Received an email this morning

Dear Dawn M. Allenbach,

We have received the reports from our advisors on your manuscript, "Improving Fluctuating Asymmetry Studies Using Recommendations From a Fish Literature Review", which you submitted to Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries.

Based on the advice received, I feel that your manuscript could be reconsidered for publication should you be prepared to incorporate major revisions. When preparing your revised manuscript, you are asked to carefully consider the reviewer comments which are attached, and submit a list of responses to the comments.

. . .

Your revision is due on: 29 Jul 2010

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript within eight weeks.

With kind regards,
J.N.
Editor in Chief


It's gonna be a lot of work, but . . .

::happy Luta dance::

Mom was right. Third time was the charm!

A New Disability History

I have four books on disability that I am currently reading through. I had to order these books -- all of them -- through interlibrary loan because neither of the two public libraries nearest me had ANY of them. I think I will have to talk to their acquisitions person about not only not having these particular books but NO disability books at all. NONE!

The book I'm currently reading is a collection of essays called A New Disability History edited by Paul K. Longmore and Lauri Umansky. I've been keeping track of passages that catch my attention for various reasons. Here are ones I've recorded so far:


"The elision of disabled people from the historiography also surely reflects the 'existential anxiety' that disability often evokes. A considerable literature in psychology verifies that the presence of individuals with disabilities stirs dis-ease in many individuals who view themselves as normal. A more recent literature in cultural studies of disability strongly suggests that those nervous reactions stem from more than individual temperament. To a significant degree, they arise from the most basic of modern, and particularly American, cultural values and social training. Americans often perceive disability – and therefore people with disabilities – as embodying that which Americans fear most: loss of independence, of autonomy, of control; in other words, subjection to fate. The culturally conditioned psychological response to disability may help explain disabled peoples’ [sic] absence from historical accounts. That which we fear, we shun.” [Longmore, PK and Umansky, L. 2001. Introduction. Pp. 1-29 in Longmore, PK and Umansky, L. (editors), The New Disability History – American Perspectives. New York University Press, New York. Quote pp. 6-7]

"The natural and the normal both are ways of establishing the universal, unquestionable good and right. Both are also ways of establishing social hierarchies that justify the denial of legitimacy and certain rights to individuals or groups." [Baynton, DC. 2001. Disability and justification of inequality in American history. Pp. 33-57 in Longmore, PK and Umansky, L. (editors), The New Disability History – American Perspectives. New York University Press, New York. Quote pp. 35]

"Just as the counterpart to the natural was the monstrous, so the opposite of the normal person was the defective. Although normality ostensibly denoted the average, the usual, and the ordinary, in actual usage it functioned as an ideal and excluded only those defined as below average. 'Is the child normal?' was never a question that expressed fear about whether a child had above-average intelligence, motor skills, or beauty. Abnormal signified the subnormal." [Baynton, DC. 2001. Disability and justification of inequality in American history. Pp. 33-57 in Longmore, PK and Umansky, L. (editors), The New Disability History – American Perspectives. New York University Press, New York. Quote pp. 36]


Feel free to discuss any of these as you like. I will post more as I gather them

ADAPT Blogswarm

(for ADAPT's Spring 2010 action)

It’s no secret that state budgets are coming up short all over the nation, but what many members of the general public do not know or are choosing to ignore is that many states are putting an unfair bulk of budget cuts on the shoulders of people who should not have to bear that load – people with physical and mental disabilities. If the proposed cuts to health and social services in Kansas go through, the lives and freedom of nearly 1900 physically disabled alone will be in jeopardy. These are the people waiting to receive in-home services via the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) program, but the proposed budget cuts in Kansas will force many, if not all, of them into nursing/group homes where they will have no input into many aspects of their own lives. What the legislators are choosing to ignore is that care in nursing/group homes will cost the state 2-3 times more than providing in-home care. They are also ignoring the fact that the majority of Kansans – including those receiving or wanting to receive services – are willing to pay revenue enhancements in the form of a one cent increase in the state sales tax and increased taxation of tobacco, alcohol, and soda in order to make up the budget deficit.

Please allow me to address the legislators directly.

Just for a moment, I’d like for you to imagine our roles were reversed. Imagine yourself in a wheelchair – unable to cook your own meals, unable to get yourself in and out of bed, unable to use the bathroom without assistance. Would you wish to live in a nursing home where every moment of every day of your life is decided for you, from when to get up to what you will eat to what activities you can participate in? Would you want to only be able to leave the facility for medical appointments unless your family came to get you? How often do you think you realistically would see your family? How often could they fit a visit to you into their busy schedules?

Or would you want to live freely in your own home where you can sleep in if you want to or have pumpkin pie for breakfast or wheel yourself to the library for a book or to the store for a soda? Would you like to take accessible public transportation to a movie or a restaurant or grocery shopping? Do you think you might see your family more in your own home?

It all boils down to this: do you want someone to run your life for you, or do you want to freely and independently do everything your heart desires?

I’m willing to bet you’d choose the latter. Now imagine you are facing these budget cuts, and I am your legislator. What would you say to me? Would you want to go on with the current day politics as usual, where each person, politician and non-politician alike, thinks only about number one and everyone else be damned? Or would you hope I can see beyond that status quo, that I can envision a world where people take care of each other? Wouldn’t you be willing to pay one more cent on the state sales tax if it meant you could sleep comfortably in your own bed with your husband or wife next to you? Wouldn’t you be willing to pay a few more pennies for a soda if it meant you could keep your job and remain a contributing member of your community? Wouldn’t it be worth paying a little extra on your cigarettes if you could play everyday with your children or help them with their homework in your own home?

I am more than willing to pay a little extra on my purchases so that I and nearly 1900 others in my same situation can live in our own homes and still have our most basic needs met. I don’t want to live helplessly in a nursing home. I want to finish my Ph.D. and get a job at a university, maybe even right here in Kansas. I want to continue being a contributing member of my community, and I want to help my fellow human beings whenever she or he has a need.

This issue isn’t about Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, liberals, tea parties, or coffee klatches. This is about humanity. This is about empathy. This is about doing unto others as you would have done unto you. It’s time we as citizens realize we are part of something larger than ourselves, that in order for our society at large to function in the healthiest possible manner that EVERY part must be healthy and happy. It’s FAR past time for the disabled, the elderly, the ill, and the abused to be treated with equal consideration, respect, and dignity rather than as society’s trash.


Read more blogswarm at ADAPT Blogswarm, Spring Action 2010 hosted by Nick's Crusade.

Thoughts for the day, and a geek girl squee

"We all come from the same root, but the leaves are all different."
--John Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA



"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but
rather a person with a certain set of attitudes."
--Scottish Proverb



See this groovy necklace?



I now have one like it, except the eyes on mine are little clear crystals, the finish is more like antiqued pewter, and the chain goes through a loop on the back. As soon as I paid for the pendant, its chain, and my other Hobby Lobby purchases, I went out to the van and put him on.

Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship

Back in November, you may remember that I applied for a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship. This award is described on their website as follows:

Awards are made to individuals who, in the judgment of the review panels, have demonstrated superior academic achievement, are committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level, show promise of future achievement as scholars and teachers, and are well prepared to use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.

Hundreds of Ph.D./Sc.D. students apply every year. Only 20 are awarded. I only just learned how astronomical my chances were.

I GOT ONE!!!

*happy dance*

I was awarded support for one year ($21,000), plus I am expected to attend a Ford Foundation leadership meeting. *falls out of wheelchair* I can't believe I got it.

One more time!

I just submitted my manuscript to Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries. This is the THIRD journal to whom I've submitted this tome, so here's hoping that "third time's a charm."

I woke up too early = SILLINESS

::Dawn singing along with the CD::

Her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
Her face it was a work of art
I loved that girl with all my heart
But I only liked the upper part
I did not like the tail

--"The Mermaid Song"


And if the devil would take her
I'd thank him for his pain
I swear to God I'll hang meself
If I get married again

--"The Scolding Wife"


Oh me! Oh my! I heard me ol' wife cry
Oh me! Oh my! I think I'm gonna die!
Oh me! Oh my! I heard me ol' wife say
I wish I'd never taken this excursion around the bay!

--"Excursion Around the Bay"