Holly's Journal: November 2009

Monday, November 16, 2009

Send me the video!

I had an idea for a site about how to barter ideas. This came from Brian having to diagnose technology problem on the phone without seeing it or the person knowing what correct buttons to push. You can file videos of common errors on this site and in exchange you can get information about something in particular. Lets say that I don't know how to get my camera to do X and I find a video about someone that can do it for me or they can email me and say they have made one for me. In exchange, that person may want to know how to program their DVD player to do X. Someone else has the player tags it and posts them the video. Its like a chain of ideas....I don't know, it may be too big of an idea, or similar to something else. But it would be cool to see someone that could show me how to do something, and maybe I could show them or someone else how to do something. It doesn't have to be technology either. You could just google it - but so much extra pops up and it takes a while to sift through it all. It kind of zeros in what you need fast. Of course it would need to be moderated etc.. In my example, Brian could make a video of how to fix the printer, reset it etc. put in the password and so on. Then I could just access it each time I need it. Or, if I wanted to barter the idea and I post something I could do...then I would share it. Just an idea:)

// posted by HKB @ 11:25 AM 0 Comments

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Back to work

I have about a week before I report back to work, and so it will be bittersweet. Babies are a full time job and so I hope our babysitter will take good care of him. As I go through a typical day with B. I wonder, will the sitter do this? will she know to do that? He can get angry and fussy (like today) when he's hungry and tired. It will be tough to do, but I made a commitment to my boss to return. I can understand why a mom would not want to go back to her job after taking leave...and I could understand why she would want to go back to work ASAP. We shall see how it goes - and I hope B. behaves for her.
Other news...the house debate still stands. It's a big investment and the future is unknown - are the prices and interest rate the best they will be in a long time? Who knows, but more research is required.

// posted by HKB @ 12:39 PM 0 Comments

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

I was browsing my usual christianity today website and clicked on a blog that linked to another, and then a listing of a woman of interest and her contributions to science. Then it lead me to another study of women in science - which really piqued my interest. This woman in particular is an assistant director for the Kavli institute for cosmological physics at the University of Chicago and author of the book 'Einsteins Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe' Not only is she a physics professor, but a mom of three to boot. In one of her speaking engagements, she addresses the age old issue of women in science - in particular physics. She contends that this problem is still around because of the general lack of scientists' will to put the scientific method toward the problem. There is a collective 'this is out of our hands' mentality and some cultural bias sprinkled in with some general hardheadedness of the issue at hand. Her justification is as follows......

Because we want to create and work

within a system that identifies,

encourages, and supports the brightest

and most motivated scientists and

science students

She began her talk with evidence from the Carnegie Mellon Computer Science program. The data shows that from '95 to '01 the retention rate for women there had not only improved, but doubled even as the admissions criteria and SAT scores for admission to the program increased.

Now I take this to mean if the pool includes a larger number of women, scratch that---scientists - then why wouldn't we afford a second look at the dilemma?

Ok, this is great and all, but we know that women are absolutely by no means equivalent to men in science. Take that controversial Harvard professor's statement several years ago..... Well, lets go to a publication by the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, who apparently puts creedence to the issue by putting forth this publication,

Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering (2007)

Here are some of the beliefs that are still held firm today:

Belief

Evidence

Where Discussed

Women are not as good in mathematics as men.

Female performance in high school mathematics now matches that of males.

Chapter 2

The matter of “under-representation” on faculties is only a matter of time; it is a function of how many women are qualified to enter these positions.

Women’s representation decreases with each step up the tenure-track and academic leadership hierarchy, even in fields that have had al arge proportion of women doctorates for 30 years.

Chapter 3

Women are not as competitive as men. Women don’t want jobs in academe.

Similar proportions of men and women science and engineering doctorates plan to enter postdoctoral study or academic employment.

Chapter 3

Behavioral research is qualitative; why pay attention to the data in this report?

The data are from multiple sources, were obtained using well-recognized techniques, and have been replicated in several settings.

Chapters2-5

Women and minorities are recipients of favoritism through affirmative-action programs.

Affirmative action is meant to broaden searches to include more women and minority-group members, but not to select candidates on the basis of race or sex, which is illegal.

Chapter 4

Academe is a meritocracy.

Although scientists like to believe that they “choose the best” based on objective criteria, decisions are influenced by factors—including biases about race, sex, geographic location of a university, and age—that have nothing to do with the quality of the person or work being evaluated.

Chapter 4

Changing the rules means that standards of excellence will be deleteriously affected.

Throughout a scientific career, advancement depends upon judgments of one’s performance by more senior scientists and engineers. This process does not optimally select and advance the best scientists and engineers, because of implicit bias and disproportionate weighting of qualities that are stereotypically male. Reducing these sources of bias will foster excellence in science and engineering fields.

Women faculty are less productive than men.	The publication productivity of women science and engineering faculty has increased over the last 30 years and is now comparable to men’s. The critical factor affecting publication productivity is access to institutional resources; marriage, children, and elder care responsibilities have minimal effects.	Chapter 4
	Women are more interested in family than in careers.	Many women scientists and engineers persist in their pursuit of academic careers despite severe conflicts between their roles as parents and as scientists and engineers. These efforts, however, are often not recognized as representing the high level of dedication to their careers they represent.	Chapter 5
	Women take more time off due to childbearing, so they are a bad investment.	On the average, women take more time off during their early careers to meet their caregiving responsibilities, which fall disproportionately to women. But, by middle age, a man is likely to take more sick leave than a woman.

The findings conclude...

The consequences of not acting will be detrimental to the nation’scompetitiveness. Women and minority-group members make up an increasing proportion of the labor force. They also are an increasing proportion of postsecondary students. To capture and capitalize on this talent will require revising policies adopted when the workplace was more homogeneous and creating new organizational structures that manage a diverse workforce effectively. Effective programs have three key components: commitment to take corrective action, analysis and utilization of data for organizational change, and a campus framework for monitoring progress.

This straight from the mouths of the committee, and I would have to agree...what would this country have to lose in efforts to change the existing stagnation of science in our culture? I think the infusion of more females in science would be a definite shot in the arm to our already lagging progress in this area.

// posted by HKB @ 8:37 PM 0 Comments

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Silent Stigma

I am writing unfortunately about a very sad topic, but it seems to have popped up recently on my facebook acct. Yes it is the worst of the worst - Christian divorce. Now I won't quote statistics here because they are actually subjective - but here is something unfortunate that I lifted off a website

George Barna, president and founder of Barna Research Group, commented:

"While it may be alarming to discover that born again Christians are more likely than others to experience a divorce, that pattern has been in place for quite some time. Even more disturbing, perhaps, is that when those individuals experience a divorce many of them feel their community of faith provides rejection rather than support and healing. But the research also raises questions regarding the effectiveness of how churches minister to families. The ultimate responsibility for a marriage belongs to the husband and wife, but the high incidence of divorce within the Christian community challenges the idea that churches provide truly practical and life-changing support for marriages."

Barna may be dismissed for his remark - but what I read today from one (of two) Christian men on Facebook regarding their divorce seems to support that quote. This young man in particular was a member of my Sunday school class way back in my single days - and I remember how discerning he was about who he would potentially date. He and another female member were great friends and seemed so right for each other (they even looked alike..tall and blonde) - that we used to tease him about when they would marry. The funny thing is that they did have a short relationship, but it didn't progress any further than that. I lost contact with him for a while, but only recently did I find out about his divorce after a long, angry letter in response to a Christian website about remarriage. He couldn't post on the site, but decided to on Fbook. Now I firmly believe that it takes two to marry but not necessarily two to divorce. It can really lie in the fate of one person's hands - for whatever reason or another he/she wants out of the marriage. And the spouse unfortunately has to comply. Now, divorce is hard enough on the individual, but to have people literally shun you for it at church is another. That should bring a sense of shame on our part for being admittedly UNchristian. The friend of mine angers over his treatment by his christian family, and how he felt like a pariah amongst his friends. As believers, we should (duh) realize that we are not immune to sin in our lives - but if we trust in Jesus - he has taken on the burden of that sin and we are forgiven, not immune to it. That is grace at work, and the crux of our belief. NOBODY is above sin and its clutches - and if we ignore a brother or sister because they are hurting then we are hypocritical at the very least. Christ has forgiven us many times over, and comforted us when we were hurting and wounded from sin- why would his children not do the same?
Here's a classic that we always seem to forget -
So when they continued asking him (Jesus), he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. John 8:7

My heart goes out to my facebook friend who experienced the worst hurt one could possibly imagine, but he deserves praise for having the courage to bring light to a problem we face as believers in Christ.

// posted by HKB @ 9:34 AM 0 Comments

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