The gratitude post.

As we reached the end of the spring quarter, I am starting to feel relieved, especially after being done with courses like Biology of Cancer!On the other hand, I feel somehow unhappy about the fact that the Scientific course gathering won't take place anymore.It hit me last week at the Cafe...and somehow I felt the goodbye blues.

The Scientifc writing course has been a great deal of fun.I must confess that the every-week-assignments kind of work was a bit stressing for me.I have been in the process of settling down and discovering the new atmospheres, so may be this problem was subjective afterall.

I have to mention that Dr.Brack knows how to make courses fun!He successfully managed to engage all of us in the lectures.Many times I find myself overwhemled on Tuesdays, because it's "Tuesday" and because I have to rush to the lab right after the lecture to do a part of an experiment, with an anticipation of failure!However, after the lecture, I always had this sense of accomplishment and feeling of being revived.Dr. Brack if you are reading this, I am thankful for all your efforts, as well as, all your patience.I can't imagine how you manage to go through all of our assignments and correct them in a tailored manner for everyone of us.Thank you!

What also makes this course very special is all of YOU guys.You were all very friendly and outgoing.This course helped me to make great friends (Norah and Hashim).Eventhough we took Cancer Biology classes together, I don't think I'd have been able to be friends with them if it wasn't for this course.

Another point I wanted to mention is that, this course helped me to gain a variety of scientific  knowledge; so it wasn't just about "writing". For instance, I learned about surface adhesions molecules and their contribution in metastasis.During our last meeting, I had this chance to exchange talks with Rahul and Hishem.Their research work is pretty  much different than mine; but now I got to know a bit about their work and gained extra knowledge.When it comes to the course material itself, I finally got a feel about differences between Result sections, conclusion sections...etc.I am a new comer in research, I never worked on an article for submission before,but now at least I know how to organize it should I work on one in the future.I  guess I would have done better in this course if this wasn't my very first quarter.However,I am grateful I got this chance before starting to work on real proposals and articles.

Finally, I hope we stay in touch...I think this blog is one of the best things Dr.Brack has to offer.For me, the scientifc writing course was a great experience both fun- and scientific-wise.

“……..” As a Second Language

  How many languages are there in the word?? I tried to find an answer to that question but I cold not find it. I wondered how these languages developed and why there are specific areas with high linguistic diversity as the 2.197 spoken languages in Asia. And much amazing number is the 832 languages spoken by a population of 3.9 million in Papua-New Guinea. Even for the same language there are different accent or writing system. Surprisingly, numbers of linguistics died and the number of languages decreases by the time. While it keeps on decreasing, I wonder if there will be  finally a union language! If that is going to happen which one it is? I wants it to be Arabic as there are millions speaks it and it is the first language of 22 countries but there are other millions speaks English, Spanish, Chinese ... so, it will never happen. And that's why we are learning the widely used language such as English. For me I don’t think that I need more than that.  

  One of the most things surprises me, are the people who speaks more than three languages. Do they really use them all? How do they can manage? Last month, I meet an interpreter who speaks 8 languages Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Barbary, Russian and …..I forgot what ells, and she is only 34 years old. When I asked her how and when you learn them all? “I don’t know”, she answered. I feel shame somehow, not because I did not speak 8 languages, but because I did not properly speaks my second language and find it very difficult to state a simple sentences, so what I usually do is, pose, think, think and think then it becomes even more complicated. So, the conclusion is, to say ABRAKADABRA and keep it flows and whatever will come. Still, there is a problem.. “Words are flying out of my head”! Do I forget what I studied at 2004? Should I go back from the begging and study English again? No, I’ll not. I believe that to learn a second language you don’t have to remember when you got it. In another word, it should be started from the childhood, to speaks it properly or practice practice and practice with speakers using it as a mother language.

 Even that I speaks English as my second language; it is too different than the native speakers. I can see the difference here in the Blog. When I first came to US, I knew that my English was not perfect, but it was not bad. And when the quarters started, every thing was OK, until the exams time. Many times, I found that I can’t explain my answers or the most disappointing part is misunderstanding the questions. That was a cause of losing many points. But, I already got the benefits, as I learn a lot. So, I never mind.

Rap Music in 2012

In the spring of 1997, the biggest rapper on the East Coast rap music scene, Christopher Wallace (aka. The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie), was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in LA. Six months earlier the West Coast rapper Tupac Shakur (aka. 2Pac) was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. This outburst of violence, which resulted in a peace between the warring West Coast and East Coast record labels, Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records, respectively. Both groups having lost their superstars. Little did the rap world know what a dark age was about to begin.

With the loss of Biggie and 2Pac, Southern rap groups like the Hot Boy$, Master P and the No Limit Soldiers, both from New Orleans took over the scene. Their songs shifted the subject of rap music from the struggles of growing up poor and the emotional stories found in Biggie and 2Pacs lyrics. Suddenly every song was about getting rich and showing off your jewelry, driving cars with supersized rims, and sleeping with absurd numbers of women. In the East Nas and Jay-Z became dominant forces, as they hoped to fill the void left by Biggie. Nas was truer to hip-hops roots but Jay-Z received more commercial success. In the West it was Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg who stepped up, but they were already established and no new rappers with substance emerged from So Cal or Nor Cal till The Game released his debut album in 2005. In the Midwest Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, a rap group form Cleveland emerged with a unique rapid-fire lyrical flow harmonizing on choruses. While in Chicago, Do or Die and Twista were releasing similar more-staccato les flurid rapid-fire lyrics with smooth vocals and harmonies on choruses. It wasn’t till Eminem came along that raw, controversial rap music returned to the Midwest. When the 2000’s got going Crunk music (from the word cranked) became mainstream with its drum and bass beats mixed with catchy synthesizer melodies. From the San Francisco bay area Hyphy music (from the word hyperactive) attempted to break into mainstream rap music, but quickly fizzled out.

Numerous rappers have taken elements of these different styles and tried to rise to the top. However, current rap music is superficial, focused on money, strippers, and tattoos. I feel like my parents when I turn on the radio and impulsively think, “What is this garbage.” But is this the same rap music that shaped me growing up? It cannot be compared to the Wu-Tang Clan or NWA, Biggie or Pac. Maybe it isn’t rap music anymore?

Buy Buy Baby

During the last few months, I’ve been getting some unexpected deliveries in the mail:  baby magazines and advertisement for new parents.  I was married to my wonderful wife, Tiffany, about 9 months ago in August 2011, which might sort of explain why I’m getting this mail.  However, we are not expecting any kids yet, and I really don’t know why I’m getting this stuff. Definitely didn’t sign up for it!   My wife thinks it’s hilarious that the baby mail is always addressed to me.  For example, I now get the “American Baby” magazine once a month.  I guess it gives some useful advice for expecting fathers such as how to get your kid to sleep through the night, but most of the magazine is aimed solidly at new moms.  For example, articles such as “have a better bed rest” and “dieting after delivery.”  Good job American Baby, you really cornered your customer base by sending me your magazine… 

Besides American Baby, I also get some product samples (free powdered baby formula!) and various advertisement junk mail.  The most honestly named of the junk mail is “Buy Buy Baby,” a booklet that sells baby toys, strollers, baby clothes, and more.  Some of the people in our class are parents and have experience buying baby stuff, but I was surprised at how expensive it is!  Most strollers in Buy Buy Baby, for example, are $300 and up.  Selling baby stuff is big money!

So why am I getting this mail?  Possibly, one of my friends thought it would be funny to sign me up for it.  Or, maybe my mom is trying to give me some not-subtle hints that she wants a grandkid.  However, I think it’s most likely that an advertising database somewhere chose my name as a potential new parent to target with ads.  Last summer before getting married, I was making a lot of purchases online for things like wedding favors, a ring bearer pillow, a unity candle, etc.  One of the online stores probably shared my customer profile with a big advertising database, which calculated that I had a good chance of becoming a new parent soon.  And what do you know, six months later I start getting a bunch of baby ads.  This sort of targeted advertising is really big right now.   It’s great for companies if they can lock onto potential customers before they even start buying anything, whether that customer is an expecting parent looking for baby stuff or a rock climber looking for gear.   However, as the consumer getting targeted, I have to say it’s a little creepy having companies track me like this.  Getting baby magazines in the mail is fairly innocent, but it’s easy to imagine cases where I wouldn’t want data about me getting shared.  What if I was applying for a job, and the potential employer saw that I was tagged as an expecting parent and decided not to hire me since I would be distracted from work?  Or if I was running for public office, would the opposing campaign be able to dig through my consumer records to try to find some “dirt” on me? Maybe losing privacy is the price of doing business online, but it’s kind of scary.

The Gay Issue

Vivian, thanks for your post.  I too am a Christian, who sometimes struggles with Religion.  Though some might find it ironic to be writing about God for a scientific writing course, or to be a scientist with faith in God, I do not believe these things are inherently contradictory.  I wanted to briefly address the issue you brought up in your third paragraph about homosexuality and Christianity.  I do not intend to preach, but to share the basis for my thoughts, though I will reference the Bible a bit.

For sure, the Bible can be confusing and is interpreted in many ways.  I find Jesus’ teachings about a few things to be fairly clear.  In Matthew, He states that the second greatest commandment, behind loving God wholly, is to “‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  To me, this declaration, alone, strongly points towards how Christian’s should respond to homosexuality—namely, to love homosexuals like one would anyone else, but I will expound on this understanding with a few more references.

I love the Bible’s use of metaphor.  There is one particularly intriguing line which I find applicable to the debate about homosexuality.  Jesus is addressing the infamous Pharisees: “You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel!”  Here, again in Matthew, He addresses their penchant for following law, while forgetting that which is most important—justice, mercy, and faithfulness.  Not to mention, loving your neighbor.  I believe this parallels how many modern day Christians address homosexuality; they believe it is wrong, and so condemn and often persecute those who are homosexual.  In doing so, they too swallow the camel—they fail to love their neighbor. 

Commonly, I am told by more ‘reasonable’ Christians that one should hate the sin, not the sinner.  While this belief may seem more amiable, I believe it is equally misguided.  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged…Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own?”  Here is another metaphor from Matthew, which I appreciate.  I do not believe homosexuality is a sin, but even if it were, it is not right for me to judge gays.  And I have plenty of logs in my own eyes which need removing before I dissect the eyes of others.

Yes, I believe society needs laws, penalties, and judgments.  And yes, absolutely, this becomes a complicated issue when considering how to address law and order.  Should I support laws against murder?  Clearly.  Some others are less obvious, but that the legality of gay marriage—and by proxy, homosexuality itself—persists as one of the most dominant political debates in America?  That so many Christians see banning gay marriage as one of their most important missions?  I am astounded.  And I want to voice my support for gays and gay Christians, since I know this is a Christian voice not often heard.