NSF GRFP

[denidzo]

BTW- I'm surprised that someone with a kindergarteners maturity level won the grfp. I hope your award frees up your time so you can use it to get a mature grasp on life.

Good luck to everyone on here who is in LIMBO.

FTW! And thanks, good luck to you, too.

[Higgins_the_Brave]

Hey Mod - is it possible to get the repeated-gay comments wiped from this forum? I don't really want to be here if I have to see them every time I check the page. Hopefully they can just be deleted?

[Friar.Tuck]

Lo, goode people, it dost seem that mine prophecies art being fulfilled! While I hath predicted the end it seemeth that a different end of proportions terrifying hast arisen from the swine of the south! From whence it shalt render all to death and decay. There shalt be sickness, death, fire, and brimstone! The sound of horns shalt clash with the sound of the screams of piteous fools! Fie upon ye, O Higgins, for thou didst think that ye wouldst escape the end. Thou art verily as damn

[unclelurker]

no. the arguments to justify the original use were false. the ridiculous attempt to say that a derogatory epithet was mere common vernacular and accepted, and then to repeat the use (as an epithet) was not justified. to further support these arguments by arguing intolerance on the part of posters who have expressed discomfort with usage is blatantly dubious.

this forum is not the place to have a debate on definitions. it is not a place that should tolerate or support, implicitly or in the case of several posters - explicitly, any type of exclusion or language that continues discrimination patterns. i don't care what you say in your speech patterns - if you choose to post to a universal online forum your words will be interpreted by a literal definition that does not trend toward a casual conversation. Words have history and consequence. Try substituting any number of different derogatory epithets that focus on minority groups and see how comfortable it is to justify usage patterns. Then check out the trends in statistics with NSF for inclusion of different groups and retention through academics and research. It is disappointing to witness this occur, especially amongst a group of people professing to have applied (or accepted) an award that indicated they are among the best and brightest in science. Behave yourselves in an ethical and considerate manner. It is wrong to be mean to people and it is wrong to use hurtful language. Please stop.

[ChivPowers]

So getting back to the subject at hand, did anyone ever figure out if the NSF twitter is real?

[dingaling]

Sure doesn't seem like it. Seems a little too informal to me...

[BioMedSciMed]

oh my gosh you guys- I get back on today and see that there are like 3 more pages since Friday and for a second I actually thought something of consequence had happened. Instead I see there's some loser who took the time to fake-announce his "winning" and the rest of you spent the weekend ripping apart someone who accidentally used the wrong word when calling the first guy an as#*ole.

Although I personally take no offense at all by the usage, I agree that the word in question is objectionable to some and as such should probably be avoided, but let's try to keep the conversation on topic and maybe just drop this whole verbal-human-rights debate for the moment and just take it easy on one another for a few more days.

I think we can all agree that this is stressful enough already.

[Neuronerd]

i like pie!

[liatris]

Hey Mod - is it possible to get the repeated-gay comments wiped from this forum? I don't really want to be here if I have to see them every time I check the page. Hopefully they can just be deleted?

Barista, can I second this motion? I think the comments are really inappropriate, offensive, and should go.

[ChivPowers]

Here's another question for someone who has won the NSF-GRF in the past: Are you paid directly from NSF, or does the funding come through your department? I know that typically that would be a school-specific question, but I heard there's something different about the way NSF distributes money. Second, what other fellowships does NSF consider "major"? They state that you cannot hold another major fellowship at the same time as NSF, but does anyone know what their criteria for a major fellowship are?

As for those ratings sheets.... If they're not posting them until after this epic announcement period is over, I guess I should mark my calendar for Nevuary 32nd as the date when I'll get to see those...?

[johnp158]

Sure doesn't seem like it. Seems a little too informal to me...

Have you ever seen a formally written twitter feed?

No reason to think it's not real. NIH has one too.

[johnp158]

Oh maybe you meant the idea of NSF having a twitter seems too informal?

It's not, twitter is stupid but everybody has one.

[denidzo]

Oh maybe you meant the idea of NSF having a twitter seems too informal?

It's not, twitter is stupid but everybody has one.

NSF has a dozen twitter accounts, each one specified by program and/or grant. This one that we saw is not designated to any particular area. I am thinking the manner in which it responds to folks is too informal, with no real information. Anybody can set up an account that says anything.

And hey, I use twitter all the time. We use it for the final project in the class I teach, too. I find it very useful and I've actually sent out inquiries on it and gotten good and timely responses. Beats FB hands down, no apps, no videos, no pics, no surveys, no LOLcats. All the folks I've met at conferences and workshops communicate this way and it's free (as opposed to SMS which costs me).

[Neuronerd]

I don't think you're stupid, but I concur that twitter is rather idiotic and the epitome of banal.

[denidzo]

I don't think you're stupid, but I concur that twitter is rather idiotic and the epitome of banal.

Yes, it can be extremely banal. No one cares if you just ate a peanut butter sandwich, or are taking your dog for a walk, and a LOT of the posts are used for that purpose. Lately I've been inundated by sales pitches on it. But just like any other piece of software, it is what you make of it. Everyone that I follow or follows me is someone I know, or are folks in academia that I can/will work with. You can block the idiocy by only getting the updates from your follows.

It can also be useful in emergencies. The up side came out during the Mumbai attacks, and the crash of flight 3407. The down side is the insanity surrounding tweets today about the swine flu pandemic, and how they are feeding hysteria. Like every other media outlet, you have to take it with a grain of salt. It's just a tool. Some folks are craftsmen, and some are novices.

Can you tell I research social media? :wink:

[Neuronerd]

Can you tell I research social media

Haha. Yes. Can you tell I just shoot my mouth off about most anything?

[e_sac]

At this point, I think there may, in fact, be a chance of reaching 200 pages before the second round of awards go out. Any wagers? :?:

[kdilks]

At this point, I think there may, in fact, be a chance of reaching 200 pages before the second round of awards go out. Any wagers? :?:

Seeing how sensitive people got over usage of the word "gay", it would be pretty easy to flamebait this thread to 200 in a few days.

[Neuronerd]

I'll probably be pilloried for this, but calling people "sensitive" who take offense at a word (that can objectively be argued to be offensive) is actually a subtle dig at those offended. It blames the "offendee." Much like when one uses a racial pejorative and then complains that a member of that race has "no sense of humor" when they are put off by it.

[BioChemGod]

There is such a thing as being oversensitive. I have a number of gay friends (I mean, does anyone at a large school not?), and none of them would take offense at my usage of the word regarding that ass just.for.grfp. Words can have more than one meaning, but narrow-minded people who are looking for a reason to get offended often try to make it seem that there is only one meaning for a word. "Gay" is an example of this. "Gay" can mean "happy", "homosexual", or "stupid, annoying". Using the word for one meaning should not be taken to meaning any of the others. I was not calling his behavior happy or homosexual, as it was in no way either, I was calling it stupid. Or, take, for example the word "niggardly". It means stinginess, and has no etymological or other relation to the ethnic slur. Yet people take offense to the use of this word. People need to stop being so hair-trigger sensitive, and to appreciate the English language. Although, to the one person who accused me of homophobia, I would like to point out the actual meaning of that word, which is "an irrational fear of homo(sexuals)". I don't think that my use of that word showed an irrational fear, particularly as the context in which it was used was not even related to homosexuality. I've found this word to be a very poor choice, as none of the people whom I know who oppose gay marriage have an irrational fear of homosexuals, only religious and cultural beliefs that that lifestyle is wrong. I think that we should be just as tolerant of their culture and beliefs as we are of homosexuals. We shouldn't try to force anything on either group as that's just wrong. Finis.

[meowser]

Moving on, does anyone have any news on the GRFP as we start yet another new week?

[Neuronerd]

Dear BioChemGod,

From where I sit, I'd say you're a pissant little weasel-wording assclown. Please don't take offense, however--I mean it in a nice way.

[Dudeblight]

lame.

[BioChemGod]

Dear BioChemGod,

From where I sit, I'd say you're a pissant little weasel-wording assclown. Please don't take offense, however--I mean it in a nice way.

And I would say that you have a limited vocabulary, a case of immaturity, as evidenced by your choice of words, that you can't argue properly, have a narrow mindset, and I mean it exactly as it appears.

[hausdorff]

no. the arguments to justify the original use were false. the ridiculous attempt to say that a derogatory epithet was mere common vernacular and accepted, and then to repeat the use (as an epithet) was not justified. to further support these arguments by arguing intolerance on the part of posters who have expressed discomfort with usage is blatantly dubious.

this forum is not the place to have a debate on definitions. it is not a place that should tolerate or support, implicitly or in the case of several posters - explicitly, any type of exclusion or language that continues discrimination patterns. i don't care what you say in your speech patterns - if you choose to post to a universal online forum your words will be interpreted by a literal definition that does not trend toward a casual conversation. Words have history and consequence. Try substituting any number of different derogatory epithets that focus on minority groups and see how comfortable it is to justify usage patterns. Then check out the trends in statistics with NSF for inclusion of different groups and retention through academics and research. It is disappointing to witness this occur, especially amongst a group of people professing to have applied (or accepted) an award that indicated they are among the best and brightest in science. Behave yourselves in an ethical and considerate manner. It is wrong to be mean to people and it is wrong to use hurtful language. Please stop.

this