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September 25, 2010
blindness
I think we are blinded by our fortunes.
Posted by azileretsis at 05:35 PM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2010
thinkers
Why does it seem as undergraduates these days have more time and energy? Also, they seem like better thinkers than the several past generations including my own. I agree with this criticism of microbiology and immunology and this holds true for many other Biology-related graduate classes. Or, maybe, I'm just stressed. Or, we have to wait to all the traditionalists go away.
Maybe, that generation have hope and optimism to expect change while mine have just become domesticated, complacent and hedonistic. I hope they don't become like us.
In the news, would you eat Frankenfish? Would you want to know? Do you trust FDA's "reasonable certainty"?
Posted by azileretsis at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2010
education bubble
A friend posted recently about the education bubble. I knew changes were occurring at the graduate level but I didn't see the issue permeating through all upper education levels.
I graduated with undergraduate loans in spite of working at least one job and up to three jobs all through my college years. Once I graduated, I found out that my undergraduate degree (which will remain nameless) would provide me an income below the living wage. However, due to my college connections and graduating at the right time, I was able to gain employment and on-the-job training in another field. I would not have been as well-prepared if I had gone straight from high school to the work field. Maybe, if I had Bill Gates or Madonna as a parent, but a few are so lucky.
Over the years, I have seen misuse of school loans but I saw a small percentage of my fellow students abuse them. Most of time, these students had no need for the loans.
The article brings up interesting questions about directing loan money to certain areas of studies. Yet, I don't see significant short-term effects of education bubble collapse. Faculty will most likely to be culled but the effects will be minor due to the number of incoming students.
I believe there is a problem with student loans but I would hope that the government believes it to be an long-term investment rather than a black hole (unlike some of the other mandates that it funds). Education has been a safety net for people during this recession and hopefully, this positions us to better lead and steward the next economic growth.
BTW, a friend was raving about this online journal on higher education.
From an article on pharmaceutical consultants on the site:
In a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, Biederman was accused of promising positive research results to the company in exchange for funding. A hint of Biederman's self-opinion emerged in a deposition, where a lawyer asked him about his academic ranking.
Biederman: "To move in the ranks from one rank, for example, at Harvard, there is instructor, from instructor you move to assistant professor, from assistant professor you move to associate professor, from associate professor you move to full professor."
Lawyer: "Full professor?"
Biederman: "Mm-hmm."
Lawyer: "What rank are you?"
Biederman: "Full professor."
Lawyer: "What's after that?"
Biederman: "God."
Lawyer: "Did you say God?"
Biederman: "Yeah."
Posted by azileretsis at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2010
instant
I'm not a fan of Google Instant, not yet anyways. It's a little distracting for the search results to be changing while I'm still inputing terms. I also liked the Google search history. But, I don't think it's going to change Search Engine Optimization (SEO) too much, the paid searches are still on top and Google now has the ability to not only charge by word by also by parts of words.
Posted by azileretsis at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)
stewardship
Recently, I heard a leader in the local community state those in the healthcare industry will not have any problems in this recession due to the recent legislative changes. He seemed to hint that it would be more like a buffet line. This attitude augments my fears on the longevity of the current policies.
It also speaks of an attitude that is prevalent in American society of "getting one's own". Even in spite of a recession that currently has an unemployment rate close to 10%, an attitude toward restraint doesn't exist. However, we can't blame the government though they really do not provide the best model (Why can't the current administration think of a better economic plan than one that is dated to the 1930s?). It has to start at home, our communities and businesses. Government money isn't money falling out of the sky but a loan against our children's future or more importantly, our nation's future.
Posted by azileretsis at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)
September 09, 2010
ethics
Catching up on my reading recently, I came across this article about some Duke researchers and their potential improprieties. Then, this morning, I found an older scientific ethics case from the targeted researcher's point of view.
From my personal experiences, I know that the general academic environment is a trustworthy one and ethics are seldom the issue. Academic life requires that we trust fellow researchers. Yet, among sheep, wolves in sheep clothing are more difficult to detect. Both the whistle blower and researcher get harmed no matter what the final conclusions of an investigation are due to the tight nature of our communities. So, is there a trend toward giving the benefit of doubt toward potential ethics cases? Is there meaningful ways to protect the parties' academic standings during the investigation process?
Posted by azileretsis at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)