Yale losing biotech students

Yale losing biotech students

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Subject: Yale losing biotech students

Date: Apr 18, 2008 4:19 PM

ARTICLE BY YALE BELOW
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

'Completely understandable given all their stupid science crimes.
Yale produces the dumbest scientists and medical malpractioners on
earth.

For instance, the infamous Allen Steere.
Durland Fish caught with an actual hit-list and spending his time on
these sorts
of endeavors:
* w w w .actionlyme.org/TICK_BITE_CONSPIRACY.htm
Erol Fikrig sending in a journal article for publication explaining
how LYMErix
would not work 4 days after he applied for the patent for it.
Yale's Eugene Shapiro is completely incompetent to reading the
scientific journal
articles produced by Yale about congenital Lyme, and apparently no one
read to him
the bedtime story about congenital syphilis.
James Phillips is incompetent to reading *anything* other than his own
confused
nonsense.
Patricia Leebens only published one article, and it was about
"careers"
in academia, but none of the peer-reviewers looked into the matter of
Leebens never
previously publishing anything, much less anything scientific or
medical.
Yale Robert Schoen published the most self-indicting blerb there ever
was, even
before LYMErix was falsely approved by the FDA:
* w w w .actionlyme.org/SCHOEN_INSTRUCTING_DOCS_TO_BLOW_OFF_LYMERIX_INJURE=
ES.htm

"SEND ALL THE BLOOD TO OURRICO LAB- the only labs who can used the
patent OspA-B
less method (invented out of thin air by ALlen Steere in Europe,
deliberately leaving
OspA out of the Dearborn diagnostic standard to set up the monopoly:"
* w w w .actionlyme.org/CRYMEDISEASE_CHP3.htm )
* w w w .actionlyme.org/SCHOEN_INSTRUCTING_DOCS_TO_BLOW_OFF_LYMERIX_INJURE=
ES.htm


These people are not just stupid scientists, they're plain old dumb
crooks and
thugs, like the mafia.

"Hey, Eddie-da-Mick! Ya wanna send her a bogus article?"
* w w w .actionlyme.org/TICK_BITE_CONSPIRACY.htm

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
* yaledailynews . com /articles/view/24481
Biological cycles: Attrition in science
While number of MB&B, E&EB, MCDB majors drops off sharply, physics and
engineering
see rapid growth


When Michael Koelle, director of undergraduate studies in the
Molecular Biophysics
& Biochemistry department, came to Yale 10 years ago, there were twice
as many
MB&B majors as there were last year.

His initial reaction: it was simple coincidence. Biology-oriented
students, he assumed,
were probably just drifting to other biology-related majors.

But a departmental analysis of the figures reveal an entirely
different picture.
The sharp drop in MB&B majors was not being absorbed by either the
biomedical-engineering
major =97 which has graduated between 10 and 15 students every year
since its inception
in 2003 =97 or Yale=92s two biology majors, Cellular, Molecular and
Developmental Biology
and Ecological and Evolutionary Biology.

=93Their numbers aren=92t increasing either,=94 Koelle said.

The question, Koelle recalled, then became slightly different and far
more trouble:
are students leaving the sciences altogether?

While the MB&B department=92s tale may seem to suggest so, numbers
provided by
the University sketch a more complex story than just simple attrition
for the sciences
in general. The data suggest cyclic periods of ups and downs with a
notably prolonged
peak in the early =9290s, followed by a dip has begun to flatten out in
recent years.

But the past decade has not been as grim for all the science
departments. Some,
such as Physics and some of the engineering majors, may actually be
better off now
than they were in years past. And indeed =97 as Dean of Science
Education William
Segraves said =97 while enrollment in the biological sciences may be
down relative
to 10 years ago, the early =9290s, because of an isolated spike in
interest in medical
careers, was an =93unrepresentative=94 period that perhaps shouldn=92t be
used as a gauge.

Now, after a trough that was most pronounced in 2002-2003, science
departments are
rebuilding and strengthening their undergraduate programs. And, by
targeting science-oriented
students in the admissions process, reaching out to individual
students and expanding
undergraduate research opportunities, the sciences at Yale may just
make a comeback.

A =91big hike=92 and then a fall

Between 1987-=9288 and 1992-=9293, the number of undergraduates enrolled
in courses
in the natural and physical sciences shot up from just under 8,000 to
over 15,000,
representing a two-fold increase, according to the Office of
Institutional Research.
That was =93the big hike=94 =97 one that professors said may be anomalous in=

the grand
scheme of the data =97 before a fall in the numbers, beginning in 1996
that brought
enrollment levels down closer to their original, pre-surge levels.

Simply comparing enrollment numbers in the current year to the
previous decade makes
it easy to conclude that interest in the sciences is dropping =97 but
the truth is
a little more nuanced, professors said.

Segraves said the 1992-=9293 peak was created by an influx of students
entering the
biological sciences, belying the stability of enrollment in physical
science courses
over the same time period. Indeed, in 1987-=9288, just under 100 seniors
graduated
as Biology majors, but that number had shot to over 150 by 1997-=9298,
according to
OIR data.

This sudden surge and fall was not unique to Yale, but was likely
influenced by
the national landscape of medicine, he said. The numbers at Yale
mirror national
trends of increased interest in the medical field during the =9290s,
followed by a
six-year period of declining interest.

According to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges,
in 1996 almost
47,000 individuals applied to U.S. medical schools, the culmination of
a build-up
that began in 1989. Since then, total numbers dropped anywhere from
1,000 to 4,000
applicants each year and reached an all-time low of 33,501 in 2002.

The data on student enrollment suggest that student interest in
medicine at Yale
has waned since its high in the =9290s, said MCDB chair Thomas Pollard.

=93A lot of what=92s happening [in the biology departments at Yale] is
influenced by
the what=92s going on the health care system,=94 he said, noting that the
majority of
Biology majors are also pre-med students.

Both Koelle and Pollard said they think that some students may
perceive the medical
field as less desirable than they did in the previous decades, and opt
for other
careers.

=93My hypothesis is that this bump down may reflect that many physicians
have gotten
disillusioned about the healthcare system in recent years,=94 Pollard
said.

Pollard said recent cuts to federal spending on research =97 which have
downsized
the research activities of science labs around the country =97 may also
play a minor
role in pushing students away from majors in biology.

But Koelle said this phenomenon has not yet filtered down to the
undergraduate level,
mainly because of the perception that =93these things happen in cycles.=94

=93Funding gets worse, funding gets better,=94 he said. =93By the time
they=92re ready to
get into research, [current undergraduates] are going to be a
different place in
the cycle.=94

Flexibility and fluctuation

Unlike enrollment within the biological sciences, the Physics,
Chemistry and Engineering
departments have stayed relatively stable since the 1990s, while some
departments
have even seen modest growth.

The numbers of Physics majors, for instance, has been rapidly rising,
having increased
between 10 to 20 per cent over the last decade, said Peter Parker,
director of undergraduates
studies in the Physics department.

While the upward trend parallels a nationwide increase in the number
of undergraduate
physics majors in recent years, Parker said that departmental efforts
to restructure
the major, which have included adding courses and revitalizing the
curriculum, have
had a part to play in attracting more students.

The class of 2007 had about 20 more physics students than the class of
2002, according
to the OIR.

Physics major Elise Novitski =9208 said that she is been pleased with
the new structure
of the program =97 which offers two parallel tracks, a normal BS and an
intensive
BS =97 because it provides more flexibility to students who may have
varying career
intentions.

Similarly, Yale graduated more bachelor=92s degrees in Engineering in
2007 than in
any year over the past four decades, and overall enrollment in
engineering majors
has increased by 30 to 40 per cent over the last five years, former
Dean of Engineering
Paul Fleury said in a recent interview.

Much of this growth, he added, can be attributed to the creation of
the Biomedical
Engineering major and Environmental Engineering majors =97 whereas
enrollment in the
original engineering majors =97 Chemical, Electrical and Mechanical =97 is
either stable
or just beginning to show signs of modest growth.

But current Dean of Engineering T. Kyle Vanderlick said aggregate
numbers in the
engineering program fluctuate around 60, making it =93difficult to talk
about trends=94
with such few numbers.

Despite these individual stories of success, the overall decline in
science enrollment
since the =9290s may also be partially traced to the creation of new
majors that draw
from science, Segraves said. For instance, recently-created majors
such as Cognitive
Science, Environmental Studies and History of Science, History of
Medicine may have
drawn upon the potential science major pool.

=91Get them early=92

A slow reversal of enrollment declines in some science majors and
small increases
in enrollment in others comes at a time when data from the Office of
Undergraduate
Admissions shows that many more admitted students indicate they intend
to pursue
science majors, especially biology, than end up doing so.

Overall, the share of Yale students pursuing majors in the natural and
physical
sciences was 20 percent in 2007, according to the OIR.

Segraves said while students typically shift their majors after coming
to Yale,
the =93net=94 effect of student movement out of science majors may reflect
that fact
that students can easily leave science paths to enter other fields,
but it is more
difficult for students to successfully enter science majors if they
have gotten
a late start.

=93In part, it=92s due to the idea that there=92s a relatively linear course=

of study
within science majors that makes it hard for students to move into the
sciences,=94
he said.

Pollard said the trend is not one specific to Yale, but rather reflect
the phenomenon
of coming from limited high school course offerings to college, where
course choices
abound. Many students come to Yale having taken science courses in
high school,
he said, while many have not sampled as many of the humanities
disciplines the College
offers. So many may end up making the initial decision to choose a
science major
with little information, he said.

Some students interviewed said introductory science courses themselves
may dissuade
potential science majors from continuing down the science route.

Jessie Ellner =9208, a linguistics major who is also pre-med, said she
thinks the
impersonal, often alienating, nature of introductory science courses
can turn off
students deciding whether to go into science.

=93For people who are wavering, there=92s nothing specifically inviting,=94
she said.
=93Many of the large, lecture hall classes turn into factories of just
throwing out
information =85 and have this =91just-to-get-through=92 atmosphere.=94

She added that sources of help, such as discussion sections and TAs,
exist, but
their accessibility and helpfulness vary from course to course.

The grading system among introductory science courses, which tend to
assign grades
on a curve based on their performance relative to the class, also
tends to unwittingly
pit students against one another =97 breeding pressure and subconscious
competition,
Ellner said.

Novitski said it is difficult to get rid of the format of introductory
courses altogether,
since building up a knowledge of science necessitates exposure to a
large base of
knowledge before students can get to =93the cool, innovative stuff.=94

But she agrees that some introductory courses do not engage students
in the way
they could, drawing upon her anecdotal experience of students who take
courses like
Physics 150 and 180. The key is to staff introductory courses with
=93really good
lecturers,=94 she said.

Ellner said faculty could get around the huge enrollment in
introductory courses
that =93makes more personal attention nearly impossible=94 simply by
breaking up lectures
into multiple, smaller introductory classes, following the format of
introductory
math classes.

But much of the responsibility of making sure students are being drawn
to the sciences
and staying in them rests on the shoulders of individual departments,
Vanderlick
said.

She said that many students will give the sciences like engineering a
chance unless
you =93get them early,=94 which makes creating relevant first-year science
seminars
and getting the word out about =93what engineering really is=94 crucial.

Science majors, she said, are like trains because people can often
either catch
them or miss them.

=93Once you don=92t give jumping onto on the train track a chance, you
can=92t jump on
later,=94 she said.

=91Not only about equations=92

Segraves said that a hands-on experience can often be the determining
factor for
whether a student decides to become a science major.

In this vein, administrators are working on giving students earlier
access to research
and experiential learning opportunities.

Koelle said the Forest Expedition and Laboratory, a course developed
by MB&B
Professor Scott Strobel, was created with the intention of putting a
new spin on
laboratory courses to getting students excited about science. The
course sponsors
a spring break trip to South American, where students collect
rainforest specimens
that they can then examine under the microscope back in New Haven.

Segraves said the Dean=92s Office also plans

Re: Yale losing biotech students

wha?


Dr. KlkZhanQg!!!

Bring on your Usenet forensic persona, please!!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Subject: Yale losing biotech students

Date: Apr 18, 2008 4:19 PM

ARTICLE BY YALE BELOW
==================

'Completely understandable given all their stupid science crimes.
Yale produces the dumbest scientists and medical malpractioners on
earth.

For instance, the infamous Allen Steere.
Durland Fish caught with an actual hit-list and spending his time on
these sorts
of endeavors: