When Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn got the call, along with Jack Szostak, that they had each received one-third of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine, they entered a largely unknown group of women whose work in the sciences has been honored.
Rosalind Franklin's work on DNA is now widely acknowledged but it was not recognized by the Nobel Committee in 1962 when it awarded the coveted prize to James Watson and Francis Crick for their work on the double-helix structure of DNA. Watson and Crick's work included essential information from Franklin's research, which had been transmitted to them without her knowledge.
Chien-Shiung Wu was a pioneering physicist whose work radically altered modern physical theory and changed the way we look at the structure of the universe. She never got a Nobel Prize, but she was the first woman to win a major award from the National Academy of Sciences.
In chemistry, Gertrude Elion's accomplishments were tremendous. She developed many life-saving drugs, including the first chemotherapy for childhood leukemia, the immunosuppressant that made organ transplants possible, and the first effective anti-viral medication. She was the fifth woman to receive a Nobel Prize in Medicine, despite enormous prejudice against her.
H.L. Mencken wrote, “Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.” I, for one, am ashamed that there are candidates running for the position of governor of |Vermont who have agreed to close Vermont Yankee as a means of winning a political primary. It is immoral...
Employers generally decide if a position is hourly or salaried. Certain criteria must be met, however, for salaried positions. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) dictates standards for the basic minimum wage and overtime pay for hourly (“non-exempt”) employees. Hourly federal minimum wage is $7.25. Vermont state law...
The novel When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka, tells a story about World War II from the perspective of a Japanese family in the midst of racism, confusion, and anxiousness. Julie Otsuka weaves an intriguing story with characters that are instantly believable, living in a largely unnoted period that was very hard for Japanese people all over the world. Japanese-Americans were placed in internment camps and exposed to racist propaganda. As one youthful character explained, “We looked at...
One of the first things I ever learned to cook was brownies, and over the years I have perfected them so that they deliciously bridge the gap between cake and candy, with a slightly crusty top and a slightly gooey interior redolent of chocolate, butter, vanilla, and toasted pecans. There can be few combinations of flavors more truly divine than slightly softened vanilla ice cream topped with warm, thick, chocolate sauce, dark as tar. A finely-made chocolate soufflé straight out...
To: My Rockingham Select-persons, my village trustees, my municipal manager, my village police chief, and local friends: A very central issue on the Shelter proposed for Canal Street [story, page 1] is how the village was not consulted by the town regarding the location. This action on the part of town officials defies all reasonable standards of decorum or protocol. Explanations of this administrative discourtesy are encouraged. It is the village police department that stands first and foremost to be...
As the last stubborn leaves gently fall in Vermont, thoughts turn to snow-filled holidays, or at least to shoveling and the wood stove. But 3,000 miles away, Los Angeles sprawls more or less eternally under a relentless sun. A new version of a book co-written by a former L.A. resident turned Brattleboro businessman can help readers escape from a pragmatic, taciturn, and melancholy New England winter, during which the maintenance of image often seems to take second-place behind mere survival.