Tuesday, July 19, 2011

AASWomen Newsletter for July 15, 2011

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of July 15, 2011
eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson amp; Michele Montgomery

This week's issues:

1. NY Times Article Advises, "Don't Fret. Just Ask for What You Need"

2. Call for Nominations: 2012-2015 MIT Pappalardo Fellowships in Physics

3. Three Young Women Crowned Winners of Google Science Fair

4. Inappropriate Article

5. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter

6. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter

7. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter


1. NY Times Article Advises, "Don't Fret. Just Ask for What You Need"
From: Gerrit Verschuur [verschuur_at_aol.com]

Sunday's NY Times had a fascinating article entitled "Don't Fret. Just Ask for What You Need" by Peggy Klaus. Written from the perspective of the corporate world, it no doubt has lessons for women in academia as well:

"You can't be afraid to ask," my Uncle Art used to say when recounting tales of his successful 40-odd-year career selling mattresses up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

My uncle was talking about making the sale, but corporate types need to ask for what they need, too. This is especially true for women, who, in spite of an increase in diversity training, mentoring and sponsorship programs, still lag far behind men in reaching senior management and C-suite positions. In fact, in 2010, only 14.4 percent of the executive officer positions at Fortune 500 companies were held by women.

Whether from fear of being perceived as too aggressive or too selfish, women tend not to be comfortable asking for what they want. And when they do ask, it can be in ineffective ways.

To read more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/jobs/10pre.html?_r=1

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2. Call for Nominations: 2012-2015 MIT Pappalardo Fellowships in Physics
From: Carol Breen [breen_at_mit.edu]

Faculty and senior researchers within the international community of physics, astronomy or related fields are invited to nominate candidates for the 2012-2015 MIT Pappalardo Fellowships in Physics competition.

Nominees must be young men or women of exceptional ability who have, or will have received, a doctoral degree in physics, astronomy or related fields by September 1, 2012. Nominations must be submitted using the program's secure, on-line nomination form on the MIT Department of Physics web site at http://web.mit.edu/physics/research/pappalardo/competition.html .

The NOMINATION DEADLINE is FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011.

Three new Fellows will be selected for a three-year appointment each, running from September 1, 2012, through August 31, 2015. Features of the fellowship include:

---independent, unrestricted choice of research direction within the MIT   Department of Physics;

---competitive annual stipend of $63,700 for first-year Fellows in the   2012-13 academic year, with an annual cost-of-living increase, plus   $5,000 per year in untaxed discretionary research funds;

---MIT Medical Affiliate health insurance coverage for Fellows and their   dependents;

---active faculty mentoring provided by weekly luncheons and monthly   dinners with Department faculty and distinguished guests.

Important Note: Participation in the annual MIT Pappalardo Fellowships competition is restricted to those candidates who have been nominated by a faculty member or senior researcher from the international community of physics, astronomy or related fields. The fellowships program office cannot accept any materials from applicants without this faculty/senior researcher sponsorship.

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3. Three Young Women Crowned Winners of Google Science Fair
From: Joan Schmelz and WIPHYS of July 14, 2011

On July 11, 2011, three women took the top honors at the inaugural Google Science Fair. The judges said the unifying elements of all three young women were their intellectual curiosity, their tenaciousness and their ambition to use science to find solutions to big problems. They examined complex problems and found both simple solutions that can be implemented by the general public, as well as more complex solutions that can be addressed in labs by doctors and researchers. Read more at the Physics Today Blog: http://blogs.physicstoday.org/newspicks/2011/07/three-women-take-top-honors-at.html

and http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/07/13/google-announces-three-young-women-winners-first-science-fair

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4. Inappropriate article
From: Anonymous

I believe that the inclusion of this article ( http://journalofcosmology.com/Consciousness164.html ) and its graphics in the "Journal of Cosmology" is not appropriate or relevant to cosmology and is objectionable/insulting to women and to scientists. I have already contacted the journal editors about this and I urge readers who agree with me to do the same.

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5. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

To submit an item to the AASWOMEN newsletter, including replies to topics, send email to aaswomen_at_aas.org

All material will be posted unless you tell us otherwise, including your email address.

Please remember to replace "_at_" in the e-mail address above.

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6. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter, please fill in the required information at:

http://lists.aas.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/aaswlist

If you experience any problems, please email itdept_at_aas.org

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7. Access to Past Issues

http://www.aas.org/cswa/AASWOMEN.html

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

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