BY BAR YOSEF| SQ ONLINE WRITER | SQ ONLINE (2016-17) ____________________________________________________________________________ Are humans just a bunch of neurons? Are we just another primate? These questions guide the research of Dr. Robert Sapolsky. A professor of biology, neurology, and neurosurgery at Stanford, Sapolsky splits his time between being a laboratory neurobiologist and a primatologist in a park in…
By Sharada Saraf | SQ Online Reporter | SQ Online (2016-2017) ________________________________________________________________________________________ Every UCSD student knows the terror of waking up with a scratchy throat, knowing exactly what it implies: seven to ten days of actual torture, and the very real possibility of taking a midterm with a cold. The thought of dealing with being that kid who…
BY BAR YOSEF| SQ ONLINE WRITER | SQ ONLINE (2016-17) ____________________________________________________________________________ Generation snowflake: noun informal, derogatory “the generation of people who became adults in the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations.” The term likely originates from the 1996 book and subsequent film Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. In the…
By Sharada Saraf | SQ Online Reporter | SQ Online (2016-2017) ________________________________________________________________________________________ Older siblings have the unfortunate experience of younger siblings barging into their rooms, making a mess, then disappearing while laughing diabolically. As an older sibling myself, my little brother would do this so often that I eventually insisted on having a lock on my door. Once…
By Lauren Stiene | Online Reporter | SQ Online 2016-2017 For those of you taking Human Physiology this quarter, you already know how lucky you are to have James Cooke as a professor. Although he is new to UC San Diego, Professor Cooke has been declared by many students here as their favorite professor. After…
BY MADISON RAE | SQ ONLINE WRITER | SQ ONLINE (2016-17) _____________________________________________________________________ How do we determine the economic worth of conservation? Some people believe nature’s value comes from untouched beauty, while others believe the value lies in what resources nature can provide for us. Environmental economists, ecologists, and economists at the University of Illinois joined forces to determine…
BY BAR YOSEF| SQ ONLINE WRITER | SQ ONLINE (2016-17) ____________________________________________________________________________ Today, there is only one PhD scientist in Congress. Bill Foster, the Democrat from Illinois, is a member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the “go-to-guy for both parties when it comes to technical scientific matters,” which unsurprisingly come up often for a…
By Lauren Stiene | Saltman Quarterly | SQ Online 2016-2017 Throughout history, debilitating stigmas have been attached to individuals diagnosed with mental illnesses. These stigmas have been fashioned and generalized as a result of misconceptions that surround certain mental illnesses. Some of these misconceptions are developed through the influence of the media. For example, seventy-seven…
For many students at UC San Diego with aspirations for careers in the sciences, the path to these professions can seem arduous, and the obstacles along the way are perceived as insurmountable. The anonymity that comes with studying at a large university, the process of applying to graduate programs, the struggle to find experience relating…
BY BAR YOSEF| SQ ONLINE WRITER | SQ ONLINE (2016-17) ____________________________________________________________________________ On Earth Day, 15,000 people gathered in downtown San Diego and marched from Civic Center Plaza to Waterfront. When asked why she marched, middle school science teacher Kimberly Carpenter said, “So many things.” And the signs carried by the marchers reflected this. Signs included remarks about…