The Iron Ring

It has been a while since I have written a post!
It’s definitely because I am now kept quite busy writing columns for the Daily Pennsylvanian. My column is called ‘The Sounds of Science’ and they can all be viewed here . I’ve been trying to alternate pieces about science with pieces about Penn-related items. It’s hard for me because as a graduate student I feel I need to engage undergrads in the many newsworthy goings-on outside of the campus, and yet, they are mostly only interested in Penn. Guess that’s true of lots of undergraduates, not just here. My column on tenure got about nine comments online, which is pretty high. I was disappointed that so many respondents were so vehemently anti-tenure. Undergraduates get angry that professors are not chosen based on teaching, and yet, Penn would not be the school that it is without the first-rate research. I wanted undergraduates to see that professors have many obligations outside just teaching them, but I don’t think I got my point across at all. Read it here and let me know what you think.

I just finished a really interesting interview here for a column I’m writing this week on obesity. I find it really fascinating that we have this societal ideal of thin women and muscled men, and yet we are facing an obesity epidemic. And I still cannot get my head around the obesity problem; the science tells us it is at least somewhat genetic, and yet how could we face a genetic epidemic? So many factors are contributing to the obesity problem that it does seem beyond true repair. And the whole paradigm returns to the concept of healthcare as reactionary instead of preventative. Wouldn’t it be nicer if insurance covered nutrition classes, gym memberships and healthy foods? Wouldn’t that be better than having it pay for the complications of diabetes, heart disease and stroke?