another grant that a handful of grad students and i wrote to fund our new after-school astronomy program was accepted. we can really buy some cool supplies now!
i love chacos! i sent mine back to get resoled and requested that they hurry since i need them for my observing trip to india in january. they sent me a mail today saying they are rushing the repairs.
speaking of india, we were planning on stopping in goa on our way south from bombay to hampi but now israel has issued a tourist warning for goa since they have some intelligence indicating that al qaeda is planning to strike there during new year holidays (article is in the nytimes). damn you al qaeda, i am intrepid but you may freak out whiskeygoat (or her boyfriend who already said we couldn't go to sri lanka) enough that we'll have to find some way around goa.
i tried all day to get AIPS to fit a rotation curve and failed.
another grad student and i are putting together a proposal to take to the faculty that would guarantee paid maternity/paternity leave for 12 weeks for grad students (just tonight i realized we should include postdocs too) who have or adopt kids. the chemistry department just instituted a similar policy and they're huge. we're so small and with precedent in other departments, how can the faculty refuse?