Father's Day

A father's day gift from our dog, Wally, to my dad.

Homepage

I've just finished a new homepage: sarahmloos.wordpress.com

I'll still be blogging here whenever I have a spare minute, but my homepage will have all my research and publication info.

GOP "War on Women"

Planned Parenthood originated in 1916 when Margaret Sanger, already a nationally known birth control advocate, and associates opened the first US birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York. It resulted in her being jailed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUESCLbTVQA

Federal funding has not been available for abortions for 30 years. Indiana Representative Pence cannot, as he claims, be calling for the end of funding for abortions. He is calling for the end of funding for Planned Parenthood, a not-for-profit organization that provides sex education, contraceptives, and regular health services for millions of women who need it the most.

This cannot be about taking the burden of funding abortions off of tax payers, since federal funding does not support abortions. So why, after almost 100 years since the founding of planned parenthood, are we taking such a huge step backward in women's rights?

Manic Monday

Walking to the bus stop this morning, I see a bus drive by me... Wait, that's MY bus! It's early! So I sprint after the bus for three blocks along Murray Ave. Luckily there was a bit of traffic. I skid into the stop just in time, wheezing like crazy trying to catch my breath. I finally take my seat on the bus, and pull out my ipod. What song comes up on shuffle?

"It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my fun day
My I don't have to RUN day
It's just another manic Monday"

OurCS 2011

In 2007 I got to attend an amazing conference at Carnegie Mellon - Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Computer Science (OurCS). During the conference I got to present research that I had done, work on a problem with a team of computer scientists led by Henry Cohn (Microsoft Research), and I got to meet Fran Allen, first woman to win the Turing Award (the highest award in CS).

Me with Fran Allen at the 2007 OurCS.

Can you tell by my smile how excited I was to meet her?

This year, CMU finally has funding to host this event for the second time. I'll get to pass on my experiences to another class of computer scientists in the making. Instead of presenting my research, I'll be reviewing and giving feedback on the research presentations that are submitted. Henry Cohn (along with a dozen other researchers) is coming back again to lead a new team on a new research problem. And Barbara Liskov (the second woman to win the Turing Award) will be one of our keynote speakers. I am thrilled that this event will be happening again. If you know any undergraduate women interested in doing research, registration for OurCS is now open, so please pass along this link!

Three Days

Well, I made it three days in a row! It turns out I'm a bit too busy to post daily... however, I will still attempt to make 30 posts in 30 days.

Family History

It is only the third day of NaBloPoMo and I have no happenings to talk about! How will I keep up for a month? I've decided that whenever I have nothing of interest to report, I'll fill it in with family history. This may not be interesting to you, but it will be fun for me! And perhaps my research will inspire you to find out interesting stories about your own family!

This is a photo of my grandmother (the little girl),

great-grandmother, great^2 grandmother and great^3 grandmother.

They are sitting outside their home in Fort Wayne, Indiana