Cozy

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Outside it is snowing very hard and is very very cold.  Last night the wind blew the ice into the windows so hard I couldn’t sleep.  I am glad to be inside and wrapped up in my coziest sweats and am enjoying my work.  If the deadlines weren’t so soon, I’d be enjoying it more.  I’m working on a term paper about something I find very exciting.  My mentor wants to use my paper as the basis for a grant proposal, which gives me the warm fuzzies.  Hopefully she won’t change her mind once she actually sees the paper.

Later on today I’m going to put together a presentation for a modeling class I’m in.  I’m the only undergrad in the class, and even though I know what I’m doing, I’m still pretty intimidated.  Cross your fingers for me!

Usually on Tuesday or Wednesday, I give you an update on my migraines.  I’m not going to be doing that anymore.  Keeping track of my migraines is far too depressing.

A sense of place

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I attended a lecture by Robin Kimmerer several weeks ago.  I’ve been frustrated with how people see environmental problems as “not their problem,” but Dr. Kimmerer’s lecture helped me understand both why that occurs and how we could go about helping people understand the relationship between their own lives and the health of the environment around them.

Dr. Kimmerer spoke about the connections between ecology and environmental science and traditional ecological knowledge.  Whereas ecologists try to quantify the value of ecosystem services, many indigenous cultures have a “culture of gratitude” that recognizes the benefits of a healthy ecosystem.  At first these ideas seemed very similar to me, but they actually reflect very different viewpoints.  The ecosystem services perspective is based on how much we can take and whether resources are more valuable left alone or harvested.  In this worldview, it is hard to see interactions between humans and the environment as ever being positive – just negative or neutral.

People with a culture of gratitude, however, recognize their role as a part of the ecosystem they live in and that they can have many kinds of interactions with other parts of that ecosystem, even (and especially!) positive.  Dr. Kimmerer attributed this to their sense of place, or their understanding of their niche in the ecosystem.

So I guess the next step is figuring out how to get people to feel more connected to the place they live and to understand the kinds of impacts they can have.

Reason #867 we need universal healthcare

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The student health center pharmacy is closing due to budget cuts at my university.  The student pharmacy’s prescriptions are generally much much cheaper than other pharmacies in town, especially for birth control.  Since the student health insurance doesn’t cover prescription drugs at all, these discounts really helped me.  Even with those discounts, though, I’m not taking all the medication that’s been prescribed to me.

I called two other local pharmacies and asked them about the cost of my prescriptions.  I’ll be paying almost $80 a month more once my school pharmacy closes.  Looks like I’m going to have to talk to my doctor about which drug I can (probably) live without.

This news made me particularly angry because the already overpaid basketball coach is getting a big raise next year.

Letter of recommendation

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A couple of months ago I found out about a $4000 scholarship with very narrow eligibility requirements that I fit.  Unfortunately, I found out about it the day before the deadline.  I emailed the scholarship contact and they said, yes, turn it in late.  The scholarship required 3 recommendations.  My two research mentors normally write me recommendations and another professor writes for me when I need a third letter.  All of them were wonderful when I asked for the recommendation on such short notice.  Then my third recommender dropped off the face of the earth.

So, I missed the late deadline.  And probably missed out on $4000.  I know that professors are incredibly busy, but I wish my third recommender had told me he was too busy instead of agreeing to write the letter and then ignoring me.  It’s been 3 weeks and he still hasn’t gotten back to me – even after I politely emailed him and let him know that I’d missed the deadline and no longer needed a letter.

Thank you :)

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By Bakerella on Flickr

By Bakerella on Flickr

I’m oh so slowly paying off my bill from the ER.  To everyone who’s donated, thank you!  I wish I could make you all cupcakes like these.  You may think bunny rabbit cupcakes are more appropriate for this time of year, but it’s still snowing here!

What I’ve Noticed

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The Girl in the Red Beret by Lina Mounzer.

Cocorosie redoes Akon’s “I Wanna Love You.” It’s an incredible juxtaposition – same music, same setting, very different perspectives.

Sex toy recycling program. They even give you a gift certificate when you send in old toys!

Teen girls on Chris Brown’s abuse of Rhianna.  People ask why women don’t leave their abusers more often and this is why: they think it’s their fault. And so do many of the people around them.

And why don’t more women report that they’ve been raped?  This is why:

But still, the police did not believe the victim.  Worse, they didn’t just laugh at her, as many other victims report happening to them.  They didn’t ask her if she really deserved it for X reason, or if she had sex with the gunman consensually and then just regretted it later.  They didn’t ask her if she really wanted to press charges, because hey, this could ruin this man’s life, you know!  All of these are outcomes far more than bad enough, and which still happen far too often, but didn’t happen here.

Instead, they accused her of a false report and put her in jail.

Majikthise has two good posts up on the economic crisis and the bailout.

Where I’d be applying to grad school if I were a physicist.

An eleven year old killed himself because of constant bullying and taunting for being gay.  This isn’t an isolated case.  Many children kill themselves or are killed by their peers for being queer or being perceived as queer.  The schools aren’t dealing with it.

Another school failure: a teenage girl was suspended for taking birth control at school.

A case where justice is very unlikely to be found.