29
Aug 14

Confusion and Conflict

It is important to take time to know about the world. It is unfortunately very easy to get trapped in the “Penn State bubble” or my own “personal bubble”.

How can we remind ourselves to step outside ourselves? How can we remind ourselves to educate ourselves outside our primary interests? For me, one motivation is knowing that if I want to make an impact on the world I must know about the world. Another attempt at motivation is that I try to surround myself by people who are also interested in knowing in the world so that there is a social pressure to be up to date on events. And finally, I try to take opporturtunities like these blog posts and make them a time for me to read and critically question world events.

This week I am taking the time to better educate myself and understand the current events in Syria and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. I am very confused on the details of the conflict and hope taking this time will help me to better understand the complexity of the war.  Much of this post will be facts about the current state of the world, but this post is an exercise of leadership for me; I am stepping outside with primary interests and challenging myself to be an educated citizen. If you are specialized in the subject or just disagree with anything I write below, please talk to me about it.

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What is the ISIS?

ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. It is the Sunni Jihadist group in the Middle East, and in 2013, it “emerged from remnants of Al Queda and began to operate in Syria” (New York Times).

The Syrian Civil War seems to have provided ISIS with an opportunity to gain power.

” In 2013, Hezbollah entered the war in support of the Syrian army.[67][68] In the east, theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), a jihadist militant group which was initially linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, made rapid military gains in both Syria and Iraq, eventuallyconflicting with the other rebels. In July 2014, ISIS controlled a third of Syria’s territory and most of its oil and gas production, thus establishing itself as the major opposition force.[69]“--Syrian Civil War Wikipedia

 

Syrian Civil War

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The Syrian government has military support from Russia and Iran while the rebels have recieved weapons from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States.

 

Where is the line between the Rebel group and ISIS?

I am not entirely sure. I am trying to dissect this out. From my understanding the ISIS is a sub-set of the rebels, and in a way the ISIS group has taken advantage of the conflict to spread the power.

According to the New York Times, in recent months ISIS has gained large expanses of territory and “ISIS has become more attractive to would-be militants because, unlike Al Qaeda, it has seized territory that it rules by strict Islamic law.”

What is ISIS doing? Why are they dangerous?

The Obama Administration says the ISIS militant group “poses the greates threat to the United States since Al Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.” (New York Times)

The ISIS is incredibly brutal and is gaining attraction through its reputation. They have tortured and mutilated citizens under the islamic creed.

The United Nations reported that in the 17 days from 5 to 22 June, ISIS killed more than 1,000 Iraqi civilians and injured more than 1,000.”-ISIS Wikipedia

“On 29 May, a village in Syria was raided by ISIS and at least 15 civilians were killed, including, according to Human Rights Watch, at least six children.[332] A hospital in the area confirmed that it had received 15 bodies on the same day.[333] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that on 1 June, a 102-year-old man was killed along with his whole family in a village in Hama.”- ISIS Wikipedia

Current State?

As of August 22, the United States is considering military air strikes on the ISIS in Syria. President Obama is attempting to create a long-term plan to fight of the Islamic State in Syria, but there is reasonable hesitance to put US military forces directly into the Syrian war (Wall Street Journal)

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I definitely know more about the Syrian conflict than I did this morning. Here’s to continuing to better understanding the world around us and striving  for peace.


03
Aug 14

“You’re so cute”

I was recently asked by the alumni coordinator of my high school to submit a photo of myself researching in my lab for the high school newsletter. I responded “Of course”; it was a simple enough job task; it also helped me to reflect back to my high school years, and I thought about my lack of confidence at the time and how much I have grown since then. While I have dreamed of becoming a neurologist for a long time, I would have never expected that I would be doing neuroscience research in Germany right now. In high school, I often felt not good enough, or not smart enough; I was constantly questioning myself on whether I was “cut out” for my own dream.  Because of this, a part of me hoped that this simple picture and note could positively influence present high schoolers, that I could serve as a role model of the unexpected, and provide them with one example of opportunities that are ahead.

I was instructed to send a picture with a caption, so I sent the lab picture featured below, and provided the caption, “Jenny Dobson working in a molecular neurobiology lab in Erlangen, Germany researching the role of sphingolipid enzymes in Multiple Sclerosis”lab photo

The response I got was,  “Aw, Jenny!! You’re so cute in the lab!! Thanks so much for this!!”

…I look “cute”?  It does not matter to me whether or not I look “cute” in lab. What matters to me is that I conduct reliable research that could progress the understanding of a disease.

Part of me felt ridiculous for being bothered, and I would try to tell myself she was just being nice. I should just accept the compliment and move on. I guess it is okay to look “cute” in lab. 

But as I continued to think, I realized that it was not a problem if I looked “cute” in lab, but it bothered me that being cute was even a focal point to begin with.  Why not say “Thanks Jenny, it looks like your research is going well.” or “Good luck on your progress”.

I want to be respected for my intelligence, not how I look.  Sometimes I feel when people focus on appearance rather than skill sets or accomplishments, especially in a setting such as a research lab, it undermines hard work.  I recognize this is not someone’s intention when one says any of these things but I think these subtle comments or compliments need to be challenged.

A Verizon commercial was released in early June which emphasized similar sentiments, and particularly focused in on the rhetoric we use with young females, and how that could influence their interests in academics and career choices, particularly in science.

I provide a link to the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP3cyRRAfX0 (please watch)

The commercial starts with a girl toddler outside, exploring, reaching for a flower and a mother asking endearingly, “Who’s my pretty girl?”. The commercial progresses showing the young toddler growing up, and routinely but lovingly and subtly, being told not do things. A young girl walking in a creek with her mom telling her “not to get her dress dirty”. A  female teen with power tools gets told to “hand it over to her brother”.  The commercial ends with the statistic from the National Science Foundation that “66% of 4th grade girls say they like science and math, but only 18% of all college engineering majors are female”, providing further indication that complimenting females with “You’re pretty” and “You’re cute” brings their attention to their physical appearance,  and takes the focus off of their intelligence and curiosity, ultimately potentially discouraging them from entering hard science fields.

While I am secure enough in my passion that the words “Aw Jenny!! You’re so cute!!”,  do not make me question my career path,  it does bother me that even after I have worked so hard and filled my brain, that my cuteness or lack there of is still a focus at all. I cannot imagine an administrator sending that same message to a male counterpart (especially at the age of 20) , “Aw Michael!! You are so cute in lab!!”  I just tried saying it outloud to myself and it sounded awkward and unprofessional. However,  it has become so commonplace to compliment females in this manner. I do not care if you think I am cute; I want to be smart and I want to be respected for that, and with over 3 million views on that verizon commercial I know I am not alone.

 Compliment female’s minds and inspire their brains. 

 

 

 


01
Aug 14

What Science Research Has Taught Me About Leadership

1) Be on time or better yet, be early. 

During the first week on my internship my boss explained that I could come to work  anywhere between 9 and 10. I thought this was reasonable but after a few days I realized that my boss routinely came in by 7:30 am. Once I realized this I made sure to arrive in lab at least by 8. This extra time in the morning not only gave us an opportunity to plan out the day, but also to discuss aspects of life that were not related to science. This time allowed her to know me as a person, as well as her worker.  Further, arriving early allowed me to  indicate how dedicated I was to this project. While I had mentioned to her how passionate I was about researching Multiple Sclerosis, showing up early excited to work provided further evidence of this.  As a result it seems that my boss provided me with more independence and responsibility on my work.

2) Leaders do not need to have all the answers. They need to ask questions.

They were a numbers of times in my research where it did not have the answer on my own. In these cases, I have come to realize that that is okay. I do not need to have all of the answers automatically, however I do need to be curious and passionated to find the answers. I have noticed that it much more worth while, to ask an expert questions and learn as much as you can from him or her, instead of pretending to have the answers and living in a cloud of arrogance.

3) Push out of your comfort zone

This entire journey has pushed me way outside my comfort zone: outside of my country, outside my culture, new tasks, new challenges. Particularly in lab, I was constantly given protocols that I had never heard of before but I had to push myself to learn them. Pushing myself is not the most comfortable, but it rewarding to look back and see how much you’ve grown.

 

 


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