So a professor, whom I apparently should call PC PhD as opposed to Dr C, gave me a copy of The National Psychologist with a recommendation to subscribe. Among other interesting articles was one entitled Ph.D. use of 'Doctor' Under Attack.
The article referred to three particular issues going on presently. The first is that Rueters News Service and the Associated Press put out style books recommending how news stories should be formatted. The most recent Reuters edition reads, "Do not use Dr. for doctors of philosophy, etc, but it can be used for archbishops and the like in preference to honorifics like the Very Rev, or the Most Rev. The AP publication states, "Use Dr. in first reference as a formal title only before the name of an individual who holds a doctor of dental surgery, doctor of medicine, doctor of osteopathy, or doctor of podiatric medicine degree."
The second item of note is The Health Care Truth and Transparency Act of 2007. Currently in the House. This site offers a link to the actual bill http://www.asahq.org/news/asanews052407.htm Purportedly this law will restrict the use of the salutation of 'Dr' or 'Doctor' to a select few medical professionals.
Thirdly there is the existing law in Maine (since 1971), Title 32, Sections 3269 and 3270-A of chapter 48, Board of Licensure in Medicine stating that it is a Class E crime for anyone to use the term "Dr." or "Doctor" with the exception of physicians, chiropractors, naturopathic doctors, optometrists or podiatrists.
The article states there is a coalition of organizations for various scientific disciplines called PARCA, which includes the APA. It does appear to have been active in fighting off some of this legislation in the past.
Not mentioned in the article, but something I found while web crawling is this article about a law suit against seven members of the Max Plank Society's research institute in Germany for illegally using Dr on public documents. (In Germany one is only legally a Doctor if one graduates from a European university!)
So what do people think about all this? Do we really need to worry?
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Considering Avicide
I love my cockatiels... but there are days when I could happily dunk them in a pot of boiling water, pluck them bald and have them for lunch. Thought formation doesn't come easily when accompanied by and endless litany of EEEEP EEEEP EEEEPing!
Way back 12 years ago when I decided to get a cockatiel, I found countless places on the web with people raving about what great little apartment birds they were and how quiet and sweet they could be. Uh huh. Well they're sweet, no doubt about it, and they are very quiet indeed... at night when they're asleep! But what all those well meaning friends of cockatiels failed to mention is that while they may be quiet compared to say, a Macaw, a cockatiel call is at just the right wavelength to set every nerve of a human being on edge, and while other birds mostly vocalize at dawn and dusk, they go all day long at the top of their joyous little lungs! And who can be enough of a curmudgeon to fault an adorable little bird for expressing it's joy for life? Landlords and neighbors, for one. I can now also site countless posts on bird chats from people trying to rehome their tiels because they are being threatened with eviction for the noise. Sigh... Thankfully we live far out in the country and nobody is disturbed except us. I love my birds, I understand they are birds and this is what birds do, and I intend to have them all their little lives. That does NOT, however, mean they don't make me absolutely APE SHIT sometimes!!!
Whew! Now I have that out of my system I can get on with the day's tasks; more on my term paper for Social Psych and/or the dissertation proposal due in two weeks. I am so tired of schoolwork... a tiredness that goes down into my bones and my soul. Comps will consist of four questions only, three vignettes and a philosophical/theoretical question. We are to write until we've answered the questions, whatever that takes us according to our particular styles. It's probably half as long as what the year behind us will get, since they will have had a year's notice instead of 5 weeks. We have one month from the time we pick it up to return it. I'm thinking I'll get mine the last day of class and get it over with, but I'm not sure. I may still have to take care of my mom, though it looks like my dad's surgery will be less invasive than we expected, so perhaps I should hold off until I know for sure. I hate having shit hanging over my head, and if I don't get it when I leave, I wonder how long I'll let it dangle?
I have made up a weekly schedule for internship prep and doing my lit review over the summer. I'm adding another practicum, so probably I'll do two days a week at each site. Calling this 'summer break' as some of the students and faculty are doing, is a cruel joke. There are no breaks in grad school, only shifts in focus for the work. My new practicum site is a really beautiful, friendly one though (did a masters practicum there), and my supervisor is one of my most favorite people in the world. Surely all that just HAS to make a difference in my outlook! I sure hope so. I've asked this same supervisor to be the chair of my dissertation committee, too, so I look forward to lots of interesting conversations with him. A I think I'll get a custom T-shirt made that has the word ANXIETY on the front with a circle and a line through it, and NEGATIVITY on the back in the same style.
Way back 12 years ago when I decided to get a cockatiel, I found countless places on the web with people raving about what great little apartment birds they were and how quiet and sweet they could be. Uh huh. Well they're sweet, no doubt about it, and they are very quiet indeed... at night when they're asleep! But what all those well meaning friends of cockatiels failed to mention is that while they may be quiet compared to say, a Macaw, a cockatiel call is at just the right wavelength to set every nerve of a human being on edge, and while other birds mostly vocalize at dawn and dusk, they go all day long at the top of their joyous little lungs! And who can be enough of a curmudgeon to fault an adorable little bird for expressing it's joy for life? Landlords and neighbors, for one. I can now also site countless posts on bird chats from people trying to rehome their tiels because they are being threatened with eviction for the noise. Sigh... Thankfully we live far out in the country and nobody is disturbed except us. I love my birds, I understand they are birds and this is what birds do, and I intend to have them all their little lives. That does NOT, however, mean they don't make me absolutely APE SHIT sometimes!!!
Whew! Now I have that out of my system I can get on with the day's tasks; more on my term paper for Social Psych and/or the dissertation proposal due in two weeks. I am so tired of schoolwork... a tiredness that goes down into my bones and my soul. Comps will consist of four questions only, three vignettes and a philosophical/theoretical question. We are to write until we've answered the questions, whatever that takes us according to our particular styles. It's probably half as long as what the year behind us will get, since they will have had a year's notice instead of 5 weeks. We have one month from the time we pick it up to return it. I'm thinking I'll get mine the last day of class and get it over with, but I'm not sure. I may still have to take care of my mom, though it looks like my dad's surgery will be less invasive than we expected, so perhaps I should hold off until I know for sure. I hate having shit hanging over my head, and if I don't get it when I leave, I wonder how long I'll let it dangle?
I have made up a weekly schedule for internship prep and doing my lit review over the summer. I'm adding another practicum, so probably I'll do two days a week at each site. Calling this 'summer break' as some of the students and faculty are doing, is a cruel joke. There are no breaks in grad school, only shifts in focus for the work. My new practicum site is a really beautiful, friendly one though (did a masters practicum there), and my supervisor is one of my most favorite people in the world. Surely all that just HAS to make a difference in my outlook! I sure hope so. I've asked this same supervisor to be the chair of my dissertation committee, too, so I look forward to lots of interesting conversations with him. A I think I'll get a custom T-shirt made that has the word ANXIETY on the front with a circle and a line through it, and NEGATIVITY on the back in the same style.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Random Ramblings
Back in the saddle and looking forward to a productive day. Over the weekend I managed to get half my final done (the 9 page paper), half my 12 page paper done and made an outline for my dissertation proposal. Not all that, but I did a bunch of bookkeeping and housecleaning too, plus went to a play and had a few long walks. I'm satisfied with that.
Now back to the grind. I have to write an essay on aggression and one on human attraction, then back to my paper.
I decided not to write about Gone With the Wind because someone else was using that movie, so I've switched to Something the Lord Made instead. This movie has particular meaning to me because my father went to Vanderbilt's medical school and trained in the dog lab, with the instruments made by Vivian Thomas, and knew Dr. Helen Taussig. To make it a bit more personal, when I was 18 months old (in 1968) I had open heart surgery and my surgeon was trained by Dr. Blalock. The story of these two men is a wonderful study of moral development and altruism, so it fit perfectly into Social Psychology themes.
Also today I must make a dentist appointment. I HATE dental procedures of every variety (and trust me, I've sampled them all over the years) so am not looking forward to this. The pain is between two molars, each with a crown, so I'm fearful this may end in a root canal. Perish the thought!!! =X
In other news, Entree (the upside down tuxedo cat in my side bar) has been having bouts of cold feet again and is looking a little ratty. He always gets that way when he's not feeling well. Nowt to do but keep pounding the meds. A friend of mine tells me her husband is on a really powerful med that keeps his heart rate the same no matter what he does. It's very strange as he can work out until he's sweating like a pig and out of breath, but his heart rate never changes. I'm going to see if cats can tolerate this med, or if it is substantially different from the Calcium channel blockers we already have him on. In the mean time he's a love bug; another side effect of his not feeling well. I brush him in lieu of petting him mostly, because of my allergies. He's such a silly old sock, he doesn't care one way or another, as long as he's being fussed over.
Now back to the grind. I have to write an essay on aggression and one on human attraction, then back to my paper.
I decided not to write about Gone With the Wind because someone else was using that movie, so I've switched to Something the Lord Made instead. This movie has particular meaning to me because my father went to Vanderbilt's medical school and trained in the dog lab, with the instruments made by Vivian Thomas, and knew Dr. Helen Taussig. To make it a bit more personal, when I was 18 months old (in 1968) I had open heart surgery and my surgeon was trained by Dr. Blalock. The story of these two men is a wonderful study of moral development and altruism, so it fit perfectly into Social Psychology themes.
Also today I must make a dentist appointment. I HATE dental procedures of every variety (and trust me, I've sampled them all over the years) so am not looking forward to this. The pain is between two molars, each with a crown, so I'm fearful this may end in a root canal. Perish the thought!!! =X
In other news, Entree (the upside down tuxedo cat in my side bar) has been having bouts of cold feet again and is looking a little ratty. He always gets that way when he's not feeling well. Nowt to do but keep pounding the meds. A friend of mine tells me her husband is on a really powerful med that keeps his heart rate the same no matter what he does. It's very strange as he can work out until he's sweating like a pig and out of breath, but his heart rate never changes. I'm going to see if cats can tolerate this med, or if it is substantially different from the Calcium channel blockers we already have him on. In the mean time he's a love bug; another side effect of his not feeling well. I brush him in lieu of petting him mostly, because of my allergies. He's such a silly old sock, he doesn't care one way or another, as long as he's being fussed over.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Holiwhat?
So am I the only one who will be spending the entire long weekend writing papers and doing research? Sigh...
AR and I are going to see Aida tomorrow night at a local event center. I'm a little nervous because while we do have some amazing talent come to our area, this performance will be by a local high school. A friend invited us, so we're going to give it a whirl.
Other than that I'll be writing a 9 page paper, a 12 page paper, preparing a case presentation and working on my dissertation proposal. You know, just a little light reading (and writing)to pass the time.
So what is everyone else doing this weekend?
****UPDATE****
The play was outstanding. Just AMAZING talent, especially for high schoolers. At least one of those kids has a stab at making it big. A fun evening, and a cupcake at intermission, too. Moo. =)
AR and I are going to see Aida tomorrow night at a local event center. I'm a little nervous because while we do have some amazing talent come to our area, this performance will be by a local high school. A friend invited us, so we're going to give it a whirl.
Other than that I'll be writing a 9 page paper, a 12 page paper, preparing a case presentation and working on my dissertation proposal. You know, just a little light reading (and writing)to pass the time.
So what is everyone else doing this weekend?
****UPDATE****
The play was outstanding. Just AMAZING talent, especially for high schoolers. At least one of those kids has a stab at making it big. A fun evening, and a cupcake at intermission, too. Moo. =)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Happy Happy JOY!!!
So that's me in the happy helmet making the happy face in hopes the actual emotion will follow along presently. Hit an all time low in efficiency and moral today, but with the help of two very understanding coworkers managed to have a fun day anyway. HA!
On my way home from school last Friday I had to pee ferociously so stopped in a tiny little town with just one gas station to do so. There, what to my wondering eyes did appear at the checkout stand but a stack of VIOLET CRUMBLES!!!!! I haven't seen one of these in at least a decade. Was so blown away I bought four (AR loves them too) and am now wondering if I should have bought them all. My tooth, on the other hand, is screaming, "Here! RIGHT HERE is the cavity you've been trying to pretend was sinus pressure!" I did it on purpose, of course; coated my dubious tooth in sugar to test the sinus theory. Sigh... will call the dentist to make an appt for next week, or maybe Friday on my way home from school.
Tomorrow is all booked up with homework and an allergist appt, which is long overdue. They lost my records and had to schedule me for a 'new patient' appt rather than the usual kind, so it took a long time to get in. An NOT going to pay for their mistake though. The angry tooth will help me look really scary if they fuck with me, I hope. At least maybe it will be good for something...
On my way home from school last Friday I had to pee ferociously so stopped in a tiny little town with just one gas station to do so. There, what to my wondering eyes did appear at the checkout stand but a stack of VIOLET CRUMBLES!!!!! I haven't seen one of these in at least a decade. Was so blown away I bought four (AR loves them too) and am now wondering if I should have bought them all. My tooth, on the other hand, is screaming, "Here! RIGHT HERE is the cavity you've been trying to pretend was sinus pressure!" I did it on purpose, of course; coated my dubious tooth in sugar to test the sinus theory. Sigh... will call the dentist to make an appt for next week, or maybe Friday on my way home from school.
Tomorrow is all booked up with homework and an allergist appt, which is long overdue. They lost my records and had to schedule me for a 'new patient' appt rather than the usual kind, so it took a long time to get in. An NOT going to pay for their mistake though. The angry tooth will help me look really scary if they fuck with me, I hope. At least maybe it will be good for something...
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Another Scorcher
Summer has arrived... for a few days anyway. This super hot, super cold, super hot, super windy thing is KILLING me! WTF? Somebody hide the celestial remote so whoever is flipping weather channels will stop already!
I took all my recent whiny posts down in hopes I'll get past all this stuff better. Yesterday I alternated between feeling drugged (allergy meds + heat = zombie) and feeling desperately depressed. It's hot, I have a shitload of work to do, and I can't make my mind hold still to get it done. So today, in hopes of getting off to a better start, I got up super early and started watering the lawn. Now I'm doing laundry and I'm going to clean the fishtank. I thought perhaps getting a bunch of housework accomplished might get my mood to where it needs to be to do brain work.
I have to write a longish paper for social psych using a film or a novel to illustrate one of the areas we've covered. Been having a terrible time choosing one, but I think I'll go rent Gone With the Wind today and see about using it to exemplify all the different kinds of 'love.' It's my belief that the word love is utterly useless in terms of actually defining anything meaningful. It's great for lay use, but when you start trying to understand human behavior the word falls flat. There's attachment that we develop for caregivers and others; infatuation during new romances; deep and abiding trust; long term companionship; respect; reverence; worship; patriotism; devotion to principles; empathy for conspecifics; empathy for other species; loyalty; social expectancy; dependency and on and on ad nauseum. How on earth does one word, love, even begin to capture that? I think nearly all of those themes are covered somewhere in the movie, so I'll just make a list of my terms and then take notes of examples under each one. I have three more weeks to do the paper, so this should give me a good start and not overreach my mental capacity today. I started with the idea of using the novel,Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler, and then I was going to use Fiddler on the Roof for the same theme, but neither is as comprehensive, so I'm going for the overused classic because I'm too lazy to find something else.
There! Just writing that gave me a nice, simple task to do, and it's a pleasant one, too! Add to that collecting 5 more articles for my lit review and I think I have a doable list.
Lalalalala! Off to have a productive Sunday. I wish you all the same (or a fun one if you're not doing school stuff)
I took all my recent whiny posts down in hopes I'll get past all this stuff better. Yesterday I alternated between feeling drugged (allergy meds + heat = zombie) and feeling desperately depressed. It's hot, I have a shitload of work to do, and I can't make my mind hold still to get it done. So today, in hopes of getting off to a better start, I got up super early and started watering the lawn. Now I'm doing laundry and I'm going to clean the fishtank. I thought perhaps getting a bunch of housework accomplished might get my mood to where it needs to be to do brain work.
I have to write a longish paper for social psych using a film or a novel to illustrate one of the areas we've covered. Been having a terrible time choosing one, but I think I'll go rent Gone With the Wind today and see about using it to exemplify all the different kinds of 'love.' It's my belief that the word love is utterly useless in terms of actually defining anything meaningful. It's great for lay use, but when you start trying to understand human behavior the word falls flat. There's attachment that we develop for caregivers and others; infatuation during new romances; deep and abiding trust; long term companionship; respect; reverence; worship; patriotism; devotion to principles; empathy for conspecifics; empathy for other species; loyalty; social expectancy; dependency and on and on ad nauseum. How on earth does one word, love, even begin to capture that? I think nearly all of those themes are covered somewhere in the movie, so I'll just make a list of my terms and then take notes of examples under each one. I have three more weeks to do the paper, so this should give me a good start and not overreach my mental capacity today. I started with the idea of using the novel,Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler, and then I was going to use Fiddler on the Roof for the same theme, but neither is as comprehensive, so I'm going for the overused classic because I'm too lazy to find something else.
There! Just writing that gave me a nice, simple task to do, and it's a pleasant one, too! Add to that collecting 5 more articles for my lit review and I think I have a doable list.
Lalalalala! Off to have a productive Sunday. I wish you all the same (or a fun one if you're not doing school stuff)
Monday, May 12, 2008
Gawd...
Watched two of several new Prop 21 minors marched off to court in shackles. These minors are accused of participating in a gang related murder. Looks like the judge wants to make an example of them, so the rumor at the Hall is that the prosecutor will be asking for either life or the death penalty, even for the minors. Ouch! These sorts of cases are always so protracted that I imagine these kids will be with us for some time to come. I've done therapy with a minor being tried as an adult for murder in the past, but don't know if I'll be asked to work with any of these. I think I'd rather not, simply because I'm not so keen on being subpoenaed at this stage in my career. It's sad that this sort of crime is skyrocketing in our area lately. Of course it goes without saying that it's sad that it happens anywhere.
Mmm... AR made me a really nice supper tonight, complete with a delightful toddy. I'm regretting the toddy a little now though, as it's not looking likely that I'll get any more homework done before bed.
Mmm... AR made me a really nice supper tonight, complete with a delightful toddy. I'm regretting the toddy a little now though, as it's not looking likely that I'll get any more homework done before bed.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Jiggety Jig!
Home again and thrilled to be here! Had a great week; my small project went over big and I am now on fire to turn it into reality.
I did a presentation of a presentation, and just that really got people fired up. I was surprised because I didn't think it was much, but the concepts are powerful. The project was a discussion and outline about a series of continuing ed seminar/workshops I'd like to offer on Virtual Reality and all it's related social interaction. Gaming is my particular focus, but I'm open to doing talks (and research) on a much wider array of topics about online and electronic communication and culture. For this project I just did a fancy PowerPoint overview of what I envision as the first seminar; an experiential introduction to VR worlds. I used a bunch of screen shots of various games like World of Warcraft, Sims 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV to illustrated what VR is, and the multiple layers that make it so appealing (and sometimes addictive) for millions of people. My teacher and two of the students were all very "low tech" and not at all familiar with VR or gaming. None of them could conceive of why anyone would be drawn to VR and why they might prefer it over the real world. I was surprised that just a discussion with screen shots was enough to make them understand. In my real presentation I'll have lots of live demonstrations and interactive activities to give people hands-on experiences, plus lots of physical (as in paper) stuff to work with. If just a PowerPoint ABOUT the program is inspiring I can hardly wait to do the real thing!
Then, since I have opted not to work on Practicum stuff outside of practicum, and because I have all afternoon on Fridays and all day Sunday to work on homework, I had a leisurely lunch with friends on Thursday, tutored a classmate on some testing stuff and watched TV rather than studying or working after class. Same general pattern today; class, lunch, a little time hanging out, and some dissertation and testing work before driving home AT 3PM! W00T!
Looking forward to a little gaming and then a movie with AR tonight. Seems I'm taking an impromptu minivacation and it feels GOOD! :p
I did a presentation of a presentation, and just that really got people fired up. I was surprised because I didn't think it was much, but the concepts are powerful. The project was a discussion and outline about a series of continuing ed seminar/workshops I'd like to offer on Virtual Reality and all it's related social interaction. Gaming is my particular focus, but I'm open to doing talks (and research) on a much wider array of topics about online and electronic communication and culture. For this project I just did a fancy PowerPoint overview of what I envision as the first seminar; an experiential introduction to VR worlds. I used a bunch of screen shots of various games like World of Warcraft, Sims 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV to illustrated what VR is, and the multiple layers that make it so appealing (and sometimes addictive) for millions of people. My teacher and two of the students were all very "low tech" and not at all familiar with VR or gaming. None of them could conceive of why anyone would be drawn to VR and why they might prefer it over the real world. I was surprised that just a discussion with screen shots was enough to make them understand. In my real presentation I'll have lots of live demonstrations and interactive activities to give people hands-on experiences, plus lots of physical (as in paper) stuff to work with. If just a PowerPoint ABOUT the program is inspiring I can hardly wait to do the real thing!
Then, since I have opted not to work on Practicum stuff outside of practicum, and because I have all afternoon on Fridays and all day Sunday to work on homework, I had a leisurely lunch with friends on Thursday, tutored a classmate on some testing stuff and watched TV rather than studying or working after class. Same general pattern today; class, lunch, a little time hanging out, and some dissertation and testing work before driving home AT 3PM! W00T!
Looking forward to a little gaming and then a movie with AR tonight. Seems I'm taking an impromptu minivacation and it feels GOOD! :p
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