Testing, testing!

Does this still work? I haven't tried it for over 9 years and I'm surprised it's still up!

course work

Been a while since I've posted in this blog. We'll see if it still works.

I've been in Washington DC this week, taking part in a course entitled the Congressional Briefing Conference, given for my line office within my agency. Not too related to my daily work but may/should come in handy in the not so distant future. It's a crash course on the legislative process, including how appropriations come to pass. The course is tailored for government employees, and so is more focused on what kinds of information various Executive Branch agencies have to provide for the budget planning process, how budget and appropriations actions move forward, and the challenges both the Legislature and the agencies face in this yearly exercise.

What's been most interesting is the very clear descriptions and frank discussions on how the system is supposed to work, or more aptly, how it's not supposed to work, at least smoothly. There's been quite a bit of discussion about this. The view from the outside is that Congress is ineffectual, that the party in power tries to run roughshod over the minority party, or that the minority party is obstructionist. While that may be true at times, what is equally true is that the way Congress works is how it was designed to work. Passing new laws is supposed to be hard. The bicameral structure of Congress makes it hard, and smooths out extreme changes that might happen if a minority party for a long period of time suddenly finds itself in the majority after an election. The Senate is the most "deliberative", since it acts by unanimous consent and that any Senator can stop or slow almost any action.

Various presentations have been made by instructors, public policy experts, reporters, congressional wonks, House of Representative staffers, House appropriations staffers, former Senate staffers and so on. It helps that the course is actually given in one of the House office buildings, and part of the course involves sitting in on congressional hearings, viewing the actions of the House and Senate from the galleries, and really, by just being here in the Capitol.

So far, three days into it, with one to go. I'm also enjoying the opportunities to run around here as well....down the National Mall past all of the Smithsonian Museums, the monuments, the Capitol and the White House. There's just something about being here that makes it seem special. At least to visit....not so sure I'd want to make it permanent.

The process continues

The process with the MUSC/CoEE Endowed Chair of Marine Genomics position continues. About a month ago I was asked to supply references. This was the next step in the process and signals I'm still in the running (the search committee could have said thanks but no thanks at this stage). I am fortunate in that I was able to assemble 4 top notch people and very well-known scientists in the field to do this for me. All were enthusiastic to provide letters of recommendation, telling me that it sounded like the perfect position for me.

I do know that the final candidate is giving his seminar tomorrow (I now have my supportive spies in Charleston!). On paper, he's a very impressive scientist (lots of publications), with a moderately sized lab at the U. Florida where he heads a "Center for Genome Research." With a research focus on genomics/genetics and biophysiology of a sea slug, it will be interesting to hear how the medical school search committee views his research. It all depends on what they want, but of course, I know that HML, and the program within MUSC where the successful candidate will be a member, really need a microbiologist!

passing

Sad news over the weekend. A dear friend of many in the band, and indeed a former member of the original band, passed away last night after a major heart attack. He was a high school friend of two of the other original members, and was instrumental in getting us some recent gigs. Whenever he showed up to see us, he made it a point to talk to each member, and introduce himself to our family and friends.

It really hits close to home when a friend who's a contemporary in age dies. A real sense of mortality kicks in. It's time to focus on family, embrace challenges, and really enjoy life. It goes too fast, and can be over in an instant.

the interview

Time to play catch up.

Yes, I did get the interview for the faculty position in South Carolina, officially the Endowed Chair in Marine Genomics, through the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. This took place last week (I doubled this up with another east coast meeting I presented at), and involved meeting faculty and students at the NOAA lab the first day (where the incumbent will be located), followed by a day of meetings and my seminar at MUSC on the second. I thought it went well, and I don't think I could have delivered my seminar any better.

The position would be both a tremendous opportunity and tremendous challenge. It not only involves carrying out state of the art research in the field and being successful with grant proposals, it also includes building a large program, establishing collaborations, and working with an existing genomics consortium that consists of researchers from all of the major SC universities and colleges.

My next step was to let them know whether I want to remain in the running, and I did that yesterday. Their next step includes whether to keep me in consideration after my visit and I was told their committee should meet within the next week or two to decide this. They also have one more candidate to interview, but that won't happen until May. They need to fill the position by the end of the year so I'm hoping things move a little faster once the last candidate is interviewed.

If I do make the short-short list, then there would be another visit and meetings with the provost/vice provost and relevant departmental Chairs. Part of this will be the start of negotiations for salary and startup package, and part will be to pick a MUSC home department. I'm not interested in any kind of partial appointment either, e.g., 9 months with 3 months coming off of grants. It would have to be a 12 month appointment to get me to move (or a really really good 9 month one commensurate in salary to what I have now). The startup package is important to, since it was also signaled to me that this could include funding for research faculty, post docs, and student funding, lab remodeling (new and older lab space is available), and even equipment. It was suggested that one consideration was to determine whether high throughput DNA sequencing capability should be part of the laboratory. Thinking about all of the possibilities is exciting. It would be so easy to start planning right now, but I need to be careful not to get ahead of myself (get my hopes up) and neglect my responsibilities in my current position.

And of course, if I do get to the next step, my wife and I have to decide whether or not to really take the plunge and move away from the state that both of us have lived in all our lives, leaving family and more than likely the kids behind. We've talked about it as do-able, but I don't think we can truly know until there's a real offer. And like I said, the offer has to be a good and secure one to entice me to leave the well paying and very stable position that I have now.

LIMBAUGH AT CPAC

Could resist this, just for the comparison between the President and Limbaugh.

LIMBAUGH AT CPAC: "But what about the rest of the party? Here’s the duel that Obama and Limbaugh are jointly arranging:

On the one side, the president of the United States: soft-spoken and conciliatory, never angry, always invoking the recession and its victims. This president invokes the language of ‘responsibility,’ and in his own life seems to epitomize that ideal: He is physically honed and disciplined, his worst vice an occasional cigarette. He is at the same time an apparently devoted husband and father. Unsurprisingly, women voters trust and admire him.

And for the leader of the Republicans? A man who is aggressive and bombastic, cutting and sarcastic, who dismisses the concerned citizens in network news focus groups as ‘losers.’ With his private plane and his cigars, his history of drug dependency and his personal bulk, not to mention his tangled marital history, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence – exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party. And we’re cooperating! Those images of crowds of CPACers cheering Rush’s every rancorous word – we’ll be seeing them rebroadcast for a long time."

(Via David Frum)

Stiff 'Em

From Joe Klein at Time: Swampland (fast becoming my favorite political opinion writer), discussing Republicans in Congress and the newly passed stimulus package:

Politics 101 dictates the following: They should pay the price for their latter-day Hooverism. As little money as humanly, legally possible should go to their districts... 

I've just spent a few weeks outside the country and, when you take a step away from the media maelstrom, the overwhelming impression is the sheer volume and severity of the problems that the country and the world--and our new President--are facing right now. This is a global crisis. A great many people are being hurt badly...

...we should also take careful note of those who have opposed these programs--especially those who have done so for cynical, political reasons Their braying, and playing of Aerosmith songs, seems inappropriate, tone-deaf and puerile, at a moment of real pain and fear.

(Via TIME: Swampland)

It seems to me, and I think to many many Americans, that the lockstep GOP members are running an orchestrated strategy to be as difficult as possible with Obama. Yet they know darn well that they'll take whatever money from the stimulus package that comes the way of their state and congressional districts. There is a real urgency in getting things going, whether it be getting TARP completed, the provisions in the stimulus package, and the bad mortgage buyouts.

This is bad, and can really get worse. Action is needed to restore public confidence and it has to be done fast. Yet all the republicans (now with a small r) can do is to continue to parrot their tired, worn out, and failed "only tax cuts will work" mantra, and try to drag things out so that failure can (in their deluded minds) be pinned on the Dems. Do they (ever) have any new ideas, any innovative solutions?

Not lately. And at this rate not any time soon. Our best hope at restoring public confidence and trust now sits in the White House.

<strike>still</strike> no longer left hanging...

It's hardly worth mentioning...I've gotten unofficial word that the national director will not name a director at the center I was applying to, and will instead let the current search lapse (and a quick look at USAJobs indicates this is what happened). What this mean is that it will have to be reopened for competition. Whether I would reapply or not is dependent on feedback. From the bits and pieces I've heard, it's very political there right now. Very frustrating. While I respect the folks at the center very much, I do wish more of an attempt had been made to let the finalists know just what the heck was going on.

In the meantime, I'm still waiting to hear whether I'll get an interview for the faculty position in Marine Genomics there. I was told last Thursday that the larger selection committee was going to decide on who to interview in the last batch of candidates. I assume the outcome of this will depend much on the recommendation of the chair of the search committee, who's the one who heard my seminar and encouraged me to apply.

I'm getting tired of the waiting and uncertainty. It's wearing, and mentally pulls me in different directions. The constant thinking about it usually results in increasing the level of frustration I have with my current situation. Yet, I sometimes even feel guilty about that since I do have a very well-paid and secure job, nothing to complain about any time and especially now!

addendum 2/18/09
It's official now, in the sense I've talked to the chair of the search committee and got his off the record comments. The way it was handled by higher ups was terrible in his mind (and mine). And I know the names of those who mishandled things (confirmed by the retired director).

The chair of the search told me I might be lucky...and that I may not be as suited for this particular administrative position as I would be for the faculty position I was recruited to apply for. Still waiting on word about that, whether I'll get an interview or not. More still yet to come.

Nine and a half weeks

OK, so I got a terse email from the chair of the selection committee that a decision should be forthcoming this week. I certainly hope so. It's been way too long a wait for something as important as this. Supposedly I'll also hear something about the second recruitment, although I suspect that since the principal on the second is also on the hiring board of the first, there may be some sort of timing issue.

I'm getting things done and lab work is progressing normally, but it is hard to have your head in two (or three) places at once, compounded with the uncertainty. But, as I've been told, "hang in there."

a challenge

President Obama's inauguration speech was less about hope and more about the challenges we face as a country. And yet, even though there was an acknowledgement of the challenges, it was really more of a challenge to all of us. We the American people are the solution.

It was more We than I. It was sobering yet uplifting.

America has her rallying point. Will we listen? Will we individually act?