BU Astronomy has Lady Problem

There hasn't been a single woman graduate student entering the astronomy department at BU since the fall of 2011. That class had one woman. She left after the first year to go be with her boyfriend. My class entered in the fall of 2010; there were 9 women. Of these nine women, one has left by choice, and four others have been asked to leave. As with UCI, the number of women that are asked to leave is disproportionate. A higher percentage of women leave than men (in my informal tally). Why is that? I don't believe that it's because the women aren't smart enough to get through. There is something systemic going through the department. And now apparently they are raising the minimum physics GRE score to 50%. The argument is that there is a correlation between GRE scores and success in classes, comprehensive exams, and research. But it is fairly well established that standardized tests are biased towards men, and it's a correlation, not exact. I would not have gotten in had that been the cutoff when I applied. However, I have the highest GPA that the BU astronomy department has seen in 15 years. 15 years! I passed the comps on the first try. I have a published paper, and a second one in the docket. If the cutoff had been in place, BU would have missed out on an excellent student. After a rocky start at UCI, I have excelled at BU. I wish they would be able to see past the test scores, etc. and not be so rigid about this. This policy will continue the trend of not having any women in the department. The few that do get in notice that there aren't very many of us. I'm not going to lie if I get asked about it. This is bullshit and it cannot continue. Either BU will have to change its policies, or they can deal with the consequences.

Weather

According to the media, the east coast is experience "Snowpocalypse." Again. Some more. I'm not sure how many snowpocalypses an area can have. This is outrageous, and not just because the weather sucks and it's cold, snowy, rainy, icy, slushy, and just generally miserable, all at the same time. Having spent 25+ years in Southern California, I have heard all manners of commentary on the weather. Most of these comments come from people that have not grown up with gorgeous weather, and thus are just not used to it. Comments range from, "There are no seasons" to "It's too hot all the time." Someone once said, "The sky doesn't have enough clouds here." It was September. Many people also comment on how Californians lack drainage or the ability to drive in the rain, and that when it rains they act like the world is coming to an end. At least we don't name our storm systems, though. It's very true that it doesn't rain that much. That's because it's a chaparral, which is the second-driest ecosystem after desert. So rain is rare, and when we do get giant storm systems, things are a little harried. However, this is nothing compared to the hell-hole that is the east coast during stormy weather. Despite New Englanders alleged love of "seasons," winter seems to catch them off guard. I almost didn't get make my flight home because traffic came to a standstill due to a mild dusting of snow. It seemed like everyone was confused by the white stuff falling from the sky. Not that Boston drivers are that great to begin with, but the snow exacerbates their inability to drive. This surprise and despair is continuing well into the winter, with every new storm met with comments about how the east coast is being pounded by winter weather again, and will it ever end? That's the thing about winter. It's cold and snowy, and generally lasts from December to March. If you complain about lack of seasons in one place, you forfeit your right to complain about the presence of seasons in another place. While I understand that this winter is worse than usual, winter itself is not really a surprise. If you want sunshine, move to California.