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Greetings!
 We have been through an incredible week with the failed Congressional $700 billion recovery plan for the US economy! While I don't advocate eliminating accountability for failed financial institutions, it became very clear to me this week why we need the infusion of the federal money into the economic system.The Commonfund, a Connecticut-based investment fund maintained by Wachovia Bank, said on Monday (9/29) it would close its Short Term Investment Vehicle and cut off nearly all access to cash this week to prevent a run on this Fund. This Short Term fund of $9.3 billion has 1000 investors (mainly private colleges and universities) who send their short-term money, like tuition, to this fund, to draw from over the next quarter for faculty and staff salaries. Due
to the failure of Congress to adopt a reasonable recovery plan, the
entire economic system could freeze up with limited money flowing from
institution to institution. Colleges and universities would have been unable draw from the fund to meet their payroll, but fortunately, the Commonfund allowed investors to access up to 26% of their account values on Oct. 1st, with the remainder of the assets becoming available over the coming weeks, easing the situation somewhat.
Hopefully when Congress reconvenes on Oct. 2nd, it will be able to draft and approve a recovery plan, so that liquidity will be infused into the market again, as well as protection for the taxpayer.
The National election is only days away. Be sure to register and vote! Both the campaigns have now answered the 14 Science Debate 2008 questions. The University of Minnesota will sponsor Innovation 2008 (Oct. 20 and 21) to discuss with national experts solutions for major challenges facing the United States. At stake is our future science and technology policy for improved energy security and sustainability, health sciences and US economic competitiveness in the global marketplace. Scientists, policymakers, and the public will help move the United States toward policies informed by scientific realities. I will be attending Innovation 2008 for GWIS and will report back to the membership about this two-day conference. United in Friendship through Science,
Dee McManus, Executive Director
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National GWIS News
Honorary Membership Awardee: Anne Kopecky Vidaver, Ph.D.
 Dr.Vidaver is Professor and Head of the Department of Plant Pathology at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She served as Director of the Center for Biotechnology from 1997 to 2000. From July 2000 to December 2002 she was the Chief Scientist for the USDA's National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program. Dr. Vidaver's research interests have mainly focused on plant-associated bacteria. She has authored or co-authored over 200 scientific articles and a book. Read Dr. Vidaver's full biography
Note about GWIS Honorary Membership: This
is the highest honor GWIS bestows on esteemed women scientists and is a
lifetime membership to GWIS with all membership benefits.
Nominations for honorary members can come from the National organization or
the Chapters, but it takes two years to approve this award. The National Council approves first, and then requires a two-thirds vote of the Grand Chapter for final approval.
New National Council Officer: Dr JoAnn M. Scharass, President-Elect
 Dr. JoAnn M. Schrass is Associate Dean of Academic Services at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA where she directs advising for undergraduates,
special advising, adjudicates exceptions to policy, chairs the Committee on
Academic Standing and sits on the Academic Affairs and General Education Committees among
others. Her doctorate and post-doctoral research concentrated on secondary
metabolites of fungi. Since her move to administration 10 years ago, she limits her teaching to one
course each semester. Dr. Schrass has served as President and is now on the board of
directors of the National Association of Academic Affairs Administrators. JoAnn received
her Bachelors degree in Biology from Averett University, her M.S. in Biochemistry from The George Washington University and her Ph.D. in Environmental Biology and Public Policy from George Mason University. JoAnn is an active member and past president of the
Omicron chapter in Washington, D.C.
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National News Headlines
 Science Debate 2008. John McCain answers Science Debate 2008's 14 science questions. These questions are broad enough to allow
for wide variations in response, but they are specific enough to help
guide the discussion toward many of the largest and most important
unresolved challenges currently facing the United States.
John McCain's answers
Side by side comparison of the candidate's answers
Host a DebateWatch party! The Commission on Presidential Debates encourages you to participate in the televised presidential and vice-presidential debates. The DebateWatch site includes a complete guide to hosting a DebateWatch party with details on what to do before, during, and after the debate as well as discussion questions to use. In addition, the CPD and MySpace have joined forces to launch MyDebates.org,
the official online component to the 2008 presidential debates.
Visitors can take the issues quiz to see which candidate they agree
with, see national stats based on other users' responses, track the
issues important to them throughout the debates, watch the debates
live, and submit questions for possible inclusion in the presidential
town hall debate on Oct. 7.
Congress stalls on 2009 appropriations, leaving most decisions until next year. Just days before the start
of FY 2009, Congress has made little progress on FY 2009 appropriations and is
preparing to leave Washington for the rest of the year, postponing final budget
decisions for most federal agencies until next year. The House has approved a
continuing resolution (CR; HR 2638 amendment) extending funding for all programs
in unsigned 2009 appropriations bills at 2008 funding levels through March 6,
2009.
Read more about the FY2009 budget
Virtual twins: Nature is winning in the nature-vs-nurture debate.
Virtual twins are unrelated children born within nine months of each
other who enter a family, through birth or adoption, in the first year
of life. This increasingly common phenomenon provides scientific subjects for those interested in studying the nature-versus-nurture question in human behavior. Dr. Nancy L. Segal, a psychologist and GWIS member who researches behavioral differences among twins, has shown that virtual twins have less in common in
terms of behavior, intelligence and decision-making than fraternal or
identical twins, including those reared apart, or even biological
siblings several years apart in age.
New York Times story on virtual twins
Work Experience Survey
Researchers
at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University invite your participation in a survey on women's experiences in the workplace and
factors that may affect women's professional experiences. The survey takes approximately 15-20
minutes.
Message from researchers Kathy Phillips, Zoe Kinias, and Denise Lewin Lloyd:
"We appreciate your willingness to share your thoughts and experiences.
As a token of our appreciation, we will raffle off three $100 gift certificates
to a popular national (online) retailer. Thank you in advance for your
participation!"
Northwestern Work Experience Survey
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MentorNet News
ALERT TO ALL STUDENT GWIS MEMBERS:
Are you taking full advantage of being a GWIS member?
Have you ever wondered about the many career paths available to you after you graduate?
GWIS has partnered with MentorNet to offer you the opportunity to get "real world" information, encouragement, advice, and access to professional networks from professionals working in your field. MentorNet's One-on-One Mentoring Program focuses on matching students studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with professionals from all sectors as mentors for one-on-one, email-based mentoring (e-mentoring) relationships. MentorNet protégés are community college, undergraduate, and graduate students, postdocs and untenured faculty.
How can you find a mentor?
1) Join the MentorNet Community.
2) Sign in to the MentorNet Community as a GWIS member and follow the One-on-One Mentoring Program link to create a protégé profile.
Since 1998, MentorNet has matched more than 22,500 pairs of protégés and mentors with strong results. We hope you will join them!
If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Dr. Kathy Grako, GWIS Liaison to MentorNet (kagrako@san.rr.com)
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Funding and Job Opportunities
Sign up for a free electronic newsletter describing grant opportunities in Life Sciences from ScienceInfo.
NSF's Small Business Innovation Research Program is currently taking applications. The deadline for the application of this award is Dec. 4th. NSF Small Business Innovation
Epcot Center Science Professional Internships. Epcot Science at Walt Disney World is looking for college students or recent graduates with background or major in: Agriculture, Plant Science, Horticulture, Biology, Biotechnology, Entomology, Aquaculture, Education or related fields
The Epcot Science Professional Internship Program is designed to provide qualified college students with the opportunity for hands-on work experience in the unique growing areas that are part of "Living with The Land", and agricultural attraction at EpcotR.
If you are interested, please contact by phone (407) 560-7256, fax (407) 560-6793, or email: wdw.epcot.science.internship@disney.com
Biomedical research positions are available at the National Institutes of Health
NIH scientific jobs. Search USAJobs for Senior Scientific positions.
Current postdoctoral openings
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Fellowships and Awards
Applications are now being accepted for the 2009 sessions of the Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship Program. This Graduate Fellowship Program of the National Academies-consisting of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council is designed to engage graduate science,
engineering, medical, veterinary, business, public policy, and law
students in the analytical process that informs the creation of
national policy-making with a science/technology element. As a result,
students develop basic skills essential to working in the world of
science policy.
The program will comprise two 12-week sessions:
Winter: January 12-April 3, 2009
Fall: September 9- November 25, 2009
Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars and those who have completed graduate studies or postdoctoral research within the last 5 years are eligible to apply. Candidates should submit an application and request that a mentor/adviser fill out a reference form.
Learn more about the programApplication forms are available. Top of page
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Websites of interest
A new Web resource providing consumers with the latest information on
significant topics in women's health research from scientific journals
and other peer-reviewed sources is now available through the National
Library of Medicine (NLM). The NLM, of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), through its Division of Specialized Information Services,
Office of Outreach and Special Populations has partnered with the NIH
Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) to create this one-stop
resource.
Women's Health Resources.
It's fun and educational! A rap video created by 23-year-old science writer, Katharine McAlpine, describing the Large Hadron Collider
The Graduate Junction brings together Masters, Doctoral and
Postdoctoral researchers from any discipline around the globe, with the goal to provide an easy way to communicate with others who share
common research interests in a global multi-disciplinary environment.
This
new free online resource has been developed by graduate researchers at
Durham and Oxford University (UK). They have designed a simple, easy
to use platform which only provides relevant information and
functionality.
"Dual-Career Academic Couples: What Universities Need to Know", a research study from Stanford University's Clayman Institute. Click here |
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