Rather a misleading headline... "in charge of" success launch would have been more appropriate.
The Economic Times: ISRO's GSAT-12: Woman scientist responsible for successful launch
SRIHARIKOTA (Andhra Pradesh): A woman scientist is responsible for the successful functioning of India's latest communication satellite GSAT-12, launched Friday from the space port here, 80 km north of Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai.
TK Anuradha, the first woman ever to be the satellite project director at the country's space agency, specialises in satellite checkout systems, electronic checking of satellite's performance in space, an ISRO official told IANS.
Anuradha, in her 50s, has been with the Indian Space Research Organisation for three decades now, the official said. She heads the GSAT-12 project at the ISRO Space Centre at Bangalore.
The Rs.80 crore GSAT-12 has 12 extended C-band transponders - automatic receivers and transmitters for communication and broadcast of signals.
The satellite with a life span of about eight years will augment transponder capacity of the Indian National Satellite (Insat) system. It is also expected to serve the Very Small Aperture Terminal (V-SAT) sector. VSATs are used to transmit data like point of sale transactions or to provide satellite internet access.
It will also be useful for various communication services like tele-education, tele-medicine and for village resource centres.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Conservation of an endangered species: the female scientist
From Guardian.co.uk: Conservation of an endangered species: the female scientist
Why is it that less than 10% of all professors in UK science are women? Almost half of GCSE and A-level students studying science are female, so lack of interest at school is not the explanation. Yet, as a woman in science you get used to attending conferences and committee meetings where having two X chromosomes makes you a rare commodity.
Admittedly, there are many positive side-effects to being a minority group and there are plenty of official pats on the back for being a women and being a scientist. There are perks for the female scientist who clings to her career long enough: we get asked to join committees as the "female representative" (note the singular here), or added to speaker-lists at the last minute, when the organisers realise they've only asked men to speak.
But the whole picture doesn't sit well with the progressive, gender-equal 21st century we're told we live in. Neither does it really address the issue, and although some lucky individuals get picked up as poster girls for science, progress towards a healthy representation of women is unacceptably slow. So we ask the questions: why do women leave science, and how can we rectify this?
Contrary to popular opinion, the challenge is not in engaging girls with science at school. The challenge is about making them stay in science after degree level. For example, in biology, an extremely popular subject among young women, 60% of undergraduates are female. This number drops by almost half by the time women reach their first permanent position – university lecturer. And there is no levelling off after that. Those women that survive to become professors make up less than 15% of the positions..
Understanding why women leave science is a puzzle to many scientists: why would they leave a job they are passionate about? The thing is, when you're young, with few personal ties and responsibilities, you can wholeheartedly embrace your thirst for knowledge and your eagerness to advance that knowledge, and let it take you as and when it demands. The problems start when you hit your late-20s to mid-30s, when it begins to dawn that something in life is not quite matching up and that compromises have to be made.
Science is an increasingly competitive environment, with more people competing for diminishing pots of research money. Those that work the hardest, network the most effectively, and go where the best job opportunities are will be the ones that succeed. Yet in a society where parental care falls mostly to women, where salaries still favour men, where compromises in domestic life are more readily expected from women, and where childcare is costly and rarely easily accessible at the work place, maximizing your chances of academic success while aspiring to build a family can look quite incompatible for most women.
Of course, these challenges are not exclusive to scientists, but apply to any woman in a competitive work environment who needs to balance personal life with career aspirations and demands.
What can be done to help address the imbalance? Women's place in science is clear: relative to men we tend to excel in communication skills, social skills, multi-tasking, creative thinking and empathy – traits that are key to boosting scientific progress. These attributes can play a vital role in taking science to the next level, especially as it becomes more and more collaborative, integrative and innovative. Science needs women to help this happen.
What can we do to help the world benefit from more women in science? We don't need to worry too much about enthusing the most junior set as they are doing a good job for themselves, and in some cases outnumbering the men. Instead, we believe the key to increased representation of women in science lies firstly in ensuring that mechanisms are put in place for the career costs of parenthood to be more equally distributed between men and women.
We need to reduce the impact of career breaks on future professional advancements: for example by introducing a new section in all applications (grants, postdocs, lectureships) where scientists can fully document any career breaks they have had and the impact they perceive this has had on their research track record. We need to increase the provision and job opportunities for relocating families and partners. We should provide targeted support for women in their 30s who are typically in the transition between senior postdoc and an independent research position, and who often have gone beyond the stage of being eligible for the more junior fellowships.
Finally, we need visible female role models, willing to engage, share their experiences and push for implementation of measures like these to ensure women's representation in science improves, and goes from strength to strength. Everyone knows the world needs science. Many acknowledge that science needs women. Let's make it possible for science to get the women it needs.
Dr Nathalie Petorelli and Dr Seirian Sumner are research fellows at the Institute of Zoology, a division of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and a partner of the University of Cambridge. Both are co-organising the Soapbox Science event at London's South Bank on Friday 22 July, in association with the L'Oréal-Unesco for Women in Science programme and the ZSL.
Why is it that less than 10% of all professors in UK science are women? Almost half of GCSE and A-level students studying science are female, so lack of interest at school is not the explanation. Yet, as a woman in science you get used to attending conferences and committee meetings where having two X chromosomes makes you a rare commodity.
Admittedly, there are many positive side-effects to being a minority group and there are plenty of official pats on the back for being a women and being a scientist. There are perks for the female scientist who clings to her career long enough: we get asked to join committees as the "female representative" (note the singular here), or added to speaker-lists at the last minute, when the organisers realise they've only asked men to speak.
But the whole picture doesn't sit well with the progressive, gender-equal 21st century we're told we live in. Neither does it really address the issue, and although some lucky individuals get picked up as poster girls for science, progress towards a healthy representation of women is unacceptably slow. So we ask the questions: why do women leave science, and how can we rectify this?
Contrary to popular opinion, the challenge is not in engaging girls with science at school. The challenge is about making them stay in science after degree level. For example, in biology, an extremely popular subject among young women, 60% of undergraduates are female. This number drops by almost half by the time women reach their first permanent position – university lecturer. And there is no levelling off after that. Those women that survive to become professors make up less than 15% of the positions..
Understanding why women leave science is a puzzle to many scientists: why would they leave a job they are passionate about? The thing is, when you're young, with few personal ties and responsibilities, you can wholeheartedly embrace your thirst for knowledge and your eagerness to advance that knowledge, and let it take you as and when it demands. The problems start when you hit your late-20s to mid-30s, when it begins to dawn that something in life is not quite matching up and that compromises have to be made.
Science is an increasingly competitive environment, with more people competing for diminishing pots of research money. Those that work the hardest, network the most effectively, and go where the best job opportunities are will be the ones that succeed. Yet in a society where parental care falls mostly to women, where salaries still favour men, where compromises in domestic life are more readily expected from women, and where childcare is costly and rarely easily accessible at the work place, maximizing your chances of academic success while aspiring to build a family can look quite incompatible for most women.
Of course, these challenges are not exclusive to scientists, but apply to any woman in a competitive work environment who needs to balance personal life with career aspirations and demands.
What can be done to help address the imbalance? Women's place in science is clear: relative to men we tend to excel in communication skills, social skills, multi-tasking, creative thinking and empathy – traits that are key to boosting scientific progress. These attributes can play a vital role in taking science to the next level, especially as it becomes more and more collaborative, integrative and innovative. Science needs women to help this happen.
What can we do to help the world benefit from more women in science? We don't need to worry too much about enthusing the most junior set as they are doing a good job for themselves, and in some cases outnumbering the men. Instead, we believe the key to increased representation of women in science lies firstly in ensuring that mechanisms are put in place for the career costs of parenthood to be more equally distributed between men and women.
We need to reduce the impact of career breaks on future professional advancements: for example by introducing a new section in all applications (grants, postdocs, lectureships) where scientists can fully document any career breaks they have had and the impact they perceive this has had on their research track record. We need to increase the provision and job opportunities for relocating families and partners. We should provide targeted support for women in their 30s who are typically in the transition between senior postdoc and an independent research position, and who often have gone beyond the stage of being eligible for the more junior fellowships.
Finally, we need visible female role models, willing to engage, share their experiences and push for implementation of measures like these to ensure women's representation in science improves, and goes from strength to strength. Everyone knows the world needs science. Many acknowledge that science needs women. Let's make it possible for science to get the women it needs.
Dr Nathalie Petorelli and Dr Seirian Sumner are research fellows at the Institute of Zoology, a division of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and a partner of the University of Cambridge. Both are co-organising the Soapbox Science event at London's South Bank on Friday 22 July, in association with the L'Oréal-Unesco for Women in Science programme and the ZSL.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Maine Voices: Space exploration inspires the young
The Portland Press Herald: Maine Voices: Space exploration inspires the young
Author of this opinion piece, Elizabeth Robin Plumer is a Ph.D. biochemist and intellectual property attorney with a lifelong interest in space exploration. She lives in Southboro, Mass., and Saco.
Author of this opinion piece, Elizabeth Robin Plumer is a Ph.D. biochemist and intellectual property attorney with a lifelong interest in space exploration. She lives in Southboro, Mass., and Saco.
SACO - On May 5, 1961, the teachers at my elementary school herded us into the auditorium to witness Alan Shepard's historic launch. I counted down with the other first graders, our eyes fixed on the black-and-white image of a rocket ship on the portable television perched on the edge of the auditorium stage. The first graders were the lucky ones. We sat cross-legged on the floor right in front of the stage, while the older students languished in seats behind us, too far away from the screen to see more than fuzzy images. That day, America launched its first manned spaceship -- Alan Shepard aboard Friendship 7. I've been hooked on science ever since.
I grew up in a time marked by violence at home (President Kennedy's assassination in 1963; Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy's assassinations in 1968) and abroad (over 58,000 American soldiers dead in the Vietnam War). To my generation, the space program alone offered hope and inspiration, which is why people my age view the final launch of the space shuttle program with a sense of loss -- for ourselves and future generations.
KEEPING A DIARY
As a young girl, I kept a diary that chronicled the achievement of President Kennedy's goal of "sending a man to the moon and returning him safely to the Earth by the end of the decade." Forty years later, I can't remember the boys whose names pepper the pages of the diary, but I will never forget the Apollo 11 mission. I was 15 years old when I scribbled these entries:
Apollo is half way to the moon. I have just finished watching live telecast from the space craft. I feel as if I'm gazing back at history being made. (July 17, 1969).
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and Aldrin have landed on the moon (4:30 p.m.). The first step was taken around 10:00 pm. (July 20, 1969).
It is 8:40AM and with the exception of three hours, I've been up since 11:00AM yesterday. Last night we received live T.V. coverage of the first step. Successful blast for earth - 11:45 p.m. (July 21, 1969).
Apollo shall land this Thursday. God's speed and a safe return: Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins (July 22, 1969).
My words reflected who I was as an adolescent girl: optimistic and enthusiastic about the challenges ahead. The lunar mission showed me how exciting science could be. It was the reason I became a scientist and why after retiring, I began a second career teaching chemistry in a public high school. As far as I was concerned, there was no greater goal to which I could aspire.
My generation reaped the rewards of our parents' investment in space, from the technology behind personal computers and cell phones, to digital imaging softw--are and scratch-proof lenses. The intangible rewards were even greater. We learned that setting a goal is the first step toward achieving it.
Science and engineering careers are rewarding. Hard work creates opportunity.
On July 8, 2011, Shuttle Atlantis roared into the overcast sky on its final mission. It's touchdown marks the end of America's shuttle program. Commercial ventures are expected to develop more cost-effective technology to service the International Space Station but for the immediate future, America's astronauts will hitch rides to the space station aboard Russian Soyuz rockets. Thousands of NASA employees have been laid off because they no longer are needed.
What does this teach the next generation about the value of a science and engineering education?
TOMORROW'S ENGINEERS?
Today, so few American students study science, technology, engineering and math (the STEM curriculum), that our economic growth is threatened. The Department of Labor warns that if this trend continues, "more than 90 percent of all scientists and engineers in the world will live in Asia."
Meanwhile, China inspires its young people to pursue science and engineering careers as it tallies up its "firsts" in space (first manned launch, 2003; first space walk, 2006), and advances toward its first manned mission to the moon (scheduled for 2020 -- the same year the International Space Station is to be retired.).
Want to inspire the next generation to pursue careers in science and engineering? Let our elementary school children count down on America's first manned mission to Mars. I hope to count down with them.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Breast Milk Baby stirs debate over whether breastfeeding doll is appropriate for kids
Please god no parent would buy their child this abomination! [And are there really dolls that urinate and defecate? Jee-zus! No wonder 13 year old girls are having babies, they're taught to do it with their dolls from the age of 2 or 3!]
From MLive.com: Breast Milk Baby stirs debate over whether breastfeeding doll is appropriate for kids
The Breast Milk Baby doll that will soon be marketed in the U.S. has sparked a debate among readers. Many commenting on a story posted Wednesday say they are uncomfortable with a toy that lets children pretend they are breastfeeding.
Dolls have long come with bottles filled with a pretend milk, and children for decades have used them to feed babies. And mothers who nurse their babies say it's common for older siblings to imitate them, by pretending to breastfeed their dolls or stuffed animals.
Still, even among those who support breastfeeding, a $69 toy that makes sucking noises and mouth motions when held to a special halter top worn by the child goes a bit too far.
Here is a sample of the debate:
FormerNewsType asks:
Would it be inappropriate to buy a little girl a doll that sucks from a bottle? Probably not, since this is a classic and common toy. And if a bottle-fed doll is OK, then all these commenters really are against the nursing aspect of the doll. God forbid a doll should emulate something natural, healthy and nonsexual!
eazydoesit says:
I think this doll certainly challenges some of the more traditional, victorian sensibilities. However, I do not think it is inappropriate, nor will it lead to some sort of sexual revolution for pre-pubescent children. If anything, it may normalized some pretty healthy behaviors for kids.
However, jkh has doubts:
I'm not so sure that this doll is a good idea. I believe childrens minds can't truly comprehend nor should they comprehend at their age exactly what our bodies are created to be and do, therefore I think we could send some very mixed emotions (possibly not healthy) about sexuality being in its right place. I believe we need to grow to some level of maturity to understand breast feeding as it is meant to be. (loving, nurturing, bonding between mommy and baby).
And belvary70 says it introduces children to an adult topic too soon:
Why can't we let kids just be kids? Kids now are growing up way too fast and we really don't need to add to it. I feel like some in this article that this doll introduces a topic that im not comfortable discussing with my daughter. And I wonder should I be comfortable discussing it? I don't think so, I feel she is a kid and that discussing this with her may not be age appropriate. I know that its just breasts and they are their for the production of milk. I get the science behind it but I just don't think it's age appropriate.
MinnesotaKen says:
Now, even as a liberal, I think that this is taking things too far. I agree with bobbiez, just don't buy it.
Candice_Smith Fleszar_12 compared it to other dolls on the market that don't raise a controversy:
My daughters nursed their dolls on their own, after seeing me nurse their younger sisters. I wouldn't pay the retail this is asking, but we as a society don't seem to have a problem with little girls cleaning up urine or fecal matter from a doll in practicing their mommy skills. Some people seem to be so hung up on the fact that the breast is involved because it's so "adult." Thus, it must be sexual. I disagree with that sentiment.
And even some of those who support the concept questioned the price. Mark Moss says:
Nothing wrong with a little girl playing at suckling her baby doll, but there's plenty wrong when it takes $70 worth of technology to replace a kid's imagination.
Most people responding to a poll by this morning said they would not buy the doll:
• 91 said yes
• 291 said no
• 70 said they were not sure what to make of the doll yet.
From MLive.com: Breast Milk Baby stirs debate over whether breastfeeding doll is appropriate for kids
The Breast Milk Baby doll that will soon be marketed in the U.S. has sparked a debate among readers. Many commenting on a story posted Wednesday say they are uncomfortable with a toy that lets children pretend they are breastfeeding.
Dolls have long come with bottles filled with a pretend milk, and children for decades have used them to feed babies. And mothers who nurse their babies say it's common for older siblings to imitate them, by pretending to breastfeed their dolls or stuffed animals.
Still, even among those who support breastfeeding, a $69 toy that makes sucking noises and mouth motions when held to a special halter top worn by the child goes a bit too far.
Here is a sample of the debate:
FormerNewsType asks:
Would it be inappropriate to buy a little girl a doll that sucks from a bottle? Probably not, since this is a classic and common toy. And if a bottle-fed doll is OK, then all these commenters really are against the nursing aspect of the doll. God forbid a doll should emulate something natural, healthy and nonsexual!
eazydoesit says:
I think this doll certainly challenges some of the more traditional, victorian sensibilities. However, I do not think it is inappropriate, nor will it lead to some sort of sexual revolution for pre-pubescent children. If anything, it may normalized some pretty healthy behaviors for kids.
However, jkh has doubts:
I'm not so sure that this doll is a good idea. I believe childrens minds can't truly comprehend nor should they comprehend at their age exactly what our bodies are created to be and do, therefore I think we could send some very mixed emotions (possibly not healthy) about sexuality being in its right place. I believe we need to grow to some level of maturity to understand breast feeding as it is meant to be. (loving, nurturing, bonding between mommy and baby).
And belvary70 says it introduces children to an adult topic too soon:
Why can't we let kids just be kids? Kids now are growing up way too fast and we really don't need to add to it. I feel like some in this article that this doll introduces a topic that im not comfortable discussing with my daughter. And I wonder should I be comfortable discussing it? I don't think so, I feel she is a kid and that discussing this with her may not be age appropriate. I know that its just breasts and they are their for the production of milk. I get the science behind it but I just don't think it's age appropriate.
MinnesotaKen says:
Now, even as a liberal, I think that this is taking things too far. I agree with bobbiez, just don't buy it.
Candice_Smith Fleszar_12 compared it to other dolls on the market that don't raise a controversy:
My daughters nursed their dolls on their own, after seeing me nurse their younger sisters. I wouldn't pay the retail this is asking, but we as a society don't seem to have a problem with little girls cleaning up urine or fecal matter from a doll in practicing their mommy skills. Some people seem to be so hung up on the fact that the breast is involved because it's so "adult." Thus, it must be sexual. I disagree with that sentiment.
And even some of those who support the concept questioned the price. Mark Moss says:
Nothing wrong with a little girl playing at suckling her baby doll, but there's plenty wrong when it takes $70 worth of technology to replace a kid's imagination.
Most people responding to a poll by this morning said they would not buy the doll:
• 91 said yes
• 291 said no
• 70 said they were not sure what to make of the doll yet.
Science Camp Changes Girls' Vision of Their Future
ABC 2 WBAY news: Science Camp Changes Girls' Vision of Their Future
By Sara Kronenberg
Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton is seeing some younger students this week -- much younger.
Middle school-age girls are invading the campus for the annual Girl Tech summer program, which is opening their eyes to a future they probably hadn't thought of before.
The girls are getting their hands on things they normally wouldn't.
"Like soldering. Soldering's been my favorite, like, the whole Girl Tech," Emily Ebben said.
"I liked doing the welding classes. It was fun because you got to make, like, flower pots," Olivia Roehl said.
And they're getting ideas they didn't have before.
"I want to go into chemical engineering," Maggie Sullivan said.
This is great news to Karyn Schroeder. She works full-time for Kimberly Clark and is one of the visiting instructors at Girl Tech, which is a science camp at Fox Valley Tech for middle school girls.
"I think everyone I knew that was a scientist or an engineer was a guy, and they definitely weren't talking nail polish!" Schroeder said.
But this week she is talking nail polish -- and showing girls science doesn't always come in test tubes and can lead to a pretty cool career.
"I didn't know about engineering, science, math careers, but I really liked making my own colors, so I came up with a program that lets girls develop their own nail polish colors but also learn about the science, the research, and the engineering behind it," Schroeder said.
The girls are listening, and Schroeder is loving it.
"It's really nice to have somebody say, 'Wow, I could be like that!' or 'I didn't know that career existed!' and like 'Hmm, maybe that could be me!' They need that picture in their head of somebody they could be."
By Sara Kronenberg
Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton is seeing some younger students this week -- much younger.
Middle school-age girls are invading the campus for the annual Girl Tech summer program, which is opening their eyes to a future they probably hadn't thought of before.
The girls are getting their hands on things they normally wouldn't.
"Like soldering. Soldering's been my favorite, like, the whole Girl Tech," Emily Ebben said.
"I liked doing the welding classes. It was fun because you got to make, like, flower pots," Olivia Roehl said.
And they're getting ideas they didn't have before.
"I want to go into chemical engineering," Maggie Sullivan said.
This is great news to Karyn Schroeder. She works full-time for Kimberly Clark and is one of the visiting instructors at Girl Tech, which is a science camp at Fox Valley Tech for middle school girls.
"I think everyone I knew that was a scientist or an engineer was a guy, and they definitely weren't talking nail polish!" Schroeder said.
But this week she is talking nail polish -- and showing girls science doesn't always come in test tubes and can lead to a pretty cool career.
"I didn't know about engineering, science, math careers, but I really liked making my own colors, so I came up with a program that lets girls develop their own nail polish colors but also learn about the science, the research, and the engineering behind it," Schroeder said.
The girls are listening, and Schroeder is loving it.
"It's really nice to have somebody say, 'Wow, I could be like that!' or 'I didn't know that career existed!' and like 'Hmm, maybe that could be me!' They need that picture in their head of somebody they could be."
Monday, July 18, 2011
Scientific Diving: The Benefits of Being There
From Woods Hole Instsitute: Scientific Diving: The Benefits of Being There
[View the referenced videos at the link. Need to be on a computer]
Leah Houghton pulls on her wetsuit, shrugs into her weight belt, tank, and buoyancy vest, then slips over the side of a boat into balmy seas to count baby fish hiding in coral crevices. Erich Horgan hovers 60 feet below the sea surface, scanning the blue space that surrounds him and the four other divers attached to him by 30-foot lines. Pat Lohmann dons a dry suit on a wintry day on Cape Cod—the multiple layers take half an hour to put on—then grabs his tools and splashes into the icy seawater to switch out batteries on underwater instrument.
All three are researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) who were doing scientific scuba diving, a valuable but unheralded means of doing oceanographic research.
Oceanographers use tools and techniques ranging from nets to autonomous robots. Most measure or take samples while scientists stay on board a ship or ashore. Instruments can substitute for people’s hands and eyes, taking measurements more frequently, for longer timespans, in deeper waters and worse conditions than people can. But scuba is the one technique lets the scientists extend their own reach under water.
"The diving program at WHOI provides access to the shallow ocean for people who need to observe or manipulate things, in places where you can't do that with a remote device," said Larry Madin, WHOI director of research and a scientific diver. "It's much more effective to be there in person and be able to see what you're doing."
In the 1950s and 1960s, as scuba diving became popular for recreation, it also became a standard tool for research and equipment support. Scientific diving, though, is not the same as recreational scuba diving, even when it's done in the same places.
"We distinguish scientific diving from both recreational diving on the one hand and commercial diving on the other," said Madin. "Recreational divers go to have a nice time and can go or not as they choose. Commercial divers, on the other hand, work in difficult conditions, have a job to do, and a schedule to meet.
“Somewhere in between is scientific diving: We have a job to do, but it's a job of our own choosing, because it's our own research. We have a certain amount of choice in how we do it, but it's more than just going for fun, and we're probably going to be using more complex or unusual equipment than a recreational diver, doing tasks we need to complete in a certain time length, and being responsible for collecting data and samples, and at the same time, for diving safely and looking after the people with us."
Scientific diving requires specialized training, and the WHOI diving program provides that. WHOI has had just three diving safety officers: David Owen (1953-1980), Terry Rioux (1980-2010), and Edward O'Brien (currently). The program they developed over the years has trained and certified 418 divers in all, preparing them for whatever conditions their research requires and helping them maintain their expertise.
"It isn't leisure," said O'Brien. We have a saying here: The science controls the diving." Divers come to him with a problem, describing what they want to do under water, he said. Then they talk about it and come up with a solution that safely enables the research.
"It's all in the training," he said. "Everything's possible if you take it in small bits and focus on the task."
WHOI belongs to the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS), the professional organization established by scientific divers from research institutions around the country. AAUS defines what scientific diving consists of, promotes safe procedures and guidelines, and keeps track of safety records. A diver certified at WHOI can travel to another AAUS institution and be accepted as a diver with acknowledgement of their qualifications.
These three narrated audio slideshows profile different kinds of diving that WHOI researchers do in the course of their work.
[View the referenced videos at the link. Need to be on a computer]
Leah Houghton pulls on her wetsuit, shrugs into her weight belt, tank, and buoyancy vest, then slips over the side of a boat into balmy seas to count baby fish hiding in coral crevices. Erich Horgan hovers 60 feet below the sea surface, scanning the blue space that surrounds him and the four other divers attached to him by 30-foot lines. Pat Lohmann dons a dry suit on a wintry day on Cape Cod—the multiple layers take half an hour to put on—then grabs his tools and splashes into the icy seawater to switch out batteries on underwater instrument.
All three are researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) who were doing scientific scuba diving, a valuable but unheralded means of doing oceanographic research.
Oceanographers use tools and techniques ranging from nets to autonomous robots. Most measure or take samples while scientists stay on board a ship or ashore. Instruments can substitute for people’s hands and eyes, taking measurements more frequently, for longer timespans, in deeper waters and worse conditions than people can. But scuba is the one technique lets the scientists extend their own reach under water.
"The diving program at WHOI provides access to the shallow ocean for people who need to observe or manipulate things, in places where you can't do that with a remote device," said Larry Madin, WHOI director of research and a scientific diver. "It's much more effective to be there in person and be able to see what you're doing."
In the 1950s and 1960s, as scuba diving became popular for recreation, it also became a standard tool for research and equipment support. Scientific diving, though, is not the same as recreational scuba diving, even when it's done in the same places.
"We distinguish scientific diving from both recreational diving on the one hand and commercial diving on the other," said Madin. "Recreational divers go to have a nice time and can go or not as they choose. Commercial divers, on the other hand, work in difficult conditions, have a job to do, and a schedule to meet.
“Somewhere in between is scientific diving: We have a job to do, but it's a job of our own choosing, because it's our own research. We have a certain amount of choice in how we do it, but it's more than just going for fun, and we're probably going to be using more complex or unusual equipment than a recreational diver, doing tasks we need to complete in a certain time length, and being responsible for collecting data and samples, and at the same time, for diving safely and looking after the people with us."
Scientific diving requires specialized training, and the WHOI diving program provides that. WHOI has had just three diving safety officers: David Owen (1953-1980), Terry Rioux (1980-2010), and Edward O'Brien (currently). The program they developed over the years has trained and certified 418 divers in all, preparing them for whatever conditions their research requires and helping them maintain their expertise.
"It isn't leisure," said O'Brien. We have a saying here: The science controls the diving." Divers come to him with a problem, describing what they want to do under water, he said. Then they talk about it and come up with a solution that safely enables the research.
"It's all in the training," he said. "Everything's possible if you take it in small bits and focus on the task."
WHOI belongs to the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS), the professional organization established by scientific divers from research institutions around the country. AAUS defines what scientific diving consists of, promotes safe procedures and guidelines, and keeps track of safety records. A diver certified at WHOI can travel to another AAUS institution and be accepted as a diver with acknowledgement of their qualifications.
These three narrated audio slideshows profile different kinds of diving that WHOI researchers do in the course of their work.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Bee Movie - It Should Have Been Jockettes
I liked the first half of The Bee Movie when it came out a few years ago. The last half of it, with the bees suing humans, was terrible....
So they're showing it now, on TV, and I'm watching it, and it annoys me as much as ever.
Not that I still don't like the first half of it, but the fact is that the movie is factually wrong. It is the female bees that leave the hive to collect honey, it is the male bees that stay in the hive to service the queen.
But of course in the movie, it is the husky, handsome "Pollen Jocks" who fly out into the open, adventurous air, while the females stay in the hive and swoon when the Pollen Jocks come flying by.
(One has to wonder why the Pollen Jocks did not have any Jockettes among them. What were the movie makers trying to say about the equality of bee females?)
What the movie should have done was have the female bees be the Pollen Jockettes - they could still be feminine - think Emma Peel, Ziva David, etc - while the male bees are the timid ones in the hive. That would give Jerry Seinfeld's character all the more reason to want to leave the hive in search of adventure.
And it would also have shown girl viewers that a life of adventure was a normal life to want to have...
So they're showing it now, on TV, and I'm watching it, and it annoys me as much as ever.
Not that I still don't like the first half of it, but the fact is that the movie is factually wrong. It is the female bees that leave the hive to collect honey, it is the male bees that stay in the hive to service the queen.
But of course in the movie, it is the husky, handsome "Pollen Jocks" who fly out into the open, adventurous air, while the females stay in the hive and swoon when the Pollen Jocks come flying by.
(One has to wonder why the Pollen Jocks did not have any Jockettes among them. What were the movie makers trying to say about the equality of bee females?)
What the movie should have done was have the female bees be the Pollen Jockettes - they could still be feminine - think Emma Peel, Ziva David, etc - while the male bees are the timid ones in the hive. That would give Jerry Seinfeld's character all the more reason to want to leave the hive in search of adventure.
And it would also have shown girl viewers that a life of adventure was a normal life to want to have...
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Directed Viewing, Cartoons: Horseland
When I was a kid - 40 years ago, we had good cartoons. Johnny Quest, Shazam, etc. Cartoons that had role models, characters that were drawn to look normal, and no lewd, in-jokes.
If I had kids of cartoon-watching age, they'd only watch cartoons like that - none of this Spongebob Squarepants or Ren and Stimpy crap.
Horseland, which I just discovered today, has girls concentrating on learning to ride horses and dressage, rather than the sciences. There is multi-ethnic casting [- white, black, Mexican, Asian. The only drawback is that the characters are all drawn hyper-thin, giving the audience yet another look at the "ideal female form" that no girl could every accomplish by eating in a healthy manner.
Nevertheless, it seems to be a fun show.
At 10 am on this Saturday I turned on the TV, channel surfed, and found Horseland, which is on CBS. Never seen it before. It's a cartoon, the characters are mostly girls - and every single character - at least, that I've seen in this episode - is extremely thin.
It started out as an online game website: http://www.horseland.com/
The cartoon's official website:
http://www.cookiejartv.com/horseland.html
Original channel: CBS
Original run: September 16, 2006 (2006-09-16) – December 6, 2008 (2008-12-06)
Episodes: 39 (13 per season)
Animation style: Realistic (although the human characters are all hyper-thin, everyone from human to animal are drawn realistically).
From Wikipedia:
Horseland is an American animated series produced by DIC Entertainment. It is a animated drama and comic mischief program following events in the lives of a group of kids who are enrolled in Horseland, an Equestrian Academy. their adventures include riding, raising, and entering their horses in competitions. The show premiered on September 16, 2006 as part of CBS's new Saturday morning cartoon block, KOL Secret Slumber Party on CBS (now Cookie Jar TV). Concurrent with the series, the online virtual pet game that it was based upon was updated to complement the show by launching a new "Junior version" of the game based on the program and featuring its various characters and locations. After three seasons, the show's original run ended on CBS on September 19, 2009. Reruns of Horseland then aired nationwide on the digital subchannel This TV; two episodes aired each weekend until September, 2010.
As of February 5, 2011 Horseland is again part of Cookie Jar TV on CBS.
Characters
The characters of Horseland are usually limited to the group of kids who frequent the stable: Sara, Alma, Molly, Will, Bailey, Chloe and Zoey. However, some episodes (especially those which involve travelling), introduce onetime characters as a plot device, or focus on equine-centered dramas. Notably, nearly every character has a horse counterpart.
Sarah Whitney and Scarlet
Sarah is a twelve-year-old girl who likes to make friends. She often gets emotional, but is very friendly and loves to encourage others to do their best and have fun. She comes from a rich family, but does not consider herself better than others because of it. Sarah has blonde wavy hair with bleached highlights and light blue eyes. She also has silver hoop earrings with silver studs in her ears. Sarah's shown to wear a red riding jacket with a matching red necktie in most episodes. She has been seen in younger ages and different hairstyles in flashbacks.
Sarah's horse is Scarlet, a purebred Arabian mare who has a long, black mane and tail with red highlights. Scarlet is fearless, level headed, regal, but at times she can be moody and prefer to be left alone. She is patient and loving, much like her owner, and is great with the other kids. Her symbol is a red crown.
Alma Rodriguez and Button
Alma is twelve years old and comes from a tight-knit Hispanic family. Her father Jorge has worked as the manager of the stable at Horseland for over ten years. A lover of books, Alma seems to take every opportunity to read. She has a penpal named Alexander, who seems to have romantic feelingss for her. Alma's shown to wear a green riding vest on top of a white long-sleeved shirt in most episodes.
Alma's horse is Button, a black-and-white Pinto mare with a wavy black and white mane and tail with green highlights. Button is teasing and amiable, loving to play jokes on her friends and owner. When it all comes down to it, though, Button can be serious-minded, reliable, and very skilled in show jumping. Her symbol is a green four-leaf-clover.
Molly Washington and Calypso
Molly is an eleven year old African American girl who often deals with life's problems through humor. She is very funny, charismatic, and a free spirit. She makes fun of herself and, at times, her friends, which causes them to get annoyed at the fact that she doesn't seem to take much seriously. But Molly can become serious and rides a horse just as well as the others when her friends are counting on her. She is good at Western riding with Calypso and the only one to consistently wear her hair in a ponytail. Molly's shown to wear a pink riding jumper.
Molly's horse is Calypso, a brown Appaloosa mare with a flaxen mane and tail with pink highlights. She is amiable, laid back, affectionate, and a little slow. But when she learns something once, she's learned it for life. She loves her friends and rider dearly, and is particularly good friends with Button. She also has a noticeable Jamaican accent. Her symbol is a pink heart.
Chloe Stilton and Chili
Chloe is twelve years old and quite a confident young girl. She comes from a wealthy family and is typically self centered, shallow, and likes to let other people know of her talents. She has an unrequited crush on Bailey, and would stop at nothing to impress him. She is especially fond of clothes and makeup, and loves to look great when she rides. Though Chloe is competitive with her sister, Zoey, they still support each other when its important. Chloe has strawberry-blonde hair and green eyes. She is shown to wear a light purple jumper and a purple headband.
Chloe's horse is Chili, a light grey Dutch Warmblood stallion with light purple highlights. Chili shares Chloe's confidence to the point that he feels he is the most talented horse at Horseland, though he often feels upstaged and unappreciated by his showy rider. Though he and Aztec frequently disagree with each other, they don't let it ruin their friendship. Both Chili and his rider are talented in dressage. His symbol is a purple diamond.
Zoey Stilton and Pepper
Zoey, twelve years old and the younger of the Stilton twins, takes a more sneaky approach with her competitiveness, and is into fashion and makeup. She is talented in cross country, and shares her sister's crush on Bailey. She is competitive with her sister Chloe, though they still support each other when necessary. Although Zoey can be shallow and rude, she can also be considerate and nice. Zoey has red hair and green eyes and is shown to wear a light blue short-sleeved top.
Zoey's horse, Pepper, is a dark grey Dutch Warmblood mare with light blue highlights and a wavy tail. Pepper is quick-tempered and selfish, sporting a large ego and a confidence to match. While she loves her rider and is good friends with Chili, she isn't on such good terms with the other horses. Like Zoey, Pepper is snarky, spirited, and loves to compete. Her symbol is a light blue crescent moon.
Bailey Handler and Aztec
Bailey is the twelve-year-old son of the Horseland owners. He often takes risks and gambles without considering the consequences of his actions. He loves horses and animals, and insists that they be treated with kindness and gentleness. Bailey has a dark brown mullet and dark blue eyes. Bailey's shown to wear a dark blue long sleeved shirt which he rolls his sleeves up. In the first two seasons, he talks like a preteen boy and in season three, he talks like a teenage boy.
Bailey's horse is Aztec, a brown Kiger mustang with dark blue highlights. He frequently acts grumpy and nonchalant, but he does genuinely care about his friends and the other animals. He is often protective of his mare friends, much to their chagrin, and has shown great courage and leadership skills. His symbol is a dark blue lightning bolt.
Will Taggert and Jimber
Will is fifteen years old, relaxed, and good-looking, and is often put in charge of the ranch while Bailey's parents are away. He is Bailey's cousin and has lived with Bailey's family ever since he was a little boy. Mature and insightful, he often acts as an adult figure to the rest of the kids. He loves to listen to country music, ride horses, is great at horse riding; Western and English. He has blonde hair and blue eyes. He's shown to wear a black short-sleeved shirt with a horseshoe pendant around his neck. In the episode 'The Secret', it was also revealed that he has dyslexia.
Will's horse is Jimber, a powerful Palomino stallion with black highlights. Similar to Will, he has a commanding presence among the others at Horseland, and worked as a ranch horse before coming to the stable. He's a bit older in years in comparison to the other horses, but is dependable and wise. His symbol is a black star.
ShepS
hep is a male Collie, and acts as the leader of all non-horse animals at Horseland. He is a very loyal ranch dog and always helps the horses in times of trouble. He is often the voice of reason for Teeny and Angora, and, to illustrate a moral or lesson, often relates stories to Teeny. His owner is Bailey, and Shep has been with him since puphood.
Teeny
Teeny is a young, chubby black-and-white pig who wears a pink ribbon on her tail. She displays an innocent, naive personality, and often becomes anxious over relatively small situations. Shep usually acts as a friend and mentor to Teeny, in contrast to Angora, who frequently teases her. She adores her food (and eating in general).
Angora
Angora is a gray, long-haired cat with long a bang, white chest tuft, green eyes and a pink collar. She is often dismissive of other animals, and feels that she deserves better treatment than anyone else. A running gag in the series involves her love of trouble (and hatred of peace) at Horseland. However, she shows genuine concern whenever Shep and Teeny are in true danger. Her favorite people at the stables are Chloe and Zoey because they are so much like her.
Secondary characters
Simbala and Ranak
Simbala is an Indian girl who meets the Horseland gang on a trip to France in the episode "International Sarah". She is tends to say "yuk", thoughtful. She is proud of her culture, and wears traditional dress and a bindi. Her father knows Sarah's father, and the two girls become fast friends after falling into an underground cave. She loves riding, fresh fruit, and dental floss.
Simbala's horse is Ranak, a spirited black stallion with a white face who hates plane rides, but enjoys sugar cubes and being outdoors. After initially irritating the other horses with his worried whinnying, he apologizes and becomes good friends with them. He also has an Arabian accent. His color is dark blue.
Jesse Golden and Buddy
Jesse is a boy who visits Horseland while his parents' ranch, Golden Corral Ranch, is being remodeled. He appears in the episode "Bailey's New Friend." Like Bailey, he enjoys sports, taking care of his horse, talking, and is a bit of a dare devil. Both Molly and Alma think that he's a "cutie", but Zoey and Chloe think he's "hot".
Jesse's horse is Buddy, is a black, strong, Rocky Mountain Horse. He is brave, headstrong, and misses his home while away. His color is dark turquoise.
Alexander Buglick and Bucephalus
Alexander is Alma's pen pal, seen in the episode "First Love". While his letters to her made him seem like a wealthy champion rider, an intentional facade meant to impress her, he really only rides for fun, and is rather timid. His parents are the proprietors of a traveling circus. However, he admires Alma and her riding abilities, and shares her love of reading. He likes to compare himself with the great Macedonian general, Alexander the Great.
His horse is a kind, modest, black stallion named Bucephalus, in honor of Alexander the Great's famous steed. He performs in the circus and enjoys his life, despite its lack of glamour. His color is maroon.
Mary Whitney and Prince
Mary is Sarah's cousin, a humorous, independent girl who doesn't let the fact that she is blind get in her way. Mary appears in the episode "A True Gift." She has a clever comeback for most insults that Chloe and Zoey throw at her, and dislikes it when her friends are overly patronizing. She loves horses and riding, especially outdoors.
Mary's horse is Prince, a white Thoroughbred male who is rumored to be the fastest horse ever to come to Horseland, a 'fact' that riles Scarlet. Sarah temporarily rode him in Scarlet's place in order to make sure that he was a good enough mount for Mary. He also has a wavy mane and tail. His color is sky blue.
Talia Bentley and Kisses
Talia is a talented but mean-spirited girl who is both confident and competitive. She appears in the episode "Changing Spots." She is the premier show jumper at Stanhope Academy, Horseland's biggest rival. She is Alma's arch-nemesis, and the two show special animosity towards each other after they get in a fight about who deserves to win an upcoming competition.
Talia's horse is Kisses, a beautiful white mare of an unknown breed, although it is assumed that she is a purebred. She is an excellent show jumper, but is never given a chance to speak to any of the other horses. Her highlight color is light pink.
Chase Whitney and Wonder
Chase is Sarah's cousin who comes to visit in the episode 'The Secret.' He is dyslexic, a fact which he tries to hide. Chase has light brown hair and blue eyes.
His horse Wonder is a dark bay Anglo-Arabian stallion. Wonder never talks to any of the horses in the episode. His color is forest green.
Nani Cloud and Sunburst
Nani is an eleven-year-old Native American girl who appears in multiple episodes during season three. She is very defensive of her heritage, but deeper aspects of her personality are yet to be seen. She enjoys nature. Nani has black hair and hazel eyes. For the rest of the third season she is quick to be defensive with Zoey and Chloe and, sometimes, even Molly. Nani's shown to wear light yellow for important events. She casually wears light blue.
Nani's horse is Sunburst, a light-colored American Paint Horse with yellow highlights. He prefers to be ridden bareback, and dislikes saddles. At first he starts out on bad terms with Pepper, although the two eventually become friends. He has a single little braid under his mane and his icon is a light blue sun.
Other characters
Jasmine and Amber
Jasmine and Amber are two of Molly's close friends from the city. Both of the girls are confident, playful, and loyal friends of Molly. Neither of them attend Horseland, but do express an interest in horseback riding. Despite frequently teasing Molly, the two are genuinely supportive of her interests. Amber is African-American, and has dark brown eyes and long wavy hair. Jasmine is of an Asian ethniticity, and has light hazel eyes and dark-colored hair.
Linnea, Alexia and Windy
Linnea is a princess that visits Horseland in disguise, pretending to be the princesses' assistant, while Alexia, her maid, pretends to be the princess. Both have light blonde hair, blue eyes, and favor the color light pink, although Alexia is much shorter than her companion. Linnea is close friends with Sarah. Linnea's horse is Windy, a mare who looks like Talia's Kisses and wears an ornate bridle. She also has a wavy mane and tail. She doesn't understand English and only speaks her native tongue, so when Scarlet introduces herself, Windy becomes too shy to respond.
Competitors
Shown in the episode "Win Some, Lose Some," these girls and their horses ride for local stables and compete against Alma, Molly, and Sarah.
Megan Shaw is a rider from Blue Meadow stables. She has light green eyes and wavy brown hair. Megan's shown to wear lime green. Her horse is chestnut-colored.
Katie Green is a rider from Shenandoah Stables. She has strawberry-blonde hair in a ponytail, and rides a light brown/white appaloosa. Katie's shown to wear royal blue, although her appaloosa has been shown having both royal and light blue highlights.
Carrie Jenkins is a rider from Piedmont Stables. She is a capable rider, as shown when she takes the lead in a jumping competition. She has long, curly, blonde hair and hazel eyes. She rides a dun horse. Carrie's shown to wear reddish-pink.
Diablo
Diablo is a red stallion with an injured back leg who belongs to a girl named Madison and initially has an aggressive behavior. His only appearance is "The Horse Whisperer". His name means "devil" in Spanish. He has a wavy mane and tail.
Puma
Puma is a light-colored wild mustang staying at Horseland. His mane and tail are highlighted in black and white. His only appearance is in the episode "Wild Horses", where he tells Aztec what it's like to live in the wild, prompting Aztec to run away.
Wild Horses
These horses are met by Aztec when he runs away from Horseland. The two identified by name are Chaco, a black herd stallion who doesn't want Aztec on its territory, and Mesa, a palomino colt that befriends Aztec. Other horses in the herd are a pair of bays, Mesa's palomino mother, and a piebald tobiano mare. They all have plain manes and tails.
River
River is a famous racehorse that comes to Horseland to recuperate from a leg injury. He is dark grey with a white mane and tail, and has light blue highlights. His only appearance is "A Horse Named River" and according to this episode, he is the eldest horse who speaks with an elderly voice. He was younger and belonged to an unnamed girl in flashbacks.
Buttercup
In "The Best Loss," Buttercup is a palomino mare belonging to one of the judges. She is gentle and sweet, and her color is light turquoise. She is the only horse who doesn't meet any of the others in this episode.
Cream and Sugar
Cream is a white foal that has light pink highlights and her sister, Sugar, is a Dutch Warmblood that has light blue highlights. They are fraternal twins and they only appear in "Oh, Baby". They are the youngest horses to have a long mane and tail just like grownup horses have.
Misc. Animals
There are two more animals who appear in one episode or a few. Mosey is an old black cat, comical and eccentric, and Cubby is a furry puppy
(Episode guide is at Wikipedia.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseland_(TV_series)
If I had kids of cartoon-watching age, they'd only watch cartoons like that - none of this Spongebob Squarepants or Ren and Stimpy crap.
Horseland, which I just discovered today, has girls concentrating on learning to ride horses and dressage, rather than the sciences. There is multi-ethnic casting [- white, black, Mexican, Asian. The only drawback is that the characters are all drawn hyper-thin, giving the audience yet another look at the "ideal female form" that no girl could every accomplish by eating in a healthy manner.
Nevertheless, it seems to be a fun show.
At 10 am on this Saturday I turned on the TV, channel surfed, and found Horseland, which is on CBS. Never seen it before. It's a cartoon, the characters are mostly girls - and every single character - at least, that I've seen in this episode - is extremely thin.
It started out as an online game website: http://www.horseland.com/
The cartoon's official website:
http://www.cookiejartv.com/horseland.html
Original channel: CBS
Original run: September 16, 2006 (2006-09-16) – December 6, 2008 (2008-12-06)
Episodes: 39 (13 per season)
Animation style: Realistic (although the human characters are all hyper-thin, everyone from human to animal are drawn realistically).
From Wikipedia:
Horseland is an American animated series produced by DIC Entertainment. It is a animated drama and comic mischief program following events in the lives of a group of kids who are enrolled in Horseland, an Equestrian Academy. their adventures include riding, raising, and entering their horses in competitions. The show premiered on September 16, 2006 as part of CBS's new Saturday morning cartoon block, KOL Secret Slumber Party on CBS (now Cookie Jar TV). Concurrent with the series, the online virtual pet game that it was based upon was updated to complement the show by launching a new "Junior version" of the game based on the program and featuring its various characters and locations. After three seasons, the show's original run ended on CBS on September 19, 2009. Reruns of Horseland then aired nationwide on the digital subchannel This TV; two episodes aired each weekend until September, 2010.
As of February 5, 2011 Horseland is again part of Cookie Jar TV on CBS.
Characters
The characters of Horseland are usually limited to the group of kids who frequent the stable: Sara, Alma, Molly, Will, Bailey, Chloe and Zoey. However, some episodes (especially those which involve travelling), introduce onetime characters as a plot device, or focus on equine-centered dramas. Notably, nearly every character has a horse counterpart.
Sarah Whitney and Scarlet
Sarah is a twelve-year-old girl who likes to make friends. She often gets emotional, but is very friendly and loves to encourage others to do their best and have fun. She comes from a rich family, but does not consider herself better than others because of it. Sarah has blonde wavy hair with bleached highlights and light blue eyes. She also has silver hoop earrings with silver studs in her ears. Sarah's shown to wear a red riding jacket with a matching red necktie in most episodes. She has been seen in younger ages and different hairstyles in flashbacks.
Sarah's horse is Scarlet, a purebred Arabian mare who has a long, black mane and tail with red highlights. Scarlet is fearless, level headed, regal, but at times she can be moody and prefer to be left alone. She is patient and loving, much like her owner, and is great with the other kids. Her symbol is a red crown.
Alma Rodriguez and Button
Alma is twelve years old and comes from a tight-knit Hispanic family. Her father Jorge has worked as the manager of the stable at Horseland for over ten years. A lover of books, Alma seems to take every opportunity to read. She has a penpal named Alexander, who seems to have romantic feelingss for her. Alma's shown to wear a green riding vest on top of a white long-sleeved shirt in most episodes.
Alma's horse is Button, a black-and-white Pinto mare with a wavy black and white mane and tail with green highlights. Button is teasing and amiable, loving to play jokes on her friends and owner. When it all comes down to it, though, Button can be serious-minded, reliable, and very skilled in show jumping. Her symbol is a green four-leaf-clover.
Molly Washington and Calypso
Molly is an eleven year old African American girl who often deals with life's problems through humor. She is very funny, charismatic, and a free spirit. She makes fun of herself and, at times, her friends, which causes them to get annoyed at the fact that she doesn't seem to take much seriously. But Molly can become serious and rides a horse just as well as the others when her friends are counting on her. She is good at Western riding with Calypso and the only one to consistently wear her hair in a ponytail. Molly's shown to wear a pink riding jumper.
Molly's horse is Calypso, a brown Appaloosa mare with a flaxen mane and tail with pink highlights. She is amiable, laid back, affectionate, and a little slow. But when she learns something once, she's learned it for life. She loves her friends and rider dearly, and is particularly good friends with Button. She also has a noticeable Jamaican accent. Her symbol is a pink heart.
Chloe Stilton and Chili
Chloe is twelve years old and quite a confident young girl. She comes from a wealthy family and is typically self centered, shallow, and likes to let other people know of her talents. She has an unrequited crush on Bailey, and would stop at nothing to impress him. She is especially fond of clothes and makeup, and loves to look great when she rides. Though Chloe is competitive with her sister, Zoey, they still support each other when its important. Chloe has strawberry-blonde hair and green eyes. She is shown to wear a light purple jumper and a purple headband.
Chloe's horse is Chili, a light grey Dutch Warmblood stallion with light purple highlights. Chili shares Chloe's confidence to the point that he feels he is the most talented horse at Horseland, though he often feels upstaged and unappreciated by his showy rider. Though he and Aztec frequently disagree with each other, they don't let it ruin their friendship. Both Chili and his rider are talented in dressage. His symbol is a purple diamond.
Zoey Stilton and Pepper
Zoey, twelve years old and the younger of the Stilton twins, takes a more sneaky approach with her competitiveness, and is into fashion and makeup. She is talented in cross country, and shares her sister's crush on Bailey. She is competitive with her sister Chloe, though they still support each other when necessary. Although Zoey can be shallow and rude, she can also be considerate and nice. Zoey has red hair and green eyes and is shown to wear a light blue short-sleeved top.
Zoey's horse, Pepper, is a dark grey Dutch Warmblood mare with light blue highlights and a wavy tail. Pepper is quick-tempered and selfish, sporting a large ego and a confidence to match. While she loves her rider and is good friends with Chili, she isn't on such good terms with the other horses. Like Zoey, Pepper is snarky, spirited, and loves to compete. Her symbol is a light blue crescent moon.
Bailey Handler and Aztec
Bailey is the twelve-year-old son of the Horseland owners. He often takes risks and gambles without considering the consequences of his actions. He loves horses and animals, and insists that they be treated with kindness and gentleness. Bailey has a dark brown mullet and dark blue eyes. Bailey's shown to wear a dark blue long sleeved shirt which he rolls his sleeves up. In the first two seasons, he talks like a preteen boy and in season three, he talks like a teenage boy.
Bailey's horse is Aztec, a brown Kiger mustang with dark blue highlights. He frequently acts grumpy and nonchalant, but he does genuinely care about his friends and the other animals. He is often protective of his mare friends, much to their chagrin, and has shown great courage and leadership skills. His symbol is a dark blue lightning bolt.
Will Taggert and Jimber
Will is fifteen years old, relaxed, and good-looking, and is often put in charge of the ranch while Bailey's parents are away. He is Bailey's cousin and has lived with Bailey's family ever since he was a little boy. Mature and insightful, he often acts as an adult figure to the rest of the kids. He loves to listen to country music, ride horses, is great at horse riding; Western and English. He has blonde hair and blue eyes. He's shown to wear a black short-sleeved shirt with a horseshoe pendant around his neck. In the episode 'The Secret', it was also revealed that he has dyslexia.
Will's horse is Jimber, a powerful Palomino stallion with black highlights. Similar to Will, he has a commanding presence among the others at Horseland, and worked as a ranch horse before coming to the stable. He's a bit older in years in comparison to the other horses, but is dependable and wise. His symbol is a black star.
ShepS
hep is a male Collie, and acts as the leader of all non-horse animals at Horseland. He is a very loyal ranch dog and always helps the horses in times of trouble. He is often the voice of reason for Teeny and Angora, and, to illustrate a moral or lesson, often relates stories to Teeny. His owner is Bailey, and Shep has been with him since puphood.
Teeny
Teeny is a young, chubby black-and-white pig who wears a pink ribbon on her tail. She displays an innocent, naive personality, and often becomes anxious over relatively small situations. Shep usually acts as a friend and mentor to Teeny, in contrast to Angora, who frequently teases her. She adores her food (and eating in general).
Angora
Angora is a gray, long-haired cat with long a bang, white chest tuft, green eyes and a pink collar. She is often dismissive of other animals, and feels that she deserves better treatment than anyone else. A running gag in the series involves her love of trouble (and hatred of peace) at Horseland. However, she shows genuine concern whenever Shep and Teeny are in true danger. Her favorite people at the stables are Chloe and Zoey because they are so much like her.
Secondary characters
Simbala and Ranak
Simbala is an Indian girl who meets the Horseland gang on a trip to France in the episode "International Sarah". She is tends to say "yuk", thoughtful. She is proud of her culture, and wears traditional dress and a bindi. Her father knows Sarah's father, and the two girls become fast friends after falling into an underground cave. She loves riding, fresh fruit, and dental floss.
Simbala's horse is Ranak, a spirited black stallion with a white face who hates plane rides, but enjoys sugar cubes and being outdoors. After initially irritating the other horses with his worried whinnying, he apologizes and becomes good friends with them. He also has an Arabian accent. His color is dark blue.
Jesse Golden and Buddy
Jesse is a boy who visits Horseland while his parents' ranch, Golden Corral Ranch, is being remodeled. He appears in the episode "Bailey's New Friend." Like Bailey, he enjoys sports, taking care of his horse, talking, and is a bit of a dare devil. Both Molly and Alma think that he's a "cutie", but Zoey and Chloe think he's "hot".
Jesse's horse is Buddy, is a black, strong, Rocky Mountain Horse. He is brave, headstrong, and misses his home while away. His color is dark turquoise.
Alexander Buglick and Bucephalus
Alexander is Alma's pen pal, seen in the episode "First Love". While his letters to her made him seem like a wealthy champion rider, an intentional facade meant to impress her, he really only rides for fun, and is rather timid. His parents are the proprietors of a traveling circus. However, he admires Alma and her riding abilities, and shares her love of reading. He likes to compare himself with the great Macedonian general, Alexander the Great.
His horse is a kind, modest, black stallion named Bucephalus, in honor of Alexander the Great's famous steed. He performs in the circus and enjoys his life, despite its lack of glamour. His color is maroon.
Mary Whitney and Prince
Mary is Sarah's cousin, a humorous, independent girl who doesn't let the fact that she is blind get in her way. Mary appears in the episode "A True Gift." She has a clever comeback for most insults that Chloe and Zoey throw at her, and dislikes it when her friends are overly patronizing. She loves horses and riding, especially outdoors.
Mary's horse is Prince, a white Thoroughbred male who is rumored to be the fastest horse ever to come to Horseland, a 'fact' that riles Scarlet. Sarah temporarily rode him in Scarlet's place in order to make sure that he was a good enough mount for Mary. He also has a wavy mane and tail. His color is sky blue.
Talia Bentley and Kisses
Talia is a talented but mean-spirited girl who is both confident and competitive. She appears in the episode "Changing Spots." She is the premier show jumper at Stanhope Academy, Horseland's biggest rival. She is Alma's arch-nemesis, and the two show special animosity towards each other after they get in a fight about who deserves to win an upcoming competition.
Talia's horse is Kisses, a beautiful white mare of an unknown breed, although it is assumed that she is a purebred. She is an excellent show jumper, but is never given a chance to speak to any of the other horses. Her highlight color is light pink.
Chase Whitney and Wonder
Chase is Sarah's cousin who comes to visit in the episode 'The Secret.' He is dyslexic, a fact which he tries to hide. Chase has light brown hair and blue eyes.
His horse Wonder is a dark bay Anglo-Arabian stallion. Wonder never talks to any of the horses in the episode. His color is forest green.
Nani Cloud and Sunburst
Nani is an eleven-year-old Native American girl who appears in multiple episodes during season three. She is very defensive of her heritage, but deeper aspects of her personality are yet to be seen. She enjoys nature. Nani has black hair and hazel eyes. For the rest of the third season she is quick to be defensive with Zoey and Chloe and, sometimes, even Molly. Nani's shown to wear light yellow for important events. She casually wears light blue.
Nani's horse is Sunburst, a light-colored American Paint Horse with yellow highlights. He prefers to be ridden bareback, and dislikes saddles. At first he starts out on bad terms with Pepper, although the two eventually become friends. He has a single little braid under his mane and his icon is a light blue sun.
Other characters
Jasmine and Amber
Jasmine and Amber are two of Molly's close friends from the city. Both of the girls are confident, playful, and loyal friends of Molly. Neither of them attend Horseland, but do express an interest in horseback riding. Despite frequently teasing Molly, the two are genuinely supportive of her interests. Amber is African-American, and has dark brown eyes and long wavy hair. Jasmine is of an Asian ethniticity, and has light hazel eyes and dark-colored hair.
Linnea, Alexia and Windy
Linnea is a princess that visits Horseland in disguise, pretending to be the princesses' assistant, while Alexia, her maid, pretends to be the princess. Both have light blonde hair, blue eyes, and favor the color light pink, although Alexia is much shorter than her companion. Linnea is close friends with Sarah. Linnea's horse is Windy, a mare who looks like Talia's Kisses and wears an ornate bridle. She also has a wavy mane and tail. She doesn't understand English and only speaks her native tongue, so when Scarlet introduces herself, Windy becomes too shy to respond.
Competitors
Shown in the episode "Win Some, Lose Some," these girls and their horses ride for local stables and compete against Alma, Molly, and Sarah.
Megan Shaw is a rider from Blue Meadow stables. She has light green eyes and wavy brown hair. Megan's shown to wear lime green. Her horse is chestnut-colored.
Katie Green is a rider from Shenandoah Stables. She has strawberry-blonde hair in a ponytail, and rides a light brown/white appaloosa. Katie's shown to wear royal blue, although her appaloosa has been shown having both royal and light blue highlights.
Carrie Jenkins is a rider from Piedmont Stables. She is a capable rider, as shown when she takes the lead in a jumping competition. She has long, curly, blonde hair and hazel eyes. She rides a dun horse. Carrie's shown to wear reddish-pink.
Diablo
Diablo is a red stallion with an injured back leg who belongs to a girl named Madison and initially has an aggressive behavior. His only appearance is "The Horse Whisperer". His name means "devil" in Spanish. He has a wavy mane and tail.
Puma
Puma is a light-colored wild mustang staying at Horseland. His mane and tail are highlighted in black and white. His only appearance is in the episode "Wild Horses", where he tells Aztec what it's like to live in the wild, prompting Aztec to run away.
Wild Horses
These horses are met by Aztec when he runs away from Horseland. The two identified by name are Chaco, a black herd stallion who doesn't want Aztec on its territory, and Mesa, a palomino colt that befriends Aztec. Other horses in the herd are a pair of bays, Mesa's palomino mother, and a piebald tobiano mare. They all have plain manes and tails.
River
River is a famous racehorse that comes to Horseland to recuperate from a leg injury. He is dark grey with a white mane and tail, and has light blue highlights. His only appearance is "A Horse Named River" and according to this episode, he is the eldest horse who speaks with an elderly voice. He was younger and belonged to an unnamed girl in flashbacks.
Buttercup
In "The Best Loss," Buttercup is a palomino mare belonging to one of the judges. She is gentle and sweet, and her color is light turquoise. She is the only horse who doesn't meet any of the others in this episode.
Cream and Sugar
Cream is a white foal that has light pink highlights and her sister, Sugar, is a Dutch Warmblood that has light blue highlights. They are fraternal twins and they only appear in "Oh, Baby". They are the youngest horses to have a long mane and tail just like grownup horses have.
Misc. Animals
There are two more animals who appear in one episode or a few. Mosey is an old black cat, comical and eccentric, and Cubby is a furry puppy
(Episode guide is at Wikipedia.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseland_(TV_series)
Friday, July 15, 2011
Argonne Workshop Shows Many Pathways Toward Success in Science
Burr Ridge Patch: Argonne Workshop Shows Many Pathways Toward Success in Science
Shortly after Kawtar Hafidi started graduate school in France, her adviser asked her to read a thesis and report back on it one week later.
During the presentation, the adviser asked Hafidi a question to which she didn’t know the answer. She admitted she was flummoxed, and her adviser responded, “How come?”
Devastated, Hafidi went home and cried all night over disappointing the prestigious academic.
Some time later, Hafidi found herself in the adviser’s office explaining a result from her research. After two hours, he still didn’t understand.
Her reply: “How come?”
“You will be teaching your adviser, too,” said Hafidi, now a nuclear physicist at Argonne National Laboratory, to a room full of interns Monday during a workshop about graduate studies and careers in science.
Throughout the session, Hafidi and her fellow presenters emphasized the importance of self-confidence, finding good mentors and being true to one’s self when pursuing careers in research.
Hafidi developed the idea for the seminar only 10 days ago and initially planned it specifically for the female interns.
“I wanted to give them the elements of how to succeed and encourage them to follow careers in science,” said Hafidi, noting the high attrition rate of girls from science programs.
Argonne has offered several programs aimed to get young people, especially young girls, interested in science. Earlier this year, Argonne held a model fuel cell competition at Case New Holland in Burr Ridge.
Hafidi decided to open Monday's workshop to all of Argonne’s summer interns, young men and women alike.
“It’s a new beginning for all of them, and I want to inspire them to be in charge of their future, to work hard and stand up for themselves,” she said.
The adviser that initially brought Hafidi to tears soon became a trusted friend, going so far as to take her on vacation to Paris just so the hard-working student would take a break from her research.
Argonne postdoctoral appointee Jennifer Steeb, who finished grad school in 2010, echoed Hafidi’s advice that students need to take ownership of their research and career.
Steeb recalled getting frustrated that her adviser wasn’t around frequently to guide her research. One day she told him so.
“This ain’t my Ph.D.,” he told her. “I already got mine."
The presenters also addressed personal challenges and realities, such as balancing marriage and starting a family while pursuing a high-pressure career. Hafidi said the vast majority of female scientists end up marrying other scientists, while the opposite is true for men.
The overall message was one of empowerment, as the college-age interns learned to not only seize but seek out opportunities to advance their careers.
University of Michigan undergrad Kristen Kluk, who is spending the summer interning in Argonne’s Facilities Management and Engineering Division, said she appreciated hearing how many different pathways there are to success.
“Their paths weren’t straightforward but they still got where they want to be,” she said. “Those personal stories make it easier to understand.”
Shortly after Kawtar Hafidi started graduate school in France, her adviser asked her to read a thesis and report back on it one week later.
During the presentation, the adviser asked Hafidi a question to which she didn’t know the answer. She admitted she was flummoxed, and her adviser responded, “How come?”
Devastated, Hafidi went home and cried all night over disappointing the prestigious academic.
Some time later, Hafidi found herself in the adviser’s office explaining a result from her research. After two hours, he still didn’t understand.
Her reply: “How come?”
“You will be teaching your adviser, too,” said Hafidi, now a nuclear physicist at Argonne National Laboratory, to a room full of interns Monday during a workshop about graduate studies and careers in science.
Throughout the session, Hafidi and her fellow presenters emphasized the importance of self-confidence, finding good mentors and being true to one’s self when pursuing careers in research.
Hafidi developed the idea for the seminar only 10 days ago and initially planned it specifically for the female interns.
“I wanted to give them the elements of how to succeed and encourage them to follow careers in science,” said Hafidi, noting the high attrition rate of girls from science programs.
Argonne has offered several programs aimed to get young people, especially young girls, interested in science. Earlier this year, Argonne held a model fuel cell competition at Case New Holland in Burr Ridge.
Hafidi decided to open Monday's workshop to all of Argonne’s summer interns, young men and women alike.
“It’s a new beginning for all of them, and I want to inspire them to be in charge of their future, to work hard and stand up for themselves,” she said.
The adviser that initially brought Hafidi to tears soon became a trusted friend, going so far as to take her on vacation to Paris just so the hard-working student would take a break from her research.
Argonne postdoctoral appointee Jennifer Steeb, who finished grad school in 2010, echoed Hafidi’s advice that students need to take ownership of their research and career.
Steeb recalled getting frustrated that her adviser wasn’t around frequently to guide her research. One day she told him so.
“This ain’t my Ph.D.,” he told her. “I already got mine."
The presenters also addressed personal challenges and realities, such as balancing marriage and starting a family while pursuing a high-pressure career. Hafidi said the vast majority of female scientists end up marrying other scientists, while the opposite is true for men.
The overall message was one of empowerment, as the college-age interns learned to not only seize but seek out opportunities to advance their careers.
University of Michigan undergrad Kristen Kluk, who is spending the summer interning in Argonne’s Facilities Management and Engineering Division, said she appreciated hearing how many different pathways there are to success.
“Their paths weren’t straightforward but they still got where they want to be,” she said. “Those personal stories make it easier to understand.”
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Girl Power! Three Young Women Crowned Winners of Google Science Fair
Fox News: Girl Power! Three Young Women Crowned Winners of Google Science Fair
Yesterday three young women beat out some of the country’s smartest youngsters to be crowned winners of Google’s inaugural science fair.
In all, 15 science-fair finalists put their projects on display in Google headquarters for more than 1,000 onlookers as well as an esteemed panel of judges including a Nobel Laureate, National Geographic Explorers, and some of Google’s own.
The tech giant searched through more than 7,500 entries from more than 10,000 students in 91 countries. In the end, the judges picked just three winners – all of whom were girls.
"This year was all about girl power," Google declared.
In the 13-to-14 age group, Lauren Hodge won for her project studying varying carcinogen levels in grilled chicken -- depending on sauce type.
In the 15-to-16 age range, Naomi Shah tried to prove that tweaking the environment indoors can improve air quality and lessen people's reliance on asthma medication.
The Grand Prize winner (and winner in the 17-to-18 age group) was Shree Bose, who found a way to improve ovarian cancer treatment for patients when they have built up a resistance to certain chemotherapy drugs.
“Our judges said the unifying elements of all three young women were their intellectual curiosity, their tenaciousness and their ambition to use science to find solutions to big problems,” Google explained in a blog post announcing the winners. “They examined complex problems and found both simple solutions that can be implemented by the general public ... as well as more complex solutions that can be addressed in labs by doctors.”
For the girls, it was the experience of a lifetime.
"When you first walk in there's this table with all the judges -- the room is full of these judges who are incredible scientists, experts in their field -- and you just stand in front of them and spend 5 minutes, just explaining your project -- just like they're normal people. And then they ask you questions and you're like, 'I'm being asked questions by a Nobel Laureate!'" said Shree Bose, who won the Google grand prize.
"I feel way way beyond excited!" she gushed. Right now in my mind, it's a mixture of disbelief, excitement, and shock! It's the biggest opportunity of my life."
For her efforts, Bose won a $50,000 scholarship, a trip to the Galapagos Islands and an internship at the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
Yesterday three young women beat out some of the country’s smartest youngsters to be crowned winners of Google’s inaugural science fair.
In all, 15 science-fair finalists put their projects on display in Google headquarters for more than 1,000 onlookers as well as an esteemed panel of judges including a Nobel Laureate, National Geographic Explorers, and some of Google’s own.
The tech giant searched through more than 7,500 entries from more than 10,000 students in 91 countries. In the end, the judges picked just three winners – all of whom were girls.
"This year was all about girl power," Google declared.
In the 13-to-14 age group, Lauren Hodge won for her project studying varying carcinogen levels in grilled chicken -- depending on sauce type.
In the 15-to-16 age range, Naomi Shah tried to prove that tweaking the environment indoors can improve air quality and lessen people's reliance on asthma medication.
The Grand Prize winner (and winner in the 17-to-18 age group) was Shree Bose, who found a way to improve ovarian cancer treatment for patients when they have built up a resistance to certain chemotherapy drugs.
“Our judges said the unifying elements of all three young women were their intellectual curiosity, their tenaciousness and their ambition to use science to find solutions to big problems,” Google explained in a blog post announcing the winners. “They examined complex problems and found both simple solutions that can be implemented by the general public ... as well as more complex solutions that can be addressed in labs by doctors.”
For the girls, it was the experience of a lifetime.
"When you first walk in there's this table with all the judges -- the room is full of these judges who are incredible scientists, experts in their field -- and you just stand in front of them and spend 5 minutes, just explaining your project -- just like they're normal people. And then they ask you questions and you're like, 'I'm being asked questions by a Nobel Laureate!'" said Shree Bose, who won the Google grand prize.
"I feel way way beyond excited!" she gushed. Right now in my mind, it's a mixture of disbelief, excitement, and shock! It's the biggest opportunity of my life."
For her efforts, Bose won a $50,000 scholarship, a trip to the Galapagos Islands and an internship at the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Scientists are not all Misfits!
TVGeek Army has a review of a new TV show called Alpha, which they term "Misfits of Science redux". That's because scientists are typically portrayed in TV shows (except SF shows) as nerds, weaklings, etc. The Big Bang Theory comes to mind. I admit it is funny, I like Sheldon, but the girl is a typical...well, girl. The engine light in her car is on - she ignores it. (Indeed, this is a running joke over at least two eps, and it is funny - but stereotypical.)
Anyway:
Alphas: Misfits of Science redux
Anyway:
Alphas: Misfits of Science redux
The opening scene of the new series Alphas opens pretty ominously with an elderly shopper telling Cameron Hicks (Warren Christie) that it's "time to kill." What happens after that is not too hard to guess. However, the rest of the episode is pretty unpredictable.
The series follows a group of people with special abilities known as Alphas. The group is led by Dr. Leigh Rosen (David Straithairn) a scientist who specializes in studying people who are more than normal. Like many of these groups on TV, they are funded by some secret government organization who also uses them to investigate things that have them stumped.
Without giving too much away, the group is made up of an eclectic collection of folks: a hottie, a big black guy, an ex-jock, a teenage girl and even an autistic kid who is the funniest character on the show. The second funniest character has to be the group's government handler, Wilson (Callum Keith Rennie), who sees conspiracies in every doughnut shop in the city.
As I referenced in the story title, the show reminds me quite a lot of Misfits of Science in that the Alphas' abilities have considerable limitations. This is a good thing. Nothing ruins a superhero show faster than making the characters invulnerable. Also, the perpetrator in the pilot has considerable power himself, setting up a nice storyline to sustain the series beyond baddie of the week story lines.
Overall, I enjoyed the pilot and will continue to watch Alphas. While it's not as good as Eureka, it's certainly better than Haven, but then again, what isn't?
Alphas premieres on SyFy Monday night at 10pm.
'Diaries' tells of scientist's adventures with dolphins
Honolulu Star Advertiser: 'Diaries' tells of scientist's adventures with dolphins
When I was growing up, I enjoyed Jacques Cousteau TV specials, and I also liked "Star Trek." To me the two were similar. In rural Wisconsin the ocean and its inhabitants felt as accessible as Vulcan and as real as Tribbles.
A fellow Midwesterner, Denise Herzing, also watched Cousteau shows, and she fell for dolphins. This was no little girl's infatuation with cute animals: Denise wanted to know what went on in dolphin brains. When she was 12 years old, she wrote an essay about the one thing she would like to do for the world: "I would develop a human-animal translator so that we could understand other minds on the planet."
Well, if you're going to mind-meld with another species, it's only logical to do it with the animals that have the highest brain-to-body ratio on earth (after humans). And that's dolphins.
Researchers have studied dolphin communication with captive animals for decades, but Herzing wanted to know whether she could create two-way communication with wild dolphins. She spent most of her adult life in that pursuit, and shares that journey in her new book, "Dolphin Diaries: My 25 Years with Spotted Dolphins in the Bahamas."
Herzing chose to work with the Atlantic spotted dolphin because the species is highly social, and groups of them hang out in the shallow and accessible sand banks of the Bahamas.
(One of Hawaii's most common dolphins is the closely related Pantropical spotted dolphin, also an extremely social species but hard for us to get near as they prefer rough channels.)
For years, Denise and her team traveled to the same spot every summer to visit the same dolphins. Through markings and behavior, Denise got to know individuals and their relationships to one another, and the dolphins came to recognize and be comfortable with her.
Herzing learned to play dolphin games, such as push-the-sea-cucumber and pass-the-seaweed. The human players added a red bandanna to the games, a toy the dolphins loved and sometimes stole.
After 12 summers (and a load of bandannas), Denise discovered that these dolphins have sex for fun, love to play and have strong social bonds. "Every dolphin," she writes, "is someone's mother, brother or friend." It was time to start experimenting with two-way communicating, a process that took up the next 13 years and counting.
How Herzing went about this research, and the results, was part of the fun of reading her book, so I won't spoil the story. I will say, though, that a good part of the narrative shows the obstacles, from tiger sharks and hurricanes, to boat repairs and bureaucracy. Working with dolphins is sometimes fun, but 95 percent of the time it's hard work.
Like Denise, I eventually discovered that I too could travel to the alien world of the ocean, survive its potentially lethal environment and connect with its fantastic creatures. From the get-go, whenever I saw dolphins riding my bow wave, I always wondered: What are these animals thinking?
"Dolphin Diaries" beamed me underwater and gave me the rare and long-lasting gift of some dolphin thoughts. Thank you, Denise and dolphins. Live long and prosper.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Skilled German Muslims held back by stereotypes
Deutsche-Welle: Skilled German Muslims held back by stereotypes
"My name is Ismahen Dabbach, I am 26 years old, I was born in Germany and I am a trained office clerk. I am very flexible, independent and open to everything that carries me further forward in life."
This is how Ismahen Dabbach describes herself in job interviews. She is wearing a light-blue shirt and a black woolen scarf that covers her hair, neck and shoulders - an outfit she would also choose when meeting her potential employer for the first time. But Dabbach, whose parents are Tunisian, feels that since she decided to wear the Muslim headscarf four months ago, her search for a job has become extremely difficult.
"Eight-hour job with headscarf"
"They put you on a waiting list, then they invite you and tell you that they will call you, but after three days you get a rejection letter. So you start asking yourself: did I make a mistake or is it the company's fault?," Dabbach asks and hunches her shoulders.
In a blue file she has collected about 30 rejection letters. She says that she lost track of how many applications she had written in the last few months and adds that before she was covering her hair, she didn't have any difficulty finding internships, part-time jobs and her apprenticeship in a logistics firm.
"I want to have a normal eight-hour-job, from eight to five, five days a week, where I can wear my headscarf, like an ordinary citizen," she says. Dabbach lives in the western German town of Gütersloh, but for a good job she would move anywhere in Germany.
Islamophobic job market?
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Skilled Muslim women struggle with stereotypesDabbach is not the only skilled Muslim woman having trouble finding a job in Germany. In Dusseldorf, the North Rhine-Westphalian capital, about 80 people have gathered in a conference room where scientists, politicians, activists and Muslim social workers are discussing discrimination against Muslim women in the workplace.
One of the organizers is Erika Theissen. She has carefully matched the pastel blue color of her headscarf to the rest of her outfit. Theissen converted to Islam in the 1980s and is now managing director of the Muslim Women's Center for Encounters and Further Education (BFmF) in Cologne.
It's one of the biggest associations for Muslim women in Germany. Today, over 50 Muslim women, some of them highly qualified, work in her center.
"People think, the Muslim community doesn't want Muslim women to work. But most Muslim women are not discriminated against by the Muslim community, but by society. Society is not open enough to let us work."
According to a 2010 nationwide poll by the research institute Infratest-dimap, more than one third of the respondents would prefer "a Germany without Islam."
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Peucker still sees a lot of prejudice in corporate Germany
Mario Peucker, a social scientist at the University of Melbourne, has studied the integration of Muslims in the German job market. He says that examples of discrimination in the workplace are hard to uncover, and it has not been possible yet to identify religion - rather than race or country of origin - as the source of discrimination in Germany.
Peucker says there are no hard figures yet, but studies and interviews with Muslim migrants show that women who wear a headscarf have hardly any chance of getting a job where a certain prestige is involved.
Esma May, whose parents are from Turkey is Muslim, but she has decided not to cover her hair. May is also a politician with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats.
"I am convinced that it is possible to have a career also on the German market, if you have the qualification, the motivation. It doesn't matter where you come from, it's just important what you make out of it," she says and makes a fist in the air and adds "Yes you can!"
Role models needed
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Headscarves are not bad for business, says Erika TheissenSocial scientist Mario Peucker does not share that optimism. He says that interviews with employers in small and medium-sized German companies have shown that some of them clearly show anti-Muslim tendencies. From interviews with employers he knows that some of them also think Muslims have a lower social capital and do not achieve as much as other applicants.
"Even if they don't have personal resentments, they may think that their customers or their staff might have a negative image of Muslims and this becomes their reason for not employing Muslim men or women," Peucker says.
He thinks that the German anti-discrimination law that was put in place in 2006 is efficient, but many people just don't know about it. He also says anonymous applications could be a way to fight discrimination, as the employer wouldn't see a name or photo on the applicant's resume.
But Erika Theissen thinks it's not enough. "I think the government must be a role model for those people who have the possibility to give jobs and then I hope, other people will think: ok, I can take a woman with a headscarf, it will not cause a big problem for my business."
Torn between two countries
Dabbach from Gütersloh has started searching the internet for jobs offered by Muslim companies. In recent years, a few websites have been launched that provide social platforms and job offers for Muslims.
And although some believe that these platforms reinforce the divisions in the labor market, Dabbach's online job ad was instantly successful. After three days, she got a job offer from abroad.
"What should I do now?," she asks, looking helpless. "I am at home in Germany, my family and friends are here. Should I just leave them? I am really torn."
Author: Julia Hahn
Editor: Nicole Goebel
Childhood George Washington Carver read prompts poet
Neosho Daily News: Childhood George Washington Carver read prompts poet
Diamond, Mo. — When she was a young child, Marilyn Nelson, poet and author, read a biography about George Washington Carver.
On Saturday during the 68th annual Carver Day at the George Washington Carver National Monument, she was one of the guest speakers.
“In about second or third grade, I read a biography of Carver in the school library,” Nelson said. “And I decided at that point that I wanted to be a scientist, like Carver. I wanted to be a doctor or scientist for several years after that. Then I forgot about it. When I was a middle-aged woman, a poet with some reputation, I decided that I wanted to write a saint’s life and I decided to write about the 12th century German saint Hildegard Bingen.”
Nelson went to Germany and did a lot of research on Bingen. Later, she came home and was preparing to start the writing project.
“I was sitting at my desk, organizing my material, when I got a phone call from someone who had been a friend of my parents years earlier when I was a child,” Nelson said. “He stopped by and as he was leaving, he pulled out a brochure from this place (Carver National Monument) and said, ‘Marilyn, I think that you ought to write a book about George Washington Carver.’”
She stopped Bingen’s writing project and instead wrote “My saint’s life about George Washington Carver instead.”
Nelson read some poems from her book, “Carver: A Life in Poems.” One of the poems in the book is, “Watkin’s Laundry and Apothecary.”
“This is about his time in school in Neosho, when he lived with Mariah Watkins,” she said. “She is the speaker of this poem and she is just talking about how this child came to live with her for a certain amount of time and what kind of child he was.”
Two other poems were “Chemistry 101” and “God’s Little Workshop.”
“‘Chemistry 101’ is about his first year of teaching at Tuskegee (Institute), when there was no laboratory equipment and he took the students out into the dump to find things that they could use,” Nelson said. “‘God's Little Workshop’ is about the inventions that he came up with in his laboratory at Tuskegee.”
When Nelson wrote her book, she did research at both the local monument and also at Tuskegee.
Asked to name something unique about Carver she enjoys, Nelson said, “He was a very forward-thinking in his science, I think. What he tried to do was to take materials that are not much valued and find out what they could be used for. I really liked the fact that he, for example, taught that we need to make a spot for weeds in our garden. I think that we tend to, especially Americans, be sort of big crop people, like corn. We wipe out everything else and we are only going to grow corn. And what Carver, I think, was showing is that diversity is important. And that is true not only culturally, but also in the natural world that we need to recognize and respect the diversity the Creator has given us. And to learn how to find the gifts within the gift.”
Other activities during the day included music, hands-on events, guided tours, Carver films, exhibits inside the visitor’s center and speakers. Musical performers included Rev. John Wilkins, gospel blues singer and guitarist; Joe Becton, musician and living history performer; Sensational Wonders; the Joyful Noise Community Choir; and area church choirs. Storyteller Carole Shelton shared African-American stories.
One of the children’s activities was playing with 1800s toys and painting.
Ashton Cook, 3 and Kaden Cook, 9, Stark City, were painting during the event.
Ashton was asked what she was going to do with the picture after she got done with it.
“Put it on the clothesline to dry,” she said. “Then I will hang it on the refrigerator.”
For more information, call GWC National Monument at 325-4151 between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Administered by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior, George Washington Carver National Monument preserves the birthplace and childhood home of George Washington Carver, scientist, educator, and humanitarian.
Diamond, Mo. — When she was a young child, Marilyn Nelson, poet and author, read a biography about George Washington Carver.
On Saturday during the 68th annual Carver Day at the George Washington Carver National Monument, she was one of the guest speakers.
“In about second or third grade, I read a biography of Carver in the school library,” Nelson said. “And I decided at that point that I wanted to be a scientist, like Carver. I wanted to be a doctor or scientist for several years after that. Then I forgot about it. When I was a middle-aged woman, a poet with some reputation, I decided that I wanted to write a saint’s life and I decided to write about the 12th century German saint Hildegard Bingen.”
Nelson went to Germany and did a lot of research on Bingen. Later, she came home and was preparing to start the writing project.
“I was sitting at my desk, organizing my material, when I got a phone call from someone who had been a friend of my parents years earlier when I was a child,” Nelson said. “He stopped by and as he was leaving, he pulled out a brochure from this place (Carver National Monument) and said, ‘Marilyn, I think that you ought to write a book about George Washington Carver.’”
She stopped Bingen’s writing project and instead wrote “My saint’s life about George Washington Carver instead.”
Nelson read some poems from her book, “Carver: A Life in Poems.” One of the poems in the book is, “Watkin’s Laundry and Apothecary.”
“This is about his time in school in Neosho, when he lived with Mariah Watkins,” she said. “She is the speaker of this poem and she is just talking about how this child came to live with her for a certain amount of time and what kind of child he was.”
Two other poems were “Chemistry 101” and “God’s Little Workshop.”
“‘Chemistry 101’ is about his first year of teaching at Tuskegee (Institute), when there was no laboratory equipment and he took the students out into the dump to find things that they could use,” Nelson said. “‘God's Little Workshop’ is about the inventions that he came up with in his laboratory at Tuskegee.”
When Nelson wrote her book, she did research at both the local monument and also at Tuskegee.
Asked to name something unique about Carver she enjoys, Nelson said, “He was a very forward-thinking in his science, I think. What he tried to do was to take materials that are not much valued and find out what they could be used for. I really liked the fact that he, for example, taught that we need to make a spot for weeds in our garden. I think that we tend to, especially Americans, be sort of big crop people, like corn. We wipe out everything else and we are only going to grow corn. And what Carver, I think, was showing is that diversity is important. And that is true not only culturally, but also in the natural world that we need to recognize and respect the diversity the Creator has given us. And to learn how to find the gifts within the gift.”
Other activities during the day included music, hands-on events, guided tours, Carver films, exhibits inside the visitor’s center and speakers. Musical performers included Rev. John Wilkins, gospel blues singer and guitarist; Joe Becton, musician and living history performer; Sensational Wonders; the Joyful Noise Community Choir; and area church choirs. Storyteller Carole Shelton shared African-American stories.
One of the children’s activities was playing with 1800s toys and painting.
Ashton Cook, 3 and Kaden Cook, 9, Stark City, were painting during the event.
Ashton was asked what she was going to do with the picture after she got done with it.
“Put it on the clothesline to dry,” she said. “Then I will hang it on the refrigerator.”
For more information, call GWC National Monument at 325-4151 between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Administered by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior, George Washington Carver National Monument preserves the birthplace and childhood home of George Washington Carver, scientist, educator, and humanitarian.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Mercury News interview: Ann Miura-Ko, co-founding partner, Floodgate Fund in Palo Alto
Mercury News: Mercury News interview: Ann Miura-Ko, co-founding partner, Floodgate Fund in Palo Alto
child of Silicon Valley's high-tech culture of innovation and risk-taking, Ann Miura-Ko is a good fit for her role as one of the valley's influential venture capitalists.
Growing up in Palo Alto, the daughter of a rocket scientist, she baby-sat for a serial startup founder and showed an early interest in robotics. That interest ultimately led to an electrical engineering degree from Yale and a doctorate in operations research, management science and engineering from Stanford.
Even before she completed her doctorate last year, she was working with Mike Maples Jr., the venture capitalist who is her partner at Floodgate Fund, a Palo Alto micro-cap venture firm that specializes in early-stage startups.
One of a relatively small number of women in venture capital, Miura-Ko, 34, has developed a reputation as a penetrating thinker on trends in technology, innovation and the role of investment, particularly as it affects Silicon Valley. We recently spoke with her about those subjects. The interview has been edited for length.
Q You've said that people haven't fully recognized the power of the Internet yet. What do you mean by that?
A I think that most people look at the Internet and say that all the innovation that has needed to be done has been done, that with social networking, this is the last generation of innovation.
Q Isn't it possible that this is the valley's last great wave of next new things?
A My point is that the real power of the Internet wasn't the interesting businesses created upon it. The real power was comparable to the Gutenberg press or the Industrial Revolution. It created a new business mindset and new ways of innovation. With the Gutenberg press, there was an incredible, dynamic flow of information created as the result of it, with the ensuing Enlightenment period and the ability of academics to debate ideas, question religion. All that happened from one simple innovation of being able print more information in one day than you could by hand.
What the Internet has created is the democratization of entrepreneurialization. The creation of new businesses is a completely new process.
Q In what way?
A Back when I started graduate school, costs were being drastically reduced because of the early stages of open-source and commoditized technology. Four or five years later, students were just slapping things onto the cloud. With a couple hundred dollars on their credit card they can get started. That is a huge idea that hasn't come to fruition until today. The result of that is that every single engineer out there can be an entrepreneur.
Q Has that changed the role of the venture capitalist?
A The initial seed-stage development cost has been drastically reduced. I believe that capital itself in a lot of ways has been commoditized. Now, it really is, "What do I bring to table besides dollars and cents?"
At Floodgate, we focus on what we call the learning and discovery mode -- the stage in which a startup company is searching for a scalable business model. Companies at this stage have unique needs and are not just a small version of a large company. They have yet to figure out the product that fits a compelling customer problem. They have unique legal, recruiting, PR and strategic needs.
Q You're involved with the Stanford Mayfield Fellows Program, which coaches engineering students who think they might want to become entrepreneurs. What's that like?
A I've taken my three students to board meetings, to pitch sessions, to generally see what life as a venture capitalist looks like. Some will go on to be founders of companies. It's amazing to be part of that life-changing experience, to see the light bulbs go on in their eyes when they see that they can found a company, too.
Q Is that particularly a Silicon Valley phenomenon?
A Stanford is a fairly unique animal. It's not something I see universally. I've gone to Columbia, to NYU, to talk to engineering students about staying off the street, staying off of Wall Street.
Q What do you mean by that?
A This is something I feel passionately about. If you go to a lot of the schools on the East Coast, and you're a pretty good engineering student, one of the tracks that is very attractive is to go into a more quantitative role at an investment bank or a hedge fund. It's financially lucrative. They are offering freshman summer internships. A startup is not nearly as prestigious to these engineering students. So it's educating them on, why wouldn't you want to go work for a no-name company and have a tremendous impact, versus going to Wall Street and doing mergers and acquisitions?
Q A recent study found that about 10 percent of venture capitalists are women. Is it difficult working in a predominantly male field?
A I just never really pay attention to that. If I walk into a room and I'm the only female, I don't notice it anymore. I think it's important for women to adopt that mentality if we want to play a large role. The thing I love about the tech community here is it is completely merit-driven. If you have something to add to the conversation, people will listen to you. If you don't, male or female, people won't listen. Silicon Valley, it's not a male culture, it's a technology culture that woman can be very passionate about. The presence of women in an industry is not an excuse for whether women should be in that industry. We should find our path into it.
Contact Pete Carey at 408-920-5419.
Ann MIura-Ko
Age: 34
Born: Los Angeles; moved to Palo Alto at age 4
Education: Yale University, electrical engineering, 1998; Stanford University, doctorate in operations research, management science and engineering, 2010
Position: Co-founding partner, Floodgate Fund in Palo Alto
Previous employment: McKinsey; Charles River Ventures
Home: Menlo Park
Family: Married, two children
5 things about ann mIura-ko1. She was a member of a Yale team that designed four soccer-playing robots. The team took fourth at the 1998 RoboCup competition in Paris.
2. She plays piano. Favorite composers are Bach and Brahms.
3. Her dad is a rocket scientist.
4. Her third child is due in September.
5. She likes to sing loudly in the shower.
child of Silicon Valley's high-tech culture of innovation and risk-taking, Ann Miura-Ko is a good fit for her role as one of the valley's influential venture capitalists.
Growing up in Palo Alto, the daughter of a rocket scientist, she baby-sat for a serial startup founder and showed an early interest in robotics. That interest ultimately led to an electrical engineering degree from Yale and a doctorate in operations research, management science and engineering from Stanford.
Even before she completed her doctorate last year, she was working with Mike Maples Jr., the venture capitalist who is her partner at Floodgate Fund, a Palo Alto micro-cap venture firm that specializes in early-stage startups.
One of a relatively small number of women in venture capital, Miura-Ko, 34, has developed a reputation as a penetrating thinker on trends in technology, innovation and the role of investment, particularly as it affects Silicon Valley. We recently spoke with her about those subjects. The interview has been edited for length.
Q You've said that people haven't fully recognized the power of the Internet yet. What do you mean by that?
A I think that most people look at the Internet and say that all the innovation that has needed to be done has been done, that with social networking, this is the last generation of innovation.
Q Isn't it possible that this is the valley's last great wave of next new things?
A My point is that the real power of the Internet wasn't the interesting businesses created upon it. The real power was comparable to the Gutenberg press or the Industrial Revolution. It created a new business mindset and new ways of innovation. With the Gutenberg press, there was an incredible, dynamic flow of information created as the result of it, with the ensuing Enlightenment period and the ability of academics to debate ideas, question religion. All that happened from one simple innovation of being able print more information in one day than you could by hand.
What the Internet has created is the democratization of entrepreneurialization. The creation of new businesses is a completely new process.
Q In what way?
A Back when I started graduate school, costs were being drastically reduced because of the early stages of open-source and commoditized technology. Four or five years later, students were just slapping things onto the cloud. With a couple hundred dollars on their credit card they can get started. That is a huge idea that hasn't come to fruition until today. The result of that is that every single engineer out there can be an entrepreneur.
Q Has that changed the role of the venture capitalist?
A The initial seed-stage development cost has been drastically reduced. I believe that capital itself in a lot of ways has been commoditized. Now, it really is, "What do I bring to table besides dollars and cents?"
At Floodgate, we focus on what we call the learning and discovery mode -- the stage in which a startup company is searching for a scalable business model. Companies at this stage have unique needs and are not just a small version of a large company. They have yet to figure out the product that fits a compelling customer problem. They have unique legal, recruiting, PR and strategic needs.
Q You're involved with the Stanford Mayfield Fellows Program, which coaches engineering students who think they might want to become entrepreneurs. What's that like?
A I've taken my three students to board meetings, to pitch sessions, to generally see what life as a venture capitalist looks like. Some will go on to be founders of companies. It's amazing to be part of that life-changing experience, to see the light bulbs go on in their eyes when they see that they can found a company, too.
Q Is that particularly a Silicon Valley phenomenon?
A Stanford is a fairly unique animal. It's not something I see universally. I've gone to Columbia, to NYU, to talk to engineering students about staying off the street, staying off of Wall Street.
Q What do you mean by that?
A This is something I feel passionately about. If you go to a lot of the schools on the East Coast, and you're a pretty good engineering student, one of the tracks that is very attractive is to go into a more quantitative role at an investment bank or a hedge fund. It's financially lucrative. They are offering freshman summer internships. A startup is not nearly as prestigious to these engineering students. So it's educating them on, why wouldn't you want to go work for a no-name company and have a tremendous impact, versus going to Wall Street and doing mergers and acquisitions?
Q A recent study found that about 10 percent of venture capitalists are women. Is it difficult working in a predominantly male field?
A I just never really pay attention to that. If I walk into a room and I'm the only female, I don't notice it anymore. I think it's important for women to adopt that mentality if we want to play a large role. The thing I love about the tech community here is it is completely merit-driven. If you have something to add to the conversation, people will listen to you. If you don't, male or female, people won't listen. Silicon Valley, it's not a male culture, it's a technology culture that woman can be very passionate about. The presence of women in an industry is not an excuse for whether women should be in that industry. We should find our path into it.
Contact Pete Carey at 408-920-5419.
Ann MIura-Ko
Age: 34
Born: Los Angeles; moved to Palo Alto at age 4
Education: Yale University, electrical engineering, 1998; Stanford University, doctorate in operations research, management science and engineering, 2010
Position: Co-founding partner, Floodgate Fund in Palo Alto
Previous employment: McKinsey; Charles River Ventures
Home: Menlo Park
Family: Married, two children
5 things about ann mIura-ko1. She was a member of a Yale team that designed four soccer-playing robots. The team took fourth at the 1998 RoboCup competition in Paris.
2. She plays piano. Favorite composers are Bach and Brahms.
3. Her dad is a rocket scientist.
4. Her third child is due in September.
5. She likes to sing loudly in the shower.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
More on the Sally Ride Science Academy
https://www.sallyridescience.com/
Sally Ride Summer Camps being held this summer:
Innovative hands-on science camps for girls entering 4th - 9th grades.
These unique camps provide girls an opportunity to explore science, technology, and engineering while having fun on a college campus.
In summer 2011, Sally Ride Science Camps will be held at
Stanford University
University of California, Berkeley
University of San Diego Massachusetts Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
http://www.sallyridecamps.com/
About Sally Ride (bio from her website):
Sally Ride Summer Camps being held this summer:
Innovative hands-on science camps for girls entering 4th - 9th grades.
These unique camps provide girls an opportunity to explore science, technology, and engineering while having fun on a college campus.
In summer 2011, Sally Ride Science Camps will be held at
Stanford University
University of California, Berkeley
University of San Diego Massachusetts Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
http://www.sallyridecamps.com/
About Sally Ride (bio from her website):
PERSONAL: Born May 26, 1951, in Los Angeles. Her mother, Joyce Ride, resides in Pasadena, California. Her father, Dale Ride, is deceased. Her sister "Bear" lives in California. Sally played tennis growing up (was nationally ranked as a junior, led Stanford’s women’s team in college, and worked as a tennis instructor). She enjoys running, volleyball, softball, and stamp collecting.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Westlake High School, Los Angeles, California, in 1968; received from Stanford University a bachelor of science in Physics and a bachelor of arts in English in 1973, a Master of Science and doctorate degrees in Physics in 1975 and 1978, respectively.
EXPERIENCE: Dr. Sally Ride was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. In August 1979, she completed a 1-year training and evaluation period, making her eligible for assignment as an astronaut on future Space Shuttle flight crews. While in training, she worked on development of the shuttle’s robot arm, and worked in mission control as a capsule communicator. (CAPCOM) on the STS-2 and STS-3 missions.
Sally Ride is the first American woman to fly in space. She was mission specialist on STS-7, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 18, 1983. She was accompanied by Captain Robert L. Crippen (spacecraft commander), Captain Fredrick H. Hauck (pilot), and fellow mission specialist Colonel John M. Fabian and Dr. Norman E. Thagard. This was the second flight for the Orbiter Challenger and the first mission with a 5-person crew. During the mission, the STS-7 crew deployed satellites for Canada (ANIK C-2) and Indonesia (PALAPA B-1); operated the Canadian-built robot arm to perform the first deployment and retrieval with the Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS-01); conducted the first formation flying of the shuttle with a free-flying satellite (SPAS-01); carried and operated the first U.S./German cooperative materials science payload (OSTA-2); and operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES) and the Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR) experiments, in addition to activating seven Getaway Specials. Mission duration was 147 hours before landing on a lakebed runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 24, 1983.
Sally Ride’s second flight was the 13th shuttle flight, STS 41-G, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 5, 1984. This was the largest crew to fly to date and included captain Robert L. Crippen (spacecraft commander), Captain Jon A. McBride (pilot), fellow mission specialists, Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan and Commander David C. Leestma, as well as two payloads specialists, Commander Marc Garneau and Mr. Paul Scully-Power. Their 8-day mission deployed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, conducted scientific observations of the Earth with the OSTS-3 pallet and Large Format Camera, as well as demonstrating potential satellite refueling with an EVA and associated hydrazine transfer. Mission duration was 197 hours and concluded with a landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 13, 1984.
In June 1985, Sally Ride was assigned to the crew of STS 61-M. Mission training was halted in January 1986 following the Space Shuttle Challenger accident. Sally Ride served as a member of the Presidential Commission investigating the accident. Upon completion of the investigation, she was assigned to NASA Headquarters as Special Assistant to the Administrator for long range and strategic planning. There she authored a report entitled “Leadership and America’s Future in Space,” and was the first Director of NASA’s Office of Exploration.
In 1989, Sally Ride joined the faculty at UCSD as a Professor of Physics and Director of the University of California’s Space Institute. In 2001 she founded her own company, Sally Ride Science [www.sallyridescience.com] to pursue her long-time passion of motivation girls and young women to pursue careers in science, math and technology. The company creates entertaining science programs and publications for upper elementary and middle school students and their parents and teachers.
Long an advocate for improved science education, Sally Ride has written six science books for children including: To Space and Back; Voyager; The Third Planet; The Mystery of Mars; and Exploring Our Solar System. She also initiated and directed education projects designed to fuel middle school students fascination with science.
Sally Ride has been a member of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and the National Research Council’s Space Studies Board, and has served on the Boards of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and the NCAA Foundation. Sally Ride is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, and currently serves on the Boards of the Aerospace Corporation and the California Institute of Technology. She is the only person to have served on the Commissions investigating both the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia accidents.
Sally Ride has received numerous honors and awards. She has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, the California Hall of Fame, the Aviation Hall of Fame, and the Astronaut Hall of Fame, and has received the Jefferson Award for Public Service, the von Braun Award, the Lindbergh Eagle, and the NCAA’s Theodore Roosevelt Award. She has also twice been awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal.
Sally Ride Science Academy Engages Teachers, Counselors to Inspire Students in Science and Math
EON: Sally Ride Science Academy Engages Teachers, Counselors to Inspire Students in Science and Math
This press release was posted on June 17, 2011, and I apologize for not sharing it earlier, but I thought it made interesting reading.
275 Educators Selected from Across the Country to Attend 2011 Academy
More than 395 educators trained to date, impacting an additional 2,700 educators nationally
Academy showcases diverse role models in science and engineering fields
Program made possible by the support of ExxonMobil
June 16, 2011 01:06 PM Eastern Daylight Time
IRVING, Texas--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The Sally Ride Science Academy brought to you by ExxonMobil announced today that 275 upper elementary and middle school educators from across the country were selected to learn new, innovative strategies to raise students’ awareness of and interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers.
“Partnering with ExxonMobil, we continue to make strides in equipping talented educators with key tools to prepare and encourage young students, particularly girls, to pursue science and math careers.”
The Academy is a partnership between Sally Ride Science, founded by the first American woman in space, Dr. Sally Ride, and ExxonMobil. The program educates teachers and counselors on the importance of introducing young students to STEM careers, showcases diverse role models in those careers, and provides pathways to incorporate STEM career awareness in the classroom. In addition, the Academy provides gender equity training to help educators foster an encouraging, collaborative learning environment.
“Through the teachers and counselors trained during the Academy sessions this year, we will be able to introduce even more young people to exciting STEM fields,” Ride said. “Partnering with ExxonMobil, we continue to make strides in equipping talented educators with key tools to prepare and encourage young students, particularly girls, to pursue science and math careers.”
The Academy utilizes a train-the-trainer model that prepares Academy graduates to train other teachers in their district during the 2011-2012 school year. Graduates and their trainees will receive sets of the Sally Ride Science Cool Career book series for use in their classrooms. Since the inaugural Academy in 2009, the Academy has trained more than 395 educators in 41 districts spanning 14 states and the District of Columbia. Those educators have since returned to their districts and trained more than 2,700 additional educators using Academy materials.
“We are excited by the progress this program is making to raise awareness of the importance of science and math education in our nation’s classrooms. It will help educators open the eyes of their students to the fun and diverse STEM careers that await them,” said Suzanne McCarron, general manager, public and government affairs, ExxonMobil. “ExxonMobil believes in the importance of preparing young people to meet the challenges of the future with a solid understanding of science and math.”
The three Academy sessions taking place this summer in San Diego are scheduled for:
Sunday, June 19, 2011 – Thursday, June 23, 2011, upper elementary school teachers;
Sunday, June 26, 2011 – Thursday, June 30, 2011, upper elementary school teachers; and
Sunday, July 10, 2011 – Thursday, July 14, 2011, middle school teachers and counselors.
Educators attending each of these sessions are selected in conjunction with Sally Ride Science and local administration from targeted school districts across the country.
The Sally Ride Science Academy is part of ExxonMobil’s investment in math and science education in the United States. The company supports numerous other initiatives that encourage students to take an active interest in careers in the math and science fields; support the professional development of highly qualified teachers and promote involvement of women and minorities students.
About Sally Ride Science
Sally Ride Science™ is an innovative science education company dedicated to supporting girls’ and boys’ interests in science, technology, engineering, and math. The company, founded by Dr. Sally Ride, creates programs (including Sally Ride Science Academy for teachers) and materials (including STEM career books) that bring science to life for students, their parents, and their teachers.
About ExxonMobil
Globally, ExxonMobil provides funding to improve basic education, promote women as catalysts for economic development, and combat malaria and other infectious diseases in developing countries. In 2010, together with its employees and retirees, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), its divisions and affiliates, and ExxonMobil Foundation provided $237 million in contributions worldwide, of which $110 million was dedicated to education. Additional information on ExxonMobil’s community partnerships and contributions programs is available at www.exxonmobil.com/community.
This press release was posted on June 17, 2011, and I apologize for not sharing it earlier, but I thought it made interesting reading.
275 Educators Selected from Across the Country to Attend 2011 Academy
More than 395 educators trained to date, impacting an additional 2,700 educators nationally
Academy showcases diverse role models in science and engineering fields
Program made possible by the support of ExxonMobil
June 16, 2011 01:06 PM Eastern Daylight Time
IRVING, Texas--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The Sally Ride Science Academy brought to you by ExxonMobil announced today that 275 upper elementary and middle school educators from across the country were selected to learn new, innovative strategies to raise students’ awareness of and interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers.
“Partnering with ExxonMobil, we continue to make strides in equipping talented educators with key tools to prepare and encourage young students, particularly girls, to pursue science and math careers.”
The Academy is a partnership between Sally Ride Science, founded by the first American woman in space, Dr. Sally Ride, and ExxonMobil. The program educates teachers and counselors on the importance of introducing young students to STEM careers, showcases diverse role models in those careers, and provides pathways to incorporate STEM career awareness in the classroom. In addition, the Academy provides gender equity training to help educators foster an encouraging, collaborative learning environment.
“Through the teachers and counselors trained during the Academy sessions this year, we will be able to introduce even more young people to exciting STEM fields,” Ride said. “Partnering with ExxonMobil, we continue to make strides in equipping talented educators with key tools to prepare and encourage young students, particularly girls, to pursue science and math careers.”
The Academy utilizes a train-the-trainer model that prepares Academy graduates to train other teachers in their district during the 2011-2012 school year. Graduates and their trainees will receive sets of the Sally Ride Science Cool Career book series for use in their classrooms. Since the inaugural Academy in 2009, the Academy has trained more than 395 educators in 41 districts spanning 14 states and the District of Columbia. Those educators have since returned to their districts and trained more than 2,700 additional educators using Academy materials.
“We are excited by the progress this program is making to raise awareness of the importance of science and math education in our nation’s classrooms. It will help educators open the eyes of their students to the fun and diverse STEM careers that await them,” said Suzanne McCarron, general manager, public and government affairs, ExxonMobil. “ExxonMobil believes in the importance of preparing young people to meet the challenges of the future with a solid understanding of science and math.”
The three Academy sessions taking place this summer in San Diego are scheduled for:
Sunday, June 19, 2011 – Thursday, June 23, 2011, upper elementary school teachers;
Sunday, June 26, 2011 – Thursday, June 30, 2011, upper elementary school teachers; and
Sunday, July 10, 2011 – Thursday, July 14, 2011, middle school teachers and counselors.
Educators attending each of these sessions are selected in conjunction with Sally Ride Science and local administration from targeted school districts across the country.
The Sally Ride Science Academy is part of ExxonMobil’s investment in math and science education in the United States. The company supports numerous other initiatives that encourage students to take an active interest in careers in the math and science fields; support the professional development of highly qualified teachers and promote involvement of women and minorities students.
About Sally Ride Science
Sally Ride Science™ is an innovative science education company dedicated to supporting girls’ and boys’ interests in science, technology, engineering, and math. The company, founded by Dr. Sally Ride, creates programs (including Sally Ride Science Academy for teachers) and materials (including STEM career books) that bring science to life for students, their parents, and their teachers.
About ExxonMobil
Globally, ExxonMobil provides funding to improve basic education, promote women as catalysts for economic development, and combat malaria and other infectious diseases in developing countries. In 2010, together with its employees and retirees, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), its divisions and affiliates, and ExxonMobil Foundation provided $237 million in contributions worldwide, of which $110 million was dedicated to education. Additional information on ExxonMobil’s community partnerships and contributions programs is available at www.exxonmobil.com/community.
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