Student SPHere

Christie Martin is starting to fill out secondaries!

Christie is grateful for another beautiful weekend in Stillwater!

Entertainment of the week:

The Grand Banquet Hall
525 South Main Street
Stillwater, MN 55082
651.430.1234

Quang Restuarant
Vietnamese Food
2719 Nicollet Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612.870.4739
www.quangmn.com

Minneapolis/St. Paul Happenings:

Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Georgia O'Keeffe:
Circling Around Abstraction coming soon!
Sunday, October 7, 2007—Sunday, January 6, 2008

Word of the Day, Sunday September 30, 2007 (dictionary.com):

precipice \PRES-uh-pis\, noun:
1. A very steep, perpendicular, or overhanging place; a cliff.
2. The brink of a hazardous situation.

Week at-a-glance (weather.com):

Mon Oct 1
Partly Cloudy
70°/55° 20%

Tue Oct 2
T-Showers
66°/47° 60%

Wed Oct 3
Mostly Sunny
70°/51° 10%
Plan a Scenic Drive

Thu Oct 4
Partly Cloudy
73°/62° 10%

Fri Oct 5
Isolated T-Storms
74°/65° 30%

Sat Oct 6
Scattered T-Storms
68°/43° 40%
Get Tips for Driving in the Rain

Sun Oct 7
Few Showers
50°/38° 30%

Continue reading "Stillwater" »

Posted by Christie Martin at 10:30 PM
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Hi everyone! I had a very crazy week...I worked over 35 hours this week at my RA (instead of my barely 20)! I definitely, definitely recommend that full time graduate students DO NOT work full-time! I did it for this one week and could barely handle it...and I still have to do all of my homework for next week since I didn't get a chance to start anything. Yeah for a homework weekend.
Ok, enough venting for me. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage EVERYONE to go and watch the Twin Cities Marathon next Sunday (October 7th) . I went last year to support friends of mine running and it is seriously a good time! It is very empowering and inspiring - someday I might take on a 5K (really, I am not a runner!) This year, 3 biostatistics students (that I'm aware of) are running it - we are a fit crew! If you have any free time next weekend, you should go! Plus, it is Fall in Minnesota, the BEST time of the year! I hope to see some fellow SPH students there supporting the runners!

Posted by Rachel Isaksson at 4:47 PM
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Hey, so it's the end of September. Classes are still going well. I must say that working 32 hours a week (at the U) and taking 7 credits is a totally manageable load. I am always prepared for class and still have time to go out. It's perfect, really. I also must thank my department for paying for my education with the Regent's scholarship. Thanks Department of Pediatrics. I really owe you one. I'm getting geared up to think about some of my big projects coming up this semester. I think I'm going to do my controversy in public health paper on overpopulation and how it relates to public health. I feel a little cramped on this planet, but I don't want to live in a non-urban area. What a conundrum. I went a little crazy on amazon.com this week and bought a couple of books about it from people who seem credible. I hope I have enough time to read them through. I really love writing papers and have missed doing it. Science tests on scantrons sort of suck. Yeah liberal studies.
So as far as fun goes, I went to a burlesque show at the Bryant Lake Bowl this week. Pasties and tassels are really entertaining, I must say. I'm so glad there are people in the world who can do that stuff, because it's not me. But I do enjoy watching it. No live music this week, but I think I might have 5 shows to report by next week. I'm going to be pretty tired, but very happy.This city is so fun!
I finally got postcards made for my art show coming up. I've been painting a lot lately and am having my first showing in a month. They'll be at Moxie salon, at both locations (one uptown and one midway) for 6 weeks. I'm having an opening party and I can't wait! Take my word now, if I get rich and famous from my art, I will NOT quit school. That's how cool it is. But that won't happen anyway, so no need to ever call me on my word. That's all for now. I have a really fun weekend planned...

Posted by Juliet Massie at 6:14 PM
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Lets start with a "How bout them Packers!!?" (Right now, Mark is reading this blog and thinking 'What the heck?! I told this guy to make this blog about his life at school and he does this?! I suppose this is what I get for letting a cheesehead do this.') You may remember that I grew up 40 miles from Lambeau Field, and have a borderline unhealthy obsession with the Green Bay Packers. In case you live in a cave, they're 3-0 right now, 3 and 0!! Last Sunday I went to The Herkimer in Uptown Minneapolis, which is a brew pub that is owned by a couple of Packer fans who play the games each week, and every Sunday the place gets flooded with green and gold clad fans screaming at the TVs. It's a blast. An old high school buddy of mine (who is getting a PhD at the U) and I went to watch the Packers beat the Chargers, which was a great way to wind down the weekend! This week they roll into Minneapolis, where it's likely that the game attendance will be 60/40, Viking to Packer fan ratio. Go Pack Go! (OK Mark, I'm done...for this week).
What's the next P word? Oh yes, Paternalism Public Health Policy. This was something we discussed yesterday in my class "Public Health Policy as a Prevention Strategy." The professor for this course was explaining different ideologies in thinking about public health. For part of the class, we discussed whether paternalism (which would be like Public Health officials passing restrictions into law to protect the individual's health from their own behavior) is behind public health policy. An example of this would be about a year ago when New York City passed legislation to ban trans fats in NYC restaurants. Public health policy is protecting the individual from eating foods that would eventually clog the widest of arteries. Or another example would be making motor cycle helmets mandatory. We discussed how at times there is a fine line in public health policy, where paternalism can go over board. For example, if we first banned trans fats, and then banned Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers because they are unhealthy. Now I love public health, but I also love having the freedom to, after a bad day when I feel like I could eat a horse, spend 99 cents on an unhealthy yet especially delicious JBC. I found it interesting as well, that our professor didn't feel that Public Health Policy was about paternalism, but should be thought of as a common good. That it is less toward protecting the individual, but rather protection for all. I can see where she's coming from, but I'm convinced paternalism is a big part of public health policy. That, those in the public health world work to tell others what is good for them and at times push for restrictions that would protect people from their own behavior, and that other forces (the market, freedom/choice, individualism) pushes back to keep us in check. I think it's an interesting way to think about public health policy and where it is going today. I need to read up to learn more about this concept (among many other things).
Pizza, yes it is a good food, and us Public Health Administration and Policy students can eat it for free tomorrow for lunch. It's kind of an icebreaker event for first year and second year students in our major to get to know each other. I helped organize this through this other program that I helped out with called the "PHAP Peer Partnership Program." This essentially was a way for incoming students to contact volunteer second year students during the summer if they had any questions about being a student in the School of Public Health, and to get advice from others with a little experience under their belt. Anyway, it should be a good and filling time tomorrow.
I'm currently working on my master's project, which will focus on a payment method in healthcare settings called "Pay for Performance." Specifically, my project will be looking at in which contexts (healthcare settings) does Pay for Performance schemes work and why? For example, Medicare is currently experimenting with a few clinics on how to implement pay for performance to increase quality and limit costs. This particular demonstration will be a large part of my project. Anyway, you'll hear more about that in coming weeks, and I should basically dedicate a blog entry to explaining it.
The parents are coming back in town for my brother's birthday, and as a final visit before they leave for China for a month. Oh, what's that? Why are they going? Oh just for kicks. Yeah, my brother and I have informed them that when they get older and they can't afford the nicer old folks home, we'll remind them of this trip (semi-kidding). Anyway, it should be a blast, and I expect them to bring me back something cool, other than a lead-based Thomas-the-Train toy (or can you only find those in America? Not sure). So I've been looking for something for us to do in the cities as a family. In respect to their upcoming trip, I saw that there is an exhibit going on at the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum on the U of M campus called "Documenting China: Contemporary Photography and Social Change." Should be pretty interesting, and the Weisman is a real asset to have on campus. This event was one on a long list of things going on in the Twin Cities. Things I didn't choose include: "Menopause the Musical", "Curious George: Lets get Curious!", "The Atomic Punks" (no offense, just might not be my parent's and 7-month old nephew's kind of music) and "Scarecrows on Parade."
And right now, I need to at least start looking at a take-home quiz that is due on Friday to stop my procrastination. All for now, see you next week!

Posted by Evan Cole at 7:06 PM
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Christie Martin is going to tell you about her trip to Stillwater next week!

Christie is grateful for the first day of Fall!

Entertainment of the week:

Fuddrucker's: The World's Greatest Hamburgers
3801 Minnesota Drive
Bloomington, MN 55435
952.835.3833
www.fuddruckers.com

Luna Rossa Wine Bar
402 South Main Street
Stillwater, MN 55082
651.430.0560
www.lunarossawinebar.com/

Minneapolis/St. Paul Happenings:

Sinead O'Connor with Damien Dempsey
9/24/2007 at 7:30 P.M.
Pantages Theatre
www.sinead-oconnor.com

Word of the Day, Sunday September 23, 2007 (dictionary.com):

abrogate \AB-ruh-gayt\, transitive verb:
1. To annul or abolish by an authoritative act.
2. To put an end to; to do away with.

Week at-a-glance (weather.com):

Mon Sep 24
PM T-Storms
78°/57° 80%

Tue Sep 25
T-Showers
58°/44° 60%

Wed Sep 26
Partly Cloudy
69°/49° 10%

Thu Sep 27
Mostly Cloudy
63°/43° 10%

Fri Sep 28
Sunny
66°/51° 10%

Sat Sep 29
T-Showers
64°/49° 40%

Sun Sep 30
Few Showers
62°/45° 30%

Continue reading "Mswaki!" »

Posted by Christie Martin at 9:20 PM
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Hello everyone..

Wow, it has been three weeks already. I have to admit with you all that I am quite (or very) behind with my classes. I am trying to catch up by spending the last 3 hours at University St. Thomas’s library (my undergraduate home).

I just found this website is very helpful for finding restaurants, groceries or anything you want. The website is http://www.dexonline.com

By now you may have know pretty much about our campus. However let me have an honor to give you a quick tour of where I usually go get my food with friends.
On the East Bank, I usually go to:

- Village Wok: this is an affordable cheap restaurant. You can get your food order very quickly especially during lunch hours, however they are not that great. They have all the entrees you can think of; I can say that they are good, but not one of the best. If you like noodle you should try the Roast Duck dumpling and egg noodle. Their wonton noodle with sauce is very very good.

- Hong Kong Noodle is a nice place to go if you have more time; they usually make to order so the food usually arrives 20 minutes later, but their entrees are very delicious. My favorite dishes are all stir fried accompanied with their noodle or Korean casserole. They also have refreshing fruit drinks such as durian, mango, lychee..etc.

- Korean Restaurant: This is a very small restaurant locates near the McNamara Center. They have the lunch buffet from 11:00 – 2:00PM everyday; their price is about $9. They have about less than 15 choices, but trust me their food are super delicious. If you like Korean bbq – you are coming to the right place.

- Bona: This is a Vietnamese restaurant; to be honest with you I have not been there because I heard from my Vietnamese fellows that their food are not really authentic.

Alright, let’s discover outside of campus a bit - besides these restaurants on east campus, you should discover further down University Avenue I think on bus route #16 or 50. There is a U Garden, this is a very huge restaurant and they have very good Chinese and Vietnamese entrees. Cruising further down the street, you will see Overflow coffee shop and middle eastern stores. Most of the shops begin when you’d reach University Ave. and Snelling. If you turn left on Snelling, you will notice Korean groceries and restaurants. On Snelling you can also reach to the Rosedale Mall (This is a very big mall; they have the huge Macy’s, JCPenny, Herbergers, Borders and many others clothing stores. I almost forgot you should come to Panera Bread, they have very good bread. You can study there all day; buy one cup of coffee and have it free refill all day long. There is also an AMC movie theater, very big and nice.

Okay, now u-turning back onto University Avenue on the right side you will see Rainbow (they have best poultry choices), Walmart (cheap merchandise), Cubfood (cheap and fresh fruits and vegetables), Supertarget (very big and they have everything you want to buy.) There are also variety clothing shops around that area and they are considered affordable.

Wow, are you tired of these shops yet? Alright let’s go to find other shops on University Avenue. Calmly sailing further down you will see lots of Vietnamese and Chinese Asian grocery stores and restaurants. By Dale Street, you will see Shang Hur, a Chinese supermarket. If you turn left on Dale Street and go further down to couple blocks you will see Dragon Supermarket. This is a Hmong supermarket; they have very cheap vegetables, many varieties of tropical fruits, sea food and seriously - everything Asian. Okay, hopping on University Avenue again and passing just couple blocks from Dale on your right you will see a Hmong farmer market. They only come together on Saturday and Sunday; they are about $1 - $2 a vegetable bundle.

Alright, if you go further down by the Capital and turn left on Marion you will see the International Farmer Market. I am telling you this place has everything “Hmong� even though it said “International.� This is a cool exploring place to hang out on the weekend with friends; they have a food court, small shops..and many other things. On your way discovering University Avenue there are several restaurants you should visit some time. These are places that I often go; Tay Ho, Pho Ca Dao, Ai Que, Que Nha, and Saigon. If you like bubble tea, there is a Tea Garden on Grand avenue which is very good.

Let’s stop traveling for now and we’ll continue our journey in the near future. I hope you find these places helpful and email me if you have any question. Best..Thuy

Posted by Thuy Doan at 8:55 PM
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I'm sitting here, Sunday morning, trying to recount where all my time went! Apparently, I was not as disciplined as I had planned to be seeing that my to-do list has only expanded...oh well.....nothing that a pot of coffee and a late night can't rectify

Currently, it's sunny outside and this means that no environment apart from the basement of the Biomedical Library is conducive to getting any work done for me, but even despite the mountainous papers to read and things to write, I refuse to step foot on campus on a Sunday! With that said, you can find me--at least until the sun goes down--pedaling, paddling, or running around the lakes....

Cheers!

Posted by Gabriel Anderson at 11:22 AM
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I love public health! I sure wish I would have known more about it earlier in my academic career, but as they say, the path is a winding road. Or something like that. I want to read about it and talk about it all the time now. My classes are so interesting and engaging. My fellow students come from a variety of backgrounds that create great class discussions. So far, I am intensely happy with the program! It's really nice to look forward to doing reading as opposed to (like physics) loathing assignments. I still haven't been completely enveloped with projects and papers, but that is soon to come. So far, it's been reading and gathering ideas.

I've been taking a few group exercise classes at the rec center this week including Boxing and Butts & Guts. Despite the annoyingly cheerful instructors and the incessant 'unt...unt...unt' type music, they're pretty good. If I try hard enough though, I can drown out the horrible musical taste of group fitness.For those reasons, I don't think I could ever stand to take a Spin class. Way too peppy. I can't wait until it gets super cold and I can enjoy the sauna again at the rec center. It's too hot for that right now. Another little piece of the rec center culture is locker room nudity. Why do people take a shower and insist on walking back to their locker completely naked while holding a towel? Have some shame, people. Seriously. Sometimes I think I can see peoples' souls as they bend over to apply lotion at their bench. Maybe I'm too conservative, but that annoys me.

Now it's time for my weekly show update that most people couldn't care less about. Last week I saw Rilo Kiley at First Ave. Despite their signing to a major label, I enjoyed the show. Their stage performance was formulaic in a way I haven't seen in a while. They played a few synergizing tunes, then a couple of acoustic songs, brought back the full band and did the obligatory two-song encore. But anyway, Jenny Lewis is enjoyable to view at any rate. So cute! And last night, I saw St. Vincent and The National at the Fine Line. It was awesome in the original meaning of the word. Matt Berninger is magnetic. That deep, sexy voice spewing such beautiful lyrics accompanied by an electric violin and a loud band was almost too much to take in. Somehow I managed. Since the last time I saw them, the amount of people at the show about doubled. I'm really glad they're catching on. They freaking deserve it. I have to say something about show etiquette now. When it's super crowded, I do not appreciate a)smelly people (that means perfume, too ) and b)super-excited people that can't help but jump around despite the fact that they're too old to do it (like over 17) and it's too crowded. You're really impeding my view of Matt Berninger. Please stop. I like 'getting into' the show at least as much as anyone, but be respectful of limited space and personal boundaries. Consider the spread of tuberculosis when in mass gathering. When three feet is not allowed, at least give me elbow room.

Next week will be fun- I have some studio-apartment guests coming in from St. Louis (where I'm from) and I have the diligent task of making them fall in love with this amazing city. Oh, do I have an itinerary. They're coming up because of the Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem show next Sunday. And I'll also have an excuse to eat out a lot. Perhaps a Triple Rock breakfast is in order. I miss living in Seward when I did that all the time. Their Bloody Marys are spectacular. Ok, now I'm not saying anything important. I am hungry and I think I'm going to eat some oatmeal because that's all I have except cans of black beans. I think I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow. And since I won't be getting any reading done next weekend, I need to get a-going on that.

Posted by Juliet Massie at 8:03 PM
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Hi everyone! Like everyone else, I had a VERY crazy week! But before I dive into that, I want to send out a big CONGRATS to a fellow biostatistics masters student (and his wife) who just had a very healthy and adorable little boy!

Week recap:
Turned in 2 big assignments (with a third due early next week)

Reading, reviewing lectures

Trying to relearn everything I learned last year that my professors think I magically didn't lose
over the summer

Worked late on my RA to finish data analysis for an abstract for a conference:
There is nothing like your boss waiting at 7pm (when you've both been there since 8am) for your final results,
which she will quickly fax over to the MDs who are also working on the clinical trial. I finally left at 7:30 that night,
when my roommate was nice enough to come pick me up (the busses I can take to get back home only run until
6:30!) And after that, of course, I had to work on more homework.

But I did survive the week and turned in my assignments! If there is one thing that has really helped me succeed in graduate school, it is having a study group! When I first started grad school, I had heard from a lot of people that it is lonely and you do most of the work by yourself, etc. etc. If I had done that, I wouldn't have made it through my first year. There are two other students and I who bonded together almost immediately and we meet at least weekly to discuss homework, lectures, and the stresses of our program. I can not stress enough how important this is for me - we all bring something different to the table and understand concepts in different ways and working together will make us better biostatisticians.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by Rachel Isaksson at 9:48 AM
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And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
~ Anais Nin

Lightening is nothing more than energy. Right? And statistically speaking, since I’m becoming an epidemiologist, the odds of getting struck by lightening is like 1 in “insert some big baffling number�. That’s what I told myself as I gleefully, cough cough, errrr, I mean professionally, stepped outside the land of Mayo 5:45 pm today. There was something blaring, kinda like a siren of some sort, perhaps the tornado warning. It was a satisfying day—to recap: I successfully turned in my first Epi III HW, made it to Social and Behav on time, learned that fathers prepare the X (cuz they know it’s going to their daughter and not their son) differently than mothers prepare the X (since it could go either way) in Genetic Epi, and burned some ravioli in the microwave while tasting Thuy’s un-identified stringy fruit/vegetable. Why didn’t you tell me I wasn’t suppose to eat the stringy part, Thuy???

But the end of the day was magnificent.

Our heads are full of formulas, Chi-squares, Health Belief Models, schedules; our tummies full of burnt raviolis and stringy unidentified fruits/vegetables; and all it takes is a rush of wind, a flash of light, and a rumbling noise up above in the darkening skies. To smell the beginnings of a monsterous storm is to smell pulsating energy. Yes, the rain smells—if you don’t know, then I can’t help you.

[ i might be melodramatic, but it is genetic. talk to my parents.]

And why on earth do people cover themselves with umbrellas, and dash frighteningly left and right to find shelter? The rain is the best part of the end of a long day! I must confess, I am a smug country girl, smirking at the desperate unsuccessful attempts of those who simply can not get wet. Okay, okay, I won’t lie to you. I walked briskly through the rain to my endpoint. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. Besides, a storm is romantic.

It appears that Fall is beginning. What, with the storms and all. I love the Fall. I’m always excited to begin something new—and each year, the Fall brings something new—new classes, new people, new opportunities to discover what on earth we are suppose to be doing with ourselves.

Last night, after Prepare Bible Study, Lydia and I stumbled on a man digging through our garbage in the dark. The headlights of her car shined brightly on his predicament. It appeared, however, that he didn’t even notice us. I suppose the man is homeless, as I’ve seen him several times before, pushing his shopping cart full of belongings past my house. My heart shudders. It is difficult to explain, but I can not help but have compassion. I wish to do something. How can a man be homeless in MN? It is only Fall now, but Winter will be coming. Do you know? Do you know what that means?

Paul Farmer knows. “Of all the world’s errors,� [he seems to feel] “the most fundamental [is] the ‘erasing’ of people, the ‘hiding away’ of suffering.� His big struggle is “how people can not care, erase, not remember.� (Mountains Beyond Mountains ~ Tracy Kidder, who costs $10,000 per hour, btw).

I struggle. And in the morning, I know I will wake up, and have to struggle again, to remember.