LTE 2.0

[windsor]

It has been too long since there was an LTE post. I am correcting that shortfall.

[bjornolf]

This is just awful. They shot a bunch of people at one of France's satirical papers. CNN is showing video of the attack right now. Prayers and thoughts to the victims and their families.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/dea ... d=28050771

[lawgrad91]

Guess where I will be sitting for the game tonight! (In fairness, the Duke throw was my Christmas gift from MIL.)

[Very Duke Blue]

Love it LG!!!

[YmoBeThere]

I had to watch it on ESPN3 on myNook. Which wssn't that bad of an experience.

[DevilWearsPrada2.0]

A great road win at Wake!!! Wake always gives Duke at fit at Joel Stadium.

[ArkieDukie]

What a fun-filled week. I'm so glad it's Friday!

A few highlights from the week:

1. Brilliant Grad Student grilled me over the data analysis I performed for my manuscript before one of her phone interviews for a postdoctoral position. I think she's trying to pass the work off as her own, because she later mentioned to me that she's planning to make it a chapter in her dissertation (!?!). I told her this was inappropriate and explained why (NOT HER WORK!!!), but I'm not sure she bought it. BGS has a tendency to do what she wants without listening. Therefore, I passed this little tidbit along to Road Runner in the event that BGS tries to go around me and include the work anyway. RR agreed with me. BGS thinks she can claim it because she's a coauthor, but her contribution was to make a figure and write a paragraph of background info for the introduction.

2. Went to a departmental grant-bashing session yesterday. The sole presenter was Wile E. Coyote. He's planning to write a grant to purchase a new instrument, to be used specifically for his research. Imagine my surprise when I looked at the document and found my name at the top of the expert technical expertise list. Yes, the little weasel added me as a technician without even discussing his plans with me! Unfortunately he has the support of The Boss, who subsequently instructed me to help WEC write his grant. The Boss asked several people to write paragraphs to describe how WEC's proposed new instrumentation could help them, with a focus on his area of expertise. Not very wise of me, but I jumped in at this point and mentioned that I had multiple people who wanted to collaborate with me (a couple of whom were mentioned in Golden Boy's plan) and I did not have an instrument at all. I asked if it would be open for me to use since I was, after all, listed as a technical expert on his grant. Probably not very wise of me (I had a migraine; that will be my excuse), but I was 100 shades of pissed off. I was instructed to assist a couple of other faculty members in writing their research vignettes for WEC's grant, and I believe The Boss also expects me to help his little pet write the grant - because, after all, he cannot string together two consecutive coherent sentences to save his life. Oh, and the "advisory committee" that was chosen to select priority of projects consists of The Boss, WEC, and one of WEC's collaborators. This means that, if the grant is funded, the instrument will be exclusively for WEC's use. If I am permitted to get anywhere near the instrument, I will be running samples for WEC as his technician. I think it will be a cold day in hell before his instrument is funded, which is a good thing - because hell will freeze over before I will be WEC's technician.

3. Another BGS/RR antic. We have a multi-user license for a particular bioinformatics tool; it is quite expensive. License holders are myself, Road Runner, WEC, and two other faculty members. The other faculty members allow their research group members to use their login IDs, which is perfectly reasonable. For whatever reason, RR does not. I'm the person that does the catch-all work for the department (helps out those who do not otherwise have access). Boris and BGS use my login credentials quite often, but they do this work on the extra computer in my office and I log in for them. Both Boris and BGS would like to have access to the software tool on weekends and evenings, but I cannot give them my password. I suggested that they ask their boss, who refused because "she has confidential information that they cannot see." (Uh, what is so confidential that the people doing your research cannot see the work?!!) After RR refused, BGS had the utter nerve to write to one of the other PIs to ask for the same login info that she provided to her research students because "(RR) will not give me hers and it is becoming increasingly difficult to schedule time with (ArkieDukie)." The other investigator responded with a no (as well she should have) and copied me on her response, saying that I should hit up The Boss for more logins. That would not fix the problem; the problem would be fixed if RR would act like a normal person and allow her researchers access. At some point, I should mention to RR that the "confidential" work that she does not want her researchers to access is available through my account, which is accessed by even more people than would see it if she allowed her group members access. (So, windsor, dare me to write her an email in which I delicately suggest that we should do away with our shared workspace within this program for confidentiality reasons? This would then require that her students work through her account. At this point, they do the analysis on my computer and save it to the shared workspace that both myself and RR can access.)

The overall problem with BGS is that she has some serious entitlement issues. She has access to the software in question during my normal office hours, as long as I do not have a meeting scheduled with someone else. She doesn't have the 24/7 access she believe's she is entitled to, so she's upset. Wah, wah. She should be thankful that she has any access at all; most other students at our institution do not have access at all. Her CV is full of papers "in preparation" that she hasn't even written yet and skills that she was supposed to learn but has not, so basically it is fraudulent. She got really pissed at MacGyver because, partially due to the big RR/MacGyver split, she didn't learn one of the skills he was supposed to teach her. Not his fault - recall he has been completely cut out of that research project. It turns out that she was pissed mainly because SHE HAD ALREADY ADDED THIS SKILL TO HER CV. Personally, I don't put something down on my CV unless I feel somewhat proficient, and papers aren't added until they're in press. I told her she should revise her CV, but I fear she will not do so and that this will catch up with her - and not in a good way.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I thought BGS was someone you liked and respected, even considered a friend. When did this change and why? Inquiring minds want to know!

[ArkieDukie]

I thought BGS was someone you liked and respected, even considered a friend. When did this change and why? Inquiring minds want to know!

I wouldn't necessarily consider BGS as a friend, since she is a student, but we have always gotten along okay. I tend to not tell RR what BGS has said unless I believe it's something she needs to know. The arrival of BGS' 4th year of grad school has ramped up the crazy to a higher than normal level, partially as a result of her advisor's increased craziness. She is, at times, irrational (exhibit A: expecting to use my work as a chapter in her dissertation). She has completely alienated MacGyver at this point. She called him a wimp because he would not go to Road Runner and tell her that she had to let BGS work with him train BGS on his instrument. Not his job - BGS is not his advisee. BGS also went off on MacGyver because he said he didn't have time to work on her project. He just got a project funded that is in an entirely separate area, and that has to be his top priority. The fact that he was training the person who IS working on his funded research ticked her off - "He has time to train (his person), but he said he didn't have time to work with me." He offered to let her attend the training, but she expects one-on-one training when it is convenient for her. As I said, irrational.

Oh, I forgot one hilarious BGS story from the week, that I got second hand. As of this week, MacGyver has 2 rotation students working in his lab. (Grad students work in different labs of their choosing for 8 weeks in order to help them choose a thesis advisor.) BGS dropped in to instruct MacGyver on what projects he should assign to the students. Because, you know, as a PI with 20+ years of experience, he doesn't know how to do such things on his own.

[ArkieDukie]

Ventured off island to do grocery shopping at H-E-B for the first time. Will definitely be going back. The selection of items is far better than at any store on the island. They even have Duke's mayonnaise!

[ArkieDukie]

Anyone else watching Kentucky at Texas A&M? The team of destiny trailed by as many as 11 but are only down by 3 at the half. Hope the Aggies can pull off the upset, but I'm afraid they can't maintain the lead.

[DukePA]

Ventured off island to do grocery shopping at H-E-B for the first time. Will definitely be going back. The selection of items is far better than at any store on the island. They even have Duke's mayonnaise!

What is H-E-B?

[ArkieDukie]

Ventured off island to do grocery shopping at H-E-B for the first time. Will definitely be going back. The selection of items is far better than at any store on the island. They even have Duke's mayonnaise!

What is H-E-B?

A grocery chain in Texas.

[Very Duke Blue]

Ventured off island to do grocery shopping at H-E-B for the first time. Will definitely be going back. The selection of items is far better than at any store on the island. They even have Duke's mayonnaise!

HEB is the parent company of Central Market. Thant's a great store.

[DevilWearsPrada2.0]

Anyone else watching Kentucky at Texas A&M? The team of destiny trailed by as many as 11 but are only down by 3 at the half. Hope the Aggies can pull off the upset, but I'm afraid they can't maintain the lead.

I watched the game! Thought A&M could get the win. They had the Wildcats, and let it slip away.

http://deadspin.com/yet-another-referee ... 1678753877

Ref Ray Natili was injured during the Baylor TCU game yesterday. It doesn't look good, according to my source. They will know more tomorrow.

Les Jones is out for a year. Dr Hess is bumped out of the ACC. Must reload the ACC with some New Blood into the rotation pool. Especially with 15 teams in the league now.

[ArkieDukie]

I thought BGS was someone you liked and respected, even considered a friend. When did this change and why? Inquiring minds want to know!

I wouldn't necessarily consider BGS as a friend, since she is a student, but we have always gotten along okay. I tend to not tell RR what BGS has said unless I believe it's something she needs to know. The arrival of BGS' 4th year of grad school has ramped up the crazy to a higher than normal level, partially as a result of her advisor's increased craziness. She is, at times, irrational (exhibit A: expecting to use my work as a chapter in her dissertation). She has completely alienated MacGyver at this point. She called him a wimp because he would not go to Road Runner and tell her that she had to let BGS work with him train BGS on his instrument. Not his job - BGS is not his advisee. BGS also went off on MacGyver because he said he didn't have time to work on her project. He just got a project funded that is in an entirely separate area, and that has to be his top priority. The fact that he was training the person who IS working on his funded research ticked her off - "He has time to train (his person), but he said he didn't have time to work with me." He offered to let her attend the training, but she expects one-on-one training when it is convenient for her. As I said, irrational.

Oh, I forgot one hilarious BGS story from the week, that I got second hand. As of this week, MacGyver has 2 rotation students working in his lab. (Grad students work in different labs of their choosing for 8 weeks in order to help them choose a thesis advisor.) BGS dropped in to instruct MacGyver on what projects he should assign to the students. Because, you know, as a PI with 20+ years of experience, he doesn't know how to do such things on his own.

BGS called me last night to give me professional advice. Seriously.

[ArkieDukie]

Dallas just got robbed.

[DevilWearsPrada2.0]

Both Girls and Boys lost today, after having leads.

Waiting to hear Coach K on Duke Radio!

Let's Go Denver and Peyton !!!!!

[IowaDevil]

Not sure but I really believe our MEN's and WOMEN's basketball teams would be extremely offended to hear they are being called boys and girls on our chat board.

[YmoBeThere]

Not sure but I really believe our MEN's and WOMEN's basketball teams would be extremely offended to hear they are being called boys and girls on our chat board.

Perhaps it was a commentary on today's play? It certainly wasn't pretty.