Bush used his first Presidential Veto to nix a bill to lift some restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. There were not enough votes in the House to override the veto, so policy stays as it is. That means that a very small number of pre-existing embryonic stem cells remain available for research use if supported by govt funds, which is not a scientifically viable situation. The worst part is that he vetoed it on moral grounds - what happened to separation of church and state?
I had a fun weekend attending I-CON, the SF convention in Stony Brook, NY on Long Island. I was invited to be a science track guest by
schnuder and had a lot of fun being on panels. I drove up with my good friend, L. and roomed with him and
esprix and
pinoyboytoy, who I finally got to meet. We stayed at a Holiday Inn that was a 20 min drive from the con, which was held all over Stony Brook University's campus. It was an unusal set up given my con experiences and it took some getting used to. There were over 5000 attendees, mostly college age fen. I felt distinctly "older" wearing my sports jacket and presenting in a classroom, but I had fun. I met a number of the media guests - I got to spend a few minutes with George Takei, who wanted to set the record straight (so to speak) that the reason that he had come out when he did was in direct opposition to Arnold not signing the CA Marriage Act, and not because he was starring in a production of Equus. He had spent his childhood in a Japanese interment camp and equated coming out about his sexuality to coming out about that experience. He was delighted to know that queer fandom had fully embraced him before and supported him even more now that he has gone public. Kevin Sorbo did a Q&A and talked about working as a Presidential Advisor on Physical Fitness. If I had gotten up earlier, I could have worked out in the hotel gym with him - on second thought, that would have probably been way too intimidating! Marc Singer, the Beastmaster, was there and seemed delighted that anyone still remembered him. Ron Glass was there getting his first taste of SF fandom for his role is Serenity. He said that this response was way more exciting than his experience on Barney Miller. Other media guests who I saw in passing included Elvira, Richard Hatch, and Marjean Holden from Crusade. Author guests included Terry Brooks, Spider Robinson, and Peter David.
Oops, gotta go work. More later...
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Oops, gotta go work. More later...
It's gorgeous out!
Mar. 11th, 2006 10:49 amI've opened a window to enjoy the fresh air and am sipping coffee in preparation for going to the gym. My new kitty, Sawyer, felt comfortable enough to perch on my bed this morning and enjoy the sunbeams. Stayed up way too late last night rewatching Rent and then the Making of Featurette, which turned out to be longer than the movie! I had a good week and am looking forward to a relaxing weekend before my Med Neuro class starts on Monday.
I feel like an evil genius! I negotiated a particularly difficult political battle yesterday to help rework how we propose grad student applicants for acceptance into the program. I have strong diplomatic skills and am not afraid to use them. I also discovered that my four year service was up on one of my committees, and my Chair will let me rotate off so that I have more time for my other responsibilities. I am submitting my third grant this weekend. All this productivity helps balance out the disappointment of having had a paper rejected (mainly because the journal that we sent it to thought that it should be published elsewhere). It's amazing how a little sunshine makes everything seem so positive even after a mild winter!
I feel like an evil genius! I negotiated a particularly difficult political battle yesterday to help rework how we propose grad student applicants for acceptance into the program. I have strong diplomatic skills and am not afraid to use them. I also discovered that my four year service was up on one of my committees, and my Chair will let me rotate off so that I have more time for my other responsibilities. I am submitting my third grant this weekend. All this productivity helps balance out the disappointment of having had a paper rejected (mainly because the journal that we sent it to thought that it should be published elsewhere). It's amazing how a little sunshine makes everything seem so positive even after a mild winter!