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Getting rid of discrimination in the workplace

Okay, I am a white woman and there is a whole lot I don't know about the experiences of minority individuals in the workplace, but I want to share a few things I believe are helpful to creating a safe work environment for everyone.  If I am off base on any of them, please let me know.  If you have other good ideas, please let me know.  

1. When you walk into a large social gathering/conference/reception and you aren't sure who to talk to, go talk to  persons of color, LGBTQIA individuals, disabled individuals, women in hijabs, women in general,  students and interns and people I may have not mentioned who may feel in the margins.  You can make time to talk to your friends and whoever the most important people in the room are, but talk to the ones who need someone to talk to them. It helps make the world safer for them, and if they are on the margins but still in that room, they will be interesting and driven.  It has been hard for them to make it into that room; they are worth getting to know.

2. Don't try out new policies, programs, cutbacks, and other changes on Black individuals for the first time.  If you want to try something new that might not work, consciously think of a specific white male and how it will go if you try it out on him.  If you think that white male will put up too much resistance or be under too much stress from whatever you are thinking of, don't try it on a Black person.  This one might seem weird, but I am shocked by how often new policies suddenly come into play with Black people as the pilot individuals.  

3. Become informed about the demographics of your field of work and become aware of who the under represented demographics are.  Get to know people in that demographic.  Listen to what they have to say.  Ask them what they need to get where they want to go.  Every time I do this, I am surprised by the answers.  There is so much I take for granted and never imagine another person lacks.  When I find out what their perspective is, it becomes straightforward to see what I can do to be an ally and help them overcome obstacles.4. Make comprehensive lists of people and go through the entire list, one name at a time, when you are considering people for leadership roles, awards, invitations, and other career building opportunities.  I began to understand what racism looks like when I started doing this because there were names of qualified people that my brain would not have remembered to think of and then the list reminded me.

5. Try to look for the positive work output of people more than the negative. Everyone has flaws.  It has been my experience that the flaws of women and minorities are magnified in the workplace much more than other individuals.  It is really easy to dismiss someone's work as lazy or stupid.  If you think this is the case, ask that person about their situation. They have a story and they deserve a chance to tell it.  It may be a whole lot different than what you are thinking.  

6. When people are complaining, listen.  It is really easy to tune out someone's complaints but if they are upset enough about something to verbalize it, there is a situation that needs to be addressed.  Maybe you don't have the power to address it, but even being a compassionate co-worker can help.  

7. Give persons of color and minority individuals the opportunity to teach you the language that they prefer to be used when communicating about them, particularly if their diversity contributions are a part of the communication.  It is okay to ask.  It is okay to show them paragraphs and ask if there is anything they would like reworded or changed.  

8. Advocate for other people when discrimination is happening.  If someone is criticizing another person openly, ask them if that person has actually done what they are accused of.  If someone cuts another person off from speaking, tell them you would really like to hear what that person has to say.  

There is probably other stuff I could say about not blaming people for problems you cause yourself, not taking things that don't belong to you, and listening carefully even when people have accents, but that seems like enough from me for now.  What are the things you guys do to help create a safe working environment for all people?

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Sir Terry

I imagine him laughing as he bounds from cloud to cloud

Looking down at the world from above and seeing

Humor more clearly than ever before

Twisting words in new and clever playful ways 

With greater power than he possessed before.

But we can’t hear him now 

as we did before.

I imagine him watching the sadness today

and wishing with all his heart he could share 

what he sees, and how he sees.

If he could, I think he would capture 

his own death in the wise and clever words 

that he alone commanded

and somehow make us chuckle

and see ourselves and our lives 

in a new and fuller way.

I imagine him glaring out from under his hat

No malice, no meanness

Rather a fierce determination 

That we go forth like knights

And continue his work

Which for all the words and humor

Was really about dignity, living well, 

and being the kind of people we are 

in the best way we can be

and helping others to do the same.

We will Terry.

We will.

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If being a woman is lower status than a man then it's just because we can do what we do without money, position, rank, land, property, the right to vote, or education.  Status is not necessary.  Not that all women would be and are mothers, but the power of life and generations rests inside us and carries humanity forward.  When Rome fell and when Israel was conquered, there were still mothers that made it possible for their people to walk free once again one day.  Through the dark ages, there were still mothers, children, songs and stories.  And to all the people who would be offended by the knowledge, power, wealth, skills, possessions, rights, privileges, and status, and women, just remember that all the power that really matters in humanity, evolution, and the earth was and is held by women, and that the rest is just well deserved decoration.

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Brain Trauma Raises Risk of Later PTSD in Active-Duty Marines Deployment-related injuries are biggest predictor, but not the only factor   

In a novel study of U.S. Marines investigating the association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over time, a team of scientists led by researchers from the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System and University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that TBIs suffered during active-duty deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan were the greatest predictor for subsequent PTSD, but found pre-deployment PTSD symptoms and high combat intensity were also significant factors.

The findings are published in the December 11 online issue of JAMA Psychiatry.

The team, headed by principal investigator Dewleen G. Baker, MD, research director at the VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego and a practicing psychiatrist in the VA San Diego Healthcare System, analyzed 1,648 active-duty Marines and Navy servicemen from four infantry battalions of the First Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton in north San Diego County. The servicemen were evaluated approximately one month before a scheduled 7-month deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan, one week after deployment had concluded, and again three and six months later.

PTSD is a psychiatric condition in which stress reactions become abnormal, chronic and may worsen over time. The condition is linked to depression, suicidal tendencies, substance abuse, memory and cognition dysfunction and other health problems.

The servicemen were assessed at each evaluation using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale or CAPS, a structured interview widely employed to diagnose PTSD and severity. Researchers asked about any head injuries sustained prior to joining the service and any head injuries sustained during deployment from a blast or explosion, vehicle accident, fall or head wound from a bullet or fragment.

Traumatic brain injuries are common. At least 1.7 million Americans annually sustain a TBI, with an estimated 5 million Americans living with TBI-related disabilities. More than half (56.8 percent) of the servicemen reported a TBI prior to deployment; almost a fifth (19.8 percent) reported a TBI during deployment. The vast majority of deployment-related TBIs (87.2 percent) were deemed mild, with less than 24 hours of post-traumatic amnesia. Of the 117 Marines whose TBI resulted in lost consciousness, 111 said it was less than 30 minutes.

More here

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When I went to graduate school, I lived in the apartments with the music students, even though I am not musical really.  A handful of them adopted me as an adopted big sister.  Sometimes I fed them, sometimes they fed me, and they hugged me in the crosswalk as they went to class in the morning and as I went to catch the bus. Some of them finished.  Some didn't.  It is really hard to have a career in music. Now one of my adopted sisters, Erin Morley has a debut at the Met.  She will be perfect.  I am so happy for her and honestly quite proud.  Apparently, I am not the only one.  Vogue just published an article about her.

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Stop antibiotics resistance! Get informed. Get protected. http://thndr.it/HsoMnH

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Not Your Texas Style Amradillo

Here’s an Internet bizarrity that you can believe in: the pink fairy armadillo.

by Susan Milius

It’s a real animal, the smallest armadillo species in the world. At about 100 grams, it would fit in your hands. It’s covered with “very fine, silky white hair,” says Mariella Superina of the CONICET research center in Mendoza, Argentina. And its hard outer covering, rich in blood vessels, can blush pink.

Full details of Chlamyphorus truncatus biology, though, might as well be a fairy tale. It’s known only from a dry, sandy swath of Argentina and spends most of its time underground. The pink fairy is so hard to spot that Superina and her colleagues are struggling to determine whether it’s endangered or not. She heads an international group of specialists now trying to assess the risk of extinction for the world’s 21 known armadillo species, plus their close relatives, the sloths and anteaters.

In 10 years of field work, she has never caught sight of the pink species in the wild. She has seen tracks made by digging claws and the diamond-shaped tip of its tail. After several meters, the tracks just stop where, she presumes, the armadillo disappeared underground. Locals, she says, “can track down any animal — except the pink fairy armadillo.”…

(read more: Science News)

photos: Nicholas Smythe/Getty Images; Paul Vogt; M. Superina

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China to abolish labor camps, ease 1-child policy

AP: China’s ruling Communist Party announced on Friday that it will loosen its one-child policy and abolish a heavily criticized labor camp system. Under new rules, couples will be allowed to have two children if one of the parents is an only child. The previous policy limited most urban couples in China to one child and allowed two children for rural families if their first-born was a girl.

Follow more updates on China at BreakingNews.com.

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Spring 2014 Accessories Trend: Wings of Desire

Photo by John Aquino

Sophia Webster’s patent leather boot.

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Chaotic 13-Car Demolition Derby Atop a Skyscraper in ‘Grand Theft Auto V’

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My Grad student made the paper. I am proud.

Graduate student Portia Mira has always liked helping people and learning ever since she found refuge in school from her dysfunctional home life.

She focuses on taking care of others, including her younger, disabled sister, and her work here at UC Merced is no different.

By researching antibiotics with Professor Miriam Barlow and School of Natural Sciences Dean Juan Meza and participating in Barlow’s Project Protect program, she gets to help people with their real-life health problems.

Mira, Barlow and Meza research resistance genes in mutated and antibiotic-resistant E. coli, and are looking for a way to drive the bacteria back to its original state – in which it was vulnerable to basic antibiotics. The hope is to not only help cure the E. coli infection, but to learn how to drive other bacterial infections back to that vulnerable state, because bacteria have rapidly evolved to resist conventional medicines.

Mira also helps Barlow with her Facebook and Twitter campaign called Project Protect, which is a way for Barlow and her student researchers to help the public get more information about antibiotics and infectious diseases.

“The medical field – and human health in general – really piques my interest. I really want to be able to have an impact on people and the community at large, whether it is through direct contact with patients in a hospital or doing research that could be used in a hospital to treat patients,” Mira said. “I have just found my place in the 'background' so to speak, with research that I hope will make it to the community.”

Medical research is hard work, but that’s nothing new to Mira.

The daughter of two drug-addicted parents, she grew up in foster care with a disabled younger sister to look after. A lot of kids in foster care don’t do well in school, but for Mira, it was an escape.

“I took school as a way out of my regular life and responsibilities,” she said. “I love learning – it’s something I have always loved.”

She said she considered going straight into the medical field after graduating with her bachelor’s in the spring, but many people encouraged her to get an advanced degree, and “everything just fell into place.”

“Dean Meza has been the key in all this – he has given me so much information and support,” she said.

“Portia was one of the best students in my BIO 180 class,” Meza said. “I was particularly impressed by her understanding of the mathematical models although it was clear that she was also quite knowledgeable about the biological components. During one of the office hours, we started talking about her future plans. I strongly encouraged her to apply to graduate school and I was delighted when she ended up in our graduate program.”

That kind of personal attention is one of the benefits of attending a smaller school like UC Merced – the faculty-to-student ratio is low, especially for grad students, so they get much more one-on-one time with faculty mentors, and can develop great relationships.

As it is for all students, graduate school is a balancing act for Mira, who has a 3-year-old daughter, Briana. Her husband, Jairo, is an undergraduate student at UC Merced and works in campus Dining Services, while Mira is a teaching assistant as well as a student and researcher.

Along with Meza’s, Jairo Mira’s encouragement was instrumental in Portia’s decision to continue on at UC Merced for grad school. She said she wouldn’t have done it without him.

Barlow said Mira is a great communicator, which helps her keep up on everything, despite being so busy. She has nothing but praise for Mira’s dedication to her graduate studies.

“Portia is extremely well organized.  This enables her to accomplish everything she needs to get done in a day,” Barlow said. “She also works very hard to make sure she does everything right the first time.  She does all she can to avoid mistakes.”

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Read http://www.suntimes.com/news/23328063-418/souls-on-a-string.html for background.

Kipniss owned and operated The National Marionette Company of Chicago in Ravenswood until 2005, when his business partner, Lou Ennis, suffered a fatal stroke and the building was destroyed by fire.

The future of those 3,000 marionettes seemed uncertain.

And that is where Joseph R. Lewis came in.

During the summer, a Wicker Park neighbor of Lewis told him about thousands of “strange, wooden dolls” in a vacant Wicker Park house.

This is haunting. I just pledged $500, and I hope it makes it:

Reblog, or spread the word yourself. 

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3 year old etiquette

I was cleaning out my back porch, deep cleaning style, which means changing shelf heights to optimize space, dejunking, polishing wood, and leaving no object without a home.  I got to the toys, which were hand-me-downs from my nieces that they couldn't bear to part with, and their mom couldn't bear to keep, so they came to live with me for special visits from them or their cousins.  The kids are all living in Illinois or Japan now, so I don't need toys at my house.  I kept wondering what to do with them.  All of the little parts would almost certainly get separated at a thrift store, and I wasn't going to add them to a landfill.  

And the the thought hit me "Sarah would like them"  I wasn't sure if her mom would so I asked the next time I saw her.  I was a little surprised, she wanted them all.  Every doll, all the dress-ups, the table and chairs, the bucket of seashells.  The art supplies.  All of it.  

When I dropped off the toys, everyone was only half awake, after both parents finished some shift, each of them working two full time jobs.  Sarah was wide awake though.  

Of course Sarah forgot about me as soon as she started going through the toys and playing with them.  That was to be expected.  What wasn't was when she called me from her mom's phone almost a month later.  She was very excited and saying a lot quickly.  All I got out of it was "Barlow" and "like".  I told her that all sounded like a great idea.  She said "Yes, it does."  That wasn't quite the response I expected, so I asked for her mom  so that I could find out what I had just gotten myself into.  She got her mom, who then explained to me that Sarah was saying she likes me and the toys and thank you and she is my friend and could i come over and color with her, because she would love to hang out with me.  

I don't think that at age three, age 36 makes any sense.  All I know is my feelings have been hurt some times when people I thought were my friends turned out to not desire my company.  So I have a date to go see Sarah at the bakery where her mom works, and where she has to stay quiet in the kitchen all day.  I will go there and get a sandwich for lunch and color some coloring pages with my new three year old friend.

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I just supported Project Protect on @ThunderclapIt // @ProjectProtect1

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Help stop pestilence!

http://igg.me/at/ProjectProtect/x/4247985

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We are trying to beat antibiotic resistant infections through patient education and our hospital based research study.

Please support!  There are lots of great perks! T-shirts and keychains!  Also writing workshops for scientists and information to protect yourself from antibiotic resistant infections!