Girls and Computer Science

There is a really interesting article in the New York Times today on why their are so few women in technology and engineering.

Girls begin to turn away from math and science in elementary school, because of discouragement from parents, underresourced teachers and their own lack of interest and exposure, according to a recent report by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and the Computer Science Teachers Association.

Just 1 percent of girls taking the SAT in 2009 said they wanted to major in computer or information sciences, compared with 5 percent of boys, according to the College Board.

Only 18 percent of college students graduating with computer science degrees in 2008 were women, down from 37 percent in 1985, according to the National Center for Women and Information Technology.

One reason is that engineering has a serious image problem, many women in the field say.

“There’s a really strong image of what a computer scientist is — male, skinny, no social life, eats junk food, plays video games, likes science fiction,” says Sapna Cheryan, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington who has researched why few women choose computer-science careers. “It makes it hard for people who don’t fit that image to think of it as an option for them.”

This is exactly why Sep and I are starting CodeEd, a program that teaches low-income middle school aged girls computer science. We launch our pilot program in less than a month at an all girls Charter School on the lower east side of Manhattan.

We're really excited to get into the classroom and start trying to break the cycle described above.

Time to Share Work and Family Burdens Equally

Great to see this article in the USA Today about how the economics of marriage have become increasingly beneficial for men because women in the workplace have become more "equal market producers."

It's something I've been thinking about a lot. Feminist gains have gotten us more equality in the labor market (thank you past generations), but we've added the economic burden to our lives without displacing any of our previous household or family burdens (with the possible exception of access to birth control which has helped us keep our families to a more manageable size).

Last September, Maureen Dowd wrote a nice article about women being unhappier due to their increasingly "crowded" lives and more demands being placed on them.

So the solution seems pretty clear. We took on some of the man's economic burden which used to be his alone. Now men need to take on some of the household and family burden that used to be women's alone. It's what the next wave of feminism should be about, and it's a final step to more sustained equality.

If we can better share the responsibility for house and family with our husbands, then perhaps we can actually stay in the labor market and go on to become CEOs and Senators without trying to do it all and then feeling like a failure when we realize we can't and we have to choose family or career. And most of us end of choosing family because that is still our burden to carry alone. If children have issues, the mother is still to blame.

My father stayed home with me from ages 4-8 while my mother worked and it was an incredibly important period for me. I was able to bond with my dad in a way that most other girls my age don't get to, and he continues to be an incredibly important part of my life. Moreover, both of my parents were able to have successful careers as lawyers (although society did make it hard for my dad to reenter the labor market after being a stay at home dad even though he had a law degree).

Anyhow, I know from experience that the career-family burden can be shared effectively and what results are more happy, fulfilled parents and children.

New York Craigslist

I've had two really crazy things happen to while using New York Craigslist.

The first happened about 2 months ago while we were still in San Francisco just browsing for New York apartments on Craigslist. I found a cute two bedroom in the West Village that looked perfect. I emailed them asking them to contact me if it was still available when we got out there in about a week. I immediately get this email back saying:

Angie!!!?! It's jamie from Wes! Is this you?!

It turns out it was my friend Jamie Wong from Wesleyan. She had just moved to San Francisco and was looking for someone to rent her place! While we ended up deciding to get a one bedroom instead, Jamie and I were able to reconnect a bunch over the past couple months which has been a lot of fun.

But it doesn't end there.

Fast forward 2 months. We were now furnishing our new place, and decided to look on craigslist again. I saw this glass coffee table I liked, so I sent off an email inquiring about it. I got this one back:

Are you serious?

I am sure Heather and I can work something out with you guys!!

So funny-we have got to stop running into each other like this-

It was my friend Heather's husband Matt, both of whom I also went to Wesleyan with and had already coincidentally bumped into them the weekend before when we got on the train to go to a wedding in the Hamptons.

I thought this city was supposed to be so big and chaotic!! It's like a small town for crying out loud. No one would even believe these coincidences if they were written in a script.

I am also seriously starting to wonder if the only people who use craigslist in the city went to Wesleyan. Either way though, it's been a pretty reassuring introduction to New York.

Ask Randoms

From the creator of Wedding Turtle comes the latest and greatest question/answer site:

http://www.askrandoms.com

Check it out!

Obama Does It Again

"We did not come here to fear the future, we came here to shape it." -- Barack Obama, September 9, 2009.

God he's good.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I encourage you to watch his whole speech on health care. I laughed, cheered, and even teared up a little at the end. If you don't have time watch the whole thing, watch from 23:75 to 31:53 where he eloquently, yet simply, explains the importance of the public plan. Also, watch 38:30 to 39:00 where he socks it to the Republicans. Now I'm no lip reader, but at 38:54 doesn't it seem like rising star Republican Paul Ryan (R-WI) says something like "That was a good point." I love it.

I have faith he'll get this thing done. The media loves drama, and Obama has a history of letting them spin a little but still bringing it home.

Pureed Wild Radish and Rutabaga

I recently coordinated a little volunteer expedition with a few friends pulling invasive species for Golden Gate Park's department out on Land's End. Land's End is near Ocean beach in San Francisco, and is absolutely gorgeous and a great place to go running or walking.

Anyhow, they had us pulling wild radish, which is an invasive species that take over the area and make it tough for the native species to thrive (there's a better definition here).

Some of the radishes we pulled up were really big (see picture of our friends Paul and Alex for size reference), so I decided to take a couple home to see if I could cook them up.

On my way out, one of the other volunteers said that if I managed to make anything decent I should email this woman Cynthia who had an invasive species cook book for recipes that include, for example, fennel or nasturcium which are invasive yet very tasty plants. Isn't that cool that someone actually wrote an invasive species cook book?!

Well, I went home, did some experimenting, and finally ended up making a nice little side dish out of those big bitter radishes. I emailed this woman Cynthia to let her know, but she never emailed me back, so I decided I'd post the recipe here. Maybe I should write a compet invasive species cook book. This could be my first recipe.

Anyhow, the wild radishes are really tough so you have to eat them cooked instead of raw. First I tried to roast them but they got really dry, so then I tried boiling them which worked much better. Also, like I mentioned, they are super bitter. I ended up having to add a rutabaga to the recipe to cut the bitterness. The radishes taste a lot like a mustardy rutabaga when boiled, so that worked out really nicely.

Here's the recipe:

Pureed Wild Radish and Rutabaga

• Peel and cut wild radishes into chunks
• Peel and cut equal parts rutabaga into chunks
• Boil radish and rutabaga together in a pot for about 15-20 minutes or until they are both very tender
• Add some milk, butter, salt and pepper to taste
• Blend with a mixer like you would mashed potatoes until creamy
• Serve as a side dish with meat or fish or anything really.
  

And here's a pictures of the finished dish. I should have taken it when it was plated and looking pretty, but you can get the idea.

It would be great to hear if anyone else out there has ever attempted to eat Wild Radish and what your recipe was.

Obama's Speech in Cairo

If you haven't seen Obama's speech in Cairo that he gave last weekend, definitely check it out. It's absolutely amazing.


Watch CBS Videos Online

I still can't believe what a relief it is to have Obama as our president.

I'm very proud of him for being so bold and strong regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and also reminding us that Muslims and Muslim countries have played an important role in America's history and culture.

This speech is going to be one for the history books. Also, I believe this president will be viewed by history with the same reverence as we now view Lincoln.