July 3, 2017, Filed Under: 2017, funBowling in the Union Underground Texas Union Underground, photo by Ian Davis In a scene reminiscent of The Big Lebowski, a handful of us summer research scholars congregated in the depths of the Union Underground bowling alley for the ultimate showdown of dexterity (and free pizza). After strapping on our fluorescent bowling shoes and setting up the score monitors, we prepared to wreak havoc on the competition—that is, until someone asked “wait, where are the bumpers? I failed to strike a single pin during the first round. But similarly to bowling without bumpers, research also comes with varying degrees of success. Maybe your lab is critically low on a certain chemical which is essential to the advancement of a project. Or maybe an expensive piece of instrumentation needed to run vital assays is out of order. Or maybe you accidentally incubated a cell plate with a known toxin, potentially creating an uncontrolled mutant cell line (hypothetically speaking here). Impediments like these can be frustrating, or even defeating in some cases, such as the Underground’s on-screen animation of a dancing bowling pin informing me I had consecutively landed the ball in the gutter. Texas Union Underground, photo by Ian Davis But these hindrances only represent the worst days spent conducting research, and the satisfaction of bouncing back turns these roadblocks into speed bumps. Patience and encouragement are key, whether it be bowling a 300 or experimenting with novel cancer treatments. -Ian Davis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
June 16, 2017, Filed Under: 2017, fun, ut austinPhase 10 Elana, Donna, Shinhyuk, Daria, Ian and Tiara Lewis from the LSAMP REU. Elana, Ian, Donna, Tiara, Shinhyuk, and Daria. I have never seen, heard, or played this amazing game called Phase 10. It is a card game that you play to achieve ten phases first before anyone else in the game. The most stressful rule in this game is that you cannot skip a phase until you complete the phase you are in. For me, I was stuck on phase six for five rounds. It was mentally and physically draining because it was 3 AM, and I could not finish the game. Like Phase 10, I believe BME CUReS has ten phases for us to complete in order to grow as cancer fighters. The first phase must be to break the awkwardness. Many nights of playing games, talking about politics, and sharing personal anecdotes, I believe we have gotten much closer and breaking down the awkwardness. But the most effective way to break down the awkwardness was going out to Austin and exploring what this vibrant city has to offer. We went to see the bats fly off the bridge near South Congress. Well, we tried. We went to the Museum of the Weirds on the Sixth Street, but I think it was a bad timing because there were just so many bikers that day. We went out to eat In N Out burgers, and we were not disappointed by its taste and its price. As a person who is from NY, I never had In N Out, so I think this is my favorite memory I have so far from being part of this program. There are so many more phases for us to complete, and even though we might be stuck on the same phase for weeks, it is good that I won’t be the only one stuck. Shinhyuk Bang, Syracuse University All 2017 BME Summer Scholars.
August 11, 2016, Filed Under: 2016, austin, funFun Times in Austin Collage by Rachel Hegab -Rachel Hegab, Louisiana Tech Univ.
