alan.bradford

Graduating in a Month. Time to Say Thank You. (Part 1)

In approximately five weeks, I will be a graduate of Arizona State University with a degree in Human Nutrition.

I'm not sure what to make of this just yet. It has been a long and winding road. A road that I have been on since 2002. (Yes, math majors - that's 7 years. Feel free to giggle.) Between getting married and working full-time and working part-time and riding my scooter and playing Beatles Rock Band, I have managed to finally finish the first leg of my educational journey. (Stay tuned next year as our hero takes the MCAT and is accepted to medical school!)

Like many college students these days, I started out at a community college before transferring to ASU. In some ways I wish I hadn't done this, but I am definitely glad that I wasn't spending University-level tuition as I was figuring out what degree I wanted to pursue.

There are several people who have shaped my ASU experience. Before I toss my cap, I wanted to thank them. Instead of doing this in one fell swoop, I think I'll space it out over a few posts. Kind of like a really long Oscar Acceptance Speech. Except I'm not wearing a slinky dress with a plunging neckline. And you can't cue the orchestra music to drown me out.

First and foremost on the list is my incredible wife. Webster has not created enough words for me to thank her. She has endured much while I have been in school. She has always enabled me to put school first - even if it has meant several lonely nights (for her) as I have tried to focus my bleeding eyes on a research paper.

She has helped me to have a balanced life. She has made me laugh. She has wiped my (NaCl+H₂O)-soaked face during two semesters of Organic Chemistry. She calmed my sound waves and smoothed out my friction forces through two semesters of Physics. She has believed in me when I haven't. She has pushed me when I wanted to sit. I owe a lot to her.

Sometimes I wonder how and why she puts up with me. And then I remember that I am incredibly good looking, and that I am also more hilarious than the love-child of Conan O'Brian and Amy Poehler.

But seriously, Jenny. I love you. [insert Nacho Libre accent] You are the best. Big hug. Little kiss. Big kiss. Big hug. Little hug. Little kiss.

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Don't Believe Everything You Read. Except My Quote The New York Times.

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If You Are What You Eat, Then Call Me a Book

As a Nutrition major at Arizona State University, I am naturally drawn to stories that are related to food. I can't help it. You know that guy that you saw at the grocery store last week? The one who spent 15 minutes comparing the nutrition labels of the peanut butter? That was me. (Side note: Choosey nutritionists choose Jif the one that's lower in trans fats and refined carbohydrates.)

So if I get this excited about peanut butter, you can imagine my surprise when I was contacted yesterday by Chegg.com about a new edible textbook product they are launching called text-a-licious. For those of you following this blog, you know that I recently received a stimulus package from them. (The chocolate is very tasty, by the way.) Edible text books?!? Yes, boys and girls. Edible text books. The initial release includes over 20 different flavors.

Apparently they have figured out a way to alter the chemical structure of paper so that it can be broken down by the human body. As part of my coursework for my degree at ASU, I've been learning about this. There are some plants that the human body simply cannot digest because we don't have the right enzymes. During photosynthesis, plants make glucose. These glucose molecules become bound together to form something called cellulose. Cellulose cannot be digested by humans. We recently completed an extensive section about fiber. Fiber is basically different types of carbohydrate (glucose, galactose, and other sugars) that cannot be broken down or digested by the human body. The Wikipedia entry for paper says that

Paper is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets.

So if paper is just made of plant material, it would seem like this could work. I am curious to know how they did it. Maybe they added some enzymes to the paper to help it be digested, or maybe they figured out a way to remove or replace the ß-1,4 bonds in the cellulose. (These are the chemical bonds that humans can't digest.)

Not to start a lame conspiracy theory, but here goes. Anytime you rent/sell/buy a book from Chegg, they plant a tree. What if the trees they are planting are the ones which have been chemically altered? Like one big cycle. They plant the trees, they control how they're fed and grown, and then they cut them down to make these text-a-licious books. Just a thought.

At any rate, this is way cool. With the way the economy is these days, everyone is looking for ways to save a buck. Now you can get your textbooks really cheap, and then eat them when you're done.

You can read more about the new product and see all the new flavors on their homepage. There's an official press release along with the typical sharing buttons so you can spread the word to your friends on Twitter and Facebook. I am definitely going to give this a try next semester.

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Reposting: ASU is Backward Bound

Since hearing the news last night, I can't stop thinking about what a crappy situation this is. The ripple effect this will have on Arizona cannot even be imagined right now. We've basically been told by our local politicians that our education is not worth saving. That research is not worth funding. That academic progress needs to take a backseat while they figure out how to balance their damn check books.

I don't like it one bit.

Although, now that my program has been moved to the Downtown campus, I will get a chance to try out the Light Rail. So I guess that's cool, right? I will also have the opportunity to...um...um...can't think of another pro right now.

If something comes to mind for anyone reading this, please leave a comment so I can cheer up.

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Take a Stand and Save a Sun Devil

The future of higher education in Arizona is grim. Due to several factors that have become exacerbated by the serious economic downturn of recent months, state legislators are proposing cuts to programs across the state. These proposals include a massive 40% cut to the operating budget of Arizona State University.

A small portion of an email sent this morning by ASU President, Dr. Michael Crow helps to dispel some of the myths that may be surrounding these proposed cuts:

The actual percentages are 35 percent of the 2009 state General Fund budget that is remaining for the year and when the proposed 2010 cuts are added, it totals 40 percent of the university's state General Fund appropriation in 2008 on a Full-time Equivalent (either a full-time student or its equivalent of two part-time students) basis.

The percentages quoted by some state legislators are based on a total budget that includes hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding as well as bookstore and meal plan purchases and even football ticket sales. ASU's research enterprise and its ancillary operations from the bookstore to the football team are -- and must be -- financially self-sufficient and in fact, these activities subsidize a substantial portion of the instructional budget.

If ASU were to close its dormitories and bookstore and stop doing federally funded research and stop playing football, the revenue associated with those activities would also end. So, it is a fiction that ASU has other revenue that could begin to replace the loss of state revenue.

State revenue and the tuition paid by students account for 79 percent of ASU's instructional budget. To make up the loss of state funding, tuition for in-state students would need to be almost doubled to $11,000 a year.

There is much more explained in the email, and a PDF copy of Dr. Crow's full email can be downloaded or viewed here.

Stand and Fight
As students and faculty, we cannot simply sit on the sidelines and allow this to happen. The future of higher education hangs in the balance with these proposals. Please take a stand for your education. Here is how you can help:

• The Polytechnic Campus Student Government, led by its President, Kelley Stewart, is participating in a rally at the State Capitol tomorrow.
• There will be a bus leaving from the Polytechnic Campus Student Union Building tomorrow at 9:30 am.
• There will be a press conference at the State Capitol at 11:00 am, and the ASA rally begins at 12:00 pm

Because we are students, this can obviously cause some scheduling conflicts with our classes. Kelley Stewart has drafted a letter to the professors of the Polytechnic Campus regarding this. A PDF copy of the letter can be downloaded or viewed here.

I would encourage you to email this letter to your professor and encourage them to let you attend the rally. If you are unsure how to ask, feel free to copy the text of the email I sent and use it as your own:

Hello,

In light of the recent legislative proposal to cut ASU's budgets by up to 40% over the next two years, I am concerned about the future of this Polytechnic campus.

I would love to attend the student protest/rally that is being organized by our Poly student government. Unfortunately it falls during your class. I have attached a letter that was drafted by our Student President that addresses the professors on this campus. While I can't tell anyone how to think, hopefully you can consider point #2 in this letter.

I take my class attendance very seriously, so I do not want to miss your class if it will cause problems with my grades.

Please let me know if I have your blessing to attend, otherwise I will see you in class tomorrow.

C'mon Sun Devils. Let's keep education strong in Arizona. If you need to put a little more pep in your protesting step, here is the ASU fight song. Hopefully this will turn your blood to Maroon and Gold:

Fight, Devils Down The Field
Fight With Your Might and Don't Ever Yield
Long May Our Colors Outshine All Others
Echo From The Buttes, Give 'Em Hell Devils!
Cheer, Cheer For A-S-U
Fight For The Old Maroon
For it's Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here
And It's Onward to Victory!

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Unemployed Blogger Seeks Shoulder To Post On

I won't copy and paste the entire post here, but I wanted to share my latest "farewell" address at my other blog, Geek Stew. I was hired last year by their technology office to blog about, well, geeky stuff from a student perspective. Here is a taste of what you'll find if you go read the whole thing:

In October, ASU President Dr. Michael Crow published a video informing students and faculty regarding of the economic situation of the school. I uploaded the video to my Geek Stew YouTube account, but never got around to talking about it here on the blog. If you’ve got seven minutes and ten seconds, along with an interest in what Dr. Crow had to say, the video is embedded at the end of this post. (Or you can go watch it now.) Some recent communication from the folks who hired me last year to start this blog reminded of Dr. Crow’s video.

It is with a frowny-faced emoticon that I share the following news. After 13 months, 98 posts, 20 subscribers, 163 comments, 5,665 unique visitors from 90 different countries/territories, and 10,336 page views, I have officially been “downsized” from the payroll of Arizona State University. In an email that was supposed to be delivered to me on December 3rd, the following sadness was shared:

Keep reading on my (soon stagnant) blog...

Since I'm done with classes for the semester, I guess I'll just go cry into my big pillow. Let me know if you would like me to author a stellar guest post on your blog. I will only charge a nominal fee. Perhaps a t-shirt, or a gifted album of sad songs on iTunes. I don't require much.

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