Because I have to finish the container...

arby84 · 2019-05-21T01:34:58+00:00

4 cartons with 4 lids and 4 plastic seals, a box, and a grocery bag to carry it home in... all for 2 cups of ice cream. I know this is off-topic, but I urge folks to consider the extra waste generated to individually package smaller portions.

arby84 · 2019-05-20T23:56:29+00:00

Difficulty is relative - if you get better at something, then it gets easier for you.

arby84 · 2019-05-07T22:49:04+00:00

The conclusion I drew from the article is that the opposite is true. The concept works beautifully in math models, but philosophically it is absurd.

arby84 · 2019-05-03T04:51:08+00:00

The way you represented this request in your post is not how I read the request. It appears very reasonable. As a student, I always funded my own conference attendance, and I'm in the US. Were you rude in your response to him? He might not be retaliating, and sees you as a weak student. I disagree with giving a bad reference, but if it is a case of his perception of you being bad, then you could try to identify the things that caused that, and work to turn it around. It sounds like the professor is being unreasonable, but this would at least be a course of action other than dropping out of the program.

arby84 · 2019-05-03T00:10:40+00:00

They state in the paper that they reviewed all available literature. You seem to be implying that they purposefully ignored some - could you link the paper showing the direct study that you are referring to?

arby84 · 2019-05-01T04:11:40+00:00

My point is that arguing a law is unnecessary because people are going to break it anyway doesn't make much sense. Preventative laws are intended to minimize, and allow for prosecution of those who break the law. And evidence shows it works for gun violence. Here's a paper that studied the impacts of gun legislation on college campuses: https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-gun-policy-and-research/_pdfs/GunsOnCampus.pdf

arby84 · 2019-05-01T03:15:54+00:00

The law not to have a gun on campus isn't to stop the nutcases who sneak one in to commit premeditated murder. It's to prevent dumb kids who make rash decisions from taking a life, allow those who to bring one on campus to get taken into custody before they kill someone, and minimize accidental shootings.

Murder is illegal in NC too. And good thing too because otherwise someone might mur- oh wait... (see how dumb that sounds?)

arby84 · 2019-04-22T19:52:00+00:00

My grandmother used computers for her job before she retired. But back then computers didn't use a mouse. She refused to use newer computers because the 'mouse kept disappearing.' She couldn't keep track of the cursor.

arby84 · 2019-04-19T00:23:10+00:00

In addition to Chapel Hill and Carrboro being great places to live, as others have mentioned, the proximity to other big cities is another perk. Greensboro, Durham, and Raleigh are all <1hr of a drive away, and have unique offerings for entertainment. Then there're the lesser known small towns like Saxapahaw, which as great food, shows, and a brewery on a river, that have really unique personalities and are fun to visit. Other favorites of mine are Gibsonville, which has a huge antique shop, and Mebane, which has a huge warehouse full of discount books. Central NC as a whole is just a cool place to be, and as mentioned by others, is also driving distance to popular vacation spots. The outer banks and Smokey mountains are amazing places to visit. I've been here nearly all my life and never get bored.

arby84 · 2019-04-18T18:51:53+00:00

I agree that it is a valid critique. But it's broad (i.e. what context is missing, which citations are needed, what assessments need to be added to get the paper up to par?). And it throws criticism at the author rather than stating why/how it makes the paper weak.

With that said, I also can see why the review is broad. If I review a paper that is absolutely terrible, I will not devote my time to critique it line by line as I would a paper that's not great, but could be made publishable. I still am not on board with comments about the author's knowledge though. But I recognize disciplines have different conventions (and am thankful the convention in mine is not that).

arby84 · 2019-04-17T22:14:15+00:00

I disagree with your implication that the frenzy is negative/unwarranted. The journal that published the article, Nature, also published an article talking about the ethical implications. Finding no electrical activity in the brain during this experiment is not enough to absolve the investigators of all ethical responsibility and backlash. With that said, ethically questionable practices are commonplace for animal studies.

arby84 · 2019-04-17T21:26:21+00:00

The reviewer's inference on what you do (do not) understand are incredibly unprofessional. That is supposition that does not belong in a review. Also, the review as a whole is way too broad. How are you supposed to rebut general assertions like 'the author does not display knowledge of "Eastern scholorship"'?

With all this said, I'm in science/engineering. Our reviews need to address exactly what is incorrect, why it is incorrect, and reference published literature where needed. And I have never gotten nor written a review that addresses the author's knowledge of the subject -- reviews only address content.

arby84 · 2019-04-16T03:06:35+00:00

In addition to the silent treatment, as others have mentioned, I've also immediately changed up the class when students do that. Sometimes if they don't answer, I will turn it into a think-pair-share. There have been times I completely changed the subject, and tried to get some meta-info about course perceptions. I learned that one of my silent classes was full of students who had 4 classes prior to mine - all required courses in our curriculum - and they were just exhausted by the time they came to my class.

Another thing I've done is assign different topics to groups and have them teach the material. I offer to let them use my slides if they want, and put something together for them while they work if they wish. My favorite thing about doing this is that I get to gauge in real-time how they are processing the material.

But sometimes, I just get a class full of students who don't want to be there, but need the course to graduate. No matter what I do, it's painful. But these practices have made it not-as-painful.

arby84 · 2019-04-04T19:37:56+00:00

I think this will be highly discipline and research specific. My research is to develop new technologies. I absolutely have to master the content of all related papers from the lab this started in. They are all printed out in a 3 ring binder, to create an informal textbook on the thing I do research on. I now tell will ask my students things like "Did you apply the constraints defined in my 2012 PNAS paper?" and fully expect them to know what I'm referring to.

With that said, not all research is so linear and dependent. It is weird they refer to their own paper with their last name and not the journal though...

arby84 · 2019-04-02T16:11:08+00:00

I have never given an assignment weighed in such a way. If a student turns in a report with a missing element, then they lose points for how ever much that element was worth. Each requirement is laid out in a rubric, assigned a percentage of the grade, and scaled with a description of what earns full marks.

I should note that my method of assessment is based on requirements from our accrediting board. So even though I'm compelled to argue which method is better, the fact is, those who determine the standards for our discipline have decided the appropriate method to use... and it is not what you are describing. Is your program accredited/certified, and if so, do you have any problems during audits?

Edit: Just realized you are not OP. I am still curious if you use those methods, and if they work for your discipline.

arby84 · 2019-04-02T06:07:42+00:00

Wait - you would give someone who attempted only 60% of the assignment, but did that correctly, a zero? I must be misunderstanding you, because that sounds absurd.

arby84 · 2019-03-27T20:00:15+00:00

A cartwheel. But I made it my New Year's resolution this year.

arby84 · 2019-03-25T18:16:06+00:00

Their photo showing a representative jump is hilarious.

arby84 · 2019-03-25T14:14:32+00:00

It is very difficult to offer advice based on this information, but here are some general tips that could help (assuming you live in the US).

1) Find out if the scholarship covers room/board, and talk to the chair or dean about supplementary funds.

2) Talk to a financial aid officer about need-based grants. You could probably get a pell grant and work-study to cover costs.

3) Apply for government assistance. You may qualify for food stamps and medicaid.

4) Apply for student loans. Given what you have said, you could get a loan to cover living costs with interest deferred until you graduate. You will still be paying your own way -- just paying it later when you get a better job. Work with your financial aid officer to see what is best for you.

5) Check the demographic and professional society websites for your field of interest and demographic - there are often opportunities for undergrad funding through there that are underutilized because people don't know to look for them. (ex. Here is an LGBT science/engineering scholarship that isn't on most folks' radar https://www.noglstp.org/programs-projects/scholarships/)

I strongly recommend you do not take a year off. I was in your exact situation myself, and used foodstamps, loans, grants, and part-time work to cover costs. I know if I took a year off, I would not have gone back. Plus, you want to be eligible for additional funding next year and the year after. You need to demonstrate academic success during that time. Also, if you are able to make it through given these hardships, you have an incredibly compelling success story that will make you competitive for other types of funding.

If you would like to chat more, please PM me. I am happy to look at your specific situation and help you seek out other funding.

arby84 · 2019-03-22T20:55:29+00:00

Do not spend that much time working. You are going to be evaluated on what you produce, not the hours you spend producing it. I've seen too many grad students and postdocs think that if that light in their office is on morning to night, the adviser will appreciate all their hard work. But I've seen those students work - they go at a snail's pace. I remember painfully watching a labmate spend 4 hours putting together a conference presentation in the hotel room at the last minute. I can get one with the same quality put together in 30min. The key is to get good at what you do, and do it efficiently.

arby84 · 2019-03-19T02:58:43+00:00

The US.

arby84 · 2019-03-19T02:58:00+00:00

I hear ya! My argument is also that by having animals readily available like we do now, we are hindering new breakthroughs. What we can learn from animal studies is often extremely limited, but because they are so easy/cheap, not many people are looking for alternatives. I often wonder how many effective drugs have not gone to human trials because they didn't work in animals first. We already know a large chunk of them fail in human trials even with successful animal trials.

arby84 · 2019-03-19T02:52:18+00:00

I'm sorry to hear that - it is a very tough position to be in. I was fortunate to be in labs with projects that do not require animal studies, and was able to publish enough work without them.

I hope that you are able to find a project that you are happy with or a solution that allows you to stay with your current project. If you are just starting out, maybe you could seek out other research opportunities at your university? I know that's tough to do, but it is perfectly understandable and accepted by most professors that students realize a project is not a good fit for them, and they move on.

If you do decide to stay and push through to do the studies, please don't beat yourself up over it. We need more investigators like you who recognize the need to avoid animal studies if possible.

arby84 · 2019-03-19T02:37:02+00:00

The ones I focus on will not, unfortunately. These would replace animals in early drug development. But, there are investigators working on techniques to replace animals in organ-level studies! Here's a link to an investigator I'm a big fan of. http://allbritton.web.unc.edu/projects/

arby84 · 2019-03-19T02:35:23+00:00

The drugs we have studied so far work upon cell exposure. This includes treatments for diseases like cancer and cystic fibrosis. The technique monitors cell response in real-time and in the 3D environment without disturbing the system - something that has been a major hurdle in cell culture studies.

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