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Minggu, 28 Desember 2008
Exercising Your Head Cold
According to a pair of articles published about 10 years ago, maintaining your usual exercise regimen may be good for you when you have a cold, or at least it will do no harm. A typical head cold with a runny nose and sneezing does not affect lung function or exercise capacity. And although exercise doesn't actually speed recovery time, people who continue to exercise during a head cold tend to report that they feel better than people who don't exercise. So the next time you catch a cold, go ahead and continue doing whatever exercise you enjoy doing.
"Effect of rhinovirus-caused upper respiratory illness on pulmonary function test and exercise responses". Weidner TG et al. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 29:604-609, 1997.
"The effect of exercise training on the severity and duration of a viral upper respiratory illness". Weidner TG et al. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 30:1578-1583, 1998.
Minggu, 21 Desember 2008
Federal Jobs II
National Park Service is seeking up to six aquatic technicians for the 2009 summer field season in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI). All vacancies are GS-5 positions at $14.24/hr. The primary objective of these positions is to restore high elevation aquatic ecosystems, with a focus on enhancing mountain yellow-legged frog populations (Rana muscosa, Rana sierrae). Primary duties include backpacking to lake basins in park Wilderness, removing non-native trout populations from lakes and streams using gill nets and backpack electrofishers, and surveying populations of the mountain yellow-legged frog. Additional duties include following detailed protocols, recording environmental parameters, and communicating an overview of the project to park visitors. Emphasis is on field work in both team and individual settings. Work dates depend on timing of snowmelt, but are estimated to be from mid-June to late-September.
To be competitive for these positions, applicants must have 1) considerable backpacking experience in high elevation mountains, 2) the ability to hike safely across challenging on- and off-trail terrain, 3) the desire to work in remote Wilderness for weeks at a time, and 4) a strong commitment to conducting ecological restoration. Typical past employees have been upper-level undergaduates seeking degrees in aquatic biology/ecology or fish/wildlife programs, or had completed undergraduate or graduate degrees in these fields of study.
Interested applicants must apply through the USAJOBS website at
http://www.usajobs.gov. The job announcement number is SEKI 228053. To retrieve the announcement, type this number in the keywords search window,click the search button, and follow the resulting link. To determine whether you qualify at the GS-5 level, see the "Qualifications & Evaluations" page. Applications must include a resume that contains contact information for at least three references, a completed questionnaire (shown in announcement), and a copy of your college transcripts (if you wish to be qualified based on experience and education). See the "How to Apply" page for specific details.
Complete application packages must be submitted by Tuesday, January 20,2009 to be considered for these positions. For general application questions, contact SEKI Personnel by emailing email@example.com or calling 559-565-3752. For specific position questions, contact SEKI Aquatic Resources by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com or calling 559-565-4273.
Successful applicants will have:
- experience conducting field research, preferably involving amphibians
- strong outdoor skills that include hiking, backpacking, camping in remote areas
- ability to work well with a field partner under challenging conditions
- experience with maps, PDAs, GPS, and orienteering
Gary Fellers
Research Biologist
Western Ecological Research Center, USGS
Point Reyes National Seashore
Point Reyes, CA 94956
Federal Jobs #1
The US Forest Service is looking for qualified field botanists and weed crews to work throughout California in summer 2009. Seasonal Botanists and Biological Science Technicians are needed for 3-6 months, with pay ranges from $11.34 to $21.65 per hour (GS-3 – GS-9, depending on experience). Government housing may be available.
Job descriptions and Qualifications: Botanists: Conduct field surveys for rare plants and map locations. Weed Crew: Locate and manually remove invasive plants. Exact duties will vary among duty stations, and may include greenhouse work. Desired skills include: plant identification using taxonomic keys, familiarity with California flora; use of GPS, topographic maps, and compass; operating vehicles on rough roads, good physical fitness; and willingness to work under difficult field conditions.
Qualifications: Minimum 1 year college for GS-3 Biological Science Technician. Bachelor's degree in biology, botany, natural resources, range science, biology, or related area, with 24 semester hours in botany required for GS-9 Botanist.Over 18 years of age, and a U.S. Citizen Position
Locations (Anticipated number of positions) – Contact Person:
- Eldorado National Forest - Placerville, CA (1 or 2 Botany) – Susan Durham: 530-642-5173
- Inyo National Forest – Bishop, CA (1 Botany) – Kathleen Nelson: 760-873-2498
- Klamath National Forest – Happy Camp, CA (1 botany);
- Fort Jones, CA (1 Botany);
- Yreka, CA (1 Weeds) – Marla Knight: 530-468-1238
- Lake Tahoe Basin Unit– South Lake Tahoe, CA (2 Weeds; 3 Botany) – Cecilia Reed: 530-543-2761, Shana Gross: 530-543-2752
- Lassen National Forest – Susanville, CA (2-4 Weeds; 2 Botany) – Allison Sanger: 530-252-6662
- Mendocino National Forest – Willows, CA (1 Botany) – Lauren Johnson: 530-934-1153
- Modoc National Forest – Alturas, CA (2 Botany) – Judy Perkins: 530-233-8827
- Plumas National Forest – Oroville, CA (3-5 Botany); Quincy, CA (2 Botany) – Chris Christofferson: 530- 532-7473, Jim Belsher-Howe: 530-283-7657
- Shasta-Trinity National Forest – Weaverville, CA (3-5 Botany); Mount Shasta, CA (3 Weeds/Botany) – Susan Erwin: 530-623-1753, Rhonda Posey: 530-926-9665
- Sierra National Forest – North Fork, CA (2 or more Botany) – Joanna Clines: 559-877-2218 x 3150, Jamie Tuitele-Lewis: 559-855-5355 x 3352
To Apply: Apply in the automated Forest Service site, AVUE
Job Titles: Biological Science Technician (Plants); Botanist (Temp) Students: Continuing students are eligible for direct hiring under the Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP), and should submit applications directly to the Forest of interest. Contacts for each Forest are listed above.
Jumat, 19 Desember 2008
Detecting Protein Markers of Disease
A technique just now being developed would make testing for the presence of abnormal plasma proteins easy, quick and cheap. The technique is based on glass and plastic microfluidic chips that can test for dozens of proteins in a single drop of blood, in just minutes, for pennies per test. The new technique is described in the Dec. 19 issue of Science.
Rabu, 17 Desember 2008
Incentives for Organ Donations
But that may soon change. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania will introduce a bill next year that would allow states to offer certain "incentives" to donors and their families, such as tax credits, contributions to 401K retirement plans, and tuition vouchers. The bill still would still prohibit the direct buying and selling of organs, however, so you won't be able to buy a kidney on eBay any time soon.
One patient's emotional odyssey as her kidneys began to fail is described in "Desperately Seeking a Kidney" published two days ago in the New York Times. It might make an interesting additional reading assignment for your students.
Frozen Embryo Dilemma
A recent survey published in the journal Fertility and Sterility (online Dec. 5) indicates that the decision is a difficult one, even for couples that do not want any more children. Over 40% would not feel comfortable discarding the embryos. And even though they no longer needed them for themselves, over 50% would not consider donating their embryos to another couple. Common reasons given were because they wouldn't want their child brought up by another couple or because of the fear that their child might meet an unknown sibling someday. Forty percent would consider donating their unused embryos for research, but that option is not available at all IVF clinics. Faced with what they view as unacceptable options, twenty percent say they will keep the embryos frozen indefinitely. However, frozen embryos may not be viable after several decades, so this may ultimately be a decision to let the embryos die.
There are now more than 400,000 frozen embryos at IVF clinics. The authors of the survey suggest that potential parents need to be counseled thoroughly about the choices ahead of them before they choose IVF, not after.
What would your students choose to do if they had leftover embryos?
Selasa, 16 Desember 2008
From the Chronicle of Higher Education
Late to Rise Seems to Make Students Wise
By DAVID GLENN
When college students refuse to sign up for early-morning classes, parents and faculty members sometimes give them sermons or stale quotations from Benjamin Franklin. But those students might actually have the right instincts, says a new study by two economists.
The study, whose results appear in the December issue of the Economics of Education Review, found
that students earn higher grades in courses that are offered later in the day. The effect is small but unmistakable: For each hour after 8 a.m. that a class begins, students' average grades are 0.024 points higher, on a 4-point grading scale.
The most likely reason, the authors say, is sheer exhaustion. Nineteen-year-olds find plenty of reasons not to go to bed before midnight. And even when they get adequate sleep, adolescents' brains tend to fire up later in the morning than adults' brains.
The effect is partly counteracted when classes meet frequently. Throughout the day, but especially in early-morning classes, students earn higher grades in classes that meet three times a week than in classes that meet only once or twice. Over all, however, the time-of-day effect is stronger than the frequency effect.
The authors-Angela K. Dills, an assistant professor of economics at Mercer University, and Rey Hernández-Julián, an assistant professor of economics at the Metropolitan State College of Denver-analyzed more than 100,000 course grades that were earned at Clemson University in the fall of 2000 and the spring of 2001.
Because their cache of data was so vast, the authors say, they were able to deal with certain challenges that have confounded previous studies of course scheduling. For example, they say that
they were able to partly or entirely eliminate the possibility that professors grade more leniently in their late-day classes than in their break-of-dawn classes, or that the most difficult courses happen to be scheduled in the morning, or that stronger students are the first to register for classes and are thus more likely to enroll in courses that start later in the day.
Kamis, 11 Desember 2008
Campus lagoon Internship opportunity
Water Quality/Hydrology Internship:
I am looking for a student interested in working with me on the data and reports on the Campus lagoon water quality from studies we have completed, implementing follow-up studies, assisting with data monitoring for the larger study and, possibly, helping with modelling of water quality in the lagoon. I need a self-starter willing to do some independent research, collect water samples and collaborate with professors on campus. We have a stipend of $250 for Winter quarter and the possibility of additional funding should the candidate have more time to commit to the project.
Interpretive Sign Research Project Internship:
We are designing a sign to provide essential information about the ecological state of the UCSB Campus Lagoon related to geology, recent history and current ecological status. Looking for an independent person who can do research and is interested in interpretive signage and presentation. Skills in graphic design not required. Creativity a plus! Pays $250.
Both internships come with an expectation of ~ 6 hours per week commitment.
Post-fire biological research opportunities at Parma Park
Dear Professor or Colleague:
The 200-acre Parma Park burned in the recent Tea Fire. While the City of Santa Barbara is busy preparing for winter storms, we realize there may be exciting opportunities to observe post fire vegetation and community succession in the months and years to follow. Parma Park is currently closed to the public. If you are interested in bringing your class to observe, or have students interested in post-fire research (currently no City funding available), please contact me to discuss. There may also be post-fire research opportunities related to wildlife, water resources and geology.
Parma Park is a City of Santa Barbara Open Space park, located off Highway 192 (Stanwood Drive), east of the Sheffield Reservoir. The Park contains a diverse array of native plant communities and wildlife, along with unique assemblages of soil types, geology, steep terrain and tributaries to Stanwood Creek. Native plant communities at Parma Park include chaparral, oak woodland, riparian forest, coastal sage scrub, and remnant patches of native grassland. Non-native plant species also occur within the Park.
Please feel free to forward this email to any parties that may be interested.
Thank you,
Kathy Frye
Natural Areas Planner
City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation
Box 1990, Santa Barbara, CA 93102
Senin, 08 Desember 2008
Alzheimer's Disease Linked to a Virus
A recent paper in the Journal of Pathology (217:131-138, Jan. 2009) offers some tantalizing clues. It appears that two factors may be involved; 1) a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's disease, and 2) chronic infection of the brain with the same virus that causes cold sores; Herpes simplex type 1. The herpes virus is present in the brains of a high proportion of elderly persons. In the absence of the genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's the virus doesn't seem to do much. But in elderly patients with the genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's, the virus is associated with amyloid plaque accumulation and may in fact be the cause of the plaque formation. If this turns out to be correct, Alzheimer's disease may some day be preventable with a vaccine.
I am reminded of another chronic disease - peptic ulcers - that turned out to be caused by an infection, in this case by a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori (see Human Biology, 5th ed., p. 328).
Rabu, 03 Desember 2008
More research opportunities
Caltech is excited to announce two summer research opportunities available to
continuing undergraduate students. Questions about these programs can be
directed to Carol Casey at firstname.lastname@example.com or (626) 395-2887.
The MURF program aims to increase the participation of underrepresented
students (such as African American, Hispanic, and Native American, females
who are underrepresented in their discipline, and first-generation college
students) in science and engineering Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. programs and to make
Caltech's programs more visible to students not traditionally exposed to
Eligibility: Students must be current sophomores through non-graduating
seniors and must be U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents. A minimum GPA
of 3.0 is required.
Support: MURF students will receive a $6000 award for the ten-week program.
Additional housing and travel support may be provided.
Application: Online applications are due January 12, 2009.
For more information, please visit www.murf.caltech.edu
Caltech's Amgen Scholars Program is geared towards students in biology,
chemistry, and biotechnology fields. Some of these fields include biology,
biochemistry, bioengineering, chemical and biomolecular engineering, and
Eligibility: Students must be current sophomores through non-graduating
seniors, must be attending a four-year university, and must be U.S. citizens
or U.S. permanent residents. A minimum GPA of 3.2 is required.
Support: Amgen Scholars will receive a $5500 award, round-trip air
transportation, a generous housing allowance, and a food allowance.
Application: Online applications are due February 15, 2009.
For more information, please visit www.amgenscholars.caltech.edu
Carol Casey
Associate Director
Student-Faculty Programs
California Institute of Technology
Mail Code 08-31
Pasadena, CA 91125
(626) 395-2887
Marine biodiversity undergrad research opportunity
For the fifth consecutive year, we will be running The Diversity Project, an NSF funded research opportunity designed to increase participation of under-represented undergraduate students in the marine sciences. In collaboration between Boston University, Duke University, Old Dominion University and UCLA, students will integrate hands-on field research in the Coral Triangle with cutting edge genetic research. The project will explore the origins marine biodiversity in the Coral Triangle in an effort to improve conservation of this remarkable ecosystems. Students are fully funded for both living and travel expenses. Visit http://www.eeb.ucla.edu/Faculty/Barber/Intro.htm for more information and on-line application.
This research opportunity has been a remarkable personal and professional experience for the students who have participated.
Please encourage any students whom you believe would benefit from such an experience to apply. Applications are due January 15, 2009.
Selasa, 02 Desember 2008
Colloquium and Seminar
A last minute seminar:
Wednesday Dec. 3
9 AM in MSRB 1302
Shawna McMahon, PhD exit seminar
Seasonality of Arctic Soil Microbial Community Substrate Use.
Jumat, 28 November 2008
Kamis, 27 November 2008
Bren events next week
Now in its 17th year, Buy Nothing Day is celebrated every November by environmentalists, social activists and concerned citizens in over 65 countries around the world. Over the years, Buy Nothing Day (followed by Buy Nothing Christmas) has exploded into a global movement, inspiring the world's citizens to live more simply and buy a whole lot less.
On a slightly related note, the Bren school of Environmental Science and Management has two environmentally themed seminars next week:
Tuesday, Dec. 2, 200812:30 - 1:30 p.m. in Bren Hall 1414
Professor Ramprasad Sengupta
Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University , New Delhi , India
High Economic Growth, Equity, and Sustainable Energy Development of India.
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. in Bren Hall 1424
Miriam Haran, PhD
Former Director General, Israeli Ministry of the Environment Head, MBA Environmental Management Program Ono Academic College Kiryat Ono, Israel
Financial Meltdown Does not Slow Global Warming: The Environment in Israel
Senin, 24 November 2008
In honor of this possible anniversary (or not), enjoy these YouTube clips. You've probably seen the first one. The second one won a lot of advertising awards. Both of them misrepresent evolution in several important ways but that's part of the fun.....
Coral reef seminar today
EEMB Seminar speaker today is EEMB's own Nichole Price.
Nichole is giving her PhD exit seminar:
"Processes structuring benthic communities on a coral reef".
4pm, Monday, in the MSRB Auditorium.
Re-creating Extinct Animals
The second step would be to actually reconstruct the deciphered DNA code back into intact DNA once again. One way would be to "reverse engineer" the DNA of a close living relative species until it is similar to the known sequence of the extinct species. So far this has not been possible because of the sheer numbers of base pairs (perhaps half a million) that would need to be modified. But researchers are hopeful that techniques will be available soon to modify up to 50,000 sites at a time. The extinct species' DNA would then be inserted into an egg of the living relative and incubated in that relative until birth.
How would your students react if it were to be announced one day that an extinct human such as a Neanderthal had been reverse engineered and then born to a modern human or a primate mother?!
Sabtu, 22 November 2008
Dumb eco-questions you were afraid to ask
For example single stream recycling (where all recycling is collected in one bin) is becoming increasingly popular because collection costs are lowest and new technology allows some quite efficient sorting of materials at the depot. However recycling agencies discovered that the less restrictive you make the instructions - the more you collect. ie if you say 'All plastics' you collect a lot more (of ALL kinds of plastics) than if you say only 'Plastics #1 and #2' and if you say something like 'Only #1PETE and #2HDPE blow molded plastic jugs and bottles' you collect least of all because people get confused and end up chucking a lot more in the garbage. But the truth is that in many areas there is ONLY a market for the aforementioned #1 and blow molded#2. So they collect everything but then end up chucking away everything else so that they can get more of #1 and #2. Confused? Try persuading your friends that in most cases they are better off throwing away plastics (at least of #3 and greater), even if their recycling company collects them, because putting them in the recycling devalues the value of the recycling.
This does differ a bit from place to place and depends on your local collection agency and what the local market is for recycling products. I was reminded of this because New Scientist had an article this week on 'Dumb eco-questions you were afraid to ask' that covers a few of these recycling issues. Including the popular, and much debated pizza box question. I'm not sure why they call them dumb though, most of these are pretty good questions.
Coincidentally Popular Mechanics had an article on 'Recycling Myths: Popular Mechanics Debunks 5 Half Truths about Recycling' this month which contains some useful ecomomic information about the recycling industry.
Kamis, 20 November 2008
What is Science?
There are six separate pages (plus some extras) and each is an entertaining and informative read.
Rabu, 19 November 2008
Ginkgo Doesn't Prevent Dementia
Herbal extracts of Ginkgo remain popular as a memory enhancer, even though previous scientific evidence showed that Ginkgo just doesn't enhance memory. So don't expect this latest finding regarding dementia to put much of a dent in Ginkgo's annual sales of over $200 million. Good marketing apparently trumps good science.
Selasa, 18 November 2008
CCS Biology Colloquium Resources available outside the Biology Departments
Anthro has a teaching/reference collection of skeletal material of vertebrates that is largely focused to the interpretation of human habitation sites, but the collection and associated courses can be invaluable to students interested in questions of hard-part anatomy of vertebrates.
- Sabrina Curran - Human Evolution, paleoecology, skeletal morphology
- Steven Gaulin – Evolutionary psychology
- Anabel Ford – Ethnobotany and El Pilar
- John Tooby – Evolutionary Psychology
- Susan Stonich – Ecological anthropology
- Amber Vanderwarker - Ethnobotany
Biomolecular Science and Engineering
The Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Biomolecular Science and Engineering epitomizes the highly interdisciplinary approach to research and education that is the hallmark of UC Santa Barbara. In this context BMSE offers a unique mix for graduate training and research at the frontiers of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Bioengineering and Biomolecular Materials. The BMSE Program may be for graduates, but an examination of Faculty research pages will lead you to some laboratories working on the forefront of materials and nano-technology where you might find a research option. See particularly:
- Cherie Briggs (EEMB)
- Deborah Fygenson (Physics)
- Jamey Marth (MCDB)
- Jean Carlson (Physics)
- Dan Morse (MCDB)
- Megan Valentine (Mechanical Engineering)
The Bren School of Environmental Sciences and Policy
The Bren School is technically a graduate program. However, there are some good biological folk there, and if you can talk your way in, so much the better:
- Patrica Holden (Microbial Ecology),
- Bruce Kendall (quantitative ecology of plant and animal populations),
- John Melack (Aquatic systems)
- Frank Davis (Biogeography, plant ecology)
- Hunter Lenihan (Restoration ecology, marine ecology)
Environmental Studies
- Carla D'Antonio is interested in invasive plants and general questions of plants in the human sphere - and is a neat person.
- David Cleveland - Ethnobotany,
- Oliver Chadwick – Soils
- Jordan Clarke – Hydrology
Geological Sciences
The department has several mass spectrometric facilities focused upon paleoclimatology recorded by isotopes of Carbon, Oxygen, strontium and others. These isotopes can be used to track other things too. The Paleontological Collections. Ostensibly part of the Museum of Systematics and Ecology, but housed in PSB South. Largely focused upon invertebrate fossils, particularly of the last 60 million years of southern California.
- Bruce Tiffney – Paleobotany
- Stan Awramik – Origin and early history of life, astrobiology
- Susannah Porter – Origins of animals, invertebrate paleontology
- Andre Wyss – Vertebrate Paleontology, origin of pinnipeds, biogeography
- Rachel Haymon – Life on deep sea vents
- David Valentine – microbial biogeochemistry
- David Lea - Really a geochemist, but with spectacular abilities with isotopes and CCS friendly.
Extraordinary strengths in remote sensing; both in the use of existing technology and the development of new technologies. Very important for any research involving widespread geographic coverage.
- Remote sensing: Keith Clarke, Dar Roberts, others.
- Biogeography: Dar Roberts.
- Hydrology (with Geology): Hugo Loaciaga, Ed Keller
- Global Climate: Catherine Gautier, Joel Michaelson & others
- Plant ecophysiology: Chris Still
The Evolutionary Psychology program has strong ties to the Neurobiology Research Institute. People include:
- Leda Cosmides (Psych)
- John Tooby (Anthro).
- Ben Reese (Neuroanatomy)
- Aaron Ettenberg (Behavioral Pharmacology)
- Tod Kippen (Neuroscience and Behavior)
- Karen Szumlinksi (Neuroscience and Behavior)
- Ben Reese (Developmental Neurobiology)
The sixteen faculty in the area of Biochemistry center around the common themes of bio-organic and bio-inorganic reaction mechanisms, protein-nucleic acid recognition, nucleic acid structure and dynamics, and membrane transport. They can offer expertise in a number of experimental tools such as Xray diffraction, computer graphics and computational analysis.
Beyond standard library resources, UCSB hosts the "Map and Imagery Library" (MIL) in the first floor of the SEL wing. This is a national repository, and has both digital and paper images of just about any kind of geographic reference you could want. This includes:
- Topographic maps
- Geologic Maps
- Maps & volumes summarizing vegetation, climate, hydrology, cultural and other features;
- Aerial photographs from landsat down to old plane-flown photographs.
- And much more!
The Marine Science Institute (MSI), established at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1969, is the focus for marine, coastal zone, and freshwater research; marine policy studies; and educational outreach in marine science. MSI administers and supports research projects involving faculty, professional researchers, technical staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students from 14 disciplines. There are a LARGE number of researchers associated with the MSI who are not faculty in one of the biology departments – and many are very student friendly. Some specific faculty to check out include :
Carrie Culver, Tom Dudley, Jenny Dugan, Mark Page, Dan Reed, Kevin Lafferty and Milton Love (See especially Milton Love's web page – it's cool!). A complete list of MSI associated faculty can be found here.
PISCO (Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans) is a large, long-term, ecosystem research and monitoring program that involves Santa Barbara and three other West Coast campuses (Oregon State, Stanford and UCSC).
Cheadle Center for the Study of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration (CCBER)
Located under the south end of the stadium. Used to be the Museum of Systematics and Ecology in EEMB, now independent. Houses the plant and animal collections of the University. Hosts a range of research projects, particularly concerning biodiversity and the reclamation of local ecosystems. Very strong programs in outreach to local school children. Check out their internships.
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS)
An outstanding international think tank on anything ecological and a lot evolutionary. It is a cross road of visiting scientists, in house researchers and periodic work groups who have access to a series of immense computerized databases that allow researchers to seek out explanations for gross patterns in Nature. Many UCSB faculty and graduate students participate, and there are frequent opportunities to work as paid data-collectors or enterers. NCEAS is located on State Street, in the center of the Paseo Nuevo. Note that they have a Thursday lunch seminar that hosts internationally known scholars.
The UC Natural Reserve System.
The UC System is unusual (not quite unique) in owning its own set of natural reserves dedicated to instruction and research. Each reserve is selected as representative of an important ecosystem in California. Most are managed by resident scientists. All are available for visitation or research with proper initial approval (signing of waiver forms indicating respect of the property, etc. ). Each Reserve has its own web site, and most list past research conducted on the Reserve. A good way to see who is doing what.
UCSB has one on campus (Coal Oil Point Note particularly here that Cristina Sandoval (director of Coal Oil Point) is an active researcher who interacts with undergrads) and two nearby (Sedgwick Ranch & Carpinteria Salt Marsh). We also manage the Santa Cruz Island Reserve, the Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve near Cambria, the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Lab in Bishop, and the Valentine Camp on the eastern face of the High Sierra.
Channel Islands National Park (And the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary)
The National Park Service manages several of the Channel Islands, and is interested in supporting research on them. Most of their voucher specimens come to Museum of Natural History
Lotusland Botanic Garden
Located in Montecito, Lotusland occupies 38 acres, much planted with exotic plant species in striking array. Lotusland has the world's third largest collection of cycads, and outstanding collections of Agave, Aloe and cool-tolerant palms. The garden is looking to become increasingly involved in research.
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Nearly a century old, the garden focuses upon native Californian plants. It has an outstanding living collection arranged by habitats, and a good library and herbarium focused in native flora. The Garden has a long-standing reputation for research into native Californian plants, and the biogeography of the Channel Islands. Research students interested in botany would do well to explore this.
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and Sea Center.
The Museum of Natural History is likewise nearly a century old, and has an established research reputation. It has internationally-recognized collections of living Mollusca and bird egg shells, and a very strong collection of marine invertebrates of the Santa Barbara Channel. Other collections include an excellent collection of mammals, particularly marine mammals, of southern California, a wide range of fossil whale material, a decent insect collection, and collections of particularly Pleistocene fossil marine and terrestrial organisms. It hosts active researchers working on - Marine Mammals Krista A. Fahy, Michelle L. Berman, - Marine octopods, F. G. Hochberg - Marine gastropods, Henry Chaney - Marine Mollusca, Paul Valentich Scott - Entomology - Michael Caterino - see his spectacular site on the California Beetle project, Ethnobotany, Jan Timbrook and Vertebrate Biology, Paul Collins.
Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens
The Zoo is mostly dedicated to the culture and reproduction of living, endangered, taxa. However, while they might not take kindly to dissecting a living animal, they certainly offer opportunities to examine behavior, and who knows what else might be worked out.
USC Wrigley Marine Science Center, Catalina Island
For those of you with marine interests, a local (SoCal) resource is the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina island, run by USC. It offers research opportunities and summer courses.
Senin, 17 November 2008
Kamis, 13 November 2008
How flies find stuff.
Next week's EEMB seminar speaker will be Dr. Michael Dickinson, professor of bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology. Michael's research merges behavioural ecology and bioengineering to study how flies perceive and navigate their environment. His work (and talks) are very exciting and has resulted in his being awarded a prestigious MacArthur Foundation prize (a very big deal). For more information on Michael's research, check out his page at Caltech.
This talk will be on Monday at 4pm in Psych 1924 (note venue change).
I have heard Michael talk many times and can assure you that this will be a great talk. Strongly recommended for all, regardless of your interest in flies, flight or stuff.
Surrogate Grandmother
Apparently a young couple could not conceive because the woman had had a hysterectomy. So they used in vitro fertilization (IVF) to produce their embryos, which were then implanted into the young woman's 56-year-old mother.
My class took quite an interest in the many and varied reproductive possibilities raised by modern IVF techniques. They understood the obvious benefit, which is to enable some infertile couples to have children of their own. They also quickly grasped that it could also be used (in combination with preimplantation genetic diagnosis) to choose a child's sex, to avoid having a child with certain genetic disorders, or even to cure an older sibling of a genetic disorder (See the Current Issue in Human Biology 5th ed., pp. 396-397). But they didn't come up with this scenario!
Rabu, 12 November 2008
Reef fish seminar
Michel Kulbicki is based at the Insitut de Recherche pour le Développement in Perpignan, France. He was originally trained in biology and fish ecology at the Institut National d'Agronomie de Paris and Oregon State University. After four years of work on tuna fisheries and echointegration, he came to reef fish ecology in 1985. He was then based in New Caledonia where he worked until 2004. During his stay there, he had the opportunity to conduct fieldwork in New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Tonga and Fiji. His major interests lie in linking the characteristics of reef fish assemblages (e.g. species composition, functional groups, trophic or size structure) to factors at various spatial scales, from local (reef type, fishing pressure, coral cover) to regional (island size, island type, degree of isolation). He is also interested in developing better methods to survey reef fish and in associating information on fish obtained via underwater visual censuses with information on the environment obtained via remote sensing.
Seminar Title: Macro-ecology and understanding the large scale functioning of reef fish assemblages in the Pacific
Abstract: The regional species and functional diversity of reef fishes determines to a significant extent the local species and functional diversity of these fishes in the Pacific. As regional diversity is related to large scale factors such as island size and connectivity, distance to the biodiversity center, latitude, these factors also play a role on the distribution and composition of local reef fish diversity. Amongst the life history traits, (adult) size follows gradients linked to island size and connectivity. Species range is also found to be correlated to species (adult) size and larval duration and is also correlated to island size and connectivity. Colonizing ability can be as well related to (adult) size (finding mates, reproductive capacity, resource limitation). These findings explain why on small isolated islands the proportion of large species is higher than on large connected islands in the Pacific. One of the major consequence is the shape of the diversity-biomass relationship which presents a steeper slope on small isolated islands but reaches lower values of biomass because of lower diversity. The implications for management are important, in particular this shows how small islands will be far more fragile to fishing than larger or well connected islands. These findings may find applications in other systems where "ecological islands" exist.
Selasa, 11 November 2008
Whatever Happened to Golden Rice?
In the face of intense, well-organized opposition, government regulatory agencies have been reluctant to approve GE crops, including golden rice. The company holding the patent on golden rice eventually gave up, saying there was no money in it. It's still being studied in a few labs by humanitarian organizations such as World Food Day, but don't expect to see it on grocery shelves any time soon. That's too bad, for golden rice really is a product that could help people in need, as opposed to just helping food producers and manufacturers.
Senin, 10 November 2008
Seminar this evening
Monday evening seminar (tonight) will be presented by Dr. Deborah Gordon from Stanford University. Her talk is entitled:
Ecology and behavior of Argentine Ants in California.
LOCATION: CCBER Classroom at Harder Stadium,
Minggu, 09 November 2008
Wonders of ocean life counted in massive census
A city of brittle stars off the coast of New Zealand, an Antarctic expressway where octopuses ride along in a flow of extra salty water and a carpet of tiny crustaceans on the Gulf of Mexico sea floor are among the wonders discovered by researchers compiling a massive census of marine life.
Sabtu, 08 November 2008
Society of Undergraduate Biologists
The Society of Undergraduate Biologists (
Research: SUB will strive to promote undergraduate research as both an essential part of an undergraduate's education and as an asset to the scientific community. SUB will support those undergraduates already involved and will encourage those still yet to participate. Future goals: Obtaining special funding for undergraduate research; Undergraduate research seminars; Encouraging involvement in undergraduate research; Featuring UCSB research through the org. website and events.
Mentorship: The biology degrees offered by the CCS, EEMB and MCDB departments allow students to explore exciting educational challenges and opportunities. SUB will facilitate a system of mentorship in which undergraduates, throughout all four years of their degree, can look to others for advice in maximizing their experience at UCSB. Future goals: Graduate student-undergraduate student mentorship program; Promotion of departmental peer advisors; Events for incoming freshmen; Study group organization; Grad school admissions seminars. Communication: Science is a group effort. Communication is key. SUB will promote a well-informed undergraduate community by facilitating communication amongst undergraduates, between students and faculty, and between biology departments. Future goals: Promotion of departmental events (seminars, symposia, etc.); Undergraduate science-focused social events; Faculty-student events.
Kamis, 06 November 2008
REU site
Rabu, 05 November 2008
Ecosystem services seminar
Ashok Khosla
Chairman, Development Alternatives Group India President
International Union for Conservation of Nature
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Bren Hall 1414
"The Importance of Including the Value of Ecosystem Services in Economic Calculations "
Scientists in Japan clone mice that had been frozen for 16 years
They suggest this leads to the possibility of cloning extinct species from the cells of frozen animals like mammoths. I've also heard the idea that being able to clone animals could lead to an ethical meat option for vegans and vegetarians (no animal would be harmed as the meat would be grown by itself in a lab).
Sabtu, 01 November 2008
New Nutrient Standards for Packaged Foods
Once consumers understand what the logo means and accept its underlying health assumptions, they can simply look for the logo on the front of the package. "Pattern recognizers" such as myself (who can't find their favorite products in the grocery store if the manufacturer changes the packaging!) will appreciate the help in picking healthful foods. The logo is a green check mark in a square along with the words, "Smart Choices Program". For a complete listing of the nutritional requirements to earn the Smart Choices label, visit the Smart Choices website. The logo should begin appearing on products in stores by the middle of next year.
Jumat, 24 Oktober 2008
Who Were the Flores People?
Well, it seems that the new-species proponents are gaining ground these days. Analysis of LB1's hands and feet suggest that this is not the skeleton of a modern but diseased human. Her wrist bones and especially her feet are closer to those of Homo erectus, an African Hominid that lived in Africa more than a million years ago. Her feet are so long that scientists think she must have walked with a high-stepping gait and been a poor runner. How Homo floresiensis reached Indonesia and survived there for over 50,000 years is a mystery.
For a good look at the one skeleton unearthed so far, see "When Hobbits (Slowly) Walked the Earth", Science April 25, 2008, pp. 433-435. You can get the article online at www.sciencemag.org - search for "When Hobbits".
Rabu, 15 Oktober 2008
What's in That Energy Drink?
Sales of these products continue to climb. Health officials are growing increasingly concerned by reports of acute caffeine intoxication, dependence, and withdrawal among children. There is also a trend toward the combined use of energy drinks and alcohol among young adults.
Which ones do your students drink? Do they know what's in them?
Selasa, 14 Oktober 2008
Portable Music Players and Hearing Loss
The European Commission is planning a conference for early 2009 to discuss the committee's findings with industry, consumers, and governments, and to consider whether there is a need for tighter controls over portable music players. I would not be surprised to see new legislation emerge that limits the maximum sound volumes attainable with portable music players.
SCENICOR's 80-page preliminary report, released in June for public comment, is available online.
Minggu, 12 Oktober 2008
Ginkgo and Prevention of Stroke
Researchers caution that so far, the research has only been done on mice. Still, it's encouraging to see herbal remedies being subjected to the same kind of careful scientific scrutiny that has traditionally been applied to therapeutic drugs. This is exactly what we had hoped for, as discussed in Human Biology 5th ed. in the Current Issue essay entitled "Antioxidants: Hope or Hype?" (pp. 42-43). In time perhaps we'll know the real story behind herbal remedies, and not have to rely on anecdotes and hype.
Kamis, 09 Oktober 2008
New Drug Test for Athletes
According to World Anti-Doping Agency rules, an athlete's blood may be retested for up to eight years after an athletic event. The International Olympics Committee keeps blood samples for eight years for situations like this, in which a new test is developed to detect a previously undetectable performance-enhancing drug. It's just another way that sports authorities try to keep up with athletes who are willing to cheat. Sports authorities hope that the knowledge that an athlete might still be stripped of his/her medals up to eight years after a competition will deter some athletes from using drugs in the first place. But the desire to win is strong, and no one knows if the strategy will work.
Rabu, 08 Oktober 2008
More on Sequestering Carbon
Instructors will be interested in the detailed report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) entitled "Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage – Summary for Policymakers". The article has some great illustrations that would be useful in teaching. They can be used free with acknowledgment.
Jumat, 26 September 2008
Carbon Sequestration
Rabu, 24 September 2008
A Screening Test for Ovarian Cancer?
A promising new screening test for ovarian cancer called OvaSure can correctly identify ovarian cancer 95% of the time. Ovarian cancer is one of the most deadly cancers if it is not detected early. The company marketing the test says that the test has a false-positive rate of only 0.6%. (A false-positive is when the test indicates that cancer is present when in fact it is not.) Should the test be made widely available as a screening test for ovarian cancer?
Let's see; 95% success rate at detecting ovarian cancer versus a 0.6% false-positive rate – it doesn't sound like much of a dilemma, does it? You might try it out on your students to see what they think. But it is an interesting dilemma, and the reason is that ovarian cancer is rare; its prevalence is only about 0.06%. So among 100,000 women screened with the new test, 60 (0.06% of 100,000) would have ovarian cancer and 57 of them (95%) would be diagnosed correctly. Many of these 57 might be saved. However, 600 women (0.6%) would be told they had ovarian cancer when they did not. In the absence of any good corroborating tests to confirm the diagnosis, many of those 600 women might choose to have a surgery they actually didn't need. And almost certainly they'd suffer emotionally from the belief that they had a deadly cancer.
Sometimes you have to run the numbers carefully to see the full effect of what is being said. It pays to be a skeptic.
ADDENDUM: Ovasure was pulled from the market in October, 2008, after the FDA sent the company a letter saying that the kits required FDA approval before they could be marketed and sold.
Jumat, 19 September 2008
Gender Selection Nears Perfection
Well, if those odds still aren't good enough, now gender can be selected with essentially 100% accuracy. Basically, it's a variation of the standard in vitro fertilization (IVF) technique: 1) harvest eggs from a woman according to the standard IVF protocol, 2) fertilize the eggs in vitro, 3) grow the embryos to the 8-16 cell stage, 4) Remove a cell for DNA analysis to determine the presence or absence of the Y chromosome, 5) implant only embryos of the desired sex. Bingo, it's a girl! (Or a boy).
Removing a cell for DNA analysis doesn't affect the ultimate development of the fetus because at that stage none of the cells have begun to differentiate. In fact IVF with DNA analysis is already being done to screen out certain rare but debilitating genetic diseases, where the risk of these diseases is considered high. But before a couple chooses to use it to select gender, they should consider that it's expensive, it's invasive, and some would say it goes against nature.
Where do your students stand on this? Are they aware that there are clinics advertising on the Internet that are routinely doing it? (Google "IVF" and "gender selection").
Jumat, 12 September 2008
Irradiation of Foods
Until now the market for irradiated foods has remained small because current FDA regulations require that irradiated foods be labelled as "irradiated" and display an irradiation logo. The labels have convinced some consumers that irradiated foods may be radioactive (they're not). To encourage consumer acceptance, the FDA has proposed changes to the labelling rules so that in the future, irradiated foods would only have to be labelled as "cold pasteurized", or simply pasteurized.
How accurate are your student's perceptions about food irradiation? How many of them mistakenly believe that irradiated foods are radioactive? The safety of food irradiation might make a good out-of-class research project or topic for discussion.
Senin, 08 September 2008
Strong Hurricanes Get Stronger
Over the same time period (1981-2006), the sea surface temperatures have risen by 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Most climatologists believe that warmer waters are certain to lead to stronger storms, because hurricanes derive their energy from the heat of warm surface waters.
Kamis, 04 September 2008
Bird Flu: The Pandemic That Hasn't Happened (Yet)
Here's an interesting exercise you could give your students: Ask them to search a key phrase such as "bird flu", "avian influenza" or "H5N1" in any major newspaper with a searchable archive (such as the New York Times), arrange the retrieved documents by date, and count them. I searched "avian flu" in the New York Times recently and found that references peaked at 181 in 2006 and have since fallen to a paltry 18 in the first eight months of 2008.
Psychologists surely would have something to say about how long we can sustain our fear of a perceived threat that doesn't materialize quickly. Health officials worry that if we become convinced that bird flu is not a threat any more, we will begin to make political and economic choices that direct our resources away from preparedness programs. And no one knows whether or not that would be a good idea at this point.
What do you think?
Minggu, 31 Agustus 2008
Limits to the Human Population
See "The Specter of Malthus Returns". Scientific American September 2008, p. 38. Your students could read and appreciate Dr. Sachs' one-page opinion piece on the subject. In my class the article led to a spirited discussion of the wide disparities in resource utilization by different countries.
Minggu, 24 Agustus 2008
Measles is on the Rise
Measles is highly contagious, so it is no surprise that it may be among the first vaccine-preventable diseases to reappear when vaccination rates decline. Fortunately, measles is not very virulent; most patients are treated at home and recover without any long-term consequences. But if the return of measles is an early indication of lower vaccination rates, it may only be a matter of time before other vaccine-preventable diseases return as well. And that has health officials worried.
How do you feel about childhood vaccinations?
Sabtu, 23 Agustus 2008
Sensing Danger in the Air
It would be interesting to know whether humans also give off alarm pheromones. Could this be an explanation for why people seem to internalize the stress of others around them?
Kamis, 21 Agustus 2008
Fatness, Fitness, and Health
A study published last December tends to support the hypothesis that being overweight is not as important a factor previously thought (Journal of the American Medical Association 298:2507-2516, December 5, 2007). In this study, 2603 adults over the age of 60 were tested for cardiovascular fitness (gentle treadmill test) and then mortality was followed for 12 years. Overweight individuals did have a higher mortality rate than did normal-weight individuals (18 vs 13 deaths per 1000 person-years). However, even more striking was the effect of fitness; mortality rate of the least-fit quintile was four times that of the most fit quintile (33 vs. 8 deaths per 1000 person-years.) Among the older generation at least, maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness may be more important than maintaining a normal body weight. Whether this is also true for younger individuals remains to be seen.
Selasa, 12 Agustus 2008
Testing Fingerprints for Illicit Substances
Law enforcement officials and crime investigators will welcome the technique as another weapon in their arsenal against crime. But the ability to test fingerprints for certain chemicals could also raise some privacy concerns for us all. Would we consider it ethical for an employer to enter workers' offices to check for fingerprints containing traces of illegal drugs, without the employee's knowledge or consent?
Reference: "Latent Fingerprint Chemical Imaging by Mass Spectrometry". Science 321:805, August 8, 2008.
Minggu, 10 Agustus 2008
A Daily Pill Against HIV Infection
Well, yes…..maybe. A document released this month by the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition describes a potentially powerful new HIV prevention method called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP.) It's a simple notion, really – that a daily pill consisting of one or more of the current AIDS treatment drugs might prevent HIV infection from occurring in the first place. There are at least seven clinical trials of PrEP either planned or underway using the drugs tenofovir and emtricitabine, both of which are already approved for treating people who are currently HIV-positive.
No one knows for sure whether PrEP will work, but there are some promising signs that it might. But even if PrEP does prevent HIV infection, there would still be the issues of access and cost. In order to prevent HIV infection the drug would need to be available to a lot of healthy people, rather than just the few who are already infected.
A report on the status of PrEP research and some of the issues related to its use in AIDS prevention can be accessed at www.avac.org/prep08.pdf.
Selasa, 05 Agustus 2008
HIV/AIDS Incidence Revised Upward
How could the numbers have been so far off? For one, the new data are based on better testing methods that more precisely differentiate new HIV infections from long-standing ones. In addition, HIV infection rates are notoriously hard to come by, especially back in time. Even the new estimates are based on extrapolations using data from only 22 states. The CDC does the best it can do with limited data; the rest is an educated estimate.
Officials emphasize that this does not mean that there actually were more new cases of HIV – rather, we now have better estimates of the actual rates of new infection that existed at the time, regardless of whether or not they were accounted for. Nevertheless, some Democrats are criticizing the Bush administration for not doing enough to combat HIV/aids in this country. Senator Waxman of California released a statement last week in which he pointed out that the CDC budget for prevention has actually shrunk by 19% since 2002, and that the president recently requested a reduction in funding for HIV prevention at the CDC. Given that the incidence of HIV has not declined at all over the past 15 years, Senator Waxman may have a valid concern.
Students may react with a "So what are we supposed to believe, when even scientists can't get it right?" attitude. They'll need convincing that this kind of "flip-flop", as it would derisively be labeled in politics, is actually a normal part of a healthy scientific process.
Minggu, 03 Agustus 2008
Enhancing Taste Sensations
The commercial possibilities and health implications are almost limitless. If food product manufacturers could use less sugar in their products and still satisfy our craving for that sweet taste, perhaps people would be able to diet more effectively. Caloric intake might decline, leading to a reversal of the obesity epidemic. Less salt in our food products might mean less cardiovascular disease. Block the bitter taste receptors and children would eat more vegetables. Bitter medicines would be more palatable, improving patient compliance in taking them.
Some big companies are interested, including Coca Cola, Nestle, and Cadbury. Nestle is already using a flavor modulator from Senomyx in some of its products. Read about it in this month's Scientific American ("Magnifying Taste." Scientific American August, 2008, pp. 96-99.) You're likely to see "flavor modulators" or "taste enhancers" listed among your favorite products' ingredients in the near future.
Sabtu, 02 Agustus 2008
California Bans Trans Fats
Trans fats are created by bubbling hydrogen through liquid oil at high temperature. The resultant partially hydrogenated oil is a solid at room temperature. Trans fats prolong the shelf life and (some say) improve the flavor of foods. They were popular as a deep-frying oil until it became apparent that they raise the levels of low-density lipoproteins (the bad cholesterol), thereby potentially contributing to heart disease. Some restaurant chains, most notably McDonalds, have already discontinued the use of trans fats in their deep-fryers, and other chains are following suit.
The California ban raises an interesting question: Whose responsibility is it to legislate our health? The California Restaurant Association argued (unsuccessfully) that it should be the federal government, not the states – otherwise, restaurants with outlets in many states could face a wide array of different rules.
But if the government won't act, should the states be allowed to? Until California's law is challenged in federal courts, the answer is "Yes". What do YOU think?


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If you follow ELF on twitter or Facebook then you may have already seen these photos.
I actually saw them on CrazyBeautifulMakeup yesterday.
I'm a fan of the Makeup Forever HD blushes so I'm very excited about these.
Are we looking at Makeup Forever dupes?
I don't know, but the swatches look promising.
According to ELF the new blushes will be available in September.
No word yet if they'll be available at Target or just online, but I'll keep you posted!

subset: commoncrawl


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Washington Isn't Istanbul
Erdogan's bullies get police warrants for beating up protesters.
June 15, 2017 7:41 p.m. ET
Washington has enough problems today without having to add other nations' bad habits to the local political culture. Thus it's good news that the D.C. police have issued arrest warrants for 12 members of the security detail that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought to the nation's capital last month.
More:Washington Isn't Istanbul - WSJ


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Story highlights
- Selena Gomez is hosting WE Day California on April 27
- Alicia Keys, Demi Lovato, DJ Khaled and more are expected to participate
- WE Day is an organization that aims to inspire young men and women to get involved in their local communities by taking action on social issues .
(CNN)Selena Gomez will host a California event for WE Day, a day of speeches and performances to inspire young people to get involved with charities that work for social change.
WE Day California is set for April 27 at the Forum in Inglewood. Alicia Keys, Demi Lovato, DJ Khaled and some of the Muppets are also scheduled to appear.
"My first WE Day experience was three years ago, and to say I was impressed is an understatement," Gomez said in a statement. "The electricity of an arena full of thousands of young people who are making real change in the world is like nothing I've ever experienced."
WE Day events are being held throughout the year in cities around the world.
Craig Kielburger, one of the founders who started WE Day in 2007, said in a press release that he hopes it will create a "sustainable change for a better tomorrow."
Tickets are not on sale for the California event, which is expected to draw 16,000 people. People have to be invited through a charity they support. It's free to students and teachers.


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I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday! We definitely did. We were excited to have our first Christmas living together, though we didn't celebrate at our house. Jon and I had Christmas at my parents' house on Christmas Eve, and his parents' house on Christmas Day. We got a bunch of beautiful gifts from everyone, which we are beyond grateful for, but one that stood out the most was this one my parents gave us.
I mentioned to my mom that I wanted to make an ornament for our first year in the house, and so she gave us that beautiful bell. It was so sweet, I almost cried. It fit perfectly onto our tree, and it'll be there every year. Thanks mom and dad.
The only other gifts that I want to share with all of you, are the Project Life things that Jon gave me, and the one that his sister sent for me.
Jon had a hard time finding mini albums online, one of them didn't arrive in the mail because it was sold out, but he managed to get me the Jade mini album. It's beautiful, and hopefully perfect for our before and after photos of the house.
He also got me the Jade edition of Project Life.
It's very green, but so pretty!
He also got me the Sunshine edition of Project Life.
He bought it for his sister, and when I was wrapping it, I said that it might be too neon for me, but after flipping through the cards, it wasn't as neon as I thought.
Jon's sister from Calgary sent me the Holiday Edition.
I thought it would just be Christmas (I had a brain fart then realized that's the Merry & Bright edition). It covers every single holiday through the year from New Years, to the Fourth of July (useless since I'm Canadian though), to Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Hanukkah.
I also got a bunch of owl things from book ends, to a lunch bag, a set of boxes, and a stuffed owl from my sister. It was a wonderful Christmas and I was beyond excited to spend it with my family. We also celebrated my Grandma's 80th birthday on the 21st, and I found out that I'm going to be an Auntie again. I'm so excited for my brother and his family. Maybe I'll be able to help out with the birth announcements again.
Happy New Year!


text:
Monday, June 25, 2018
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02 policemen injured during leopard rescue in Srinagar
Srinagar, March 19, (Scoop News)- Two policemen were injured when they were rescuing a leopard from a hospital here this evening.
Parimpora police was informed that a leopard has entered in an under construction 200 bed Maternity Hospital adjacent to Haj House Bemina. Following this information a police party alongwith the officals of waildlife department immediately rushed the spot and rescued the leopard. However, two cops idendified as constable Gulzar Ahmad and Habibullah sustained injuries after they were attacked by the leopared during the rescue process.
The injured policemen were shifted to hospital for treatment and the leopard was handed over to Wildlife department .
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At any rate, the day Elmer came in happened to be the day that gold hit its absolute bottom for that cycle — $103.50, if I recall correctly — and also happened to be the very same day there were big riots in Soweto that made headlines in the U.S.
So, Elmer gets hit with these two things at the same time, calls me back up and says he wants to cancel his order. I said: "Elmer, this isn't Woolworth's. You can't really take the merchandise back." But rather than paying me for what he ordered, he hung up the phone on me.
Having entered the orders for the stocks the previous day, I had to ask myself what I would do about it. It was something of a revelation to me — it was clear that I was dealing with a typical member of the public, a representative of their mindset. I figured he must be the perfect contrary indicator. In today's terms, I had to ask myself if I was just talking the talk, or if I was willing to walk the walk.
I have no idea what happened to him after he hung up on me, but I thank him for appearing at the right time. Elmer was completely ignorant of economics and the markets, but he nonetheless taught me a more valuable lesson than any teacher in four years of college.
~Doug Casey, international investor, Casey Research, "Education of a Speculator", LewRockwell.com, May 27, 2010
Dec 18, 2010
Doug Casey on providential lessons and contrary indicators
Posted by Taylor Conant at 10:00 PM
Labels: contrary opinion, people - Casey; Doug
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text:
Reminds me how the UN money here is diverting skilled students away from private enterprise to orgnaizing conferences in Rio de Jaineiro.
Feb 10, 2009
Foreign aid
Easterly has made a nice summary of the conference he organized on foreign aid here. Among the presentations, Duflo and Easterly made interesting slides, but my favourite comment is this one, by June Arunga: "Aid money is diverting African skilled professionals away from private enterprise to writing proposals for NGOs."
Posted by Pierre-Louis at 10:05 AM
3 comments:
- cosimo said...
...or to take notes at expert meetings
- February 10, 2009 at 1:21 PM
...or to organise not one, but 'a series of conferences' in various exotic and non-exotic but equally appealing locations.
- February 10, 2009 at 5:26 PM
- Dany said...
...or to write useless paper and blog entries instead of be working with real people...
- February 12, 2009 at 12:47 PM
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text:
10.02.2017 - Edited: 10.02.2017
Commuter train services on the main line are currently disrupted, i.e. K, R, T, Z, I and P trains are not running. The disruption is estimated to last for about 30 minutes, i.e. until 3.50pm. The disruption is due to an accident.
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text:
Salary: $69,388.80 - $102,731.16 Annually
Final Filing Date: May 24, 2017
Incumbents perform a variety of scientific laboratory examinations and analyses on physical evidence in controlled substances, interpret test results, formulate conclusions, and prepare reports. Incumbents also provide scientific assistance to external parties and testify in court as an expert witness.
Forensic Scientist I and II – Controlled Substances job announcements are open simultaneously. As an applicant, you may only apply for one position – either Forensic Scientist I or Forensic Scientist II (not both). Based on the minimum qualifications previously stated, if you have three or more years of full-time forensic scientist professional experience in seized drug analysis, please apply only for level II. If you have less than three years and more than one year of full-time forensic scientist professional experience in seized drug analysis, please apply for level I. If you apply for both positions, you will be contacted to choose whichever ONE testing process matches your experience.
Duties:All Assigned Forensic Scientists:
Do you have the Education Required? See available on-line and campus-based degree programs now!
How to apply: Apply online
Posted: May 1, 2017
NOTE: The crime-scene-investigator.net is not responsible for typographical errors or omissions in employment notices on this web site. Often, employers change final filing dates, change duties and/or requirements, or close employment openings without notice. If you are interested in a job posted on this site be sure to contact the employer to see if changes in the filing date or job announcement have been made. Employers can also provide more information about open positions that does not appear in the announcements on these pages.


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Monday, July 30, 2012
"The difference between friendship and love is how much you can hurt each other." ~Ashleigh Brilliant
Anyone who has had the stamina to read the bulk of what I've written deserves an award of some sort--I have a feeling the award would be nothing highly sought and if tangible, no doubt it would be disposed of rather quickly or hidden shamefully in some tiny cranny found in the dark recess of a metropolitan sewage system. Regardless, the prize should be awarded because that kind of readership is remarkable. I have written innumerable posts on more than one blog nearly every day for several years.
I mention this because many of my posts have addressed the topic of human relationships and in the process, it has become very clear that I am not a proponent of friendship. I've stated my views more than once but for the sake of brevity, I will summarize my dislike of the concept:
I believe friendship is a sham relationship which lends credence to the idea that some relationships are disposable--and easily revived on a whim. It allows us to "get to know" people with the understanding that should life circumstances become too busy, the friend will be eliminated for simplicity's sake. Also, should another, more interesting person come along, the current friendship can be allowed to dissipate and disappear for the purpose of climbing a social ladder, or simply for better entertainment. Friends are allowed to be comforters, comrades, and confidantes until such time as one or the other of the previously stated situations arises, at which point they go their separate ways assured that this is acceptable social behavior. Should one of the friends feel hurt by the subsequent absence of their former friend, they're considered clingy, controlling, or a social embarrassment. Clearly they misunderstand the rules of friendship and don't play the game very well. They are to be avoided.
While my assessment of the friend relationship might seem cynical, it is, nonetheless, accurate. I do not buy into the maudlin acclamation that there are some people who can leave one's life for extended periods of time and when they return, the relationship remains intact--"it's as if no time has passed." That's untrue--because time has passed. Many important, poignant moments have taken place and that friend who just reentered the scene has missed them all. And so the two friends will have lunch, cram as much personal history as possible into ninety minutes, and then depart, satisfied that the friend relationship is once again thriving. They might telephone a few times over the next year until once again, decades of absence reign over the relationship.
And that is true friendship.
A couple of years ago I had this conversation with Therapist:
Therapist: It sounds to me like a control issue.
Sam: It's not.
Therapist: Well, here's how it looks to me: You find someone you care about deeply and you want to keep them.
Sam: Yes.
Therapist: That's kind of controlling.
Sam: I'll have to take your word for it. I don't control them.
Therapist: No, but you become very anxious because you want to. You're afraid of being vulnerable to them. You're certain they'll leave you at some point because that's what you believe friends do.
Sam: Maybe.
Therapist: And so you make believe that the relationships you have with very close friends are something more than friendship.
Sam: I make believe?
Therapist: I think so. If it's not friendship, what is it?
Sam: I don't know. Familial?
Therapist: Sam, you can't choose the people you want in your family.
Sam: Why?
Therapist: Because, first of all, those people have their own families. You're not a part of that unit, and they're not a part of your family unit.
Sam: Okay.
Therapist: So, if not familial, then what?
Sam: I don't know.
Therapist: You can't keep people, Sam.
Sam: What if they want me to?
Therapist: As a general rule, people don't like being collected.
Sam: So you're telling me that I'm stuck with the family I have--such as it is. I need to make peace with people who rarely contact me, have no interest in my life, and want me around because someone may need to take care of our parents one day?
Therapist: Is that your judgment of how you fit in your family?
Sam: Yes.
Therapist: Well, it makes perfect sense that you would search outside that unit for people who can be a part of your life. Unfortunately, that's not how it works.
Sam: I know.
Therapist: At some point it might be a good idea to accept that friendships are a vital and important part of life, that forming healthy ones can be rewarding and joyful, and that you've been blessed with some very special friends.
Sam: Who will leave me.
Therapist: At some point their presence in your life may become less frequent, yes.
Sam: Less frequent means they've left.
Therapist: Sam, it's not an all or nothing situation. If they're absent for awhile, they'll be back when they can accommodate social situations with you. You're not forgotten. I'm not sure it's possible to forget about you.
Sam: That's ridiculous.
Therapist: Which part?
Sam: Anyone is forgettable.
Therapist: I would say that most people do not forget the ones with whom they've had deep, meaningful friendships.
Sam: That's not true. They get busy or bored or whatever, and they forget. They might remember later, but there were still moments when they forgot.
Therapist: That bothers you.
Sam: I think so. I think I would rather never know people than become so boring that they don't think about me anymore.
Therapist: Why have you spent so much time in the past few years trying to develop healthy friendships?
Sam: I thought I could do it. I thought I could learn the rules, play the game, and let whatever happened, happen. I thought I'd figure it out.
Therapist: And now?
Sam: I don't want to figure it out. I fell in love with people. I let them know who I really am. I shared some of my life with them. I allowed them to see parts of me that I've hidden for a very long time. I want them to stay.
Therapist: Sam, a leave of absence doesn't mean they've gone forever.
Sam: I know. Don't you see? I know! My head gets all of this. It understands and it's completely willing to play the friendship game, regardless of what happens. But my heart isn't. It hates every part of this. It's not happy to fall in love with someone who probably doesn't love as deeply, who views me as disposable or convenient, or, worse, thinks I'm some amazing person to look up to--because I'm not, you know, and I've never pretended to be anything more than I am.
Therapist: What do you want, Sam?
Sam: I want them to be in my life forever.
Therapist: And you know they can't?
Sam: Yes.
Therapist: Someday, I believe you'll get to the point where you'll understand that absence does not constitute a lessening of love or affection. It simply means that someone's life became differently shaped and could no longer accommodate frequent contact with you. And you'll be patient, because that's sort of how you work, and you'll allow them to decide if frequency of contact will occur again.
Sam: I do that now.
Therapist: Yes, but the difference is, when this happens it won't hurt so much.
I didn't record this conversation when it occurred because I was embarrassed by it. I didn't like the intimation that I was controlling, and I was keenly aware that I wanted more from people than they were willing to give. I was also rather proud of myself for being aware of those feelings but always being able to manage them. I was not prone to manipulation nor coercion in any of my relationships and those certainly had opportunity to present themselves. I have been guilty on occasion, however, of asking certain of my friends for reassurance that they would remain in my life. Someday I will ask their forgiveness. I'm not ready to do that yet.
The conversation is now appearing because I believe I'm at a point in my life where, while I don't understand how people bond and let go on a regular basis, I do accept it. I don't know that I will ever practice the custom as it commonly occurs, and probably I will always try to "collect" the people I love and I'll want them to stay in my life and I might even feel (if they do stay) that they are my family; but I will never verbalize those things, nor will I impose my desires upon them. Regardless of whatever emotional deficits with which I may struggle, I am deeply cognizant of the need to maintain healthy boundaries and balance in any relationship and I wish for those I love to feel safe in relationships with me.
And so today I will begin to have friends. I will embrace the term and use it. I will not be offended nor feel slighted when someone I love refers to me as "friend." One of those loved ones has told me on more than one occasion that I am one of the best friends he has ever had--and he has said that in spite of the fact that presently our life goals and beliefs are different. I choose to believe he made that statement because he knows I don't walk out on relationships that become difficult, I support his right to make decisions for himself, and even if I disagree with the outcome of such decisions I still wish to talk with him and spend time with him. I should feel happy that he believes I am one of his good friends.
Another loved one has referred to me as his best friend on occasion and, when introducing me, once said we are "the best of friends." I believe my response to that was, "Only if I say so." It was churlish, and my way of saying, "You, of all people, understand how deeply I despise that word, and I'm unhappy that you used it in reference to me." And given that I have provided no alternate descriptor, it was out of line for me to object. Because I love him, as well, and have always offered that love without reservation, I should feel honored that he would introduce me in such a way. There is no reason for me to take offense.
There are others who consider me a friend. It's time for me to assume the role they have assigned me.
Therefore, to all my friends, I ask your forgiveness for my boorishness in reference to the laudable institution of friendship. I will stop trying to reshape our friendship into some sort of relationship which has no name. I'll not refer to us during therapy sessions, as "familial." I won't ask you to please stay in my life forever, and I'll no longer balk or remind you that I don't like the F-word and would prefer that it not be used to describe me.
Fake it till you make it, right? I can do this.
7 comments:
I love you. :-) Can you believe I actually commented on a post?ReplyDelete
I love you, too.ReplyDelete
:-) And when do I get my "Beautiful World" award, because I believe that I have read almost every word of every post on this blog. It may take me months to catch-up, I do keep reading until I start to read and realize that I have read a post already. I love your words and I love you!ReplyDelete
First I have to think of what would be an appropriate award--then you can definitely have it. :)ReplyDelete
Hmmm. Apparently I need to revisit the meaning of friendship, too. Because I think that good friends are the family that one gets to choose.ReplyDelete
Thanks so much for this post Samantha. I guess I want to collect people too. I can't imagine that place your therapist mentioned where it doesn't hurt as much when friends drift away, but I would like too.ReplyDelete
P.S. Josh is a friend of mine too, he is the one that told me about your blog (sometime ago actually.)
Brozy, I hope you're right. :)ReplyDelete
Leslie, I hope my therapist is right. I have a feeling I'm not capable of getting to that point, but it would definitely be nice. (and yes, Josh lets me know when he's sent someone to my blog, so I was aware he had done so--still trying to figure out why he does that--he's silly)


text: >It's kinda impressive to pull into the driveway and see 2 V8Qs (1 a >stripper > in progress) 3 CGTs (ok 1 is only the front end), an UrQ, 4KQ, and a >garage >full of engines and trannies... kinda redefines Audifan... when you >consider >it's all a hobby, or serious medical condition. Yeah, I've got a serious cylinder index at the moment... 3 x PT = 24 1 x WX = 5 1 x 7A = 5 1 x MC = 5 3 x KX = 15 1 x WT = 4 Total = 58 58 / 28 = 2.07 cylinder index Anyway, like John said, the V8 seems like it was made to go into the smaller cars...It's such a small, tight compact motor... ...I think that with the number of V8 swaps I know of going on right now, very soon V8 swaps will be almost as common as MC swaps. Especially as the 5v motors become more available since they have 8-bolt flywheels. Oh, and it is a medical condition...just so happens I'm off my medicine right now ;) Alan ----------------------------------- Alan Kramer http://www.geocities.com/audikramer '83 UrQ V8 '83 CGT 20vt '86 4kcsq '90 V8q ----------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar get it now! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/


text:
It used to be fun, but now it's getting dangerous
by John Wilkerson, David Smith, Nick Stramp
On Tuesday Feb 4, the Washington Post published an article in which retiring representative Robert Andrews (D-NJ) was asked to defend the fact that none of the bills he sponsored over 20 years had become law. A bad measure (bill success) that previously garnered little public attention now seems to be trickling into the mainstream as congressional data becomes more easily accessible…..
More at the Washington Post's Monkey Cage.
And one more chart, which displays how many more lawmakers are successful sponsors if just the CRS designated companion bills are considered.
Learning to Govern…Again?
Speaker John Boehner was first elected to Congress in 1991. In 1995, he was a member of the new GOP House majority (the first one since 1955) that shut down the government – an event that was widely seen as harming the GOP's brand and was a major contributing factor to the downfall of Newt Gingrich's speakership.
Richard Fenno, a political scientist at the University of Rochester and highly regarded congressional scholar, wrote an excellent book on the GOP's teething lessons that was titled "Learning to Govern." In it, Fenno argued that because Republicans had been in the minority wilderness for so long, they didn't really understand what governing requires. Mistakes were made as the GOP transitioned from its historical "bomb-throwing" role to one where they might be held to account for what the government did or didn't accomplish. Specifically, House Republicans failed to understand the need for a governing majority to compromise.
Former Speaker Gingrich conceded that the shutdown turned out badly for Republicans in 1995. Lesson learned, the 104th Congress ended up being quite productive under divided government – enacting major welfare, health insurance portability, telecommunications, and crime bills, among others.
Fast forward to 2013. House Republicans have been in the majority for 16 of the last 19 years. In the current 113th Congress they have accomplished very little to date, and then topped this lack of productivity by shutting down the government again in October. That recently elected tea party-backed lawmakers might fail to appreciate the lessons of 1995 is not surprising. They weren't around. Rep. Paul Ryan recent comments about the need for compromise under divided government offers evidence of the learning Fenno described, particularly when compared to the strident, uncompromising views Ryan expressed in earlier years:
"What Patty Murray and I decided was if we require the other person to violate a core principle, then we're going to get nowhere and we'll just keep yelling at each other. So instead, what we decided to do was look for areas of common ground and put an agreement around that and that's what this reflects. So, you know, the fact of the matter is you don't get everything you want in divided government"
Good for him. But too bad these lessons had to be learned the hard way.
More puzzling is the recent behavior of more senior Republicans such as Speaker Boehner. They were around in 1995. Have they forgotten, or did they choose to ignore those lessons? And if so, why? Boehner's "Are you kidding me?" outburst suggests one of two possibilities: Either he and other members were misled by conservative activists who promoted the standoff but later revealed "Well we never thought it would work," or they were coerced into what they probably knew was a losing strategy. This is not the first time that conservative elements in the GOP have pushed positions that have harmed the party's brand. However, in the most salient of those cases, such as the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, Speaker Boehner avoided the worst of the damage to the party by not invoking the Hastert Rule. Why the shutdown continued as long as it did can't be blamed on conservative activists or on not knowing any better. It was a failure of leadership, pure and simple.
Shelby County v. Holder: What if Congress had reauthorized the Voting Rights Act for just 5 years?
In Shelby County v. Holder, a 5-4 Supreme Court majority invalidated Section 4(b) of the 2006 reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. In an earlier post, we noted that the Court's criticism of the law focused on the congressional reauthorizations process.
There is another intriguing element related to reauthorizations that emerges from the back and forth between the majority and dissenting opinions. Whether the law met the "rational basis" test used to evaluate the constitutionality of statutes was a central source of disagreement among the justices. The majority found that Section 4(b) did not meet this test: "[A] departure from the fundamental principle of equal [state] sovereignty requires a showing that a statute's disparate geographic coverage is sufficiently related to the problem that it targets."
Justice Ginsburg, in her dissenting opinion, responded that the majority was applying the wrong standard: "[W]hen Congress acts to enforce the right to vote free from racial discrimination, we ask not whether Congress has chosen the means most wise, but whether Congress has rationally selected means appropriate to a legitimate end. 'It is not for us to review the congressional resolution of [the need for its chosen remedy]. It is enough that we be able to perceive a basis upon which the Congress might resolve the conflict as it did.' Katzenbach v. Morgan, 384 U. S. 641, 653 (1966)."
Both the majority and dissenting opinions cite the extensive hearings and documentation produced by Congress when it reauthorized the VRA in 2006, and Justice Roberts feels compelled to explain why that record does not demonstrate a rational basis for Section 4(b): "Congress did not use the record it compiled to shape a coverage formula grounded in current conditions. It instead reenacted a formula based on 40-year-old facts having no logical relation to the present day."
What is noteworthy to us about this back and forth is that, in trying to address the criticism that the Court has overreached, Justice Roberts brings up the law's reauthorization schedule: "In fact, the Act's unusual remedies have grown even stronger. When Congress reauthorized the Act in 2006, it did so for another 25 years on top of the previous 40—a far cry from the initial five-year period." In other words, another objection to the 2006 law is that it is likely to remain in place for many more years.
Did the fact that a law was on a 25-year reauthorization schedule just become a reason for invalidating it? Would the Court have had less reason to invalidate the VRA if it were authorized for just 10 years? 5 years? We doubt that the length of the authorization would have made much difference in this case with this Court, but it is interesting to speculate on whether Shelby County v. Holder will be cited by future courts to justify using a law's period of authorization as one criterion in evaluating whether it has a rational basis.
If Congress does manage to revise Section 4(b), will the new law's expiration date help to decide whether it withstands legal scrutiny, especially given the Court's argument that laws must reflect "current conditions?" In the future, will judicial oversight become one of the factors lawmakers consider when deciding whether to pass permanent laws, or when deciding the length of a temporary authorization?
The Voting Rights Act: Should the Court consider "current political conditions?"
The U.S. Supreme Court declared Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act to be in violation of the Constitution because Congress did not use available information about "current conditions" to make the right decision when it reauthorized the Act in 2006. While the reversal of a congressional statute is not unprecedented, the decision in Shelby County v. Holder seems different. There is every reason to think that Congress made a deliberate decision – the reauthorization process included 21 congressional hearings over a 20-month period. Further, the Court does not take issue with the quality of that information – indeed it cites the congressional findings repeatedly in its decision. Instead, the Court finds fault with the results of the congressional reauthorization process:
"If Congress had started from scratch in 2006, it plainly could not have enacted the present coverage formula. It would have been irrational for Congress to distinguish between States in such a fundamental way based on 40-year-old data, when today's statistics tell an entirely different story. And it would have been irrational to base coverage on the use of voting tests 40 years ago, when such tests have been illegal since that time. But that is exactly what Congress has done.
In other words, the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional because Congress did not do enough when it had the opportunity. The judicial scholars we consulted could think of no previous case where this has happened.
It is interesting to think about the implications of different approaches to lawmaking in light of the Shelby County v. Holder decision. How would voting rights be different today if, in 1965, Congress had passed a permanent rather than temporary law? Where would we be if Congress had allowed the VRA to expire in 2006, for example because lawmakers were unable to reach a political consensus at that time?
The Court may be correct in its implicit judgment that Congress chose the path of least resistance in reauthorizing section 4(b) without making substantial revisions. But that is how electorally accountable institutions operate. To suggest that Congress should have done more is naive at best, and the Court fails to offer a remedy that reflects the realities of lawmaking. Now there is no section 4(b). How is this a better outcome than a workable albeit flawed section 4(b)? Hundreds of covered jurisdictions have successfully "bailed out" of the pre-clearance requirements delineated in Sections 4 and 5 over the past 30 years. They have done so by successfully demonstrating that they care about citizens' voting rights (ironically Shelby County is not among them). In addition, numerous jurisdictions outside of the deep south (in New Mexico and elsewhere) must seek pre-clearance.
Though the language of 4(b) may seem outdated, the law still seems to work and it is almost assuredly better than what would exist had Congress failed to reauthorize the VRA in 2007, or had it passed a permanent law in 1965.
Should Members of Congress Care About Disapproval of Congress?
[Guest Post by Michael Ensley]
An oft-noted paradox is that Americans hate Congress but love their members of Congress. Distaste of Congress is so deep-seeded in American politics that it has long been common for candidates (including incumbents) to run for Congress by running against it (Richard Fenno 1977).
In a recent post on the Washington Post, Chris Cillizza cites a recent Gallup Poll showing that 46 percent of respondents approved of their representatives, while only 16 percent approved of Congress. The troubling pattern for Cilizza was that, despite Congress' apparently poor performance, most members handily win reelection (e.g., more than 90 percent in 2012) .
Cillizza suggests psychological biases are behind this paradox:
There's a natural tendency to assume your guy or gal isn't like everyone else — how could they be bad since you voted for them? — and they are doing everything they can to make things better up there/down there/out there in Washington.
Another possibility is that voters elect representatives who share their views. As an amalgam, Congress as a whole is not very representative of any given constituency. In addition to having more representative policy views, members win support back home by steering and claiming credit for government benefits and by providing assistance in dealing with bureaucratic agencies (see the recent article by Jeffrey Harden (Legislative Studies Quarterly)).
But if Fenno is right that "members run for Congress by running against it," do members have any electoral incentive to invest in the collective outputs and reputation of their institution? Does public disapproval of Congress matter for their own reelection prospects? Or, as Cillizza suggests, is there a bright line between voter evaluations of their own representatives, and feelings about Congress?
Political science research finds that incumbents are not as safe as they appear. One important limitation of focusing on reelection rate percentages is that incumbents sometimes choose to retire rather than face defeat ( Kernell and Jacobson (1983). General turnover in Congress is substantially higher than 10% – often twice as high or more. In 2010, for example, the Republican Party gained more than 60 seats as many Democratic incumbents decided "to spend more time with their families" or were defeated.
Systematic studies of elections over longer time spans also indicate that incumbents pay an electoral penalty when public approval of Congress is low. The question of interest is really not whether members should care, but which members should care. Jones and McDermott (2009) find that representatives and senators of the majority party win by smaller margins and are more likely to be defeated when Congress is less popular. In our research, public approval of Congress is related to whether incumbents of the majority party return to office under unified control, but also to whether incumbents of both parties return to office under divided control (figure below, from chapter 3 of Congress and the Politics of Problem Solving).
Understanding which members are most likely to bear the brunt of publc assessments of congressional performance may help us to better appreciate why lawmakers sometimes work together to solve important problems facing the nation, and why they sometimes don't.
A Computational Approach to Tracing the Progress of Policy Ideas in Legislation
Whose ideas and proposals prevail in Congress? Legislative scholars have traditionally studied important subjects such as legislative effectiveness and agenda control by studying the progress of bills. In chapter 7 of Congress and the Politics of Problem Solving we show that using bills for these purposes has important limitations. Bills are "vehicles" for policy ideas. Often the successful sponsor of a bill that becomes law is a committee or subcommittee chair who claims the credit for a collective policy development process involving "must pass" legislation such as a program reauthorization or a law passed in response to a salient external event.
Where do the ideas in laws come from? In the 111th Congress, HR 3590 as introduced was titled the Service Members Home Ownership TAX Act of 2009. As enacted, HR 3590 was titled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as ObamaCare. The legislative history of HR 3590 is unusual but by no means unique. It illustrates a widely appreciated but rarely studied point: bills evolve as they move through the legislative process. They pick up and shed policy provisions that can range from relatively small adjustments in language to complete bills (in the case of omnibus legislation).
The figure above illustrates a new text-based approach to systematically tracing the progress of policy ideas or provisions (as opposed to bills) in legislation. We use text reuse methods from computer science (think plagiarism detection) to trace similar language wherever it appears in legislation. Figure 1 is based on a comparison of section texts in introduced bills in the 111th Congress to section texts found in the enacted version of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A substantial number of ACA sections match sections in bills sponsored by other lawmakers (of both parties). One of these bills (HR 3692) became law after the ACA's enactment, but apparently not before some of its original provisions found their way into the ACA.
Whose ideas gain currency? The figure below begins to illustrate how the study of policy ideas as opposed to bills might alter current understandings of legislative effectiveness. Scholars have long noted the importance of institutional position as a predictor of bill success. But when we compare the sponsors of successful policy ideas (whether a section of an introduced bill found its way into a different bill that became law) to the sponsors of successful bills (bills that became law), we find that legislative effectiveness is substantially more widespread. We can ask which individual members have the greatest success inserting language into legislation.
Where do ideas get picked up? The final figure (below) begins to illustrate how we might trace the migration of policy ideas from bills under the jurisdiction of one committee to laws emerging from other committees. In this figure, the migration appears to be toward the committees dealing with important "must pass" legislation such as health care, banking reform, deefense and appropriations.
As the paper emphasizes, many challenges remain. But by shifting the focus from the bill as the unit of analysis to the evolving substance of bills, the method does seem to open up a wealth of new research opportunities.