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?

The Inauguration is almost here

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's inauguration of President Obama. Truly an historic day in our country.

The challenges to his administration and our country are tremendous. The economy is teetering between bad recession and depression. Jobless rates are approaching 10%. We have record deficits. Our often failed foreign policies, our influence on the rest of the world, our very moral authority, are questioned and our acts as a country have been questionable.

Obama and his team have impressed the majority of the American population with their intelligence, preparation, and planning. They will be hitting the ground running. He's picked a tremendous cabinet. The expectations are high, and things really may get worse before getting better. But for a change we have a President who is not only giving hope, but also challenging all of us to be part of the solution. Public service is being openly encouraged at the highest levels.

I can't wait until tomorrow.

6 weeks and counting!

Talk about expectations not living up to reality. There has not been an official decision concerning the selection for the Director's position I interviewed for. As I wrote below it was thought that a decision would be made the following week. At the end of that week, I got word (officially) it was in the hands of the Area Director and he was delaying a decision for a few days, then it was "we're not sure what's going on", then first week of January it was "the Area Director and his Deputy are in SC and a decision will be made, so hang in there."

When nothing happened that week, I called (a week ago) the retired Director and I got hints (without direct that the original selection was not me, and that the Area Director did not accept the board's choice. I also got some other insight into the politics of it all, including some issues with board decision making, and budget. He suggested I call another person, director of a 'sister' center and a member of the hiring board, so I did. Off the record he gave me similar information, confirming the first choice was not me. He was also good enough to give me a little feedback as to why, and as I suspected, the issue against me was my lack of experience in the areas of management, facilities, and strategic planning. My science was a home-run and evidently there were comments of "brilliant" although I've never felt that about myself (I work hard but I'm not brilliant). But again, what's not clear is what's going to happen next. Either it's been thrown back to the selection committee for reconsideration or they'll open up the job again. If the former they have until the first week of February to decide or else the job certificate (some kind of government HR thing) expires.

Now interestingly, a week after my interview I was contacted by a member of the hiring board who's faculty with the Medical University of South Carolina and also represents his university on the Laboratory Science Board. He strongly encouraged me to apply for the Endowed Chair in Marine Genomics, a new faculty position where the incumbent will fill new lab space at the same NOAA Laboratory. This would be a full professor position (tenured) with not only research responsibilities but also to drive collaborations and coordination with members of the South Carolina Genomics program, made up of researchers at MUSC, Clemson, USC, and Charleston College. After a phone conversation with him (I needed to make sure he was talking about me!), I decided to apply. As yet, I haven't heard anything back from them beyond confirmation they got my application, although he 'promised' an interview in February. It could be that they're waiting to decide on the Director's position as well.

In any event, the wait is a killer mentally and emotionally, a real roller coaster. I find myself only half at work sometimes because I think about it so much. It's also really hard to decide whether or not we would make such a move for either job without knowing that there's an offer. I think my wife has decided we could make the move if I was to be offered the Director's job, but again that's not the same as really making the decision. She's less thrilled about me considering a faculty position because of the all -consuming nature of starting out. Our kids were great about the possibility when we discussed it with them. Our parents are concerned but supportive. A few friends know and they're all great and supportive as well.

Could this be it?

This was one of those interesting weeks. Just before Thanksgiving, I was offered an interview for the Director position of a NOAA lab in South Carolina. I'm not going to go into specifics, but if it's offered (and there's three candidates that have been interviewed), my wife and I have a major decision to make. Much like the job I interviewed for earlier in the year, it represents quite a change in our living situation, the impacts on family and kids, and so on.

On the other hand, it represents an opportunity to become part of one of the best laboratory facilities within NOAA with state of the art research and scientific expertise in ecology, health, genomics, bioinformatics, and environmental chemistry. It's a way better fit than the previous job I applied for, and would be a real career advancement, with quite a large set of new esponsibilities. While largely administrative, I think I made it clear during the interviews and my seminar that I still am in the position of maintaining a science presence with a lab and post docs/grad students. Evidently I impressed, and I do feel it was one of the best seminars I've ever given. I know that members of the laboratory science board expressed the same sentiments, and so did members of the executive board including the chair of the board and Director of the adjacent lab that's in the same set of national labs within this part of NOAA.

I'm on the flight home now.....my wife and I will have a lot to discuss over the weekend. Supposedly the decision could come (unofficially) as soon as Monday. Oh, boy....

historic day

It really is an historic day. The people of the United States of America have not only elected the first President of color, but also seems to have finally rejected the politics of ideology. Of course this is not universal. I hope that President Obama will prove to those who fear this result that they need not. We all need to work together to tackle the many challenges we face.

Let's get the election over with

Last night I was on the phone with my mom and told her I was going to be watching the Obama infomercial. Following is an email she sent me along with my response. I love my mother dearly but could no longer remain silent when she and other family members seem to so easily buy into the false, out of context allegations against someone who I hope in the next 5 days is the next President-elect of the United States. Anyway, it was a chance to write a short essay about my feelings.

On Oct 30, 2008, at 9:40 AM, "Mom" wrote:

RIGHT OBAMA AND HIS ADVISORS----- THE REVERAND AND I USE THT TERM LOOSELY-------JEREMIAH WRIGHT! AND OTHERS!!!!!! AREN'T YOU JUST A LITTLE CONCERNED?

On Oct 30, 2008, at 10:30 AM, Mark wrote:

Hi Mom,

I debated whether to send this, but your message kind of set me off. Just a few thoughts.

I'm not concerned at all. We all have nutty associates in our past, and it doesn't define us. Wright lost a screw along the way but wasn't always like that. Sure throwing Wright under the bus as soon as some of this stuff surfaced would have been the right thing to do politically, but personally I also think it would be hard to immediately disown your pastor.

Listen, I respected McCain back in 2000, and he certainly would have been a better President than what we got. But his campaign this time around has been nothing but lies, deceit, and devoid of any new ideas on how to run the country. His judgement has become questionable (Palin, etc) and his knee jerk and impulsive reactions to almost any new situation and challenge is more than a little worrisome. Back in 2000, the Bush campaign destroyed McCain with some pretty underhanded tactics, tactics using lies, smears and innuendo that he absolutely abhorred.

At the time, McCain essentially said that he would never run such a campaign--he was too honorable to get down in the mud like that. However, for this campaign he ends up hiring the same people and running the same kind of campaign. Where's the honor and honesty in that? And take the week of the initial financial meltdown. McCain "suspends" his campaign to make a big show that he was going to Washington to "handle" the situation. It was such a bogus, grandstanding stunt, and it backfired (even Republicans said he did nothing substantive to help the situation). Besides I want my President who thinks be able to handle more than one crisis at a time--it's called multitasking and that's what they have to do, everyday. And what do I want in a President? I want to be inspired, I want new ideas. Truly, what does McCain offer? The only thing we hear is innuendo about past acquaintances, phrases taken out of context, but nothing substantive about how we get out of the economic and foreign policy holes we're in.

And one last thing regarding Palin--I want our elected officials in such high offices TO BE SMARTER THAN ME. Not some nitwit who can't string two complete, grammatically correct sentences together without having them written out for her or memorized. But what really frosts me is her definition of real America and real patriotic Americans--it'sso narrowly defined and not inclusive of all Americans who love this country, regardless of race, religious and personal choice beliefs, or political affiliation. Her speeches are full of buzzwords that basically say Obama is unAmerican because (a) he's black and (b) has Muslim friends. I have Jewish, Arab, Hindi, gay, pro-choice friends....does that make me less of an American?

Love, Mark

Springsteen: "I want my country back"

Why he's the Boss

"'Hello Philly,

'I am glad to be here today for this voter registration drive and for Barack Obama, the next President of the United States.

'I've spent 35 years writing about America, its people, and the meaning of the American Promise. The Promise that was handed down to us, right here in this city from our founding fathers, with one instruction: Do your best to make these things real. Opportunity, equality, social and economic justice, a fair shake for all of our citizens, the American idea, as a positive influence, around the world for a more just and peaceful existence. These are the things that give our lives hope, shape, and meaning. They are the ties that bind us together and give us faith in our contract with one another.

'I've spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between that American promise and American reality. For many Americans, who are today losing their jobs, their homes, seeing their retirement funds disappear, who have no healthcare, or who have been abandoned in our inner cities. The distance between that promise and that reality has never been greater or more painful.

'I believe Senator Obama has taken the measure of that distance in his own life and in his work. I believe he understands, in his heart, the cost of that distance, in blood and suffering, in the lives of everyday Americans. I believe as president, he would work to restore that promise to so many of our fellow citizens who have justifiably lost faith in its meaning. After the disastrous administration of the past 8 years, we need someone to lead us in an American reclamation project. In my job, I travel the world, and occasionally play big stadiums, just like Senator Obama. I've continued to find, wherever I go, America remains a repository of people's hopes, possibilities, and desires, and that despite the terrible erosion to our standing around the world, accomplished by our recent administration, we remain, for many, a house of dreams. One thousand George Bushes and one thousand Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that house down.

'They will, however, be leaving office, dropping the national tragedies of Katrina, Iraq, and our financial crisis in our laps. Our sacred house of dreams has been abused, looted, and left in a terrible state of disrepair. It needs care; it needs saving, it needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for power or a quick buck. It needs strong arms, hearts, and minds. It needs someone with Senator Obama's understanding, temperateness, deliberativeness, maturity, compassion, toughness, and faith, to help us rebuild our house once again. But most importantly, it needs us. You and me. To build that house with the generosity that is at the heart of the American spirit. A house that is truer and big enough to contain the hopes and dreams of all of our fellow citizens. That is where our future lies. We will rise or fall as a people by our ability to accomplish this task. Now I don't know about you, but I want that dream back, I want my America back, I want my country back.

'So now is the time to stand with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves, and come on up for the rising.' "

(Via Joan Walsh in Salon.com.)

Definition of Community Organizer

I swear the Republican Party is on crack and wants to win at any cost. They are sleazy, lying scum bags. I don't think I've ever felt so pissed of during a presidential campaign. One of the points they keep trying to make is when discussing executive experience for governing, Palin and McCain have it, while Obama has only been a "community organizer" (wink wink). The constant reference to it, first by Mr. 9/11 Rudy Giuliani, and then repeated often by Palin, is deeply offensive in so many ways. Joe Klein on Time's Swampland blog laid out just what Obama did as a community organizer:

What a Community Organizer Does:

This morning, I received a press release from a group called Catholic Democrats about the work--the mission, the witness--that Obama performed after he got out of college. Here's the first paragraph:

Catholic Democrats is expressing surprise and shock that Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's acceptance speech tonight mocked her opponent's work in the 1980s for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.  She belittled Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's experience as a community organizer in Catholic parishes on the South Side of Chicago, work he undertook instead of pursuing a lucrative career on Wall Street.  In her acceptance speech, Ms. Palin said, 'I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.'  Community organizing is at the heart of Catholic Social Teaching to end poverty and promote social justice.  

So here is what Giuliani and Palin didn't know: Obama was working for a group of churches that were concerned about their parishioners, many of whom had been laid off when the steel mills closed on the south side of Chicago. They hired Obama to help those stunned people recover and get the services they needed--job training, help with housing and so forth--from the local government. It was, dare I say it, the Lord's work--the sort of mission Jesus preached (as opposed to the war in Iraq, which Palin described as a 'task from God.')

(Via TIME: Swampland.)

Sounds like a faith-based initiative to me. What also upsets me about this is that our son has been developing a very high sense of social justice, and I can see him doing something like this as he moves through college, or even after. He's even talking about joining the Peace Corps. You just have to hope that vomit like this doesn't end up turning the young idealistic people of today away from public service.

I hope people wake up in time to call bullshit on the whole lot of them.

Almost empty nest

We moved our son to his college dorm last week. He started classes today. Strange feeling for both of us. Even though our daughter is home, it really does feel like the end of a major chapter in our lives, and the start of another. Certainly not lacking for things to do though, with work, several home projects to do and complete on the house, the band, and so on.

Maybe even start to write more. I certainly could use some discipline here.