Sounds familiar

(Tell me 'bout it man... happening all over the place...)

Science 27 January 2006:Vol. 311. no. 5760, p. 448DOI: 10.1126/science.311.5760.448b

News of the Week
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE:Scientists Keep Some Data to ThemselvesConstance Holden
Scientists frequently refuse to give colleagues details of their research, according to two new surveys, of life scientists and of scientists-in-training.

In the February issue of Academic Medicine, David Blumenthal and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital's Institute for Health Policy (IHP) in Boston report from a survey of 1849 life scientists that 44% of geneticists and 32% of other life scientists have engaged in some form of "withholding behavior." The behavior includes failing to mention pertinent information in a paper or a presentation. Geneticists and males are more likely to withhold information.
A related study suggests that such behaviors may stifle the growth of young scientists. A group led by IHP physician Eric Campbell surveyed 1077 graduate students and postdocs in the life sciences, computer science, and chemical engineering. About one-quarter reported that they had been denied information at some point, particularly those in "high competition" research groups or with links to industry. About half the affected respondents said the rebuff delayed their research.
"We need to inform scientists, professional associations, and universities about the impact that data withholding can have on the next generation of scientists," says Campbell. "Sometimes it's necessary. The question is whether it's being done more [often] than it should be."
Drummond Rennie, a deputy editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, notes that some data requests can be "extremely costly and very time-consuming" to fulfill. And scientists who present findings at meetings are sometimes rightfully paranoid, says sociologist Brian Martinson of Health Partners Research Foundation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Competitors from other labs have been known to come with cameras to shoot their posters, he says.

School of Money

The SoM got money to spend so call this big shot, small shot, medium shot fella go draw picture of new building nice-nice for display let us choose which one we like the most. But then hor, that time they get the real money to build the real building, not the castle in the air now-ah, that time i thinks i retire liau. So choose the nice one also bo yiong. Ownself will never get to see one. But for the good of the future generation of lab rats hor, they will very ho mia. See the artists impressions of the new proposed building. Just little impress can stright away propose liau, flower and ring also never see.













After see all the nice nice pictures, they make me fill up a form, rank from best to worst. Which one I like. So I choose the one with the big dome thing because I think it will cost the most to build. Hahahah. Don't send your kids to SoM next time coz school fees will jump high high because people like me choose the expensive looking one. But frankly, I think the "D" one is the dumbest.

dead cat

Teren spotted this cat and told me about it, so here it is:

one dead cat outside the med library. Probably the work of some mad, no erm...med student who was overstressed with his/her workload. Call SPCA!!! Got strangled by some skin cutting material, maybe a metal wire or a tight rope. Whatever it is, it's a beastly sight. Although I do use animals in my experiments, there are rules to follow, killing them humanely and disposing off what is left so that the public will not be alarmed.
This is definitely NOT the proper way to skin a cat. Do not try this at home, or in school or at work, or anywhere else for that matter.
You have been warned.