BlogHer - Research, Academia & Education - Comments

Current uni student

Aisha — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:44:56 -0500

I'm an Ohioan, waiting to see what happens with our state budget, as our Governor butts heads with the State representatives and senators who are refusing to pass the budget as it stands currently. They are fighting over gambling, but that's not the point.

They have cut a scholarship that I was awarded at my high school graduation last year - $2200 gone, just like that, with little to no comment by anyone. When I contacted my financial aid office to ask if there were any other alternative grants or scholarships I could get to replace the lost money, they told me to get my parents to co-sign a loan. The state is now looking at cutting a grant program that puts out almost $2500 worth of my state school education. I haven't bothered to contact my school yet, because they will most likely tell me that it's a game of wait-and-see, which it is. (the $4700 total covers over half of my yearly tuition, which is most likely going to be made up with in the form of government loans, which, while more generous than what I could get at Chase or elsewhere (interest rate wise), is still a debt I was hoping to keep low without having to hold 2 or 3 jobs to pull off.)

The state is headed into its third year of tuition freeze, which has not had much affect on my pursuit of my degrees, because the university keeps finding other places where a fee would be 'necessary.'

So I'm not sympathetic to professors who are complaining about pay cuts. i have had professors flat out state that they don't give written exams because too many students failed them in the past; instead of pushing us to excel, they are accepting mediocrity as the norm. How many other professors do this? To argue that they will have to give less exams or fewer papers seems ridiculous to me, having experienced this in the vast majority of classes I have taken, even before the budget cuts began to roll out.

I'm already feeling the budget cuts, I shouldn't have to feel them from my professors as well.

Academic Freedom

David D — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:20:41 -0500

There will certainly be lots of litigation about this. Each campus should have a "shared governance agreement" in which the role of the faculty in specific matters is spelled out, so in those matters no administrator could take action against a faculty member. If, for example, the SGA specified that faculty have a voice in budget decisions a faculty member who said that administrators were overpaid would be protected from retaliation by administrators. If, on the other hand, faculty have an SGA that does not give faculty a voice in budget matters, faculty may find themseleves on the losing side.

Hear hear!

Grey — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:47:09 -0500

As an environmental scientist I am frequently blown away by what I would call an anti-science, almost anti-intellectualism current that runs through society. There seems to be a lack of understanding regarding the basic tenants of science and a lot of disbelief and distrust of scientific principles. I'm almost afraid that people associate science with a political agenda, and therefore have a misplaced mistrust. (This is not to say that there aren't researchers without a political agenda and that there is not misinformation presented by the media, but I talking about science at its purist, I suppose.)

I wanted to add two great blogs to your list:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/ I think many are familiar with the Bad Astronomer for debunking bad science in the media, but Phil discusses a number of topics outside of that.

http://sciencebasedmedicine.com/ This is an excellent blog/science resource that deals with controversial medicine issues and the misinformation about alternative medicines. They have some great information regarding the anti-vaccination movement in this county and the dangers inherent in that movement.

Thanks for tackling this topic!!!

Grey is a slightly neurotic twenty-nine year old single mother of three boys, scientist, environmentalist, feminist, and frugalista who handles life with humor and blogging at http;//2ndverse.blogspot.com/

It is a multi-layerd problem

Gena Haskett — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:47:20 -0500

I don't think the Beeb does it perfectly but they better than American broadcast media in terms of presenting information. They got the shift in technology and user participation faster than American media. The BBC continue to provide content that the world appreciates.

Even PBS is a little suspect because of corporate funding issues.

There are good reporters. But you have/had an infrastructure that prevented them from being full participants. If there is a budget crises in a school district you rarely saw an article that talked about the impact on inadequate science education for students that would impact their ability to get a job.

You rarely see science based articles about the organic foods in mainstream women's magazines. ConAgra wouldn't stand for it and the magazines couldn't afford the loss of advertisers. Question the safety of HFCS next to an ad for Karo syrup? I don't think so.

People are talking about science issues. They want to make sense of science issues and their world. The dispensers of that information do a poor job. That is why there is such an great time for the worst kind of PR, video PR and entrepreneurial opportunists to have a say.

Gena - Out On The Stoop

There Are Other Factors That Affect Science Communication

Gena Haskett — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:46:22 -0500

If a segment of population has had a history of medical exploitation then they bring that to the table in being hesitant to get vaccinated. They will distrust before verifying. If there is no easy way to evaluate the benefits and liabilities of vaccination some people are going to go with their feelings.

If someone writes a book or a pamphlet telling them they should not do it and there is no accessible resource for them to verify what are they supposed to do?

Keeping people ignorant of science issues has a monetary benefit that shouldn't be ignored. I use to drink a beverage that claimed to have extra vitamins. One day I read the label. I stopped drink it that moment and haven't touched at it again.

It was only when I was ready to know that I could learn the truth.

Thanks for reading.

Gena - Out On The Stoop

Vaccination Issue

MLOKnitting — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:05:24 -0500

I think the most effective way to get across to mothers what it means to not vaccinate is to present them with the pictures of the victims of the diseases that we vaccinate against. I was a history major who actually saw those pictures. Nobody who sees those pictures - and has a lick of sense - would choose not to vaccinate.(Not vaccinating due to egg allergy is not choosing not to vaccinate!)

Images have a much greater impact on people than numbers. This is the reason that Ross Perot's pie charts and bar graphs were so effective.

MLO / Melissa

skilled science journalist?!?!?!?!

MLOKnitting — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:01:38 -0500

I believe the last skilled science journalist might have existed in the 1970s. I have to say the science reporting in any field that I have been involved in has, for lack of less colorful language, been piss poor and sensationalistic. Now, that may be because of editorial standards lessening and the refocus on silly celebrity news - as well as pandering to the most base of the population.

I have really lost all respect for US science reporters. About the only easily available general science reporting that isn't a science-only resource I can recommend to anyone is the BBC. I have found less overall misinformation there than anywhere else.

Part of the problem is the lack of knowledge around statsitics and the scientific method. Both can be manipulated. (Having worked in research arenas, I know that data is manipulated to get desired results.) Even such esteemed journals as JAMA can no longer be trusted due to the politicization and monetization of science. (That is a whole other issue.) But the lack of basic education in both statistics and science has left the general public easily manipulated. Spin the findings - while not lying - and they can say what you want them to say.

I know I have read blogs, books, journals, and articles while asking questions about who was excluded and what criteria was used and then realized that no one is going to realize a 2 times greater incidence is going to be the only thing heard without anyone realizing that incidence is only .05%! That is a very common way of manipulating the public. And that is only one issue in the lack of science communications. Until people's innumeracy and lack of science education is fixed, this problem isn't going to go away from having even more journalism and English majors or folks who couldn't do science continuing to be the main conduits of scientific information to the public.

MLO / Melissa

Totally agree

moonfever0 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:21:56 -0500

I'm an engineer and I totally eat up podcasts like NPR Technology, Scientific American's 60 Second Science and WNYC's Radio Lab. But I'm definitely in the minority when it comes to science and women. These podcasts are so well done, I think it would appeal to women if they tried it.

I also think the whole debate on vaccinations hinges on the lack of good science communications to mothers. It is easier to appeal to the emotional side of the issue as opposed to the scientific.

Angela at mommy bytes
BlogHer Contributing Editor in Mommy & Family Cribsheet

Gosh How Brave

jodevizes — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:53:16 -0500

I never thought I would see somebody criticise the great Oprah. Well done I quite agree, even the books she choses are somewhat light weight. But I guess that is why she has mass appeal, style over substance.

Jo Devizes from London www.yourpower2be.com

frightening

mashadutoit — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:01:08 -0500

This is truely frightening.

Similar things have been happening at our University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, where the university has brought law suits against academics for speaking out of turn.

I'm most chilled by that last sentence: " has been supportive of transparency and freedom, but it may not be a right."

Looking at the details of a

avflox — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:42:32 -0500

Looking at the details of a study is important. It never ceases to amaze me how many people present the evidence in their writing without taking a loot--I did and now I wish I had taken more time to do the research. That's the key of science, isn't it? Question everything.

Excellently written.

I used to live in Austin

Virginia DeBolt — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:23:26 -0500

where they know how to throw a party with music. The Juneteenth events always had such great music. I'd never heard of Junteenth before living in Texas. It's an event that deserves a wider level of celebration.

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer CE
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

I Was Blow Away By Saffire

Gena Haskett — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:53:32 -0500

I did not know about them, never saw a reference or anything printed mention about the group so to find them was a shock and a joy.

It is the kind of thing where I might have poo-poo'ed as a teenage funkateer but I would have definitely wanted to know about as an adult.

Gena - Out On The Stoop

Juneteenth in Roxbury

Candelaria Silva — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:34:59 -0500

This Saturday is the Juneteenth Celebration in Roxbury (Boston), MA. It's called the Roxbury Homecoming Picnic and droves of people will barbecue, dance and visit in Franklin Park.

Thanks for the videos. I'm checking them out.

ttp://blog.candelarisilva.com

Good and plenty!

Thanks for the shoutout!

Tom Krieglstein — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:23:15 -0500

Hi Leslie,

Wanted to a) thank you for the shoutout to The Student Affairs Collaborative Blog and b) see if you could change the URL that you have as it's an older URL and about 5 month ago we changed to www.thesabloggers.org

Thanks again!