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The Darwin Year is almost upon us here in the San Joaquin Valley!
The festivities really kick off on Monday, Feb. 2nd. Dr. Rick Zechman, CSU Fresno Biology Department Chairman and a member of the 'Deepest Green' group of phylogenetic research, will give a presentation for Central Valley Cafe Scientifique.
I was fortunate enough to take a survey course from Dr. Zechman back in 1999 on algal systematics and came away deeply impressed with his enthusiasm for doing science and his approach to the topic. Dr. Zechman's presentation, "Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life", celebrates the 150th anniversay of the publication of the 'Origin of Species'. CSU Fresno provides a proud press release that you can read, right here. Members of the CSU Fresno faculty will be participating in a number of events during this year, and they have even formed a consortium of (heh) 'Darwin's Bulldogs' to help publicize and encourage the public understanding and celebration of evolutionary biology.
This should be an absolutely timely presentation. Dr. Zechman is an expert himself in the very modern and up-to-date business of building phylogenetic trees based upon molecular data to establish the relationships between different taxa, in particular the phylogenetic relationships within the Ulvophyceae. A particularly beautiful and exceptional member of the phylum, Acetabularia, is shown at right: known as the 'mermaid's wineglass', it is one of the larger single-celled organisms on the planet, with specimens reaching 10 centimeters in length.
Anyway, you can check out the Zechman Lab here. Dr. Zechman's personal experience as a phylogenetic researcher will be sure to give a special flavor to his talk, which will begin with the famous tree Darwin sketched in his 1837 notebook, and explores how Darwin's insights have led us to the point where we can use genes to investigate the relationships between all living things, indeed the history of life on Earth.
The talk will begin at 6:30 on Monday evening and will be given at Lucy's Lair, an Ethiopian restaurant that offers a tasty and exotic buffet just for Cafe Scientifique folk. It's located at 10063 Maple Avenue in Fresno, and the embedded link directs you to a map and other information about the event's host. We hope you will join us!
On the following day, I'll be taping the first of a series of programs on Darwin Day and Darwin's influence, often considered notorious by people of faith, for KNXT-Channel 49, which is a local television station operated by the Catholic Diocese of Fresno. I'll be appearing on a program entitled "Forum for a Better Understanding", hosted by Jim Grant. The program is usually dedicated to ecumenical discussions between Catholics and other faiths and often has members of the Interfaith Alliance of Central California (in which I participate) on to represent their faith tradition.
This time, however, Jim has rather graciously and
enthusiastically agreed to sponsor a series of discussions between myself and Terry Scambray, who is a local academic who is sympathetic to intelligent design. Terry and I have previously skirmished in an Oxford-style debate back in 2006 and I'll be giving him another crack at me and my Darwinian enthusiasms. The first 30-minute episode is slated to air sometime on Feb. 16th, and I'll provide more information as I know more. Should be lively!
The Fresno County Academic Decathlon will be at CSU Fresno on Saturday, Feb. 7th, between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM. There will be many area high schools competing, including a Bullard team that I (of course!) be supporting. The reason this is relevant is because this year the Super Quiz topic is 'Evolutionary Biology'. Students and coaches will check in at the Resident Dining Hall, with the Super Quiz to be played at 3:30 that afternoon.
On the morning of February 11th,* I'll make another appearance on behalf of things Darwinian, this time on The Alan Autry Show. This will be my second appearance on the program, which is broadcast weekdays from 10:00 to 12:00 AM local time on KYNO AM-1300. I'll be taking my 'face for radio' on the road with Dr. Paul Crosbie from CSU Fresno's Biology Department. Dr. Crosbie is a parasitologist, has taught the department's Evolution course, and one of the brains behind 'Darwin's Bulldogs'. Our host, the former mayor of Fresno, is broadly sympathetic to intelligent design and is sure to pose a couple of questions "designed" to test our mettle. If last time is any indication, this should be fun!
On the 12th, as previously mentioned, I'll be attending an evening event sponsored by New Covenant Community Church and the local chapter of Reasons To Believe. As I said to one of my fellow Darwinians, this is my cross to bear. For those not interested in the speculations of creationists, or who don't feel an obligation to attend such, let me commend the following events in and around Fresno:
Darwin Birthday Celebration and Reception
Feb 12th, 2009, 4:00 PM
Downing Planetarium and Museum
Darwin Day Dinner (lecture, "Darwin's Finches")
Feb 12th, 2009, 7:00 PM
Carrow's Restaurant
4280 N. Blackstone (major cross streets: Blackstone and Ashlan)
Darwin's Ideas and the Societal Impact of Evolutionary Biology
Feb 13th, 2009, 3:00 PM
Science II Building, Room 109
There may be more events emerging this month as well, and I'll try to post them as I find info about them. If you don't live in the Fresno area, but you'd be interested in finding a Darwin Day event, have I got a web site for you! Check out Darwin Day Celebration. It has a searchable database of events, and as of this post the list is 371 events in 31 countries. Pretty wild!
OR HERE
5 comments:
Oh goody I hope NatGeo runs the Galapagos Islands show again. It's a viewer favorite.
NatGeo is actually running a series of 5 new shows starting this sunday, Feb 8, to commemorate Darwin Day. They start with a 3-part series Morphed, followed by Darwin's Secret Notebooks and Explorer: Monster Fish of the Congo, both on Feb 10.
The Morphed series is accompanied by a live-blogging event. I may write more about it also at Fresno, Evolving.
2019.11.15台北知名酒店經紀11日發布薪資統計指出，受飯局陪睡、跨國援交業等行業經常性薪資成長趨緩影響，9月酒店工作的酒店小姐常性薪資年增率跌破2％、僅1.72％，創下近28個月最低。知名酒店經紀表示，市場八大行業經常性薪資年增率，近兩年酒店打工大都保持在2％以上，9月大學生兼差酒店上班跌破3％，主因為部分八大行業按月發放的績效獎金減少所致，包括制服店、便服店、禮服店、鋼琴酒吧、日式酒店、飯局、傳播，經常性薪資增幅都較低。酒店經紀統計上班族酒店兼職薪資年增率，近兩年除了兩個月（2017年11月、2019年2月）不到4％之外，其餘各月皆在3％以上，今年9月年增率2.33％，是2017年6月以來最低。
2020.04.19指揮中心8日公布確診個案武漢肺炎（COVID-19、新冠肺炎）是一名酒店工作酒店公關，9日起有男女陪侍的酒家和舞廳無限期全面停業。10日深夜，本刊直擊酒店經紀人與酒店上班公關小姐位於北市林森北路大樓的祕密基地，這裡過去是酒店打工公關小姐梳化、換裝的地方，更是小姐坐檯後半夜宿醉休息之處。酒店經紀人小茹、小凱（皆化名）告訴本刊，過去八大行業旗下最多酒店PT有三十多名公關，現在因疫情掉了一半，只剩十多人，停業後，只有2人找得到兼職。「最大問題是沒說停業多久，若只是暫停一個月，起碼心裡有底，但現在無限期停業，是要酒店上班酒店小姐都去死嗎？」25歲、在禮服店當酒店公關近5年的萱萱（化名），接受本刊採訪時不滿地說。她透露，酒店停業後，不少小姐私底下還是會接客人的局，一旦她們到處接，「你怎麼知道我跟誰接觸？且沒地方（指酒店）管我接觸了誰，就連客人的家我也可去，你要怎麼防疫？」八大行業目前僅酒店、舞廳停業，酒店經紀人及公關小姐不約而同主張，政府應即刻對八大行業採實名制等措施，甚至要求戴口罩，雖會影響客人消費意願，但總比沒標準直接停業、大家都沒錢賺而失業來得好。一名酒店從業者向本刊提供八大行業的招募貼文截圖說，政府一宣布酒店停業後，相關網路社群內馬上出現「包養」「伴遊」「純飯局」「高級招待所」等招募文，有人強打「吃、玩、樂，就有錢賺」，還有人直接寫上「因為酒店歇業沒收入而煩惱嗎？心動不如馬上行動」等，大剌剌拉攏酒店公關轉接其他案子。小茹透露，酒店停業後，仲介客人來消費的酒店幹部，可能轉介旗下小姐至KTV包廂、飯局、私人招待所，或按摩店、酒吧，甚至做「外送茶」（性交易），但這些工作型態不同，加上彼此人脈不流通，要轉過去沒想像中容易。她說，酒店都留有小姐上班的「節數」紀錄，建議應讓一個月上班10天以上的正職公關，都能支領紓困金。萱萱建議，應比照健身房採實名登記，要求客人填寫健康說明書，14天換一張。小凱說，酒店客多半經幹部介紹而來，早有聯繫資料，且避免客人跑單（賴帳），業者常留有客人身分證影本，加上會介意的客人早就去私人招待所了，執行上不會太難。小茹則主張，應由第三方稽查八大業者是否落實防疫措施，目前都是警察去臨檢，卻未見衛生單位主動出面監督業者。
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