Susan Bailey and I started FairerScience low these many years ago (ok it was four and half years ago but some days it seems that FairerScience has always been part of my life--which by the way is a good feeling!)

Susan has spent her life making the world a better place for women and girls including spending the last 25 years directing the Wellesley Centers for Women. Well Susan has just announced that she is going to retire at the end of the year. Wellesley will miss her greatly; I on the other hand won't because I'm planning to get to see her more after she retires.

I'm sure there will be many celebrations of Susan in the months to come but I wanted to get things started early. Thank you Susan for all you've done for us all. I'm looking forward to seeing where your next great adventure will take you and to being along for a part of the ride.

Posted by Pat at 01:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We are staying with friends who live here . Well not in those buildings but a couple of blocks away. Promise to tell more when we return

Posted by Pat at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'll be doing a American Youth Policy Forum on the Hill (yes THAT Hill) on 2/8 on the results of our work with returning dropouts

A Comprehensive Approach to Success in Education and Careers for Out-of-School Youth

The Community Education Pathways to Success (CEPS) model targets out-of-school youth who have expressed interest in earning a GED by addressing low literacy and math skills through an integration of youth development, social supports, and career-related services. The CEPS model, in partnership with community-based organizations, supports participants through completing their education, entering college, finding working, and contributing to their communities. This forum will provide an overview of the model, discuss results from a recently released evaluation, and provide recommendations for policy.

http://www.aypf.org/forumbriefs/2010/fb020810.htm

I know it's not the FairerScience usual thing, but when you think about it, it really is. Anyway I'm really excited about the findings and would appreciate it if you would pass the information on to others who might be interested

Date: Monday February 8, 2010

Time: 11:45am- 1:30pm
Location: Capitol Hill, TBA

If folks are interested in attending they should contact jlerner@aypf.org

and while there won't be Pat's fabulous homemade chocolate chip cookies for everyone there-- there will definitely be cookies for any and all FairerScience friends who are there.

and if you are not going to show up-- I know parking is very difficult-- you can at least read the report.

Posted by Pat at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Now that's a title you never expected to see here at FairerScience-- but hey you have a chance to vote for Barbie's next career. The choices: environmentalist, surgeon, computer engineer, news anchor and architect. While I'm tempted to vote on the potential outfits -- What would a Barbie environmentalist wear? Could Barbie do 12 hours of surgery on feet that only fit into really high heels? But instead I think I'll write in a vote for women in science blogger (why not-- Isis does it in really high heels) .

Posted by Pat at 08:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are the top passwords Imperva found among those compromised in the attack (they were posted online, without identifying details, for the world to see--and analyze):

1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123

If any of those look too familiar, please stop reading this story and change your password now. No none of these are my passwords--FairerScience friend David Mortman would be very very very upset with me if any of them were.

Big hat tip to PC World for this.

Posted by Pat at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I had such a great time at Science Online 08 and 09 including Isis- with those chocolate shoes and Able and the wine tasting- ahhh. I'm so sorry that I can't be part of the in person group at Science Online 10 which is happening NOW.

Miss you all. I'm really glad that we could support you this year. We are so planning to join you next year.

Posted by Pat at 09:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As you all know I love Scientiae and I do my best to support it. November and December weren't so great for Scientiae although over at Loveletters , they did a lovely job with the limited entries that they had. The entries are great and you should go read them.

The bigger question that has been raised is what is the future of Scientiae. Paula from Loveletters posses these questions:

For November and December Cherish and I where your Hosts for the Scientiae Carnival. We were both not very good hosts having missed our due dates. But generally there were not many submissions. So I am thinking about whether this Carnival still is the right format. Founded by Alice Pawley who was last blogging with SciWo at Sciencewomen it helped connect women who blog on science in a way a simple blogroll could not. At first there were few of us and then more and more. It was a wonderful thing to watch even though the development seems to become less rapid. Reading and participating in Scientiae has given me the courage and audacity to ask for the science help I need and to tell my boss that I am done with my PhD work and am starting to write up my thesis. That is why I want this Carnival to continue, because there are other scientistas out there who want and need the kind of encouragement that the Carnival has offered me. Alice has stopped blogging for the moment but this Carnvial continues, if you would like to organize it, please get into contact with her.

So what should be the future of Scientiae? I don't know. I'm willing to host once a year and contribute but not to be in charge. What do you think?

Posted by Pat at 08:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)