The leaders and the best

I'm taking a break from my intense studying to report on how incredible and noteworthy my University is. There are many famous people who hail from Michigan. Sure, the first folks to come to mind might be Gerald Ford, Michael Phelps, or the guy who did Darth Vader's voice... But, I'm here to mention two others who have graduated from this fine institution, the first whose birthday is the day following mine, and the second whose birthday precedes mine by a day.





Dr. Theodore John "Ted" Kaczynski, M.S., Ph.D Mathematics
a.k.a. The Unabomber, Prisoner Number 04475-046.
He was the hobbit and mail bomber extraordinairre who was the victim of one of the FBI's most expensive goose chases ever. After killing 3 and wounding 23 victims while providing false clues for authorities, he was finally sentenced to life in prison when his own brother turned him in. Disagreeing with modern society, thus targeting predominantly scientists due to the progressive nature of research, he composed a manifesto entitled "The Industrial Society and Its Future" that challenged the notion of the construct of our society and predicted it would collapse on itself within time. He tried to hang himself after he was caught, but that didn't work out so instead he's locked in jail forever.



Dr. Kevorkian, M.D. Pathology
a.k.a. Dr. Death
Medical ethicist and doctor of assisted suicide in Michigan (which, I should point out, is legal in certain contexts in the State of Oregon, I believe). He was only charged on one count of second-degree murder because he had his patients carry out their own demise in order to avoid this. But, on video tape for the court, he challenged the notion of classroom medical ethics (citing archiac and unjust laws) by giving the lethal injection to just one patient, who was in his final stages of ALS.

Kevorkian was sentenced to lots of jail time, but was released due to his own failing health. Of course, his medical license was revoked. But, he's still alive and occasionally doing TV appearances.

i tell 'em all i want for chistmas is two gold front teeth and ten carat diamonds on a fat gold wreath

When I graduate and get another real job, I'm going to learn how to sew in my spare time. Then... then I will make myself a cape, and some dresses. I really want a kimono dress with a funky pattern.

Maybe someday I can be a normal person and not always have to wear a thousand layers, so I can wear more stylish clothing. I'm really rooting for this B12 and Iron regimen to take effect. I learned that a B12 deficiency creates problems with memory. Maybe that explains a few things about me...

Completely unrelated, I've been listening to a Detroit hip hop station (95.5) for far too long today. I am fairly certain that they are more repetitive than KDWB. Don't get me wrong, I love Alicia Keys, but I have heard this song ("No One") at least 6 times so far in the last few hours.

Another brief topic, I can't wait until Stardust comes out on DVD because a) I love, love, love Neil Gaiman, and b) I managed to miss seeing it in the theater.

Um, lastly... Why is Ludacris doing Christmas music? I do not approve.

Mamma, mamma I'm coming home....

One down, three to go...

I finished pathophys yesterday; now I'm devoting the rest of today to my HMP paper so that'll be finished. Epid final on Friday and biostat next Wed, then I will be homeward bound.

I love epidemiology. It's such a neat field, with numerous components. Yes, there's the usual infectious disease stuff, and cancer rates, and blah blah, but we had a lecture on the future of epidemiology and how it needs to become more socially-based. There's this balance that needs to be met concerning how people view themselves and reminding them that they are within a population. It made me thinking about universal health care and our legal system and what rights people do and do not have. For instance, in the United State, people are guaranteed the right to smoke a million cigarettes a day, but aren't guaranteed health care. Now, maybe this is a good thing -- people who make the effort to destroy their health maybe shouldn't be treated with the care and concern in a health setting that those people who eat well, exercise, and choose not to smoke and overly-consume alcohol. But, maybe this says something about the direction in which our country needs to find itself.

We don't have the rights to smoke pot or do crack (legally), yet it's okay to fill our body with the 40-some carcinogens in a single cigarette. Maybe that's something legislators need to consider while simultaneously considering human physiology and the effects on cigarettes in every single organ system within our bodies... From glaucoma to cardiovascular disease, these substances are not okay. Yet, our politicians consistently let those tobacco lobbiests pay them off to keep people smoking...

Yes, politics is complicated. It takes patience and baby-stepping to work toward any positive laws for society (yet, the second our president wants to take away our privacy rights because of a few terroristic threats, the Big Boys are all about it...).

Anyway, I guess my big thought it onto universal health care, which I think is a very important goal for our country. I think we all have the right to life (as was stated in our Declaration of Independence), and part of that is having the means to protect our lives. I would like to see laws passed that go on to protect our safety through health and environmental steps. This needs to happen QUICKLY, as there is more and more of a divide between rich and poor, the privileged and hose without. Perhaps the end goal is far from sight, but there are so many changes that could be made in the way our population lives.

My first proposal is adequate health education. The main target here would be school-children. I remember being in elementary school and learning to recycle and little health issues and thinking it was so neat. If kids can get interested early, it's possible that they can take these ideas home and engage their parents. They need to learn about living safely -- everything from practicing safe sex, washing their hands, and eating whole grains and vegetables, to recycling and not wasting energy. Health has so many factors -- personal, social, and environmental -- that it's necessary to educate children about these early so they can start making wise decisions for how they live their lives early.

Also, within education, parents need to be educated too. This can come from community-wide meetings and health fairs that are easily accessible to all, and especially those who would have access issues like the poor. Parents need to know exactly why certain things are bad for them and their children. I took pathophysiology and learned more than just "smoking is bad, mmmkay." I learned WHY it's bad and HOW it affects your body. Parents need to understand this about major risk factors -- diet, smoking, alcohol. It's really scary to think that even just one night of crazy drinking pays a huge toll on your liver. Some of these children are raised by alcoholic parents, or parents who smoke around the house. NOT OKAY. Even kids who don't like their parents much still take a lot of habits from the way they were raised and apply them to their own lifestyles.

Obviously, not just parents and children, but the general population needs to be educated. People need to step out of ignorance on health and health issues and learn what's going on with their bodies and what sort of diseases and illnesses they need to worry about. They also need to learn not to worry -- because I see that a lot of people run rampant with information if it's misunderstood and create a pandemonium of fear and outrage. Not okay. This is why health education needs to be integrated in a constructive way throughout communities, with educators coming in and really understanding a community's beliefs. People within that community need to be trained to be educators, too, so that they are accessible and approachable. There needs to be huge lines of communication.

I see that only when an extensive educational process throughout our entire country occurs can changes really begin to start to take place. Maybe around the this time is when a system for universal health care should be implemented... Because people will have more knowledge to treat themselves better.

Of course there are huge economic issues that will have to be taken care of, and it needs to be understood that the first generation or two using this health care system will be very expensive. But if the education keeps occurring and the health system really changes to benefit the total population (because, we're taught to concern only ourselves within the American society, so people need to understand that they are a part of a larger picture and need to take care of themselves and their brothers and sisters of the world), the health care system will become less expensive.

Along with this whole system, a series of progressive laws needs to be passed. i.e. The NYC ban of trans fats needs to become a country-wide ban; smoking in public establishments also needs to become this way... Laws that protect all citizens of this country need to be established.

I know, I'm not a policy person. People think that this is impossible to implement in a nation so big and backwards as ours. I agree that it will be hard, but why would we not even try? It will have its issues, but why not start with something do-able, like free health care access for all minors. Heck, those are the ones who are less likely to have started smoking and drinking anyway so their risk factors are primarily genetic and environmental, neither of which they can control!

There are more issues involved, and more disciplines to be involved. But, how neat to have a topic that seems so focused, yet is very broad. I hope that legislators get their heads out of their behinds and focus on more important issues for our entire society, instead of those that either only consider a few, or seem to consider only societies far away (not like I don't think aiding other countries important, but bombing them probably won't help so much...).

Anyway, tangent of the day. I better get to my paper.

I know what I know; I'll sing what I said. We come and we go; that's a thing that I keep in the back of my head

Knowing what I do now, I wish I could go back to my college years and do it all differently. But, hey, it is what it is...

I'm a workin' man, with nowhere to go

I guess I think of the student unions as more of an undergraduate hangout and study place. I may have previously mentioned that I rather like the North Campus student union, Pierpont Commons, as well as the attached Duederstadt Center because a) open 24 hrs a day, b) cheap coffee, c) snacks are easy to purchase, d) lots of electrical outlets for plugging in my laptop, and e) comfortable seating areas. My SPH friends don't really hang out here because it's far enough away from the medical campus that it's inconvenient, but it's pretty close to my apartment.

Well, as a good little grad student would, I decided to come to Pierpont to have a crazy Friday night of studying. I walk in and immediately find my friend Ali sitting at a table, writing a paper. So, I open my laptop and get my study on with her. Not a half hour later does Joel walk in. So, now we have a table of three SPH folk, representing 3 of the 4 departments, sitting around studying and writing papers on a Friday night. It may not be a crazy drinking party, but it's certainly a crazy study party. Rock on with my pathophys!

Eat your heart out on a plastic tray

Frustrations!

As background, to register at Michigan, you can go in before your registration time and "Backpack" the classes you want to take, so then when your registration appointment occurs, you can more easily register by moving the courses from your Backpack into your actual registration.

That being noted, I have to take this course on viral and molecular lab techniques. When I placed it in my backpack, it was offered from 12-3 on Tues and Thrs. Fine. I found a neat Reproductive Epidemiology course to take immediately afterward to fulfill some credits. Upon my actual registration, though, the lab course was listed from 3-6 pm on Tues and Thrs. This upset me a bit, but I found an Infectious Disease Epid course to take during the afternoon on those days to fulfill a few extra credits, instead of the repro course. And everything was fine and dandy....

Until today. I was talking to my friend Greg today about our class schedule for next semester, since we're both in the same major. We were comparing schedules, so I logged on to look at my course listing. Guess what... the lab course is now offered from 12-3 on Tues and Thrs. Nifty. That's great, except the repro epid course that I was originally going to take is full.

Luckily, Greg mentioned that he's taking Cancer Epid in the same time slot. So, now I might be taking Cancer Epid instead of Infectious Disease or Repro Epid. However, I also found out that I can take Environmental Epid, because you don't have to have so many crazy prerequisites after all!

So... the cancer epid is going to give me permission to enter his course, and the environmental epid lady might too. So, now I have to make the decision: do I take a course that fulfills one of my core requirements (cancer epid), or do I take the class that I'm really interested in (environmental epid)...?

That is to be determined at a later date, I guess! Right now, I'm just happy to have worked out the kinks quickly enough to find another course to take.

Now back to the HW. My paper writing process is much slower than I expected.

Goodnight, Miss Mouse

My Mousey passed away today. She was laying in her favorite place, and my dad was right next to her. She went peacefully. And, really, though it's very, very sad because I've lost my "sister" cat, I am content that she went without pain, with loads of love, and in complete serenity. That's all any of us can ask when it's our time, or the time of our loved ones.

We live and we die, we know not why / but I'll be with you when the deal goes down

The hardest part about being here is not being able to run home whenever something's going on. My kitty, Mouse, probably won't last through the day. She's been fighting and holding on all week, but has barely eaten a thing. It's suspected that her kidneys are failing...

I wish digital cameras were around when I first got her, so maybe I could have some pictures of our early years together. Mouse the Cat is a New Year's kitten, born January 1, 1990 (or maybe 1991). There aren't very many winter kittens, but I lucked out and found her after begging my dad to stop at the pet store in early March of that year. There she was, this gray skinny little thing, and I snatched her up and took her shivering body home underneath my jacket.

We moved to Mendota Heights in October, 1991, and she spent the first week cowering behind the toilet in the downstairs bathroom. Slowly, she began to explore, and now that house is home for her. She has "her" spots -- the wool blanket on the back of the living room couch, or the comforter placed on the desk in my dad's office -- that are covered in her gray cat fur now. Of course, if you're ever on the computer, she's got to be up on your lap and in your way! And, when I sat studying or reading or doing sudoku puzzles at the dining room table, I had to pull a chair up right next to me so she could hang out too. She was always happy enough even to have a chair pulled up next to you if she couldn't sit on your lap.

She's a good kitty. Occasionally she tests you by trying to get up on the kitchen counter when you're ignoring her and she wants some attention, but, for the most part, she's a pretty great cat. With every tear I ever shed, she'd be right there in my lap trying to comfort me. With every tantrum of frustration for homework or boys or whatever, she'd calmly wander into see what the fuss was about, then rub up against me to say, "Hey man, not worth it. Calm down!" She's always been my "sister."

I left for college and didn't see her every day anymore, yet every time I walked through that door, she was waiting to hang out. I used to stop by my parents' house and steal lunch often, and I'd almost always give her a few treats before I left just to ensure her affection was still mine. And it was.

Even as she's gotten older, she still has that playful kitten in her. Before I left for grad school in August, you could still get her to roll around in catnip and chase toy mice. She'd go through her crazy periods where she'd spazz out and run around the house, sliding on the wood floor and sometimes running into a wall.

I make fun of her meow, because she sounds like a little whiny lambkin -- so high pitched and piercing! This is how she woke my parents up every morning at 5 a.m., begging for food and attention.

But, all living things get old. Her coat has started to look worn over the past few years. She's been eating more, yet losing weight. It's thought that she doesn't hear so well anymore. She stopped going outside often, except maybe just to hang out in the yard. I can't remember the last time she brought a baby bunny or bird into the house to play with. Most of the time these days, she's content just sitting on your lap when you're watching TV, or sitting next to you on the couch.

But, she's a good spirit. She's serene and content. She always has been a good animal to have close by because she knows when you need her comfort, and she's always ready to give it. She's loyal and sweet; well-behaved and good-natured. She's a good, good cat. She's family.

And, I call to check up on her multiple times a day. She's a fighter. She knows how much she's loved, and she's just hanging around and enjoying her family as best she can. And she's not being left alone, even for a second. I wish I could be there to offer a few last pets. Just last Sunday, I left to catch my plane home from Thanksgiving break and she was fine and normal. But, overnight, something happened, and she started getting really sick. I'm really glad to have gotten to see her, but I hate that I had to leave. That cat has been there through a good 2/3 of my life.

All I want is for her to not feel any pain as she slips away. I know she knows how much she is loved. I'll miss her sweet spirit whenever I'm home. I think home will be lonely without her.

Gonna tie our love in a double knot 'cause these days love gets strained a lot

If you don't know how I feel about having a wedding, I'll tell you. I hate planning and I could never spend that amount of money on one day, when it'd make a great down payment on a house or paying for a year of my grad school or something that I find more useful.

That being said, I do think weddingstuff is very nice and pretty. When I stumbled upon this wedding gown, I ooohed and ahhed a lot.

I'm the kind of human wreckage that you love

They said they didn't want me...

Steve and I decided to donate blood during the Michigan-OSU Blood Battle a couple of weeks ago. On a Tuesday, we walked over to the Union only to be greeted with a 1.5 hour wait. So, we gave up and opted to return later. Lucky us: Thursday meant the phlebotomists would be at the freshmen dorms next to SPH.

I finished class and we headed over there only to be greeted by the long wait again. But, we were determined! We filled out our forms and waited in the grueling line. Finally, after about 30-45 minutes, we were allowed to enter into the prescreen with the nurses.

"How much do you weigh?" I passed that one! Then, she pricked my finger. Apparently my blood didn't intend on traveling the length of the tubule. She asked if I had ever been anemic, as she proceeded to test my blood in the spinny-thinger to ensure that my specimen was lame. The result: low hematocrit count! She suggested I beef up my iron and come back again some other time. It wasn't so low to be shocking to me; but just low enough that the Red Cross didn't want me.

So, I sat in a corner and waited for Steve, who was still talking to the nurse. Afer about 5-10 minutes, he warily walked toward me and said he couldn't give blood either... Turns out that when you accidentally have a needle stuck in you after it had entered into someone else, they don't want you either! Guess being a med student has its downfalls. Actually, most of being a med student sounds not-so-great to me: no sleep, constant pressure, needles being thrown into you by your patients...

Questions of science, science and progress do not speak as loud as my heart...

People in Michigan really seem to love Coldplay. Every time I turn on the radio, I manage to hear some Coldplay. "I came along, I wrote a song for you and all the things you do, and it was called 'Yellow...'" I'm almost positive that I could choose a rap or jazz station and they would somehow integrate Coldplay into their listening.

So, I'm studying at this place on North Campus called Pierpont Commons. It's basically just a student union with a lot of really comfortable areas for studying, grabbing a bite to eat, shooting some pool, etc. I found a great spot near a guy who is such an incredible pianist that I conclude he must be a music student. Really... his fingers are flying up and down the grand piano nearby.

He started out with some Beethoven, then moved to a Chopin-era composition and ... wow. Beautiful. I couldn't have asked for better study music. So, after he finished his second extraordinary classical work, he pauses for a few seconds.... and begins playing music from Coldplay's album A Rush of Blood to the Head. He's still at it. At least he's playing "The Scientist," which always reminds me of Byrneebie, and a little bit of Moniqua.

So, now I'm singing along in my head, which isn't nearly as great for this whole "study" thing.

Ann Arbor really is beautiful.

'Cause nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain

I've been lax on my blogging lately. Many apologies.

So, it's coming up on mid-November, which means Thanksgiving holidays and my first trip home to Minnesota since August. I'm looking forward to the visit, despite its brevity. It'll be nice to see the cousins and parents, and hopefully some of the friends (if they stay in town).

I'm already gearing up for Christmas break. I found a place for Charlie to stay during my time home. He won't be happy, but it's only for two weeks, so he'll just have to deal with being locked up in a cage with other kitties surrounding him. I'm also pretty excited about the ORF pub crawl in December. I sorta miss my ultimate buddies! A2 ultimate was fun, but it just wasn't ORF!

Speaking of frisbee, Steve, Katie B and I are signing up for the late-fall league together. It'll be cold, but lots of fun to play with them. So, that starts this week and goes to Dec 19. And, yes, we play outside! I haven't decided whether or not to play winter league.

We're playing broomball through intermural sports. It's really a lot of ridiculous fun. I had to buy my own helmet though, because none of the helmets there fit my tiny head. We have yet to win a game, though if the other SPH team was sans Evan we totally would have owned them. I managed to knock Angela's broom out of her hand and send her flying accidentally last game, and I totally tried to get in Evan's way but... he just knows where to be! Whatever, it's a great time. So great that we're going to play the winter league.

SPH Case Fatality
Sarah, Steve, Andy, Josh
Mallory, Kellie, Sam, Alicia, Emily, Krishna




Last week, I had my second pathophys test of the semester. I don't think it went as well as I had hoped, mostly because I have no chemistry background so when I was answering the questions on metabolic acidosis/alkalosis, I couldn't remember exactly what happened in the kidneys. Oops! My memory tends to fail me frequently.

To celebrate finishing my pathophys test, as well as getting my final paper outline in for my genetics course, I drank myself stupid on Saturday night. (Maybe I should have put a warning before this paragraph for my mother...) Kellie and I each brought a bottle of wine with us over to Mark's house and finished them off. We were doing cartwheels outside. Turns out that the urban planning people really like us SPHers... because they're predominantly male and we're all female. I guess we've all got to branch out, and it takes a house like Mark's in order to do so.

Friday night, I went to my first hockey game ever! Well, aside from high school hockey.... Surprising, since I'm a Minnesotan. But, I never went to Stars games or Wild games, nor had I made it to a Gopher hockey game. So... we went. A big group of us. It was a blast! I was glad Sarah was there to tell me what was going on with the penalties. Also, I had just re-watched The Mighty Ducks about a week previous to the game, so my hockey knowledge was fresh.

So, grad school is still great, though they keep trying to stress me out. I look at my friends around me during test time and am really glad I am who I am... it takes a lot more than a silly examination to cause sleeplessness and unease! Take that, grad school!

I'll try to be a better blogger from now on. I must keep my few readers interested and coming back for more.

Parting Shot: Grad night out at Connor O'Neill's
Alicia, Kellie, Ali, Steve

Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be

We had a lecture on male reproduction and related disease in our pathophysiology course a couple of weeks ago. One thing we learned about was erectile dysfunction, since it's such a fad lately, and has numerous etiologies.

One of the things the lecturer pointed out was that certain drugs, like antidepressants and antihypertensives can cause ED. Then she mentioned that a lot of men refuse to take their medicines because of the effects it has on their sexual lives.

Just more proof that, to men, sex is life. Because we all know that most women, given the choice, would rather take their medications and get more accomplished, live to see their kids grow up, whatnot.

So cradle your head in your hands and breathe.

If you can do nothing else, just breathe and be where you are right now. It is one moment before the next, one foot forward before the other, and each breath in its fullest -- in and out.