This is a guest post by Meika Jensen (mastersdegree.net)
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Many colleges are implementing a rule that all students must be vaccinated for a specific list of diseases before they are allowed to enter dorms and student housing. Diseases that spread quickly in communal living circumstances, such as bacterial meningitis, are of particular concern. While many college students have run the gauntlet of required vaccinations, such as the TDAP vaccine which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, most would not have received vaccinations against diseases that are commonly spread in close social contact such as meningitis, tuberculosis (TB) and human papillomavirus (HPV).

A number of states in the U.S. are passing laws to make these vaccines compulsory. In other words, a college student will not be allowed on campus if they do not receive the vaccine. Even adult or postgraduate students would be forced to get their Masters degrees online for refusing a vaccine, despite the fact that they are mature and autonomous adults. Authorities argue that college students are particularly susceptible because students come from such a wide range of locations and share close living space. They point out that not only are these diseases potentially severely debilitating, but as with a case of meningitis, they can be fatal. Bacterial infections are very easily spread through coughing, sneezing, sharing utensils or drinks, kissing and other interpersonal contact – all common occurrences among college students. These diseases hit and spread quickly and have deadly consequences. Authorities take the perspective that these diseases are all preventable through immunization, and since they are quite common among the college student population, immunization should be obligatory. Many states are passing laws accordingly.
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At the end of February 2012, I was fortunate to attend a lecture on the life of Gandhi given by a young philosopher Parth Doshi. Prior to the lecture I knew very little about Gandhi. We all have heard that he was a great person, who freed India from the British with the movement of non-violent resistance. But how did he do that? How was this man able to put the values into practice? This was the topic of Parth’s lecture.

The lecture started with an outline of major events in Gandhi’s life. We were taken back in time to witness those events with a help of fragments from the movie Gandhi (1982). We saw his challenges in South Africa, heard his wise speeches, and observed his calm and patient nature.  “..there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill,” Gandhi says. Then, he proposes a resistance, but in a peaceful way: “… I am asking you to fight! To fight against their anger, not to provoke it.” Thus, he asked his people to disobey the unjust law and to obey the just. This non-violent revolution took a long time, but eventually (15 years later) the British realized that their laws were unjust. After this success, Indians start calling Gandhi “Mahatma”, which means “great soul”.
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The MBPGSU would like to congratulate Merle, recipient of the 2012 David Keeling Award for Administrative Excellence. Her dedication to this department is absolutely invaluable and deeply appreciated by all MBP students. Very deserving indeed! For the full story, see the FacMed announcement.

Being a graduate student requires the ability to multi-task. In order to stay productive and on top of everything, many students find themselves creating ways to optimize their workflow. This post will examine some of the ways students manage the hundreds (possibly thousands) of journal articles which land on their bench/desk/lap/face throughout their career.

Luckily others have noticed a need for managing relevant articles and several computer programs have been created, leaving the traditional quickly-forgotten-folder-location and random-pdf-name duo in the dust. Today I will look at two of the more popular methods out there. I also assume scientists have made the rational decision to join apple in their creative quest to take over the world, as one of my options is solely a mac product. Think of this mac only option as the Halo of OS X first person shooters pdf managers. Okay with my opinion revealed, already on to the ‘unbiased’ analysis. Read the rest

“Work hard, play hard!” This should be the motto of every graduate student. No matter what some PIs might say, achieving a work life balance as a graduate student is close to impossible. So, when you do get that weekend off, you really want to make sure that you enjoy it to the fullest, and you have the energy that will last for another month, if not more.  What I found helpful is to have a little adventure, which will give you a “splash of adrenaline”, help you to feel alive again, and allow you to return to your experiments without feeling like you are missing out on life. Previously, I shared with you the adventures that involve water (see A Splash of Adrenaline: Water). This time, we will take a look at the Land adventures:

1)    Dirt Bikes and ATV

2)    Rock Climbing and Caving Adventure

3)    Race tracks and Driving Schools

4)    Shooting Range

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Kudos to Megan Barker for finding this awesome site!

New documentary being shown at TIFF Bell Light box. As heard on CBC’s Metro Morning.

Pink Ribbons, Inc. is a documentary looking at the politics of philanthropy, and more specifically how private corporations have potentially profited off the Pink Ribbon campaign for Breast Cancer. Directed by Lea Pool, supported by the National Film Board of Canada, and inspired by the book Pink Ribbons, Inc.: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy by Queen’s professor Samantha King, this documentary demonstrates the great discourse coming out of our nation.

I highly recommend to anyone who’s directly or indirectly involved in Breast Cancer research, or who’s simply interested in some critical perspectives on how we donate money to charities, to go and check it out! The documentary provides the viewer with some criteria to consider when evaluating the progress of a charitable campaign and its relationship with corporate sponsors. For example, the film discusses companies such as AstraZeneca, who simultaneously sells the drug Arimidex used in breast cancer therapy, while also distributing the pesticide Acetochlor, which has been linked to increased cancer rates.

Pink Ribbons, Inc. is playing this week only at TIFF, so hurry and catch a viewing. TIFF charges $9.50 with a student card and there are multiple showings every day until FEBRUARY 16th!

Check it out and share your thoughts below!

Just got this info by Sarah Cuddy (an MBP Alumni for those who don’t know her):

“As of September 15, 2011, the federal granting agencies’ existing regulations on minimum and maximum stipend levels paid from grants will no longer apply. The agencies will also no longer restrict researchers from using some of their grant money to provide supplements to scholarship holders. For more information please refer to section 8.2.”

Info is at: http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/4656.html

Two years ago, I was in my final year of undergrad and like most other students, I was fairly confused about my future plans. Grad school was an enticing option but I still had some doubts. Most of all, I struggled to figure out what type of grad student I would be and by extension whether I was made of  the “right” stuff. Grad school eventually became a reality but the doubts lingered on. As time passed and as I met more of my fellow students, these doubts slowly gave way to a realization:  there was no single prototypical grad student, and therefore no single standard to aspire to. Our varied backgrounds and aspirations led to differences in our way of thinking. It is therefore not surprising that the path taken by each of us during the course of our grad studies is unique.

This got me thinking about the different types of grad students. Right away, I thought of “the dreamer” – someone who actually hopes to solve some of the great scientific mysteries of our time, and “the workaholic” – someone who always has a project on the go and feels anxious when looking at a blank calendar. But surely, there must be more! I began to search online, where I found this brief essay in which the writer takes a stab at 8 different types of grad students. I suspect that a lot of us might see a glimpse of ourselves in some of his choices.  I am curious to know what type of graduate student you think (or hope) you are? Do you find these 8 types as overly simplistic? If so, can you think of other types of graduate students? Please comment below with your opinion.

An artificial trachea, similar to one implanted in a patient for the first time last summer

Ever seen the 2010 flick, Repo Men? Don’t. Unless you’re really into gratuitous displays of raw human flesh (exposed while the subject is alive and conscious!), then this sci-fi/action movie—about a future in which artificial organs can be purchased on credit—isn’t for you. But I’m not blogging a film review. The movie is simply a dramatization and pessimistic distortion of what could be a new reality on the horizon.

Last week, the New York Times reported on an exciting operation that took place in November. A thirty-year-old Maryland man with inoperable tracheal cancer received a synthetic windpipe, the second operation of its kind and the first on an American. CT scans of the patient’s existing trachea were used to create a synthetic one from nanofibers of the same plastic found in pop bottles. This scaffold was then soaked in a suspension of the patient’s bone marrow stem cells. Once the cells adhered to the scaffold, transcription factors were used to induce the stem cells to differentiate into trachea-specific cells. Using the patient’s own cells eliminated the need for anti-rejection drugs, however California Institute for Regenerative Medicine president Alan O. Trounson insists that some immune response can still be expected. The operation cost $450,000 USD. Read the rest