for yourself, it has to let you know how much you suck

-Some of the stuff I just can't do

In general, I give it a positive review. It is actually pretty fun and it does give you a workout. The workout would certainly better without all the pauses for button pushing. While it is nice to be able to choose exactly what you want to do, that does lead to avoiding your weaknesses rather than working through them. My overall feeling is that it could have been so much better that its weaknesses are frustrating. For people already in okay shape, or interested in an exercise program rather than exercise games, I would still say to skip it and go with Yourself Fitness! (or it's Wii version My Fitness Coach). New games are coming out all the time for the balance board and rumor has it that the Yourself Fitness! people will be coming out with a sequel game which will probably end up being the "killer ap". How I wish that were still possible for me. For people like me who are proud of themselves for getting any physical activity at all, Wii Fit is pretty cool. _
respond? (1)
05:43:37 PM, Sunday 1 March 2009

We just got our first information about the stimulus money going to NSF and NIH. The plan is to go back and fund grants that were recommended for funding but didn't get any because of the cuts the previous administration made to the agency budgets. These are being called "beaker-ready" projects in the political discussion (although we all agree that for ecologists "shovel-ready" is really more apt). They're encouraging researchers to refresh their memory of recent projects they had that fit in that category, because from the day that a researcher gets notified that a grant will be funded, they have three days to provide the supplementary information back to the agency in order to receive the money. We live in interesting times. _
respond? (6)
04:05:45 PM, Friday 27 February 2009

As always, Questing Parson knows how to say what I'm trying to say. _
respond?
09:09:16 AM, Thursday 26 February 2009

Hey look, they just figured out why I've felt like crap for the past year. It's so nice to be on the cutting edge of science. On the plus side, it's also a good explanation of why the Enbrel helps so much. _
respond? (2)
04:54:37 PM, Tuesday 24 February 2009

I'm following the voting in the PCUSA on changing the wording in the Book of Order for ordination very closely, watching with wonder and joy as presbyteries like my own and the one I grew up in "flip" their votes from the last time this was voted on. This has included following discussion on a bunch of blogs--ranging from crazy lefties like me, gay pastors currently barred from ordination, gay pastors currently closeted to their church and struggling with that fact, and at least one gay pastor who is totally uncloseted and doing fine with a church and presbytery who refuse to betray him, as well as the blog of our moderator (who clearly has an opinion on this issue but whose current role is to facilitate discussion, not choose sides) and occasional forays into the blogs of people who are totally opposed to the change that is happening and as far as I can tell think I'm a devil-worshipping atheist who is all by herself everything that's wrong in the world. (It might help if I could find the blogs of reasonable people on the other side, but those people seem to not blog--they are probably too busy doing real things).

Over and over again people talk about how painful this is for both sides. And I just don't get it. I see the pain in keeping people obviously called to be doing the work of God from doing it. I see the pain of people struggling with how much of their life to reveal to whom. But I just still can't understand the pain of those who are so opposed to gay ordination. I try and try and try, but I can't find empathy for their pain. Maybe they're uncomfortable, maybe they're frustrated or annoyed, but is it really painful for them?

I've known people like them my whole life, and care deeply about a number of them. I can still talk to those people about many things and have plenty in common with them. But when this issue arises I just want to grab them and shake them and tell them to get over it. Or at the very least, introduce them to my amazing gay friends doing amazing things, some of whom are ordained, and hope that they can learn and change and grow.

Is it like the Harvey Milk quote: "When they know one of us, they vote 2 to 1 for us."? Is it just a matter of being scared of what they don't know (or at least think they don't know, since the nice single guy who serves on their Session is gay and just has never told them). I just don't understand.

The good news is that change appears to be coming. And the change may be miserable for a time and it may destroy churches and communities and friendships. But at least we won't be standing by the side of the lake dithering anymore. _
respond?
06:00:05 PM, Sunday 22 February 2009

And my presbytery New Hope has flipped and voted to support ordination of all called people as well! _
respond?
05:29:08 PM, Sunday 22 February 2009

Because Remi will love this: Jorge Garcia has a blog Yes, I still watch Lost. It's silly sci-fi/fantasy melodrama. But the acting is good, and you get women like Kate and guys like Hurley. _
respond? (3)
12:50:06 PM, Saturday 21 February 2009

Secretary of State Clinton visits the largest women's university in the world _
respond?
09:07:38 AM, Saturday 21 February 2009

So I think I have my mix together. My theme was "A Hazy Afternoon", courtesy of Mike. While I tend to be pretty literal about these things, for this one I have songs about a hazy afternoon, songs that evoke a hazy afternoon, and songs that would be pleasant to listen to on a hazy afternoon. Most of this stuff has joined my music collection in the past couple years. I threw it together fairly instinctively and was rather surprised by the quantity of banjo (e.g., I somehow managed to choose the only Nellie McKay song with banjo). But it's many different styles of banjo...

"A Summer Wasting"--Belle & Sebastian
"The Sound of Summer Running"--Alison Brown
"If You Think That It's All Right"--Tres Chicas
"Warmth of the Sun"--Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs
"Nothing to Worry About"--Cyndi Craven
"Put Your Records On"--Corinne Bailey Rae
"Perfect World"--Indigo Girls
"Basketball"--Lincoln
"Everyone's the Same"--Dear Nora
"Beachcombing"--Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
"Swept Away"--Nellie McKay
"To Wild Homes"--The New Pornographers
"Hold It All at Bay"--Girlyman
"Passing Afternoon"--Iron and Wine

Remi's out of town for the weekend, so these probably won't go out until next week. As others have said, if you didn't originally sign up for a mix, but are now overjoyed by what I've put together, let me know and I'll send you one, too.
_
respond?
06:41:49 PM, Thursday 19 February 2009

I always knew that the sort of crack-pot American libertarianism arose from the "Pioneer Spirit". But I never knew that there was exactly one step from Little House on the Prarie to the Libertarian Party. That step was Rose Wilder Lane. _
respond? (2)
10:11:20 PM, Tuesday 17 February 2009

Go Charlotte Presbytery! _
respond?
09:18:39 AM, Monday 16 February 2009

10 Ways Microsoft's Retail Stores Will Differ From Apple Stores _
respond?
09:02:30 AM, Saturday 14 February 2009

Quote of the day: "I'd rather be a hysteric than a jack-booted thug of the patriarchy." _
respond? (18)
11:51:03 AM, Thursday 12 February 2009

I have been released from my juror service and do not have to appear tomorrow. woot. _
respond?
06:06:00 PM, Wednesday 11 February 2009

A really cool story I don't want to give anything away, just read it. _
respond?
05:43:59 PM, Wednesday 11 February 2009

Quote of the day: �Tiny violins would be playing if you hadn�t killed public arts education.� from here _
respond?
08:52:12 AM, Wednesday 11 February 2009

So at Pseudo Ivy there is a "tradition" wherein students who "really love their school" camp out in a parking lot all winter in order to acquire tickets for the "big game" in which the male basketball players from the school just up the road come to campus here and play basketball. There are very complicated rules about how many people can stay in each tent and how many people have to be there at any given time day or night in order to keep their place in line for tickets. They frequently miss class and when they do go usually are not in any way prepared for the classes for which their parents (or the student loan companies) pay a whole lot of money. (I assume that most of the students who got below 50% on the exams I just graded are currently "living" there.)

The bottom line is that there is a large group of exhausted students in very close, very dirty quarters in cold weather.

You see where this is going.

One of them was just diagnosed with bacterial meningitis

Hopefully this is the end of the "tradition". _
respond?
08:40:44 AM, Wednesday 11 February 2009

I'm still not really down with the whole Facebook culture. What do you do with friend requests from people you barely knew 10 years ago? How about bullies who made your life hell for several years? _
respond? (10)
08:23:07 AM, Wednesday 11 February 2009

I have always been thinking of the different ways in which Christianity is taught, and whenever I find one way that makes it a wider blessing than any other, I cling to that as the truest - I mean, that which takes in the most good of all kinds, and brings in the most people as sharers in it. It is surely better to pardon too much than to condemn too much.

Middlemarch is still the Program book I most enjoy rereading. _
respond?
10:04:24 AM, Tuesday 10 February 2009

Did I mention that Coraline was totally awesome? We saw it in 3D, but I bet it would be awesome in 2D, too. _
respond? (5)
09:38:24 AM, Tuesday 10 February 2009

The writer is president of the United States.

After some debate with myself, I've decided that the little op-ed writer's bio is in fact charming. _
respond? (3)
12:42:15 PM, Thursday 5 February 2009

Progress continues on establishing the US Public Service Academy. Besides some good coverage in the NYTimes, the bill will go before a much more sympathetic Congress in the next few days. (It's still on a good track for them to be hiring around the time I'm finishing a post-doc.) _
respond?
11:37:54 AM, Wednesday 4 February 2009

Being pro-choice means I don't judge the reproductive choices of other women. Period.

That's the only way it works. _
respond? (7)
08:43:05 AM, Tuesday 3 February 2009

Because I don't talk about food enough here and I successfully made dinner tonight:
Bratwurst
Mashed turnips and potatoes (I ended up with the Joy of Cooking version)
Salad

The brats, turnips, and salad greens were all local, as was the milk in the turnips and potatoes. The butter, spices, and chicken broth in the mash, and the potatoes themselves and the salad dressing were all not local, nor was the beer I cooked the sausage in (we have great local beer, but we had 1 Yeungling left in the fridge, plus it seems a shame to waste really good beer on cooking). Although Mapleview does butter, they don't sell it at Krogers. And we drank OJ, which doesn't grow local and is vital to my existence.

The verdict is: I still don't know if I actually like turnips on their own, but they added a nice, rooty flavor and lighter texture to the potatoes. Maybe next time I'll cook turnips alone so I can find out how I really feel about them. _
respond? (1)
08:03:42 PM, Monday 2 February 2009

This says all there is to say about the difference between the Obama administration and the Bush administration. _
respond?
07:04:55 AM, Friday 30 January 2009

_
respond? (3)
11:10:16 PM, Wednesday 28 January 2009

This is a pretty typical story of a single healthcare experience in the US. I found this quote especially interesting: Physicians for a National Health Program, a group pushing for national health insurance, says paperwork and bureaucracy account for nearly a third of every dollar we spend on health care � and that streamlining the system could save nearly $400 billion per year. Physician for a National Health Program seem like people I would like. The doctor bloggers out there had me pretty much convinced that no US doctor would ever support national healthcare. _
respond?
02:01:29 PM, Wednesday 28 January 2009

Enbrel rocks. It's giving me my life back. And there's a new drug likely to be approved in the US soon that specifically targets the pathways of my kind of arthritis and psoriasis. It's going to be awhile before I can tolerate any anti-BigPharma talk. _
respond? (6)
11:27:53 AM, Wednesday 28 January 2009

Not Chuck Norris Facts _
respond?
05:36:09 PM, Tuesday 27 January 2009

So my term as adjunct faculty is over for now. I think we grad student instructors learned nearly as much as our students. It was definitely a blast and makes me think it would probably be pretty cool to be in an Environmental Science/Studies dept even though I had always assumed I would end up in Biology.

The best thing was how engaged our students got, the questions they asked, the insights they achieved and getting to drive to some of the prettiest parts of NC to do it. Also, having an ID that says "Faculty" is pretty nifty. In general, small schools where discussion is encouraged still rock! I feel bad for the kids at Pseudo Ivy, because their parents are paying a lot more for a distinctly less engaging classroom experience (and being snobby about it).

The worst part was the drive (40 miles each way) and the last couple days when we had some disappointing final projects and some disappointing responses to our disappointment. About that I will say no more.

Now it's back to intro bio. Last week they learned how to use microscopes. This week we go through the plant-like, fungal-like, and animal-like protists. This is some of my favorite parts of biology. I will also be doing more, of course, of the actual research for which they give me a degree at the end.

I still can't believe they pay me to do this stuff. _
respond? (2)
05:10:33 PM, Tuesday 27 January 2009

Great Books of the Western World, the 60-volume set of classics published by Encyclopaedia Britannica, is now available to libraries, universities and schools in electronic form and distributed exclusively through Ingram Digital's industry-leading MyiLibrary� aggregated e-book platform. _
respond?
08:01:59 AM, Saturday 24 January 2009

older entries