NCSWHAT

NCSWA Newsletter, January 2006

Editor: Jane Stevens, jsteven@mmjourno.com

The Grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men,
He marched them up to the top of hill,
And he marched them down again.
When they were up they were up,
When they were down they were down.
When they were only half way up,
They were simultaneously up and down,
They were merely obeying the laws of quantum mechanics.

One day the zookeeper noticed that the orangutan was reading two books - the Bible and Darwin's The Origin of Species. In surprise he asked the ape, "Why are you reading both those books"?
"Well," said the orangutan, "I just wanted to know if I was my brother's keeper or my keeper's brother."

http://www.juliantrubin.com/sciencejokes.html

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DECEMBER HOLIDAY DINNER EXPLORES THE FALLACIES OF HURRICANE KATRINA

On December 6, more than 100 NCSWAns and guests enjoyed an exquisite dim sum feast at Yank Sing, in San Francisco’s Rincon Center, and a talk by social scientist Micheal Glantz about the human ramifications of Hurricane Katrina and lessons learned about this just-passed season of super storms.

Timed to correspond with the annual American Geophysical Union meeting, local science writers were joined by reporters from other parts of the country as well as many science journalism students, including one UCSC student on crutches who still managed to carry two glasses of wine to his dinner table. Numerous door prizes were presented, but this year raffle winners had to answer weather questions, ala “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” in order to claim their prizes. The contest, written and presented by NCSWA treasurer Rob Irion stumped several science writers before the final prize -- a beautiful carved stone chess set from Cambodia -- was won. The evening also featured the last formal MC duties of outgoing NCSWA president Mary Miller who surrendered the reins of power to incoming president and Sacramento Bee reporter Suzanne Bohan.

“Mickey” Glantz traveled from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO to give a timely talk about how hurricanes and other weather disasters devastate human communities despite better forecasting. For more than 30 years, Glantz has been an outspoken advocate for including human impacts and responses when doing research on climate and natural disasters. As recent monster hurricanes in the Gulf Coast and Florida have shown, better storm tracking and forecasts are not enough to prepare communities for stormy weather. He also warned that superstorms like Katrina may be just the beginning of our problems with the weather. Current climate trends exacerbated by global warming could mean that we need to brace for seasons of superstorms rather than the occasional Category 5 hurricane.

A self-described loose cannon, Glantz is a prolific author, blogger, international workshop organizer, and independent voice for social issues in science. In a wide-ranging talk reflecting on his experiences at NCAR, he touched on topics of special interest to writers: what he sees as the fallacies revealed in the media coverage of Katrina (for instance, "forewarned is forearmed" and "the third world is more vulnerable to hazards than rich countries"); the prevalence of "media-rologists" or climate experts that pander to journalists; and the global implications of recent hurricane disasters. Glantz also talked about his recent appearance as a guest on Bill O'Reilly's radio show, in which the host agreed, to Glantz’s astonishment,  that global warming is a problem and that something needs to be done about carbon.

You can read Mickey’s blogs and editorials about Katrina and global warming at: www.fragilecologies.com

AAAS MINORITY SCIENCE WRITERS WORKSHOP

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) offers a summer internship program focused on increasing diversity in science journalism. Interns work for 10 weeks at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of SCIENCE magazine. Working under the guidance of the magazine's staff of professional science writers and editors, interns experience what it's like to cover the scientific and technological issues that shape our global community. The application for the paid internship is posted at www.aaas.org/mswi. Candidates must be a college undergraduate at the time of their application. Applications are due March 1, 2006.

2006 AMERICAN MEDICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION PACIFIC COAST CONFERENCE
March 12-15, 2006
DoubleTree Berkeley Marina Hotel
Berkeley, CA

The conference, “Biocommunication: Expand Your Potential”, comprises three days of workshops, talks by eminent guest speakers, discussion forums, and provocative conversations with writers, editors, scientists, and other biomedical communicators.

The keynote speech, "Stem Cells: Exploring Brain Development and Repair," will be given by Dr. Arnold Kriegstein, Director of the Institute of Stem Cell and Tissue Biology at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.

A plenary session on "The  Stem Cell: Science, Ethics, and Politics" will be presented by Christopher  Scott, Executive Director of the Stanford Program for Stem Cells and Society; Lecturer in Human Biology, Stanford University; and author  of "The Stem Cell: Science, Morals, and Politics."

AMWA offers an extensive continuing education program for professionals in the medical and allied scientific communication fields. AMWA courses cover a range of topics relevant to the biomedical communicator and are tailored for the profession. Four credit courses in AMWA's education program will be offered at the AMWA Pacific Coast Conference:

• Basic Cell Biology, led by MaryAnn Foote, PhD
• Critical Appraisal for Writers and Editors of Biomedical Research Articles, led by Tom Lang, MA
• Improving Comprehension: Theories and Research Findings, led by Tom Lang, MA
• Investigational New Drug Applications, led by Jennifer Fissekis, MA, ELS

The deadline for enrolling in the credit courses is the end of January. The deadline for advanced registration is Feb. 21.
For more information, see the conference website, or contact Naomi Ruff at conf_registrar@earthlink.net.

JOINT GENOME INSTITUTE USER MEETING
March 29-April 1, 2006
Walnut Creek

NCSWA member Dave Gilbert and JGI public affairs manager alerts us to the first annual Joint Genome Institute User Meeting. This international gathering of researchers with an interest in sequence-based science will offer two and a half days of state-of-the-art scientific presentations with an emphasis on JGI users, plus tours, informatics tutorials, and poster sessions.

For more information, see the JGI website.

NCSWA BOARD INS AND OUTS

Jane Stevens is stepping down from the board. Former prez Mary Miller is now a member-at-large, promises to help with activities and recruiting speakers. Sarah Yang is stepping down from the board and her duties as membership chair. Monya Baker is our new secretary and new board member.

WRITER’S WORKING SPACE AVAILABLE

Tired of talking to the walls of your back bedroom/office? Come join a growing group of writers in a beautiful building in downtown Oakland (16th and Jefferson). A shared office is available. One writer and one writer/events planner are currently in the space and we are looking for two more. The rent is ~$250/month, but may have an extra charge for DSL. There are several other shared writers' offices in the same building. If interested, please contact Rabiya Tuma (rabiya@nasw.org, 510-649-7481)

NEWS ABOUT MEMBERS

Robert Adler and his wife are spending about half their time in Oaxaca, Mexico. When they were unable to place a detailed travel article they wrote about Oaxaca, they transformed it into a guide. The booklet, Viva Oaxaca, is now in it's third year of publication. It sells briskly in Oaxaca bookstores and other places frequented by tourists, and is also for sale on the website, www.si-oaxaca.com, which he keeps updated with Oaxaca news, brief descriptions of sites and events, etc.

Peter Aldhous, formerly Nature's chief news & features editor, is now San Francisco Bureau chief for New Scientist.

The National Science Foundation has awarded Ruth Carranza, a $100,000 planning grant for her next films series featuring Microelctromechanical Sysems, MEMS, and Nanotechnology.  With this grant Carranza will document how her seven-part Silicon Run Series is being used by undergraduate semiconductor programs; and will research the content for a new trilogy that reflects today's emerging fields. For more information, go to: www.siliconrun.com.

Mike Chorost recently published a feature article in Wired titled "My Bionic Quest for Boléro," in which he roved the country seeking new software that would enable him to hear music better with his cochlear implant.  The story's at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/bolero.html.
In the last few months he's gotten a fair amount of exposure for his book, Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human (Houghton Mifflin, June 2005).  He was a guest on National Public Radio shows including the Leonard Lopate Show, Michael Krasny’s Forum, and Weekend Edition. More info at http://www.michaelchorost.com.

Lucy Day's (aka Lucille Lang Day) children's book, Chain Letter, was published in October 2005 by Heyday Books. NCSWAns take note: this chain comes from the Galapagos. Charles Darwin brought it back with him on the H.M.S. Beagle.

Jennie Dusheck spent most of 2005 recovering from major back surgery. The 2005 edition of her and Allan Tobin's college biology textbook, Asking About Life, 3rd edition, won an award of excellence from the association of Text and Academic Authors. Jennie is now writing another book about evolution with science illustrator Kimberlee Heldt.

Timothy Ferris' film-production unit, ClockDrive Productions, begins production in February of "Seeing in the Dark," a PBS documentary based on Ferris' book on stargazing and amateur astronomy. The team includes senior producer Thomas Levenson, special-effects artist Don Davis, and cinematographer Francis Kenny -- who shot Ferris' first film, The Creation of the Universe, 20 years ago.

Erica Klarreich is taking a break from science writing to work on her latest project: Noah Samuel Klarreich, born on October 21, 2005.

Esther Landhuis, a freelance science writer, had her first child, Louisa Landhuis, on Oct. 13, 2005.

Mary Jean Pramik has two literary essays on her boat trip on the Canal du Midi this summer in a newly published book, Floating through France, Reflections on the Canal du Midi. The book was a team effort as was the voyage. She and other writers joined a writer's workshop only to find they were the crew on a small cruiser on the Canal.

NEW MEMBERS

Ed Blonz is rejoining NCSWA. He’s a nutrition scientist who writes a Q&A column on nutrition, foods, and health. His website is http://blonz.com. He’s a former professor at the University of Minnesota. He combats misinformation in the dietary supplement marketplace.

Henry Bortman, managing editor at Astrobiology Magazine, says he’s is rejoining NCSWA after a 2-year lapse.

Francoise Chanut writes for California Wild Magazine.

Michelangelo D'Agostino is a graduate student in physics at UC Berkeley, an editor of the Berkeley Science Review, and a former Casement intern at the Economist.

Shelly Ericksen is a recent graduate (MS, Geology) of San Jose State University. While attaining her degree, she worked as a science writer and editor at NASA Ames Research Center. She hopes to embark upon a career in science writing with the goal of exciting and educating the public about science.

Carole Gan is news service manager at the UC Davis Health System.

Jennifer LeBlanc, principal of ThinkResults Marketing, won an Apex Award of Excellence earlier this year. This award was given for a video completed in 2004 for Wardrobe for Opportunity, a non-profit organization that provides free business clothing and career support for disadvantaged jobseekers. The Apex awards are given by Communication Concepts and recognizes excellence in publications by professional communicators.

Tom Levy is a former San Francisco Chronicle staff photographer who changed his career while living in Hawaii for six years. He moved into writing and editing, first as a communications director at a statewide childcare provider, and later as a one-man-band newsletter producer for the state Dept. of Health. He now works for Children's Hospital & Research Center in Oakland, where he edits a newsletter for pediatricians and writes articles for HandPrints, their quarterly magazine, which includes pieces explaining science for the general reader. He still does photography.

Gail Lundell has been a science writer and editor at the Electric Power Research Institute for the last seven years. Working in the environment department, she writes primarily about possible health effects from exposure to electric and magnetic fields at power frequency. She has also written about radio frequency health and safety, electromagnetic compatibility, public health policy and risk communication. Her interests outside of work include hiking and meditation.

Michael Reilly is a former volcanologist who recently moved to San Francisco from the east coast. He worked as a reporter for the Newark Star-Ledger before moving to the Bay Area.

Rebecca Tuttle lives in Berkeley and is interested in neuroscience.