Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Gender in Higher Professions: How Does It figure?


"“People say, oh, we shouldn’t have quotas, but diversity is a form of excellence, and there are plenty of outstanding women out there,” Jo Handelsman, president of the Franklin society and a microbiologist at the University of Wisconsin, said in an interview. “You don’t have to lower your standards in the slightest — you just have to pay attention.”

Some would like to see novel approaches to treating systemic problems that often work against women’s scientific ambitions. Mary Ann Mason and Marc Goulden of the University of California, Berkeley, have gathered extensive data showing stark male-female differences in the family structure and personal lives of academic researchers at the top tiers of the profession."

A very good piece! And not only for those in academia. More here.




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"Bonneville" and the West


You can't really explain the West to those who have not experienced it. The West cannot be captured by language. It's simply too vast and larger-than-life.
I was recently surprised by a good film. It's called Bonneville and it's brilliantly shot. I felt the director actually 'got' the pace of the West and what it means to face the vastness of the landscape. So, next time someone asks me what the West is like, I will recommend that they see this film.

Well, this and the end of Matador. Its end credits do justice to Colorado, I find. But that's another post.

I have been lucky to have driven the same areas featured in Bonneville. I find that one doesn't really get to appreciate places like Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and California if one hasn't actually experienced them on the road. And this film is a respectful homage to the gift that is the nature out West.

The film starts in Idaho with the main characters embarking on a long road trip. They start by going South in the direction of Salt Lake City at which point they decide to head south to California. The characters stop at places like Lake Powell, go boating in its shallow waters, get unstuck and then unstuck, and consequently reach Las Vegas. The characters' final destination is California which the film captures nicely as well.






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graph per imdb