I think this group serves a useful purpose. There are plenty of ways to
talk to folks
in my discipline, relatively few ways to talk to women who share
experiences.
There just aren't that many women.
I agree with Julia that having discussions on social/political issues is
useful,
and unlikely to happen elsewhere. I also agree that our posts have more
impact than we think due to the large population of lurkers. Nice to
see some of them introduce themselve!
Therefore, I think this group "ain't broke". But more participation is
always a good thing.
I don't think we need to have raucous disagreements to accomplish
things.
I've always preferred my revolutions to be quite. I think this group
can
empower women at different stages to make a difference.
I wrote an article for Science Nextwave a while ago about the ability
of the internet to give women scientists the network that they lack
in their own institutions.
(http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2000/05/31/11)
As for the discussion I remember best, it was the social constructivists
who claimed that we could never "know" anything in science, that
there was no objectivity. That was very lively, but as I recall, most
people sat it out!
I wouldl ike to address a completely misguided notion out there that
this
is "my" newsgroup! ;-) Probably because I've been here forever -- my
first post was in December 1992, three months after the group started.
I was still a postdoc. And I ALWAYS have an opinion. I wonder
if any of the other "originals" are still hanging around?
traffic comes and goes, but thanks to Pat for starting several threads
this
month--not that I need more distraction from my grant writing, but there
we are.
--
-susan
:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;
DON'T REPLY to the email address in header.
Use the one below, replacing AT with @
(this inconvenience is for spam control)
:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;
S L Forsburg, PhD Associate Professor
Molecular Biology and Virology Lab
The Salk Institute, La Jolla CA
forsburgATsalk.edu
http://pingu.salk.edu/~forsburg/lab.html
Women in Biology Internet Launch Page
http://pingu.salk.edu/~forsburg/bio.html
:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;
"These are my opinions. I don't have
time to speak for anyone else."
:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;
---
