“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

Early in October, I was lucky enough to catch The Interrupters at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, a documentary produced by academy award winning director Steve James (though it is no longer playing at the Lightbox, a list of future screenings can be found at the film’s website). As a note, TIFF generally screens films throughout the year, often with the director in attendance, and often presents special themed screenings. I totally recommend checking out their list of current and future showings. For the same price as going to Cineplex or AMC, you can’t go wrong.

The Interrupters focuses on a group called ‘CeaseFire’ who work in their native Chicago neighborhoods to diffuse violence and aggression between rival gangs, friends, and even brothers. Violent confrontations can be everyday occurrences in some of Chicago’s neighborhoods and arise from as simple of an event as making eye contact with the ‘wrong’ individual. CeaseFire spends their nights out on the streets trying to stop violence before it happens, by placing themselves where such events are likely to occur, and in essence, putting themselves in danger. Read the rest

(a)	(b)	(c)
Figure 1. Our nameless hero’s figure 1-A (a), Professor Brian S. Smith (Genius) in papyro (b) and in vivo (c).

It was a full house at Friday’s screening of the PhD movie, based on the comic series “Piled Higher and Deeper” by Jorge Cham. Even if you’ve somehow memorized the entire comic series and can recognize much of the dialogue, lifted directly off the panes of the comic strip, the movie adds a whole new dimension: real-life actors. They’ve nailed the casting! Figures 1b and 1c give representations of Professor Brian S. Smith (Genius) in 2D and in 3D, respectively. It can be seen that actor Zachary Abbot has successfully cloned Prof. Smith, right down to the migrated hair and green vest.

Figure 2. PHD Movie Trailer from PHD Comics on Vimeo.

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I was hanging out on the internet on a Friday night and came across a post by a former Amazon employee about presenting to his boss, Jeff Bezos.

I’ll post the relevant snippets here (out of context), and it really does read like advice you should be getting about approaching graduate committee meetings. It’s a bit long, use your imagination and substitute Jeff Bezos with your supervisor or any of your committee members.

Disclaimer: Some of this is definitely tongue in cheek, please use your judgement when actually applying these tips.

Over the years I watched people give presentations to Jeff Bezos and come back bruised: emotionally, intellectually, often career-ily. If you came back with a nod or a signoff, you were jumping for joy. Presenting to Jeff is a gauntlet that tends to send people back to the cave to lick their wounds and stay out of the sunlight for a while.

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The Good Food Box program is run by a non-profit organization dedicated to supplying fresh fruits and vegetables to the community at wholesale prices. Produce is purchased directly from local farmers whenever possible, and packed and delivered by volunteers. This keeps the cost low, supports local agriculture and minimizes the fuel used for transportation.

Sign up to receive a box of fresh, seasonal and affordable produce every two weeks. The cost varies from $13 for a Small Good Food Box to $34 for a Large Organic Good Food Box. You can check out more detailed descriptions and pricing information at http://www.foodshare.net/goodfoodbox05.htm.

Contact Chelsea (room S640) for more information or to order a box:
chelsea.munding@utoronto.ca
416-948-1554 ext. 3383