SallyStrange (Bigger on the Inside), Spawn of Cthulhusays
The gist: she’s living in a homeless shelter, reasons unexplained. Her parents are proud & supportive, as is her (young, female) science teacher. The experiments involved mussels and how they develop thickened shells in response to increased predation and invasive species. She first demonstrated the link in the wild, then brought them into the lab and showed that it took two months for them develop the thickened shells.
homeless2009says
I lived in a homeless shelter for two years. I am very impressed that she is able to do this in that situation.
SallyStrange (Bigger on the Inside), Spawn of Cthulhusays
Oh yeah, she said she’s been studying wildlife ecology for three years now, which I must say is several steps above the science education at my nevertheless pretty decent high school.
Cue people asking why she’s in a homeless shelter if she’s well off enough to fart around with clams.
After all who NEEDS lobster right?
chigau (同じ)says
Thanks SallyStrange.
chigau (同じ)says
Think how much more difficult it would be if she was living in a cardboard box under a bridge.
She should be grateful and tug her forelock while getting off the sidewalk.
bird.is.the.wordsays
Awesome inspirational video for my Friday morning! Thanks for sharing. Her project could be a master’s thesis!
Ulgh, one of the comments on the youtube channel:
“good looking girl with a great determination in life she has also a chance to be a hollywood star because of her looks, is that a real homeless girl i don’t believe it!”
This again! Why would she want to be a scientist when she could be a Hollywood Star?
razzlefrogsays
@bird.is.the.word
Yeah, people are dumb. I’m actually somewhat expecting someone on the Pharyngula thread to go “It’s great that she’s hot!!” any moment now.
I wish her well.
Louissays
[Yorkshire accent]
LUXURY!
Of course I had it rough. There were thirty seven of us living in shoebox in middle o’motorway. I used to have t’get up half past ten at night, half an hour before I went t’bed, work 30 hours a day in t’lab AND pay PhD supervisor for permission to come t’work. When I got home t’other supervisor used to slice us in two with NMR tube and sing “Eureka!”. But we were more productive in those days BECAUSE we were poor, I got three Nobel prizes and revolutionised t’field.
And if you told t’scientists of today that, they wouldn’t believe ya.
[/Yorkshire accent]*
Ok, but seriously, this girl deserves every plaudit that can be heaped upon her. If I had achieved a quarter as much in my pampered, privileged life by that point, I’d be ridiculously proud.
More than that, the best thing anyone can do for her is GET THE HELL OUT OF HER WAY!
So authorities, get her family a house because her homelessness is an obstacle. Stop telling her she should be in Hollywood (I’m looking at you Youtube commenting bozos) because in addition to brains she has a pleasant physical appearance, because drivel like that undervalues her whole talent set and can be an obstacle to exploring it. Get the girl a grant, now, for something somewhere! Just get out of her way, because look at what she has achieved with a tonne of solvable crap IN her way.
Go Samantha!
Louis
* With apologies to Monty Python.
Louissays
FUCK IT! I’ve said “girl” haven’t I? SEE! It’s so easy to do. How old is she? Does it matter? This is a woman’s work by any measure. Any and all diminishing of this woman was unintended and due to my latent sexism and fucking tiredness.
Oh, how awesome!! I hope she goes places – I love seeing encouragement for other women, especially in the sciences. And Ing, will you let me bask in the warm fuzzies for a moment before reminding me of the lobster brigade :P
@SallyStrange, me too – I thought mine was “competitive” in the sciences, but we didn’t have too much beyond fetal pigs. Props go to her teacher as well for giving her the facilities for her research.
Amazing young woman. Self possessed, intelligent and so loving in her attitude towards her parents, an older couple who look pretty worn down by life. She cares about making her parents happy. “I may not be able to give them a house but at least I am doing well in school” she says. Really inspiring and heartwarming.
Das Boesesays
And of course, Youtube user Tecunuman007 has identified the reason for her amazing success in the face of adverse circusmstances: GAWD gave her a helping hand!
Seen is believing, I’m sure there are heavenly Angels looking out for her. God Bless Sam and her family. Yes you can do it girl. Philippians 4:13
Yes of course, her success couldn’t possibly have anything to do with her intelligence and determination, it’s just a favor from your favourite deity!
The commenter doesn’t make immediately clear why God’s amazing benevolence does not extend to helping her find a fucking place to live.
alasdhairsays
@ Louis
Apologise to At Last The 1948 Show, they did it first ;-)
/pedant
Louissays
alasdhair,
Really? I never knew that! Feel free to be pedantic any time, matey, plenty informative!
It’s inspiring that such a smart woman can crank out good research in a very-less-than-ideal situation. Gah, I need to be more productive–I have a pretty good life.
On another topic, did anyone else think that the teacher’s hug during the video seemed a little inappropriately friendly? Maybe it struck me as odd because I’d just finished reading PZ’s article about the German priest. But, on the other hand, the young woman might be emotionally vulnerable in her situation, which may make her more susceptible to being exploited. Something about the teacher raised a red flag for me.
She is very impressive, and if she can do so well despite being homeless, she will hopefully escape to a better life.
That said, I hope there’s not too much OMG a pretty, smart woman in a homeless shelter with all those dumb ugly people. She doesn’t deserve to be there – get her out!
No one should be homeless, no matter their intellectual attainments and appearance.
clarysagesays
Saw this story on ABC News last night. The reporter (in an amazed voice) said this young woman would rather read [name of technical book on mollusks] rather than read Glamour magazine! A girl who read science instead of fashion magazines!! Why couldn’t they do the story without the sexist commentary?
unclefrogysays
sorry for the confusion on my part.
I thought first that she was a “girl” so young and going to Brentwood High though she did not speak like a kid, so articulate. I then took a look in my mirror and had to admit that it was true I am getting old so Ok she is a young women!
Brentwood is not an inner city community, it is a far to affluent suburb of L.A.. Just look at the facilities provided for a high school science lab and compare it with what is generally provided say in Detroit or any other average urban school district. See what can result from an unstingey expenditure of funds for education. Not to take anything away from her accomplishment at all but what could be accomplished by other “kids” and therefor us as a society if we would recognize this and put education as a major priority instead of a place where we can save money!
the youth are the future they are the seed corn for our survival and our prosperity.
As much as I like Lamarr quotes, she’s not the only one. How about Danica McKellar? She has a proper Erdős number of 4 (and an Erdős-Bacon number of 6).
I should read all the links before I say anything. I see that she is not from Brentwood Ca. but from Long Island N.Y.
I will not do the research on what the school budget of her high school is or what the demographics of her part of long island are, I do have to get some other work done today. I will say that from the facilities as shown in the video her school is not equipped like any “urban” school I am generally aware of.
When we make real education available we get remarkable results!
uncle frogy
craigoresays
Big thumbs up! Good for her.
DLCsays
Are there no workhouses ? no prisons?
Let her die then, and relieve the surplus population.
[100-odd years before the Yorkshiremen sketch]
I’m glad for her. Hope she does well, and gets into a career in the sciences.
thomaspagesays
Brentwood is one of the poorest districts in Suffolk county. It’s not exactly East New York, but it is far from wealthy. They manage to do pretty well on a shoestring, though.
mirapathsays
The research is done at a local university facility, so kudos to the schoolteachers for arranging such a set-up.
huntstoddardsays
“Something about the teacher raised a red flag for me.”
Yes, that was a little cringe-worthy, on the other hand from such a short clip, it’s very hard to ascertain the prevailing context. On the other, other hand, these days nobody can be blamed for imagining pedophiles hiding around every corner, given the news. But to paraphrase Freud, sometimes a hug is just a hug.
I can’t watch the video.
Can someone post a transcript (or just the gist).
Wow. That’s amazing and wonderful.
And what a strange, sorry world we live in, that homeless shelters are an easily understood part of it.
Congratulations to Samantha and her teacher, who seems super cool.
Just not to us.
Glen Davidson
The gist: she’s living in a homeless shelter, reasons unexplained. Her parents are proud & supportive, as is her (young, female) science teacher. The experiments involved mussels and how they develop thickened shells in response to increased predation and invasive species. She first demonstrated the link in the wild, then brought them into the lab and showed that it took two months for them develop the thickened shells.
I lived in a homeless shelter for two years. I am very impressed that she is able to do this in that situation.
Oh yeah, she said she’s been studying wildlife ecology for three years now, which I must say is several steps above the science education at my nevertheless pretty decent high school.
Cue people asking why she’s in a homeless shelter if she’s well off enough to fart around with clams.
After all who NEEDS lobster right?
Thanks SallyStrange.
Think how much more difficult it would be if she was living in a cardboard box under a bridge.
She should be grateful and tug her forelock while getting off the sidewalk.
Awesome inspirational video for my Friday morning! Thanks for sharing. Her project could be a master’s thesis!
Ulgh, one of the comments on the youtube channel:
“good looking girl with a great determination in life she has also a chance to be a hollywood star because of her looks, is that a real homeless girl i don’t believe it!”
This again! Why would she want to be a scientist when she could be a Hollywood Star?
@bird.is.the.word
Yeah, people are dumb. I’m actually somewhat expecting someone on the Pharyngula thread to go “It’s great that she’s hot!!” any moment now.
I wish her well.
[Yorkshire accent]
LUXURY!
Of course I had it rough. There were thirty seven of us living in shoebox in middle o’motorway. I used to have t’get up half past ten at night, half an hour before I went t’bed, work 30 hours a day in t’lab AND pay PhD supervisor for permission to come t’work. When I got home t’other supervisor used to slice us in two with NMR tube and sing “Eureka!”. But we were more productive in those days BECAUSE we were poor, I got three Nobel prizes and revolutionised t’field.
And if you told t’scientists of today that, they wouldn’t believe ya.
[/Yorkshire accent]*
Ok, but seriously, this girl deserves every plaudit that can be heaped upon her. If I had achieved a quarter as much in my pampered, privileged life by that point, I’d be ridiculously proud.
More than that, the best thing anyone can do for her is GET THE HELL OUT OF HER WAY!
So authorities, get her family a house because her homelessness is an obstacle. Stop telling her she should be in Hollywood (I’m looking at you Youtube commenting bozos) because in addition to brains she has a pleasant physical appearance, because drivel like that undervalues her whole talent set and can be an obstacle to exploring it. Get the girl a grant, now, for something somewhere! Just get out of her way, because look at what she has achieved with a tonne of solvable crap IN her way.
Go Samantha!
Louis
* With apologies to Monty Python.
FUCK IT! I’ve said “girl” haven’t I? SEE! It’s so easy to do. How old is she? Does it matter? This is a woman’s work by any measure. Any and all diminishing of this woman was unintended and due to my latent sexism and fucking tiredness.
Louis
Get a job hippy.
Oh, how awesome!! I hope she goes places – I love seeing encouragement for other women, especially in the sciences. And Ing, will you let me bask in the warm fuzzies for a moment before reminding me of the lobster brigade :P
@SallyStrange, me too – I thought mine was “competitive” in the sciences, but we didn’t have too much beyond fetal pigs. Props go to her teacher as well for giving her the facilities for her research.
bird.is.the.word (taken way out of context):
Why not both?
Amazing young woman. Self possessed, intelligent and so loving in her attitude towards her parents, an older couple who look pretty worn down by life. She cares about making her parents happy. “I may not be able to give them a house but at least I am doing well in school” she says. Really inspiring and heartwarming.
And of course, Youtube user Tecunuman007 has identified the reason for her amazing success in the face of adverse circusmstances: GAWD gave her a helping hand!
Yes of course, her success couldn’t possibly have anything to do with her intelligence and determination, it’s just a favor from your favourite deity!
The commenter doesn’t make immediately clear why God’s amazing benevolence does not extend to helping her find a fucking place to live.
@ Louis
Apologise to At Last The 1948 Show, they did it first ;-)
/pedant
alasdhair,
Really? I never knew that! Feel free to be pedantic any time, matey, plenty informative!
Louis
nigelTheBold:
That’s “Hedley”!
It’s inspiring that such a smart woman can crank out good research in a very-less-than-ideal situation. Gah, I need to be more productive–I have a pretty good life.
On another topic, did anyone else think that the teacher’s hug during the video seemed a little inappropriately friendly? Maybe it struck me as odd because I’d just finished reading PZ’s article about the German priest. But, on the other hand, the young woman might be emotionally vulnerable in her situation, which may make her more susceptible to being exploited. Something about the teacher raised a red flag for me.
She is very impressive, and if she can do so well despite being homeless, she will hopefully escape to a better life.
That said, I hope there’s not too much OMG a pretty, smart woman in a homeless shelter with all those dumb ugly people. She doesn’t deserve to be there – get her out!
No one should be homeless, no matter their intellectual attainments and appearance.
Saw this story on ABC News last night. The reporter (in an amazed voice) said this young woman would rather read [name of technical book on mollusks] rather than read Glamour magazine! A girl who read science instead of fashion magazines!! Why couldn’t they do the story without the sexist commentary?
sorry for the confusion on my part.
I thought first that she was a “girl” so young and going to Brentwood High though she did not speak like a kid, so articulate. I then took a look in my mirror and had to admit that it was true I am getting old so Ok she is a young women!
Brentwood is not an inner city community, it is a far to affluent suburb of L.A.. Just look at the facilities provided for a high school science lab and compare it with what is generally provided say in Detroit or any other average urban school district. See what can result from an unstingey expenditure of funds for education. Not to take anything away from her accomplishment at all but what could be accomplished by other “kids” and therefor us as a society if we would recognize this and put education as a major priority instead of a place where we can save money!
the youth are the future they are the seed corn for our survival and our prosperity.
uncle frogy
As much as I like Lamarr quotes, she’s not the only one. How about Danica McKellar? She has a proper Erdős number of 4 (and an Erdős-Bacon number of 6).
Intel Semifinalist Is Homeless No More Thanks to Community
I should read all the links before I say anything. I see that she is not from Brentwood Ca. but from Long Island N.Y.
I will not do the research on what the school budget of her high school is or what the demographics of her part of long island are, I do have to get some other work done today. I will say that from the facilities as shown in the video her school is not equipped like any “urban” school I am generally aware of.
When we make real education available we get remarkable results!
uncle frogy
Big thumbs up! Good for her.
Are there no workhouses ? no prisons?
Let her die then, and relieve the surplus population.
[100-odd years before the Yorkshiremen sketch]
I’m glad for her. Hope she does well, and gets into a career in the sciences.
Brentwood is one of the poorest districts in Suffolk county. It’s not exactly East New York, but it is far from wealthy. They manage to do pretty well on a shoestring, though.
The research is done at a local university facility, so kudos to the schoolteachers for arranging such a set-up.
“Something about the teacher raised a red flag for me.”
Yes, that was a little cringe-worthy, on the other hand from such a short clip, it’s very hard to ascertain the prevailing context. On the other, other hand, these days nobody can be blamed for imagining pedophiles hiding around every corner, given the news. But to paraphrase Freud, sometimes a hug is just a hug.
Oh, come on – it was obviously that they were posing for a photo.
What have you got against America, PZ?
Please explain yourself, Caroline.
And what do you mean by that????
I see we had a visit from that strange bird, the Non Sequitur Seagull.