Here are some cool, science and lady-friendly links to check out while you're working up the motivation to start your latest projects!

1) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver:  Miss America Monologue
Not only is this clip ridiculously funny, but it gives a huge shoutout to Society for Women Engineers.  I encourage you to share this, as it's generated lots of donations and social media following for SWE
Watch it here!

2) New York Times--Microscopic Issue of Unknown Consequences
Really interesting article about a side of climate change I haven't seen much coverage of!  This is certainly timely in light of all the recent 300k+ person march in NYC and all the discussions about human contribution to CO2 emissions.
Check it out!

3) Huffington Post--Are Nasty Comments like This Keeping Women Out of Science?
Stories from women about casual (and not so casual) sexism during their scientific careers.
Read about their experiences

4) New York Times--Exposing Hidden Bias at Google
A discussion about the lack of women in top tech firms including Google.  Google has now started a lecture series for its employees by Dr. Brian Welle that discusses the natures of Implict Bias.  You can actually watch these! 
"The effect of bias is powerful, and it isn’t softened by Silicon Valley’s supposedly meritocratic culture. In the lecture, Dr. Welle shows a computer simulation of how a systematic 1 percent bias against women in performance evaluation scores can trickle up through the ranks, leading to a severe underrepresentation of women in management."
Learn about and watch the lectures here!

5) BBC News--Shellshock: 'Deadly serious' new virus found
A vulnerability in Linux/Unix could be a really big problem, to say the least.
Find out more!

Keep on doing the science!  Most of your lovely e-board is slogging through our theses, and I'm sure midterms are starting up soon.  Best of luck to everyone.

until next time,
Kelly

Most people in college (probably all, but I'm low-balling it) face significant academic pressures that can negatively impact health.  One of the most stressful lectures I had in my intro to neuroscience class was the one on the effects of stress on the brain and body!  Sometimes, chronic stress and low self-esteem combined with the life changes associated with college can result in mood disorders.  Many studies have examined mood disorders and stress in young adults (especially those in a university setting).  Additionally, the University of Pennsylvania, which is a mere 30 minutes from UD, has been experiencing a large amount of suicides in the past year, which seem to have some link to academic and other university-related pressures. 

Since mood orders and perceived stress during college have a large impact on women, I thought it might be helpful to share some of this.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_college_student_development/v049/49.5.dixon.html
This is a study done by Dixon and Kerpius at Arizona State University in 2005, which examined links between depression, self-esteem, and mattering (as in, "do you matter?"). 

http://www.phillymag.com/articles/penn-suicides-madison-holleran/
This is a well-written article about the suicides at Penn that asks some thoughtful questions about stress and how young adults cope with transitioning from high school to college.  It's written by Steve Volk at Philly Magazine.

I will continue looking in the meantime into what other schools' suicide-prevention task forces have found to be helpful and unhelpful about schools' resources. 

If you are experiencing suicidal ideation, please talk to someone.  Mobile Delaware's number is 1-800-652-2929, and UD's Counseling Center is available at 302-831-2141.  You are worth it.