my computer survived the crash. however, my really fabulous posting about the yale union movement did not. i suspect foul play by the Norton Anti-Virus software people.

went to a talk by the ny times science section editor and discovered that yale students don't ask any better questions than georgia ones. she talked a lot about how scientists need to get over their loathing of speaking with the press, and how it is the fault of the scientists if the article doesn't too a very good job of clarifying their position. I never thought that I would ever hear anyone encouraging scientists to bring MORE graphs and diagrams to an interview. She also talked about the commercialization of science and how it has become more difficult to determine who is telling the truth on certain issues, especially since, a) a lot of people who will talk to the press about their latest research are trying to start up companies or work for existing ones and b) academic scientists who talk to the press are often scorned by their peers who view them as publicity hounds.

to further complicate matters, a large majority of americans only get their science news from the ny times or other papers that quote the ny times. so, who in the public is really going to be able to tell the difference between Dr. A who says that 8 glasses of water a day is essential and Dr. B who says that's a bunch of crap. Especially since all of the information on a given topic outside of the ny times article could very well be in scientific journals that you probably need at least a college degree in science to understand (especially since scientists tend to make only very subtle comments disparaging their competitors findings. only someone who had been following the saga for years could easily pick up on the necessary subtext). but maybe i am being too hard on the american public.