magazine - Yale Combined Program in the Biological and

B
magazine
Ya l e U n i v e r s i t y
We take the bs out of bbs.
In this issue
1 So What Does One Do with a PhD,
Anyway?
2 Good Idea/Bad Idea
3 Music Review
4 Book Review
4 Brain Awareness Day
6 The Playlist
7 Thank God for Burnt Potato Salad
8 Buzz
8 B Contest
http://www.bbs.yale.edu/about/b/b.aspx
Student life in the Combined Program
in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Volume 11 Issue 3
September 2010
“S o W h at D o e s O n e D o
with a
P h D , A n y way ? ”
B y K at h ry n T w o r ko sk i
Well, it happened again. One minute I’m trying
to make like a chameleon and fade into the background at a family reunion (thereby avoiding the
inherent verbal pitfalls at such events), and the
next minute a well-meaning uncle has fixed me
with his gaze and asked the dreaded question:
“So what kind of job are you going to get after you
graduate?”
It’s a question that we’ve all heard multiple
times, and I’m sure that we’re all well aware of the
answers that we can give. We can say we’re aiming
for a position as a PI in an academic or government
setting. We can look for a job that’s more geared
towards teaching (usually in private schools) or try
to get a position as an editor for scientific publications. We can admit to being drawn towards more
lucrative careers in biotech consulting firms or
pharmaceutical companies. Or we could aim for a
job regulating science policy or clinical trials. And
of course, we can always go into patent law or try
starting our own company. But what if we’re tired
of discussing the same career paths ad nauseam?
What if we want to have an original answer that will
give our polite inquisitors at least one moment’s
pause? Determined to come up with some new
ideas, I decided to track down some of the more
unusual careers available to PhDs and believe it or
not, I was kind of surprised by what I found.
Jorge Cham (PhD in Mechanical Engineering)
and Tim Lee (PhD in Ecology and Evolution)—Ok,
so we’ve probably all heard of the creator of the
comic strip “Piled Higher and Deeper” (Dr. Cham)
and the infamous “PowerPoint Comedian” (Dr.
Lee), but I thought these two gentlemen deserved
acknowledgement for making our frustrations
funny. Thank you, kind sirs, thank you.
Ahna Skop (PhD in Cellular and Molecular
Biology)—This woman certainly knows how to keep
busy! In addition to running a lab at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison, she also designs jewelry,
creates scientific logos, and maintains a cooking
blog. Whew!
Anne Helmenstine (PhD in Biomedical
Sciences) and Raven Hanna (PhD in Biophysics
and Biochemistry and BBS graduate)—Both of
these women left academia behind to start their
own jewelry design companies. Dr. Hanna’s chemically-inspired works are currently available at
madewithmolecules.com, while Dr. Helmenstine
has since moved on to write about fun science
projects and factoids for the website About.com.
Jose Jones (PhD in Marine Biology)—Dr. Jones
is an accomplished SCUBA instructor and underwater photographer/videographer who has been
featured in National Geographic as well as NBC,
CNN, and the History Channel. Oh, and he also
Good Idea/Bad Idea
b maga zi n e sta f f
th e de pa rtm e nts / p rograms
Cell Biology
Christopher Mader
Andrea Stavoe
Comp Bio &
Bioinformatics
Jamie Duke
Ex Pathology
Kathryn Tworkoski
Genetics
Khalid Fakhro
Natalie Powers
Immunobiology
Pamela Chan
Jessica McDonald
INP
Olivia Hendrick
Kristi Rudenga
MCDB
Alice Ly
Mary Kunjappu
Phillip McCown
Jason Wallace
MCGD
Monica Bowen
Alexander Kukreja
Elizabeth Schroeder
Microbiology
Nicole Pagliaccetti
BBS Program
John Alvaro
Bonnie Ellis
Many Thanks to Amanda Foust for her
contribution of the Brain Awareness Day
article (and photos) on page 4
B magazine
(A List of Dos and Don’ts in New Haven and
the Surrounding Areas)
B y P h i l l i p M c C ow n
As an individual who originally hadn’t spent
much time in the New England area, I admit that I
was taken aback when I first got here. The water in
the sound is salty (I’m from the Great Lakes area),
buildings are very compressed, and people take a
taxi rather than owning a car. I’m sure you can think
of a few things that I’m leaving out or that you can
add, especially if this is your first prolonged stay in
this country. So, in an attempt to make you feel at
home, here are a few things that I recommend to do
(or not do) in the area.
1) Did you know that there’s a winery within
the city limits? Did you know that there are several
amazing pizzerias within a few blocks of each other?
Explore the immediate area. Seriously, you never
know what unique places, stores, or restaurants are
in the area.
2) That being said, if you are feeling uncomfortable about the general neighborhood, don’t linger.
Follow some of the safety recommendations in “The
Compass” from the Graduate Student Assembly.
3) Don’t forget to file your quarterly taxes if you’re
a U.S. citizen. I’m not exactly sure what you should do
if you’re an international student, however, Yale has
a tax office that is set up to help in this regard. You
have to file quarterly on April 15, June 15, September
15, and January 15.
4) Enjoy the fall foliage. As cliché as this statement may seem, make sure you get to see the scenery in fall, as the leaves look amazing.
5) If you don’t own winter clothes, get them ASAP.
The temperatures get decently cool around here in
the winter months (as low as 10 degrees Fahrenheit
or -12 degrees centigrade). It gets even colder in
other places in New England, so make sure to bundle
up.
6) Make sure to shop. There are several great
shopping areas that are accessible by car and some
accessible by walking, so get out there and shop.
7) Explore Connecticut. There are more places in
Connecticut than New Haven, so I recommend www.
visitconnecticut.com for just about anything and
everything to do in this state.
8) Have fun or do something spontaneous. You
are in one of the best institutions in the US, if not the
world. Live it up every now and again, volunteer at
events like the Yale Day of Service, take a new way
home, etc. Trust me, this will come in handy during
qualifying time.
There are probably a few other things that
you should do, but time and space are prohibitory. However, I will leave you with one last piece of
advice, especially for the new students—enjoy your
stay here. B
continued from page 1
has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Mike Brotherton, (PhD in Astronomy)
and David Brin (PhD in Planetary Physics)
—Given the topic of their graduate studies, it may come as no surprise that both
of these men are successful science fiction writers. Interestingly, it seems like the
SciFi market lacks writers with PhDs in the
biomedical sciences. Anyone else hear
opportunity knocking?
Timothy Carl (PhD in Genetics)—This
former marine has worked as a souschef, a Harvard post-doc, and a McKinsey
consultant. He is currently a manager at
Knights Bridge Winery in Nappa Valley,
California. Hello, dream job!
Greg Graffin (PhD in Zoology)—Even
before he started his PhD, Dr. Graffin
was (and still is) the lead vocalist for a
little-known band called Bad Religion. And
despite his success in the music industry,
he continues to teach at UCLA. I wonder if
any of my profs are in a punk rock band .
..
Honorable Mention: NotSoHumblePie.
com—I’m not entirely sure who writes this
cooking blog, but she says she’s a “biological anthropologist turned stay-at-home
mom.” What makes her stand out are her
cookies, which she is designed to look
like macrophages, blood cells, zebrafish,
circuit boards, and electrophoresis gels.
These tasty treats have even been used in
a series of online videos designed to teach
people about the cellular component of
blood. Now there’s a class I wouldn’t mind
taking . . . B
Music Review:
The Dark Side of Oz: Synchronicity between Albums and Films
By Alex Kukreja
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
was quite the cinematic
feat in its own time and has
endured as a movie classic. Likewise, Pink Floyd’s
Dark Side of the Moon
(1973) became an instant
classic upon its release and has
remained one of the most popular and
influential albums of its time. Perhaps the substantial impact of these two works on American
pop culture made their eventual pairing inevitable, but at some point a couple of bored
(bong-addled?) minds stumbled upon an uncanny synchronicity between these two media.
Essentially, if the album is started at the right
moment during the film, a series of coordinated
events will follow allowing the film and album
to complement each other with remarkable conformity. While the origins of this long purported
phenomenon are unclear, its popularity has
spread mostly via word-of-mouth until it was
officially acknowledged by the mainstream in
2000, when Turner Classic Movies aired the
film with the Dark Side music instead of the
film’s original soundtrack.
Wanting to know what all the hype was
about, I decided to recreate the experience
myself and write down all the instances where
the film and album match up. While not every
moment was aligned precisely, for the most
part I was impressed. There were several lyrics
and musical cues that seemed to correspond
with what was happening in the movie. For
instance, during the first song on the album
the lyrics say “Balanced on the biggest wave”
while Dorothy is carefully balancing on the edge
of a fence. She then falls off of the fence the
moment the album transitions from “Speak to
Me/Breathe” to “On the Run.” The most surprising moment of synchronicity occurred when the
song “Money” started. Dorothy has just landed
in Oz and as she walks out of her house you
hear a cash register ‘ding’ the instant the movie
changes from black and white to full color! Even
when the music and film were not explicitly cued
up, there were several scenes where the music
offered a curious and majestic juxtaposition to
what was going on in the movie (e.g. the vocal
solo during “The Great Gig in the Sky” provides
a strangely gorgeous background for the scenes
where Dorothy’s house is swirling around in a
tornado). In fact, most of the movie plays like
an elaborate music video, where not everything
makes sense but it overall remains stimulating
and interesting.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching a movie while
listening to an album, but having never done
this before it was difficult to know just what to
make of the Dark Side and Wizard of Oz pairing.
While it is beyond a doubt that the synchronicity between this movie and album is a bizarre
example of serendipity (i.e. it was not intentional on the part of Pink Floyd, as many fans have
tried to claim), I was curious as to how unique
this effect was.
Was this really a novel, serendipitous pairing
or do these kinds of moments occur often? Can
this kind of synchronicity be recreated?
To address this question and to obtain a
better appreciation for the Dark Side/Wizard of
Oz pair, I decided to choose other movies and
albums to play together. This is not a simple
task; as I browsed through my DVD and CD collection I realized I had no idea where to begin.
Not wanting to over-think the process, I tried to
pick unique films and pair them with seemingly
appropriate, good albums. In total, I tested three
different album/movie combos. They were: The
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) played
with the Beatle’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts
Club Band (1967); Zoolander (2001) played with
Duran Duran’s Rio (1982); and Ocean’s Eleven
(2001) with Curtis Mayfield’s debut album Curtis
(1970). The first combo, Sgt. Pepper’s with The
Life Aquatic, was by far the best of these experi-
ments. After queuing up the album and film, one
of the more interesting moments occurred during the opening track of the album. In the music,
the sounds of an audience talking, laughing,
and cheering can be heard, which was appropriate for the scene it was playing along with in the
movie, where Steve Zissou (Bill Murray’s character) is showing a film to an audience. During this
mini-film, Zissou shows a shark attack and the
instant you see blood appear in the water the
audience from the Sgt. Pepper’s album begins
to scream! There were a few more instances
where the album and movie aligned extremely
well, with scene transitions occurring in time
with the music or lyrics that seemed to reference what was happening in the film, but overall
I think the success of this pairing can be partly
attributed to the fact that The Life Aquatic is a
visually interesting movie to watch and that Sgt.
Pepper’s is a very dense and intricate album full
of strange background noises and colorful
arrangements.
The other two album/film experiments
were less successful. Trying to sync up Rio
with Zoolander was a complete disaster and
became tedious very quickly. While I think
Zoolander is a great comedy, I noticed that
many of the scenes appear to focus around
the dialogue rather than on scenery or
actions. Additionally, Rio’s synth-heavy, high
energy pop songs did not blend well with
ridiculously good looking male models. The
last combo, Ocean’s Eleven and Curtis, was
a decent enough experience but again there
were very few moments where the film and
album truly appeared to be in sync. This pairing, however, was not as tedious as the former
which I would attribute to the strength of Curtis
as a superb funk/soul album. Lyrics that deal
with concepts of corruption, sin, and struggle
amidst rich horn and string arrangements coincide well with scenes of the Las Vegas strip and
casino nightlife.
Overall, these experiments definitely heightened my appreciation for the odd synchronicity
between The Wizard of Oz and Dark Side of the
Moon. Additionally, the somewhat successful combination of The Life Aquatic and Sgt.
Pepper’s makes me hopeful that one could
stumble upon another uniquely aligned movie
and album. Most of all, I realized that randomly
continued on page 6
B magazine Book Review
B i r d o l o g y : A dv e n t u r e s
of
of
Pack
Hens, a Peck
Pigeons,
with a
C a n ta n k e ro u s
C rows , F i e rc e
Falcons, Hip Hop
P a r rot s , B a b y
H u mm i n g b i r ds ,
and One
M u d e ro u s ly B i g
L i v i n g D i n o s au r
Sy Montgomery
B y A n d r e a S tav o e
I found this book in the free magazine
on a US Airways flight out of Tweed airport.
There’s only so much one can do on a tiny
prop flight, so I read the first chapter of
Birdology. It was about chickens. Now, you
might not think there’s much interesting
to learn about chickens, but it was a very
entertaining chapter (she doesn’t kill any
of them). Ms. Montgomery talked about
their personalities and how intelligent they
were. Apparently, chickens are very social
and aren’t particularly picky about the species that they befriend – the author's chickens became friends with a pig and with the
human next-door neighbors. It sounded like
it was the perfect book for my mom, an outdoor enthusiast who dragged me on earlymorning bird-watching expeditions when I
was young.
I ended up finishing the book first. Ms.
Montgomery writes about raising baby hummingbirds (incredibly tiny things), participating in homing pigeon races (very different
from the pigeons covering every city on the
planet), learning falconry (apparently, they
have their own falconry language), searching for a huge ancient elusive cassowary in
Australia (it looked like a dinosaur), being
amazed with parrots (we learn about Alex,
the African Grey, again), and defending crows
(they are America’s largest songbird, don’t
you know). It is an enjoyable and light read,
aided by the fact that the chapters are completely stand alone and can be read in any
order. It is an interesting book that expresses
a love and fascination with birds while very
gently teaching the reader some interesting
facts that would otherwise go unknown. B
H i g h S c h o o l B r a i n A wa r e n e ss D ay
Y a l e 2010
By Amanda Foust
On March 20th 2010, BBS graduate students
in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
and Department of Neurobiology hosted a day
of hands-on learning about the brain for 50
local area high school students: High School
Brain Awareness Day at Yale (HSBADY). Thirty
students, faculty, and post-docs volunteered
to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with
the next generation of curious minds. Students
learned the parts of the neuron and viewed several types under microscopes. They explored
gross neuroanatomy by dissecting sheep brains.
They watched and listened to action potentials
generated by the central nerve cords of crickets. Matt Johnson gave tours of the magnetic
resonance facility, and the students also toured
Stephen Strittmatter's lab, where Rebecca Brown
showed them real, live glow-in-the-dark (GFP)
worms. Students explored the limits of sensation and perception through a series of illusions
and experiments, some involving the consumption of jelly beans. The day ended with research
talks given by research scientist William Cafferty
and professor Joe Santos-Sacchi.
How did the HSBADY come into being? It
started with an informal student-led group of
BBS students committed to neuroscience outreach in Greater New Haven. Two years ago, the
group received a $2,000 grant from the DANA
Foundation to establish a lending library of
equipment for neuroscience outreach. During
the school year, this group visits one classroom, library, or other community venue per
month with hands-on exhibits. While the visits
received rave reviews from students, teachers
and volunteers alike, it was clear that an on-site,
full-day event had the potential to reach more
people more efficiently. The event was funded
by an educational outreach grant written by
Seth Taylor, former post-doc Kristy Sundberg,
and myself from the American College for
Neuropsychopharmacology. The Yale Office for
Science Outreach Pathways program co-hosted
the event through the efforts of JoAnna Price
and other volunteers who spear-headed logistics: room reservations, check-in, and most
importantly, the invitation list. The New Haven
Pathways program consists of a pool of middle
and high school students nominated by their
science teachers for having interest and/or
aptitude in science. Nominees are reviewed
each year and then issued family passes to the
Peabody museum and invitations to extracurricular science events throughout the year, such
as HSBADY. In summary, the Pathways program
provided administrative volunteers, logistical
support, advice, and a diverse crowd of New
Haven's aspiring scientists to attend the event.
All we had to do was bring the equipment and
volunteers! Thank you to all who made the event
a terrific success.
Why take the time and effort to participate in
science outreach? In addition to providing a valuable public service, the experience greatly benefits volunteers from the scientific community.
Have you ever been tongue-tied trying to explain
your research to relatives, friends, or even more
scary, reviewers and media? Given that the scientific aptitude of the average American adult is
at a fifth grade level, what better way to find the
right words to express the awesomeness of scientific discovery than practicing with actual fifth
grade students? The skill of articulating one's
work in layman's terms comes naturally to very
few; most of us need practice. Thus, outreach
provides no-strings-attached opportunities to
work out clear, jargon-free, big-picture explanations. Having these types of explanations on
hand makes grant writing more tolerable, and
ultimately more successful. On a personal note,
even though I prefer tinkering in lab
than teaching almost any day of the
week, every dedicated experimentalist gets stuck in a rut every once in a
while. At that point, I thoroughly enjoy
crawling out of my cave and seeing the
field of neuroscience through fresh,
enthusiastic eyes. If you are interested
in checking out equipment for science
outreach or participating in future
neuroscience outreach events, email
[email protected] to be added
Amanda Casale (INP), checking out action potentials from to the panlist. B
crickets on the oscilloscope
B magazine
at
Mike Henderson (INP), Jess Nelson (INP), Morgan Taylor
Stephanie Young (INP), sheep brain dissection
Yixiao Zou (INP), sheep brain dissection
Matt Krause (Neurobio) doing two-point discrimination
B magazine T h e P l ay l i s t :
S u bm i t t e d B y B r a n t W e bs t e r
Reviewed By Alex Kukreja
MUSIC REVIEW continued from page 3
combining a film and album can turn a boring afternoon into an opportunity to discover
and experience something new. At the very
least, you will have just spent about 40 minutes watching a bad music video but then
again you may be surprised at how well some
albums and films coincide. You won’t know
until you try! And with that, I leave you all with
a challenge. Anyone who finds a new movie/
album combination that synchronizes or plays
well together should e-mail us at bmail@yale.
edu. Tell us why you think your combination is
of particular interest and who knows, it could
very well be featured in the next issue of B!
Instructions for synchronizing the above
album/movie combos:
1. The Dark Side Of Oz
• Start the album on the third roar of the
MGM lion. You will know you did it right if the
credit “Produced by Mervyn Leroy” is fading
when the music to “Breathe” begins.
2. The Life Aquatic with Sgt. Pepper
• Start the album right when a stagehand
touches the microphone stand that the man
speaking in Italian was using to introduce
Steve Zissou’s film (~1:00 into the movie).
You did it right if the music starts with the
appearance of the movie title.
3. Riolander
• Start the album as soon as they show a
close-up on Zoolander’s eye (~3:04 minutes
into the movie, it happens very fast!). If you did
it right, you should see Zoolander’s infamous
Blue Steel pose when the music begins.
4. Curtis’s Eleven
• Start the album after the opening prison scene when Danny Ocean is preparing
to leave the prison. Push play right when he
opens the door leading outside of the prison
(~2:09 minutes into the movie).B
Playlist in Review:
1. Europe – “The Final Countdown”
2. New Order – “True Faith”
3. Focus – “Hocus Pocus”
4. Survivor – “Eye of the Tiger”
5. Lady Gaga – “Alejandro”
6. Dido – “White Flag”
7. Bon Jovi – “Livin’ on a Prayer”
8. Pirates of the Caribbean Theme from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean:
The Curse of the Black Pearl
9. “Do Re Mi” from the musical The Sound of Music
10. “My Favorite Things” from the musical The Sound of Music
11. GS Boyz – “Stanky Legg”
Review:
First off, this was a very intriguing and confusing playlist. Half of it plays like a “so-bad-its-awesome” list but other songs don’t quite fit this theme. Opening with the unmistakable synth-riff of
Europe’s “The Final Countdown,” I immediately conjure images of Gob Bluth and his over the top
magic shows gone awry. The New Order track offers a glimpse into one of the 80’s darker bands and
is recommended for those who enjoy music in the vein of Depeche Mode/The Cure/Tears For Fears.
Just based on the band name and title of the next song, you can tell you are about to experience one
of the most awesomely weird songs ever created. As silly and ridiculous as Focus’s “Hocus Pocus”
sounds, it is hard to deny such raging rock n’ roll riffs amongst probably the best yodeling I’ve ever
heard. The head banging, heavy-metal vibe is continued with Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” which
leads into the beat-heavy, Ace of Base-esque Lady Gaga hit, “Alejandro.” Dido’s “White Flag” serves
as nice mid-tempo breather after the high energy of the last three tracks and sets up the dramatic
Bon Jovi glam rock megahit “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Assuming I was listening to the right song, what
comes next on the list is a very intense, swashbuckling frenzy of strings that became a defining
theme for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. This brings us to the two tracks from The Sound of
Music, a great musical filled with marvelous songs. “Do Re Mi” and especially “My Favorite Things”
are great but seem a little out of place in the context of the other songs on this list. And then last,
but not least, no matter how many times I listen to this list, GS Boyz’ “Stanky Legg” gets me every
time. This rap song informs us of a new dance move called the Stanky Legg, which according to
Wikipedia is similar to what you would do with your leg if you were trying to put out a discarded cigarette. According to the GS Boyz, you can lean with it AND drop with it so I don’t see any reasonable
excuses for why you shouldn’t be busting out this move the next time you are at the clubs. Although
the song choice may seem a little inconsistent, this list is full of fun songs, some sillier than others
and some just pure awesome. Definitely check out the Focus song. It will change your life (hopefully
for the better!). B
WANTED: Your Playlists
**Think you have the perfect playlist for listening to while in lab? Then share it! E-mail
your own original playlist to [email protected] and it could be reviewed in the next issue of
B Magazine. Guidelines to a good playlist: Try to keep it at ten songs and no longer than 70
minutes. Earn some extra points if your playlist is themed!
B magazine
Thank God for Burnt Potato Salad
B y A n d r e a S tav o e
This spring, I had to take a week-long vacation to go home…
for jury duty. I was originally called to appear last fall, the same
week I had my qualifying exam. Thankfully, I was granted a onetime delay of six months. It ended up being quite the experience.
About 30 people were called with me as potential jurors
to appear at the courthouse. After a lengthy video explaining
the justice system (it was tastefully made in the ‘80s), we were
brought into the courtroom. The judge briefly explained that the
case involved drunk driving before they began the process of voirdire (choosing the jury). Names were picked at random from a can
– seven people had to sit in the jury box for extensive questioning
to determine whether or not they could be unbiased. The judge
asked questions, as did both of the lawyers. When it was the
defense attorney’s turn to ask questions, he addressed juror #7, a
young man who identified himself as a medical student.
“What is your verdict?” the attorney asked menacingly.
Juror #7 was obviously puzzled as he answered, “I don’t
know.”
“NO!” The defense attorney yelled across the courtroom. “NOT
GUILTY!” The attorney slammed his fist into the desk. The courtroom sat in shocked silence for a few seconds while the rest of
us potential jurors wished a little harder that our names would
not be called. “No further questions.” With that, the lawyers were
allowed to remove anyone from the jury either for cause, by arguing their choice to the judge, or they could remove anyone without
giving a reason through preemptory challenge. The defense attorney wasted no time throwing out juror #7 with no explanation.
They still had one seat on the jury to fill and, much to my dismay, my name was called. It was my turn in the hot seat. I was
asked about my education – the courtroom seemed impressed
with my status as a biology graduate student at Yale University.
Sadly, that was not enough to get me thrown off the jury – I was
there to stay.
It turned out that the defendant was a dermatologist who had
run her SUV into a tree (while presumably driving drunk). Her
blood alcohol level, tested an hour and a half after the accident,
was 0.12. I could not fathom how the case was not straightforward.
We heard from many witnesses – an eyewitness, the responding police officers, a paramedic, the ER technician who drew the
blood, the forensic technician who tested the blood (using gas
chromatography, much to my excitement), two expert witnesses,
the police detective in charge of the case, and the defendant herself.
The eyewitness was probably the most entertaining. She came
in wearing a bright red pant suit and matching lipstick. She had
been volunteering at her church’s Oktoberfest all weekend and
was finally leaving, when she remembered the burnt potato salad
in her husband’s car. It was too burnt to sell at the Oktoberfest,
but still perfectly edible. As she was returning to her car with the
potato salad, she heard squealing/shrieking of brakes, acceleration and then BAM! We all jumped in our seats when she yelled
that and clapped her hands together. If she had not gone back for
the burnt potato salad, she may have been hit by the defendant.
All in all, the defense did not really have much to stand on,
especially since I was on the jury, understanding all the biology
behind the arguments (sadly, I felt that I was the only one in the
room who actually understood everything). All the tests were
accurate and much to the defense attorney’s dismay, there was no
way the blood was contaminated with alcohol (for example, from
an alcohol swab – yes, he asked a witness if it was possible). The
defense attorney, after attempting to read a science article while
questioning an expert witness (it was highly amusing), decided
to ask the rebuttal expert witness why science publications are
not retracted when there are later articles that present opposing
evidence. I was appalled and offended.
After three days of sitting listening to people talk at us (it was
more tiring than I ever imagined), we finally made it to closing
arguments (sadly, there is not enough room here to go into all
the entertaining particulars). The prosecuting attorney had a
powerpoint presentation to guide her efficiently through her
points, while the defense attorney (a very slimy man) had only
scribbled notes on a yellow legal pad. The prosecuting attorney
thanked God for the burnt potato salad so that the eyewitness
avoided being hit by the defendant, while the defense attorney
thanked God for the eyewitness actually seeing the accident (I
was confused by that argument). So after everyone was thanking
God for burnt potato salad, we, the jury, were finally allowed to
deliberate. They wasted no time in appointing me, the youngest
person on the jury, the foreperson. Surprisingly, it took us a good
six hours to deliberate (as it was a criminal trial, we had to reach
a unanimous decision). Then, I had to stand in front of the defendant and her parents to tell her that we found her guilty.
Despite the fact that the trial took insanely longer than necessary, it was a very interesting experience for me – I got to learn
first-hand about the justice system and actually be a part of it. B
B magazine B magazine's
The
BUZZ
“ There's an App For That”
Contest
1st Place
Christopher
Mader, (Cell
Biology and B staff
member), got engaged to
Tiffany Halo, Chemistry, over the Labor
Day weekend.
Accent decoder
Having trouble understanding your seminar speaker? Pick the speaker’s
accent and your desired narrator, then plug in your headphones to hear
the talk crystal clear in the voice of Morgan Freeman or Jeremy Irons.
Other narrators are available as bonus downloadable content, including Patrick Stewart, Oprah Winfrey and Bart Simpson.
Raja Banerjee, Genetics
2nd Place
Kudos to Michelle Mo,
Pharmacology, on winning
an NSF East Asia and Pacific
Summer Institutes fellowship. While
you were slaving away in New Haven,
she was chilling in Australia.
PI-Locator
Use this app to know where your PI is at all times. Still haven't done that
experiment your PI asked for and are afraid he might pop in at any minute to ask you about the results? No worries - with PI Locator's advance
warning system it will alert you whenever your PI comes within 100 feet
of your bench so you can escape any unwanted data requests.
Heather Carleton, Microbiology
3rd Place
PubTweets, from NCBI
Parses full text manuscripts, book chapters, conference abstracts, and
annotated gene sequences into 140 character packets and delivers via
Twitter.
The BBS welcomes the addition of three new Registrars:
Caitlin
Canner-Omealy,
Pharmacology; Karen Kavanaugh,
Microbiology; and Leisa Strohmaier,
Physiology.
Callen Hyland, MCDB
Honorable Mention
Rec-writer
Tired of hand-writing letters of recommendation, or sick of form letters? Upload your subject’s CV and throw in a few adjectives and this
app will custom-write fantastic letters of recommendations for lab
members. No two letters will be the same.
Raja Banerjee, Genetics
Other Notable Entries
Noise Canceler
This app samples the vocal patterns of
any individual you point it to and generates audiowaves at a destructive wavelength to cancel out a person's voice.
App can store up to 10 vocal patterns
and is great to use against annoying lecturers, whining students, barking dogs,
or whistling autoclaves.
Phil McCown, MCDB
B magazine
iCan'tSee
Can predict when and where power will
go out at the med school and whether
or not the PCR machine you are about
to use is on emergency power or not.
Comes with a handy button to turn your
screen into a light source for a dissecting
scope or a confocal.
Steve Reilly, Genetics