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Dr. Anita Hopper, one of my former professors and chair of the molecular genetics department, was just named an AAAS fellow along with seventeen other OSU professors. OSU was second only to UC-Irvine in the number of new fellows this year, and had more than twice as many as Michigan (Boo!). It's always humbling to realize just how distinguished OSU's faculty are and what an honor it is to study with them.

Posted by nice_genes at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week my friend and I went to play racquetball and I've been hooked ever since. (Which just goes to show you how dangerously addictive my personality is.) In the past few weeks, I have discovered my inner jock in such a dramatic fashion that my former gym teachers would probably pass out from shock if they saw me. And swatting the ball around in an empty room is surprisingly conducive to some life lessons, which I now present to you...

1."Life is like sex and tennis: you only get better if you stroke with someone better than you." I don't remember where I originally heard this, but it's very true. Most days I just go to the RPAC by myself and practice hitting off the walls, but it's always much more challenging to actually play with someone. You can't read their mind and know where they're going to hit the ball, and you have to make an effort to hit something they can return rather than just swing haphazardly. (Though I end up doing that a lot too.)
2. "Swing like you mean it." Half-hearted just doesn't cut it, in racquetball or in life. My best volleys happen when I race to meet every hit like my life depended on it. I've run into a few walls as a result, but I figure that's a small price to pay to be able to return a crazy hit.
3. "Play off the back wall." Another friend introduced me to this one when we played on Sunday. He suggested we play off the glass rear wall, so that if the ball hits that first before bouncing, it's still good. Sometimes stuff happens that just blasts right over our heads, but the rebound is still returnable. So play off the back wall.
4. "Let's play left-handed." Another suggestion from Sunday that actually resulted in some pretty good backhands. My backhand is much weaker than my forehand, but when I race to hit a ball on my right side using my left hand, suddenly my backhand is much better (and in my non-dominant hand, no less). Sometimes all it takes is a change in perspective to make life easier.
5. "Forget the rules." This is my life's motto anyway. I don't know the rules of racquetball, and for now I have no interest in learning them. I just want to practice hitting the ball the direction I want it to go and wake up the long-dormant fast-twitch muscles in my body. So for practice, I'll play left-handed or make a rule that says I can't pick up the ball with my other hand to re-serve--I have to hit it off the wall or floor no matter what. It's not regulation, but it's good to hone the skills I need if I ever do decide to play seriously.

And finally...
RPAC Staffer: We have racquets but no balls.
Me: (to my friend) Hey, we know men like that...

Posted by nice_genes at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chances are, if you are a prospective student reading this, you already want to go to college, but perhaps not for the same reasons I would advocate. I went with several other WOW staffers to Como Elementary today to talk with the fifth graders about college. Amid questions about tomatoes and cabbage juice, here is some of the advice we gave.

• College is less about acquiring a body of knowledge than learning a way of thinking. You won't come out of college knowing everything about anything (or a little about everything), but hopefully you will know how to find out about everything.


• Always ask questions. That is the key to scientific inquiry but also any other discipline. Who, what, when, where, why, and how questions, are not limited to any particular field.


• Read, read, read. Whether it's the newspaper, a novel, or a textbook, cultivate a strong appetite for reading because the written word is the primary means of disseminating information, at least in our culture.


• College is not an end in itself but a gateway to a lifetime's worth of possibilities. Again, it is not so much what you learn but how.

It was a lot of fun talking with these young students and seeing how open-ended their futures are. It definitely reaffirmed my calling to work with young people through education, which is a nice encouragement as I slog through the application process. All my grad school apps have been turned in and the quest now turns to finding money...

Posted by nice_genes at 5:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is it really just eight days until Christmas? It seems like we finished classes later this year so that the time between the end of the quarter and Christmas is shorter than I remember in years past. Campus is very quiet now, although the tenant above me is still doing jumping jacks at six in the morning (the only explanation I can think of for the noises I'm hearing). At least OSU is a research university, so there are still people around working. I can't imagine what it would be like in a true "college town" that pretty much dies during holiday season. I've been spending my time catching up on my reading, mopping up graduate school and fellowship applications, and spending much-needed time with friends who are still in town.

Posted by nice_genes at 7:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I took my friend Sarah out to lunch today and we went to Anna's Greek Cuisine over in West Worthington, my old high school stomping grounds. Theoretically I was supposed to have her back for class in 45 minutes, but she said that missing 7th period English wasn't a big deal. Which is good because service was a little poky during today's lunch rush. We hovered for about five minutes before being seated and there seemed to be longer-than-necessary gaps between every stage of the meal, from ordering to getting our check.

The decor is your standard faux-Greek isle, with a slightly incongruous tiki-looking hut on one wall. I ordered the roasted vegetable pita, which consisted of onions, eggplant, zucchini, and mushrooms, but unfortunately came swimming in too much of the promised tomato sauce. It tasted decent but I personally would have preferred more spices. But all in all not a bad lunch for $6, though service could have used some improvement. (Though probably I was just stressed about trying to get us in and out too quickly.)

Posted by nice_genes at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just a quick update:
-The in-flight magazine for American Airlines featured an article on Columbus! I did not think to snag a copy, but it was funny to see the city mentioned right when I was leaving it.
-I will be performing in the Vagina Monologues 2009 on February 14 (also known as Singles Appreciation Day) with VdayOSU.
-The lights are up at Mirror Lake! I'll try to post a picture here soon. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

-Finals don't look terrible this quarter, if you overlook the specter of another half-of-total-grade-exam for mol gen. My English classes are in the bag and I feel pretty secure for my animal phys exam on Friday. But it will be a long long weekend of cell biology...

Posted by nice_genes at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)