This is Like an Interesting Article?

Researchers say young women deserve credit for pioneering vocal trends, including the latest, known as vocal fry.  What do you think?  Do you have any idea what a vocal fry is? 
From the NYTimes

They’re, Like, Way Ahead of the Linguistic Currrve

By DOUGLAS QUENQUA

Published: February 27, 2012

From Valley Girls to the Kardashians, young women have long been mocked for the way they talk.


Whether it be uptalk (pronouncing statements as if they were questions? Like this?), creating slang words like “bitchin’ ” and “ridic,” or the incessant use of “like” as a conversation filler, vocal trends associated with young women are often seen as markers of immaturity or even stupidity.


Right?


But linguists — many of whom once promoted theories consistent with that attitude — now say such thinking is outmoded. [READ MORE]

Berkeley Summer Workshop on Big Data

The 2012 NSF-sponsored Explorations in Science Research Workshop at Berkeley will take place June 16-24.  The focus will be on big data and statistics and introducing students to applied statistics research.

Today, almost every aspect of our lives is "rendered" in data. New data collection technologies have made it easy to record continuous, high-resolution measurements of our physical environment (weather patterns, seismic events, the human genome). We're also constantly monitoring our movements through and interactions with our physical surroundings (automobile and air traffic, large-scale land use, advanced manufacturing facilities). In computer-mediated settings, our activities either depend crucially on or consist entirely of complex digital data (networked games, peer-to-peer technologies, Web site and Internet usage).

The advent of these enormous repositories of information presents us with an interesting challenge: how can we represent and interpret such complex, abstract and often socially important data?

Our short program is designed to encourage students to attend graduate school in statistics. It is aimed at undergraduates who are rising juniors or seniors.

Applicants are expected to have some basic quantitative skills, including a background in calculus. An introductory course in probability and/or statistics is required. Quantitatively-inclined undergraduates majoring in engineering, computer science, physics, biology, mathematics, statistics and the behavioral or social sciences are all encouraged to apply. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required. Women and underrepresented minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Travel, room and board is provided.  Participants must be permanent residents or US citizens.

Flyer: http://exploring-stat-research.org/Berkeley12/ExplorationsFlyer12.pdf

Craigslist as a Job Search Source

It's probably not the best source in the world, but it's often the one to which we turn first.  Here's the current listings that include the word "sociology" or "anthropology" anywhere in the posting.

Craigslist Jobs mentioning "sociology"


Craigslist Jobs mentioning "anthropology"

CAREER NIGHT 7 MARCH 6-8 PM VERA LONG

Could Well-Functioning Markets Kill Democracy?

What if Keynes vs. Hayek misses the point and Occupy gets the point -- inequality -- but over-simplifies the story?  Social theorists, activists, and others might find this opinion piece interesting.

New York Times, February 19, 2012, 9:00 PM
Is This the End of Market Democracy?
By THOMAS B. EDSALL


The 2012 election will offer voters a stark choice between right and left alternatives.

President Obama is calling for:

investing in things like education that gives everybody a chance to succeed. A tax code that makes sure everybody pays their fair share. And laws that make sure everybody follows the rules. That’s what will transform our economy. That’s what will grow our middle class again.

Republicans, in turn, are denouncing the expansion of a Democratic “entitlement society” and what they see as a trend toward European social democracy. They are calling for sharply reduced taxes, regulation and government spending to free market forces and revive private sector economic growth.

While Americans are going to be able to choose between two contrasting ideologies, what if both choices are off the mark? What if the legitimacy of free market capitalism in America is facing fundamental challenges that the candidates and their parties are not addressing?
READ MORE...

The Tips Jar

The Number One Mistake People I Interview Are Making These Days
www.businessinsider.com

Whether we spent thirty minutes meeting in the offices; we Skyped because you're abroad for your Junior spring semester; or we did a quick first-round phone interview, too many people are forgetting to follow up later that day or the next day with a quick email....

CAREER NIGHT 7 MARCH 6-8 PM VERA LONG

Fun with Words and Numbers

Candidates' relative use of top twenty words in debate held on 22 February 2012.

Top twenty substantive words used by each candidate in debate held on 22 Feb 2012.

Anth/Soc Department Career Night 7 March

W A T C H  T H I S  S P A C E !

Wednesday

7 March

6-8 pm

Vera Long

Mills anth/soc grads will talk about the trajectories that took them from here to there (law, public health research, city planning, environmental remediation, social work, policy analysis, entrepreneurship, and more).  Food too!

M O R E D E T A I L S S O O N