The Statistics of Studying Vs. Hiking?!

Do I stay home and struggle through another take-home statistics exam or do I accept an offer to go hike the Georgia mountains?

I think you can guess how I chose to spend my saturday on this beautiful sunny day in Georgia. My friend Sarah and I drove about 2 hours to Amicalola Falls State Park in southern Georgia, where the Appalalachian Trail (AT) begins at Springer Mountain. How cool to be at the start of the AT? After reading numerous heroing adventures about life on the AT...I have always dreamt about hiking the 2,175 miles from Georgia to Maine. Someday!

It was a colorful day with an ocean blue sky contrasting against deep red and gold leaves changing with the

season.

You can take a Colorado girl out of the mountains, but you cannot take the
mountains out of a Colorado girl.

Yoga in Athens, Georgia!

I am teaching hatha yoga at a local studio in Athens, Rubber Soul Yoga Revolution. I love the ethics and energy of the studio. It is a donation-based studio, which means the classes are cheap (suggested donation of $3-5/class) and the teachers are volunteer. Normally, a drop-in yoga class in the U.S. is anywhere from $10-20/class, so this is a screamin' deal for all of us yogis in Athens. The basic idea behind a donation-based approach is that it allows more community members to experience yoga. Right now, I teach a 1.5 hour class on Friday which is simply a perfect way to end the week. Plus, teaching yoga unleashes my creative juices, as I build a new sequence of pranayama (breath work) and asanas (poses) coupled with an overall theme (balance, opening, breath and movement, core energy, etc.) every week.

I have always been a visceral being, as I experience life through emotions. For me, this means that I find joy in life through the five senses: the smell of rain, the beauty of the leaves changing colors, the taste of an exotic food, the feel of the earth beneath my hiking boots, laughing with friends, and the melodic sounds of Tibetan chanting. Yet, as a PhD student, the visceral is overtaken by a powerful cerebral work-out. And the only visceral experience to be had is the feel of the keyboard on my fingertips, the flow of words dancing on one page after another, and the mind shifting information from one location to another. Finding balance between the mind/body has been an elusive journey in this process. Yoga allows my mind and body to work in tandem (ok, it's not as great as skiing--balls to wall--down a steep mountain with champagne powder lightly dusting my face...but, it will do for now).

PHOTOS: Top Left- Yoga in Slovenia. Top Right- Artwork hanging on my wall painted by my friend Bret. Others: Rubbersoul Studio photos.

I VOTED!

Instead of waiting in the long lines at the polling booths on election day, November 4, I opted for the early vote via snail mail. This is an option in the state of Colorado.

As if it was Christmas, I ripped open the over sized, white "Official Ballot Enclosed" envelope and was stunned by the length of the Colorado ballot...4 pages?! I thought to myself this must be the longest ballot in the history...would you believe it IS the longest Colorado ballot since 1912, with over 42 questions. Each U.S. state has its own ballot, including the Presidential election (of which there were 16 choices for the Presidential ticket) and other local issues dealing with funding schools, recycling, gambling, etc. When I read ballot #48, I nearly choked on my green tea with jasmine.

Amendment 48 proposes amending the Colorado Constitution to:
1.) define the term "person" to "include any human being from the moment of fertilization"; and
2.) apply this definition of person to the sections of the Colorado Constitution that protect the natural and essential rights of persons, allow open access to courts for every person, and ensure that no person has his or her life, liberty, or property taken away without due process of law.

If this amendment passes with a YES vote, basically this would be the legal foundation to end abortions, and some forms of birth control in the state of Colorado. Um, this amendment gets a big fat NO vote. In 1973, the Roe vs. Wade decision defined a fetus a "person" in the third trimester, allowing abortions up until that time. Why is there any need to change this? Since when does the religious right get to tell me or other women that we cannot have a say in this very personal decision? I simply do not like the idea of state government meddling in personal affairs such as these. Colorado, South Dakota, and California are the only U.S. states with this amendment on the ballot and in each state the amendment was pushed (funded) on the ballot by religious right-wing money.

Women Who Wine!

On Saturday, we hosted a dinner for the ladies of the Institute of Higher Education (IHE). The menu included mushroom risotto, butternut squash & pear soup, salad, asparagus, cheese popovers, apple galette, and pumpkin pie. Our professor, Sheila Slaughter, was kind enough to let us take over her kitchen and cook a feast for 10. Women in IHE are celebrated; it is not just a facade, it is genuine. Dr. Slaughter and Dr. Libby Morris are the female "mavericks" of IHE and they serve as strong academic women role models. Both of them have families, successful relationships and are rockstar academics in the field. It is all possible, anything is possible!

Statistics: 1 Down, 2 to Go!

After a week of number crunching, hanging out with STATA (a statistical software), and many formulas...I am happy to report that my take-home statistics exam was turned in yesterday. Woohoo! In this class, there are a total of three take-home exams throughout the semester. One down, two to go! I have to admit, I enjoy statistics...when I understand it. Here is one of the exam questions, to give you a taste of how delicious the exam was:

The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is designed so that test scores are normally distributed. The mean LSAT score for the population of all test-takers since the last test revision in 1991 is 150, with a standard deviation of 10.

a) If you drew all possible random samples of size 100 from the population of LSAT test-takers and plotted the values of the mean from each sample, what shape would the resulting distribution have? Explain.
b) What will be the value of the mean of the sampling distribution described in (a)?
c) Calculate the value of the standard error of the mean for the sampling distribution described in part a. Show your calculations.
d) Is the standard error larger or smaller than the standard deviation? Explain why we should expect this.
e) If your sample size was more than 100 cases, would the standard error of the mean be the same, higher, or lower? Why?
f) For a sample size of 100, in what percentage of samples would you expect to find a sample mean between 149 and 151? Show your calculations.

PHOTOS: Last Saturday night, a few of us PhD students enjoyed a nice fall evening at the local brewery, Terrapin, with the scholar Larry Leslie. He has written a great deal on the marketization of higher education, a topic I am highly intrigued by. Photos taken by Stephanie.

So much Fun it's almost Criminal!

Despite the fact I had a take home statistics exam (with over 75 problems) this past weekend, I made room for a little social time.

A Hawaiian luau turns into MURDER! I was invited to a murder mystery dinner party with a whole host of characters. I was LEA BAGGSA, a camera-toting, befuddled and bumbling tourist (such a tough part for me to play...ha, ha!) There was also the wealthy socialite, bodacious surfer dude, sexy swimsuit model, a Hawaiian tribal chief, a golfer, a hula dancer, and a scuba dive instructor. And one of us was the MURDERER! Each of us had to dress up and play our respective parts throughout the evening. As the evening progressed, I grew suspicious of everyone seated around the table as different clues were released pointing to everyone as a possible suspect...even me, the innocent tourist! As we ate the delicious Mexican enchiladas and learned that the swimsuit model was a jealous sucker for love, the hula dancer enjoyed pushing people off cliffs, and the chief liked to wear silky woman's underwear...the evidence grew stronger, we had a murderer among us!

WHO DID IT??? The cool, calm & collected bodacious surfer dude!

At the end of the evening we finished up with some Guitar hero...of which I was a neophyte. I think everyone was stunned that I had never played this game because evidently it is the new HOT video game. Where have I been...um, Europe. Needless to say, I wasn't much of a rockstar.

“Murder is always a mistake - one should
never do anything one cannot talk about after dinner”

Oscar Wilde

Debate Watch Parties!

At the beautiful McCain's ranch in Arizona (1 of 10 of his houses, ranches, condos and lofts) VP candidate, Palin, and her family were sequestered for 3 days to study up for the VP debate Thursday night. The pundits were placing wagers on two scenarios:

1.) She would fall flat on her face and we would all laugh...she would remain the laughing stock of the 2008 race.

OR

2.) She would prove herself as a quick study and play up those orator skills that she showcased at the Republican National Convention.

Ok, as much as I hate to say it...she showed up and didn't trip on her face. She didn't answer the actual questions that were asked of her, but she made love to the camera with her naivety and her 'hockey mom' act. It was clear that she only had about 5 talking points, but she was polished. She was judged on her oratory skills rather than the substance of her words. It is hard for me to understand why the bar has been lowered for her... What do you think??

For the Presidential & VP debates, we went to CINE for the official watch parties, complete with Palin bingo. I love the hype at these watch parties and it gives me hope that there are some educated Americans who actually care about WHAT the candidates are saying (granted, none of the platforms will come to fruition, as the next four years are already spoken for as the 'Bush clean up' years). I will be the first to admit I am a skeptic! I am skeptical of the American people, as I don't have faith that they will use their best judgement when voting. Tonight, I have decided to let it all go until election day. I know who I am voting for and my energy is better spent elsewhere...like this take-home statistics exam.

Gas shortages in Georgia!

The state of Georgia has been experiencing a gas shortage, which makes all of those gas-guzzling American commuters quite upset. Georgia relies on two major pipelines, Colonial and Plantation, in the Gulf of Mexico. Moving at a sluggish pace of 3-5 mph, the gas from the pipeline takes approximately 10 days to arrive from Texas. With the arrival of the tropical storms, Gustav and Ike, the refineries were shut down and are just now slowly returning to running at full capacity. Here in Athens, some of the gas stations were closed or only allowing a $15-30 maximum purchase of gas. Thank goodness I don't depend on gas! When I moved to Athens, I was very intentional about finding a home close to campus. I wanted to walk or ride my bike, as I became accustomed to that lifestyle in Europe and I am now more conscious than ever about the U.S. reliance on oil. I live about a 5 minute walk from the downtown area and about 15 minutes to campus, so everyday I'm commuting by foot. However, I would be a hypocrite if I didn't admit that I do drive my car for errands. My goal is to only fill up my gas tank once/month and I've officially made it through the month of September! Woohoo.

First Paper DONE!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Now off to a Presidential debate watch party!

The Weekend of a PhD student!

The weekend of a PhD student...writing during the day and gettin' social at night. Friday night was ladies night which began with a progressive house hopping, including wine and appetizers, followed by the elusive search for the Athens nightlife scene. But, let me qualify that last sentence by adding that we were in search of the non-undergraduate nightlife scene...no cougars in this crowd! Downtown Athens is divided into the west side (undergrad heaven for those cougars out there) and the east side (where you sometimes find an older crowd). Living in a college town in the middle of small town America doesn't make it easy to meet people over age 25. However, I think we are slowly finding the few "hot spots" that do nurture non-undergrad crowds.

Saturday night was a night of dead cockroaches, American college football, hanging with my work peeps, and beer pong (table tennis without paddles and lots of cups, balls, and beer). One of the guys I work with purchased his first home in Athens, so he threw a housewarming party complete with beer pong in his manly-man shed. Beer pong is a popular American drinking game. The intent is to throw a ping pong into the opponent's cup, whereby the opponents must drink the beer in the cup and remove the cup from the triangle. The winning team eliminates all of the cups of their opponents before their own cups are eliminated. The people I work with are the fun-lovin' student affairs type. For those of you that don't know the student affairs type...well, they put the "F" in F-U-N, they can coordinate an event in their sleep, they aren't afraid to get silly, and others view them as "fluff" of the university. Once you are a student affairs type...it is hard to look the other way.

A Paper Writing Machine!

Leasa's world is now filled with paper-writing (day in & day out!). In my Introduction to U.S. Higher Education class we have to analyze how an U.S. institution of higher education works (organizational structure & governance). The kicker is that we had to choose an institution that we did not have affiliation with, therefore I chose a university I know nothing about...the highly reputable Ivy-league university in the heart of New York City, Columbia University. Did you know that the tuition at Columbia is almost $40K/year? Did you know that Columbia also has the 2nd largest number of foreign students in the U.S.?

The other paper...ugh...social theory! We have to analyze a social theory and I have chosen the market theory. Ya know, the exchange of goods for a price, consumers/producers, market-oriented policy instruments, blah, blah. It is all mushy in my head right now. All I know is that I am a consumer and I need to purchase a massage, as I have a knot in the middle of my back the size of a watermelon. Maybe the government will look at this knot as a market failure and bail me out...like they did AIG. What the hell? Okay, maybe I'm getting a bit off topic...back to writing! 10 more pages to go...

When the Rubber Hits the Dirt!

When the rubber soles of my Adidas trail runners hit the dirt, you know life is good! Yes, I have found a little piece of heaven right here in Athens, Georgia. For awhile I was starting to think my days of hiking would be limited to my dreams of and vacations to Colorado. However, a classmate of mine, Stephanie (who lived in Boulder for a short period of time and also shares the same love of nature), was kind enough to introduce me to the the State Botanical Gardens of Georgia, right here in Athens. Ok, it is not the Rocky Mountains, but it is a beautiful and lush forest with over 5 miles of trails. It is much more than the groomed flower beds that you typically expect when visiting a botanical garden, rather the dirt trails are lined with lush native plants/trees and even a few exotic species. The best part is the wildlife...the first weekend we saw a tiny tree frog perfectly camouflaged with the surrounding flora. The lizard in the photo was smaller than my pinky finger. Here are a few photos from the trail. Notice, that the leaves are starting to change colors. 'Tis the season!

A Palin LOVE-FEST!

Living here in the south, I am very careful when choosing who to engage with in political banter. You never know what you are going to get; a bible belter that wants to change the nation, a right-wing radical, or a conservative who would jump at the chance to convert anything or anyone (especially a liberal democrat from Boulder, CO). I suppose it is a lot like when I was living in Europe, but in Europe I didn't know if I was going to get anti-American sentiment or not. The other day, I was in my office--the one that I share with two other graduate students--and suddenly I was involuntarily in the middle of a Palin LOVE-FEST! The love for Palin was oozing from the pores and reverberating from wall to wall. I quickly zipped up my Obama-lovin' shield and fought off any desire to open my mouth. They were talking about her speech at the Republican National Convention and how she is a "great speaker" (yeah, with a teleprompter), how intelligent she is (um, Mrs. Palin what is the Bush Doctrine?) and how she is a much better leader than Hillary (What?! Oh my!)

Ladies and gents, I cannot remain tight-lipped any longer...Palin is not presidential material and if McCain kicks the bucket (which is not too far-fetched) she would be our next President. Shame on McCain for choosing her to be his puppet and putting her on display, like the 'pit bull with lipstick' that she self professes. I hate to say it (and deep inside I don't want to believe it), but I feel she was chosen for her gender. She certainly was not chosen for her experience! Palin is a 'token' appropriation because the Republicans saw an opportunity to ride the waves of Hillary love.

There is my rant...now for a rave! First of all, Tina Fey makes a brilliant Palin. Finally, there is good news on the home front...a dear friend of mine, who has always voted republican, recently sent me this email:

"I am horrified that she is nominated as VP. What an insult to
women. I may vote Democratic this year. Can you believe it?"

Confessions of a First-Year PhD Student...

To say that I am content would be a lie! My days are quite bipolar...as I have waves of doubt, excitement, overwhelm and pure confusion. I have been told by many of my colleagues that this is a natural feeling the first year of PhD devotion. Not only am I trying to process through heaps of reading material, but I also have these soul-searching thoughts that flood my mind daily. Here is a quick and dirty run-down of a few thoughts that graced my mind today (beware: the following thoughts are negative and not recommended for children with dreams under the ages of 20):

1.) Is this really where I should be right now; doing a PhD and living in the south (away from my friends and family)? Living in a world away from the mountains in the deep south where Palin love fests are an everyday common occurrence? No weekend travels to Italy, no hikes up Sanitas, no Sunday walks in Bygdøy, no foreign languages, no Colorado sunsets, just a laptop and a stack of books and assignments. No ski season, #&%@!

2.) Ok, the reality...this is a huge transition from the exciting life I just experienced; gallivanting around the world with the free-spirit of a bald-eagle soaring through the crisp blue skies. Now, I spend my days planning what I will read tomorrow, when I will write the upcoming papers, thinking about Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. Some might prefer to live this life of a thinker, but I am not sure I do. The transition has been quite dramatic.

3.) What the hell am I doing?

4.) The workload is at the level of ridiculousness. I just need to surrender to the fact that I will never be able to read everything that is assigned.

5.) Am I really cut out to be an academic? What will I do with a PhD? What will I write my dissertation on? Will I make it through second year comps (tests)...or first year or better yet this week?

6.) How can I get a travel grant to do research in another country?

7.) Why am I finding it so hard to find the goodness in all of this?

8.) Why am I writing this blog, when I should be reading/studying?

Honesty, damn it's hard to swallow sometimes! I'm hoping that by posting these thoughts, it will be like a garbage disposal and grind up all of the nasty residue in the kitchen sink. If you have answers to any of these questions, dial 1-800-Leasafreaksout.