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Synapse The UCSF Student Newspaper
Thursday, November 7, 2013
MIND&BODY
Biking the Bridge to the Headlands By T. Booth Haley Staff Writer
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synapse.ucsf.edu
Volume 58, Number 9
NEWS
UCSF Student Volunteers Inspire Budding Scientists in SF Schools By Rosa Chan Staff Writer
s with many local tourist attractions, making the pilgrimage across one of the greatest bridges of America’s golden age is something that most residents of our fair city never get around to. So, put Dolores Park on the back burner this weekend, and make the trek. It is a journey through fog and time that delivers you in glorious fashion to the near-wilderness of the Marin Headlands. The bridge and the headlands individually would warrant a weekend jaunt, and together they make an urban outing beyond compare. In a display of renewed confidence as the nation emerged from the Great Depression, the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937. With a pricetag of $35 million, the project was completed under budget and ahead of schedule — something unimaginable today. Its Art Deco style celebrates the ascendancy of industrialism in the interwar period. A proud span indeed. At the time of its construction, the Golden Gate was the tallest and longest suspension bridge in the world. Although it has historically been associated with the private automobile, in recent years, bicycles have become the most romantic mode of transport for making the crossing.
Photo courtesy of Julia Seaman/PSPG
BIKING THE BRIDGE » PAGE 7
Julia Seaman, a graduate student in the PSPG (Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics) program, has volunteered with SEP for several years.
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NEWS
Life of a Grad Student: the View from the Seventh Year By Angela Castanieto Staff Writer
Student 1 Female/Parnassus
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ynapse: Tell me about your experience at UCSF so far.
It’s been a really good experience overall. I came straight from undergrad to grad school, and I’d done research in the lab before, but not fulltime. I remember when I came here, I was superimpressed by all the grad students — especially the ones in the classes above. I’d see them present in seminars, and I thought, “What did I get myself into?” But as I’ve gone through the program, and as I look back at what I’ve learned and
GRAD STUDENT 1 » PAGE 4
Student 2 Female/UCSF-affiliated institution
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ynapse: Tell me `about your experience at UCSF so far.
I remember that when I was visiting UCSF, I was blown away by how smart and normal everyone was, and also how professional — even the youngest grad students. It seemed like everyone was at the top of his or her game. And then you actually start being in a lab, and it’s not that easy — not everything works all of the time, and there are rough points for everyone. However, the school has been very supportive with everyone I know who has had bumps along
GRAD STUDENT 2 » PAGE 4
o you want to gain teaching experience, inspire young students in science and contribute to the community by working with K-12 students? Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP) may be your answer. SEP is a collaboration between UCSF scientists and San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) teachers to support highquality science education for K-12 students. SEP has been working with UCSF since 1987. SEP was also the main organizer for the Bay Area Science Festival (BASF), a 10day celebration of the unique mix of science and technology in the Bay Area that ran from October 24 to November 2. The festival provided a wide range of science and technology activities — lectures, debates, exhibitions, concerts, plays and workshops — at a variety of locations throughout the Bay Area. To find out more about volunteering for SEP, we talked with Julia Seaman, a graduate student in the PSPG (Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics) program. She has participated in SEP for a number of years and shares some of her experiences here. Synapse: Can you tell me about your experience with SEP? When did you start working? How did you get involved? Seaman: I have volunteered with SEP every year I have been at UCSF (in my fourth year now). I found out about them from a flyer emailed from my program administrator advertising their info session. I attended the session and signed up for the STAT (Science-Teacher Action Teams) program. They are incredibly organized and had meetings set up to help everyone get started with teaching and to meet our science and teacher partners. I enjoyed it so much the first year that I signed up again when the applications came out each year. Last year, I was able to do a bigger program, called City Science, where I was in a fifth-grade classroom for a whole unit and then helped teach other SFUSD teachers the unit based on the in-classroom experience. While it was much more intense, it was a lot more rewarding to be able to do extended lessons and concepts and (get) more teaching experience.
STUDENT VOLUNTEERS » PAGE 3