Student SPHere 2008-09

The past few weeks have been quite busy for me, as I’m sure they have for everyone. There is the big frenzied push to get things done before spring break, and then usually the actual frenzy of spring break, followed immediately by the post-spring break scramble to make up for all of the time you should have been devoting to work, but were otherwise occupied during spring break. My pre-spring break scramble was further complicated by the unexpected death of my grandpap, thusly requiring me to travel to Tennessee for his funeral. The weather, of course, refused to cooperate (thank you, Minnesota), but after three cancelled flights and several hours of rotting in some of our great nation’s less than pleasant airports, I managed to arrive safely and in time for the funeral.
Upon my return, I had to thrust myself immediately back into work and school. I was eagerly awaiting spring break so that I could really get to working on the finishing touches of my plan B project which had been languishing the past couple of weeks. I had the usual round of midterms before I could partake in my spring break respite, but nothing too difficult or strenuous.
So then, spring break arrived. Determined to maintain the ravishing albino pastiness my skin has developed since moving to Minnesota, I didn’t go anywhere warm or sunny for vacation. Instead, I spent a good portion of time in my office, working for my RA position, and of course, attempting to tackle the final portion of my plan B. I’m finally entering the last of the follow-up data for the Insomnia study at the College of Pharmacy and hoping to God we finish the grant proposals on time. Nothing motivates quite like a deadline, I suppose. It has been a really good experience for me to be able to be a part of the grant writing process firsthand. I am grateful to be able to have seen the prep-work, research, and time that goes into writing successful grants and all of the careful planning that goes into a study.
I did manage to finish one big project over the break for my Translational Research class. I haven’t spoken much of this class, which is unfortunate because it has really been quite interesting. Right now, we are discussing phase II cancer trials, and the different designs and considerations that must go into performing these early phase trials. It all essentially boils down to a series of ethics questions about the balance between advancing science and medicine and treating and protecting the human patient. I think it is easy—particularly in Biostats—to start seeing people as “events” or “datapoints” instead of people, and it has been beneficial for me to have the validity of this viewpoint challenged a little. The project I finished is actually the final project for the end of the course that takes the place of a final exam. We were to read some (assigned) papers and then we will give a presentation on those papers the last week of class. My topic is examining the cost effectiveness of various screening and vaccination strategies for preventing cervical cancer. The papers I read are simulation studies of the cost to society and the government for instituting an HPV vaccination program versus the benefit of reducing morbidity from cervical cancer.
I did not spend my entire break chained to my desk slaving over schoolwork, however: I also had the pleasure of paying my taxes, which was about as riveting as watching a carpet stain. I feel even worse for my husband who has all kinds of extra fun little forms that he has to fill out since he is self employed. For fun this break, I did manage to attend a Timberwolves game, which I enjoyed quite a bit. It was particularly enjoyable because it was inexpensive given the fact that a group of handicapped gerbils could probably beat the Timberwolves in a game of basketball.
This spring break, I also made a rather interesting observation about Minnesotans that I think explains a lot. I have always been a little baffled by the phrase “Minnesota nice.” I mean, as far as I have been able to tell, Minnesotans are no more “nice” than anyone from anywhere else. And yet, here is this phrase “Minnesota nice” that seems to imply that there is a special kind of “nice” that comes naturally to the natives of this frigid state. I could never quite figure out, however, what was so special about this type of “nice.” But then over break, I figured it out—Minnesotans don’t know what the word “nice” means! I discovered this when I heard people foolishly commenting on how “nice” the weather has been lately. I’m sorry, but on what solar system is forty degrees and soggy considered “nice?” I will admit that the weather has been nicER than the frigid temperatures we had been experiencing, but the improved weather still does not qualify as nice. No, just because the weather is not crappy does not mean the weather is “nice.” You see, “nice” does not merely imply absence of bad, but also the presence of good. For example, say you had a car that was more rickety than Bill Buckner’s knees, and one day this car completely stopped running. Now, if you were to purchase another car that smelled like the contents of a hockey player’s locker and made more noise than a launching space shuttle whenever it changed gears, would this be a “nice” car just because it was superior to your old car that didn’t even run? I think you would agree with me that while this new car is not as bad as the old one, it still falls far short of the “nice” line. Similarly, let us examine the current improvement in weather in Minnesota. While the current weather is inarguably improved from the abysmal climate we had been enduring, the meager boost in temperature does not by any means propel Minneapolis’s weather into the “nice” category, particularly when you keep in mind that the increase in temperature is unfortunately accompanied by the melting of the large piles of snow that have been growing over the winter, thusly turning a good portion of the city’s sidewalks into a swampy wetland—also not “nice.” So, yes, the weather is not completely miserable anymore, but it is not “nice.” The weather in San Diego is “nice.” The weather in Orlando is “nice.” The weather in Minnesota has NOT been “nice”—it has been “not crappy.” But all the same, people have been calling this mediocre weather “nice.” I must conclude, then, that in Minnesota, “nice” simply means “not crappy.” This being the case, I agree that (for the most part) people here are “Minnesota nice.”

It may interest you to know that the current usage of the word "nice" as a word meaning agreeable, pleasant, good, etc. is NOT even, in fact the primary definition of the word "nice." In fact, "nice" as I learned while studying for the GRE really means "difficult to please," "refined," or "delicate." Now we all know what "nice" means.