Monday, November 21, 2005

Engineers and Disability You may not see the obvious connection to engineering of this article in Slate.  But, since I happen to believe engineers are people who should be right at the heart of creative responses to disabilities - for both individuals and society at large - I know that there is one.  Plus, I just think everybody ought to be a little more aware about disability issues.  After all, for those of you still completely able-bodied...it's only a matter of time.  Sooner or later, disability is everyone's issue. College Makeover. Disability studies. By Michael Bérubé. [Slate Magazine] 7:06:41 PM    comment [] Say Hello to Dr. Mom, Aetiology, and Disgruntled Julie I just paged over to Panda's Thumb to see what's new there, and read this post about a U. of Iowa faculty petition against ID.  To finish reading the post, I had to go here, as the original piece was on a blog called Aetiology.  Now, Aetiology is itself a quite interesting blog by a scientist named Tara C. Smith who has some nifty ideas about virology in her "About Me" section.  I, for one, am glad to have scientists like Tara Smith working on behalf of all of us.  Yay, Tara!  Anyway, from Aetiology's blogroll, I hopped right over to check out Dr. Mom and what a treat it is!  I particularly liked this post about getting more minorities and women into science.  Dr. Mom uses her own life story to illustrate a few salient points: Support and encouragement are needed at every step along the way. Families can play a big role in whether or not girls go into science/engineering. Teachers/counselors still have low expectations for girls' success in science/engineering. Those who are well-mentored, will mentor well later on. Actually, that last point is only obliquely illustrated by her story.  Dr. Mom's blog is an example of someone who is trying to give a little back to her peers and those following behind her.  This, Zuska says, is very good.  Disgruntled Julie's comments on Dr. Mom's post make Zuska want to weep.  I have a vision of this young woman having to slash her way through a thicket of dull-eyed morons who couldn't tell a beaker from a calculator.  "Well-uh, I hear tell a woman's uterus will just shrivel up and blow away if she takes two science classes at once.  Pretty lady, y'all best stick to the girl stuff.  We're a-feared for your mental health."  Julie's guidance counselor must have been studying Edward H. Clarke's helpful tome, "Sex in Education".  So what if it's 132 years old?  Some advice is just eternal.    A foul, foul rash upon them all.       Go read Disgruntled Julie's blog. She's battling lab equipment, feeling the effects of personnel changes on high, but all the while is fashionably dressed.  And all Zuska had to do was read Big Pimpin' to recognize a goddess-in-training...       4:38:03 PM    comment [] 8 Men Receive Science Medals! So, I'm catching up on my Chronicle backlog after being in the hospital.  And I find this nice item in the daily update.  It's titled, "8 Professors to Receive Nation (sic) Medals of Science".  So I went to read about the 8 Professors.   What do you know.  Turns out, all those professors are MEN.   So I'm wondering:  why didn't the headline read "8 Men to Receive Nation Medals of Science"?  Or even, 8 Male Professors?  Because I'm guessing, if all 8 of those medals had been awarded to women, gender would have been a prominent feature in the headline.  "All 8 Science Medals Awarded to Women!"  Or let's say it was an even split, 4 men and 4 women.  "Women Earn Half of Science Medals!"  Because that would be so newsy, so unusual.  On the other hand, everybody just expects those 8 professors to be men, by default - unless we are told otherwise.   I'm pissed at those who made the decision about the medal winners - you couldn't find even one woman in the whole freaking country worthy of a science medal?  And I'm pissed at headline writers who obscure gender politics by emphasizing gender when it's women, but paying no attention to it when it's men.  If she does it - what a miracle!  If he does it - why that's just as nature intended things to be.  Might as well comment on the sun rising every day, as on 8 men winning science medals.    Well, we expect men to win, you say, because, since the award began, only about 32 women have ever gotten the medal, versus more than ten times that many men.  Just look at the complete list of recipients.  So maybe there really haven't been many outstanding women scientists in the U.S.  Two in behavioral/social sciences, 4 in chemistry, 3 in mathematics, 3 in physics, a lowly 1 in engineering, and a high of 19 in biology.  Yes, and we expect the sun to rise every day.  But as scientists, we also ask why.  And when we did ask, it turned out that the earth was not the center of the universe.  If our science writers would be a bit more inquiring, they could help shift the white male asses off the throne long enough to discover that it is not naturally decreed that they reign there forever.  1:32:47 PM    comment []

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