Volume 3, Issue 4, Total Issues 11 December 10, 1998
Executive editor: Yongjian Liu, MD78, UCSF, San Francisco
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Table of Contents
1. Special issue dedicated to 20th anniversary for 78íers
2. Report from ONMUAA presidents on their visit of (TO?) Nanjing Medical
University.
By Qingyi Wei and Wei Yang
3. Landing an academic job: Importance of Teaching Experience in Landing a
Faculty Position By Jing Chen
4.Alumni networking
5. Life Tips and Holiday Online Shopping
By Yue Lin, Youcheng Liu and Yongjian Liu
6. Job Opportunities
7. Humor and Jokes
8. About ONMUAA newsletter
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1. Special issue dedicated to 20th anniversary for 78íers By Yongjian Liu
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Editorís Note: As a 78íer, I canít let this opportunity pass: it is 20th
anniversary for entering Nanyi and 15th anniverserary ( ANNIVERSARY) for
graduation for all 78íers. Following e-mail messages represent the
feeling and memory among us.
Dear ONMUAA 78'ers,
October this year has only two days left. I felt I had to send this message of greetings and congratulations out. I was going to do this when the DAY was here, but I was just too busy out of town then. I do believe we all remember the DAY in October, 1978 when we entered the NMU front gate and met with each other. My day was October 13, 1978. It has been exactly 20 years this month. I wish we could have a campus party or a reunion abroad with all of us 78'ers there, but we are far apart in all over the world. As one of you (us), I do wish to send my personal greetings to you all and give my warm congratulations to your career success no matter where you are, in China or aborad (ABROAD), well established or still struggling. You certainly have achieved a lot and should be proud of yourself.
Time flies. We have changed more or less, but as Don(G)feng Gu (PH78) says "one thing is for sure that the friendship long exists". Let's keep the friendship and the warm ONMUAA family; Let's remember the day and month; Let's celebrate the month and year and let's have fun. Happy Halloween!
Youcheng Liu, PH78
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Youcheng,
Thank you very much for your message which refreshed my sweat (SWEET)
menmory (MEMORY) about our schooling days. It's hard to believe that 20
years have passed. For sure, we will keep our friendship no matter where
we are. The distance should not be an obstacle to keep friendship. We
always try our best to renew the acquaintances of some longtime friends
we haven't seen in a while. I will enclode (ENCLOSE) here a message about
the alunmi (ALUMNI) gathering last week.
Yiwen Tao, MD78
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Hi Yiwen,
Glad to hear from you again. Thank you for your warm message and your
party information. I really appreciate your spirit and active role in
keeping the friendship among alumni and in maintaining the ONMUAA
family harmony. Such a party is always more enjoyable to me than any
other kinds. I am sure you had a lot of fun. It could be a good piece of news
for the newsletter which (THAT) Yongjian is editing. Maybe he has already
enclosed it.
I can't believe, either, that 20 years did pass away. As time goes on, old
friends become more important in life. In fact one of the good things for
classmates and schoolmates is that no matter how old they actually have
grown, they are always the same to us in mind, because the old time
images never go away.
I just came back from Pittsburgh where we had a BMU friends reunion for
the Halloween. We do this regularly and have a lot of fun.
It seems somebody told me that you moved to work in SFO? Hope all is
well with you and your family there. Take care,
Youcheng Liu, PH78
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Quick communication from (WITH?) Nanyi campus: Nanyi MD78 alumni in
China had a wonderful gathering at (ON) November 21, 98, for the 20th
anniversary of entering Nanyi, 15th anniversary of graduation and the
establishment of Nanyi Alumni Association. About 170 alumni (about the
half of MD78 graduates) had participated (PARTICIPATED IN?) this activity
for one and half days on Nanyi campus. The complete report on this
gathering and the address list for MD78 alumni in China is on the way to
us via mail. Ren Zhen (ZHEN REN) and I took the liberty representing
overseas MD78 alumni and wrote to the gathering earlier a short
congratulation letter. Yafu Zhou, MD78, who was the organizer and
currently vice president of NMU, told me today that the letter turned out
to be very touching and all of the alumni ask (ASKED) him to send their
regards to our overseas alumni.
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2. Report from ONMUAA president(S) on their visit of(TO?) Nanjing Medical
University
By Qingyi Wei and Wei Yang
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Editorís notes: The report resulting from (THE) recent visit of Qingyi Wei
and Wei Yang to Nanyi has provided a wonderful demonstration on how our
n(N)anjing campus regard(S) our alumni and ONMUAA and example of active
interaction between overseas alumni and the campus. The willingness at
the campus side to collab(O)rate with alumni encourage(S) every(ONE) of
you (US?) to participate (IN) and benefit from it.
On behalf of ONMUAA, ONMUAA President Yang Wei (PH79) and Past-President Wei Qingyi (PH78) visited Nanjing Medical University in later (LATE) September,September 1999(8). They gave seminars on "Health Information Management" and " DNA Repair and Cancer Susceptibility". The attendees were faculty members and middle-level administrators. After (THE) presentation, they met with the President and Vice Presidents of Nanyi, Zhang Zhengsheng, Wang Xingru, Chen Ronghua, and Xu Yaochu, and other officials and administrators including Wu Jianguo, Director of Scientific Research Office and Li Zhuhua and Dong Xuanshi, Directors of Foreign Affairs Office. During these meetings, Nanyi authority promised that the school would provide all the necessary help and convenience to promote the advances of overseas alumni in their academic career, such as scholastic transcript for preparation of medical board examination.
While they highly praised the efforts of ONMUAA to unify our alumni abroad, school administrators also expressed their needs and suggestions on how overseas alumni can help the school. They sincerely hope that ONMUAA may help facilitate the following activities each of our alumni may help:
1) Collaborate with Nanyi on their research projects, increase Nanyi's international visibility, and enhance Nanyi's ac(A)demic image. The school will provide all possible convenience for these activities. The advantages to choose Nanyi as a research partner including cost saving, sufficient population and patients for field studies and very well organized and trained staff.
2) Help Nanyi to train their researchers abroad in the needed cutting-edge research fields, such as training visiting scholars. They will send their best candidates. However, please make sure to prepare their return to Nanyi after training.
3) Come back to China, if they choose, and work in Nanyi. Nanyi shall make all the efforts to meet their needs in their research and living conditions.
4) Provide accommodations for Nanyi delegations when they visit abroad to help cut cost and arrange meetings with alumni for better information exchange.
If you have any comments and suggestions and wish to communicate with Nanyi authority directly, please contact:
Wang Xinru (in charge of teaching and research), Professor and Vice
President:
Tel. 86-25-6527613 or 6612696; Fax: 86-25-6651992
Chen Ronghua (in charge of hospitals and clinical research), Professor and
Vice President:
Tel. 86-25-6612696; Fax: 86-25-6508960
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3. Landing an academic job: Importance of Teaching Experience in Landing a
Faculty Position By Jing Chen
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Editorís note: Jingís essay on academic job hunting is absolutely a master
piecemasterpiece for us to share. It is not only well written but also very
comprehensive, thoughtful and extremely informative. Needless to say,
Jing has shared with us, with great enthusiasm and honesty, his precious
experience and his ìmust-doî list for landing an academic job.
Professorship, though slightly overshadowed by a much better monetary reward to other professionals working in hospitals or pharmaceutical companies, is still sought by many of us as a career goal. This goal has been achieved by a handful of lucky guys, and might be accessible to more in the future. In an attempt to inspire NMU graduates towards this goal, I was encouraged by the editor to share with you some thoughts about academic job search and my recent story of landing one.
U.S. universities can be classified under three categories, research-oriented, teaching-oriented, and those in between. Big research universities emphasize grantsmanship. Small teaching universities focus on undergraduate education. While, most mid-size state universities consider scholarship and teaching both important. Having realized the difference in expectations by these universities, we could prepare ourselves specifically towards one target. For those who are ambitious to establish a faculty career in a prestigious research university, you should maximize your chance by earning a Ph.D. from one of the nation's top universities, selecting a scientific giant as your postdoc advisor, learning novel techniques, jumping into hot research areas, and having publications in top journals like Cell, Nature, or Science. As long as the employer can see a good potential of getting extramural funding, your teaching experience and communication skills in English seem relatively less important. Unfortunately, many of us like myself do not have all of the above good things in our CVs. Being realistic, we probably should aim at those public research/teaching universities. To this end, we have to excel in both research and teaching. Good research productivity is obviously indispensable to a winner, which everybody knows. But, many of us probably have not fully realized the (I)mportance of teaching experience and have not tried hard enough to gain it. Related to teaching is the issue of mastering communication skills in English. Being non-native English speakers, we often find ourselves in a very disadvantageous position. These hurdles have to be surpassed before we could reach our destination. The importance of teaching experience and communication skills was exemplified in encounters during my job-hunting.
I began my physiology Ph.D. program at University of Louisville in January of 1990, and finished it in May of 1993. Then, I received nearly 5 years postdoc training at Duke University before I got an offer of tenure-track assistant professorship from Indiana State University in February of 1998. My CV showed a reasonable postdoc research productivity -- five first-authored publications (one in PNAS, four in American Journal of Physiology), a pretty good record in grantsmanship -- two consecutive 2-year postdoc fellowships from National Kidney Foundation and NIH, and a couple of years teaching experience in China and a few hours teaching experience at University of Louisville. My postdoc research area was in ischemic renal injury using cell biology techniques. Against the aforementioned standards for competing for a position at big universities, several unfavorable items are shown in my CV, including a Ph.D. from a small university, no Cell or Science papers, less hot research area, and no molecular biology experiences. It seemed that my best bet would be on a small state university. At the other end, the Department of Life Sciences at Indiana State University was searching for an assistant professor. The immediate need of the department, which I should call "our department" now, was someone who could teach the subjects left over by a retiring physiology professor. In addition, the department chairperson wanted the same person to bring extramural research money to the department while other faculty wanted the new colleague to collaborate with them in research. As I was told later, the department was satisfied with my research achievements, but had concerns about my spoken English and teaching ability because the department was frustrated by the common communication problems that Chinese and Korean students have. Due to this reason, the search committee chair called me, recorded our conversation, and replayed the recording to other search committee members. The major question he asked on the phone was whether I feel comfortable to lecture human physiology/anatomy to a big class of ~100 students. After the concern on my spoken English was cleared, they ranked me as a second choice among applicants to be invited for a campus interview. Now, when I look it back, it was really luck that the chair gave me a telephone interview. I won't be surprised if some departments eliminated me from their short lists without bothering to give me a phone call because they have enough qualified English-speaking candidates to choose from. On the other hand, I regretted not making enough efforts to improve my teaching record in U.S. though I did have a chance to do it. A couple of years ago at Duke University, I was invited to participate teaching physiology lab by my postdoc advisor who was then the chief of physiology division. But, I declined the invitation in order to concentrate on research, and actually considered the teaching as a waste of time. If I had realized the value of teaching experience then, my CV might have looked better today, and I might have had more interview offers. Who knows?
Before the interview at ISU, I spend an entire month to organize my thoughts about the interview because I had nothing else to do. At that time, several labs including ours in the Department of Cell Biology at Duke were paralyzed by smoke damages in a fire. Although the fire was a disaster to the department or the insurance company, the fire actually helped force me to work on nothing but the preparation for the seminar. (I was lucky again.) During the preparation, I applied all the tricks that I learned before. A few years ago, when I was still a Ph.D. student at Louisville, I took the course of Principles of Oral Presentation--the skills of presenting seminars. In the class, we learned all the "must" and "must not" things, from the right gestures on stage to the strategies of taking questions. Our own presentations were videotaped and reviewed several times in the class, which enabled us to find problems and finally tuned us into good speakers. In addition to the training at Louisville, I attended a workshop on scientific writing at Duke. In this course, a Duke English professor introduced the concept of "reader's expectation" and other skills in English writing. These skills can be applied not only to written presentation but also to any other formats of presentation including seminar. With all these training, I was able to incorporate my 4.5 years research data into one 50-min talk. The seminar during the interview turned out to be a great success, and lifted me from the department second choice to number-one choice out of 4 interviewee. Though not confirmed, I believe that they were still not sure if I could be a good lecturer until the seminar, which explains why I was ranked number-two before interview. Two weeks after the department finished interviewing all four candidates, faculty voted for their favorite candidate. The results of faculty vote and the department chairperson's recommendation were then sent to the university for approval. A few days later, the department chairperson offered the job to me.
Having been asked by friends, I asked myself the same question "Can we learn any lessons from this story?". The answer is clear to me that the chance of securing an academic job will be significantly greater if you have good teaching experience and communication skills. Anybody can improve their skills in this regard once they realize its importance. Workshops and classes on this subject are available at all universities across the country. Temporary teaching opportunities could be found too if you try hard enough. In many medical schools, tutors in all disciplines are in great demand for helping some stupid medical students. I have tutored medical students in physiology for three years at Louisville though I was not motivated at that time for gaining teaching experience but for making money ($10/hour). Your principal professor can also help you find teaching opportunities since many professors prefer to spend as little time on teaching as possible. They certainly welcome extra hands.
With regards to the availability of tenure-track faculty positions, mid-size and small universities have larger markets because they substantially outnumber big universities. The job market for tenure-track positions in these schools seems getting better as more and more senior professors are retiring or near the age. In my department, two professors will be retired next semester. We are searching for one replacement definitely, and the second one pending budgetary approval. I am currently serving on the search committee. If anyone is interested in further info about the positions in our department, please feel free to contact me at (812)-237-8721 or email me at [email protected]. Also, I will be happy to share with you some thoughts on other issues related to job-hunting. Teaching experience and communication skills are certainly not the only important factors. I raised this issue here because many of us may get hurt for not paying enough attention to them.
Jing Chen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Dept. of Life Sciences, Indiana State
University
8) PLEASE CHECK WITH QINGYI ABOUT YONGJIA YU'S FACULTY POSITION AT
U TEXAS AT GALVESTON
As an editor for next issue of ONMUAA newsletter, I would like to set a
column in this coming issue to further enhance such interaction via alumni
network and praise those who are actively participate(ING IN) such
communication and made an effort in giving a hand to those like you.
If it is not too much trouble to you, could you please forward me those
e-mails responding to your request from our helpful alumni (including your
original request e-mail)? I plan to assemble a body of e-mails that you
would provid(E) as an example to demonstrate how this network
function(S) and how we can improve it. Also, please feel free to let me
know if you have any suggestion(S) to our future ONMUAA affair or
anything I can do to promote the communication between oversea(S)
alumni and Nanyi.
Yongjian Liu (MD78)
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Seasonal Greetings from Xiaomei and I. We hope this has been a great year
for everyone, and we wish the new year an even greater one for you and
your family!
The Ultimate Gifts
Will, Durable Power of Attorney, and MoreÖ
Here are some rationales that make WILL a must for every family. First, a
will allows you to designate a GUARDIAN whom you can trust for taking
care of your young children so that your loved ones donít have to separated
and go to some foster families, social workers, or whoever the
state/court appoints (who most likely know nothing about you, your
children, or your heritage). Secondly, a will give you an opportunity to
name one or several trust-worthy person called EXECUTORs (if I remember
it correctly) to take control of your financial assets on which your
children can live. Otherwise, a state/court appointed person will take over
and, of course, your assets may very well become a big part of this
personís (and the court appointed Guardianís) income or ìexpenseî until
your children become 18 yrs old (in most states) if there still anything
left for the kids. Furthermore, you can also designate alternative
beneficiaries, like your family back in China, as a backup so that whatever
you have left behind wonít go to who-knows-where in case of a family
catastrophe.
By the way, I also think everyone should have a ìDurable Power of
Attorneyî (included in the Will package I listed below). A ìDurable Power
of Attorneyî allows you to designate a person (most likely your spouse) to
take over your financial, assets, and other estate controlling authority to
avoid government ìfreezingî on your part of the assets when you become
ìincapacityî (and your family donít have to forge your signature just to
write a check, to sell a car or house, or to get your retirement
moneyóforging signature is a crime if itís caught). How about Healthcare
issues? What if you become terminally ill and already lost your
consciousness forever? In that case, do you want to be put on life support
forever, or long enough just to deplete all your family savings so that the
family will have to go brokeÖ? If the answer is ìNoî, then check out
something called ìHealthcare Power of Attorneyî (forgive my questionable
memory if I failed to use the exact term here, but it should be close
enough) which also come with the Will package I listed below.
Your Choice
If you are as simple minded, frugal, and self-centered (do-it-yourself kind
of guy) as I am, I've got a formula for you which promises to keep
everything within your budget. Here is my simple guidelines to ESTATE
PLANNING for dumbers like myself:
What Why/Assets Est. Cost of Software
My Recommendation and Why:
1. Thirty box ($30) for a simple WILL, including the ìPower of Attorneyî
stuffs I mentioned above. (Promised done in minutes if you are
experienced). Very good value, simple and easy... just follow the
instructions!
2. $75 for a very good bundle package = WILL+LIVING TRUST + Asset Record
Keeping software. Trust helps you to avoid lengthy and costly court
probation, but youíll have to change the titles of the assets you want to be
included to a Trust Name, which may be called ì(you &;your spouseís name)
Living Trustîóit can be a small hassle. By the way, you'll need a will for
living trust anyway.
3. For the super-riches like our "Doc" buddies (Congratulations on getting
there already!), you need a WILL and an AB LIVING TRUST which will run
you about $55 and maybe a little over, unless you are really a "big shot"
who like to trust everything to "MY Attorneys" (Congratulations again for
being a ìbig shotî!). An AB living trust can help you avoid estate tax on
assets>$650K in 1999 by doubling the tax shelter limit to $1.3 million (up
to $2 million in 2006)Ö.
Check it out yourself, as you know I may actually qualify for a
ìlaw-illiterateî. The sole purpose of this message is to share with you,
what I think, a ìvaluable, and perhaps also educational, piece of
informationî. Above all, it is THE BEST GIFT, I can think of, FOR YOUR
LOVED ONES.
Good luck and best wishes from California!
The Biological Sciences at USF include primarily undergraduate programs
in Biology, Biochemistry, and Environmental Science. Faculty interests
include cell and molecular biology, genetics, immunology, ecology, marine
biology, plant physiology, entomology, human anatomy and physiology.
Teaching responsibilities will include, inter alia, general microbiology
(for nursing students) and human anatomy (a combined course for biology
and nursing majors).
Qualifications: University teaching experience, evidence of scholarship
and an earned doctorate by Spring 1999 for Assistant Professor
appointment or a Master's degree in Biology or a related field for
appointment as Instructor. We particularly encourage minority and women
applicants for all positions. The University of San Francisco is an Equal
Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, and provides reasonable
accommodations to individuals with disabilities upon request.
Applicants should submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae,
evidence of teaching ability (including student evaluations), and names of
three references with telephone numbers and e-mail addresses to: Deneb
Karentz, Professor and Chair, Department of Biology, University of San
Francisco, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA 94117-1080,
[email protected], 415 422-2831 (office) or 415 422-6363 (fax)
Applications will be reviewed on receipt. Established as San Francisco's
first institution of higher learning in 1855, the University of San
Francisco presently serves 8,000 students in the arts and sciences,
business. education, nursing and law. The University is a private Catholic
and Jesuit institution, and particularly welcomes candidates who desire
to work in such an environment.
Position 2: Brief Description of the Position*: Same as position 1. In
addition, the incumbent will assist in identification of drug candidates
useful to treat humans for obesity and wasting disorders.
Sponsorship opportunities available:
(Here is the 1998 version of this story)
Executive Committee:
-- End --
Terre Haute, IN 47809-0001, Email: [email protected]
http://mama.indstate.edu/dls/facstaff/chen.html
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4.Alumni networking
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Alumni on move:
1). Min Zhang (MD79) and Jianghua Gong (MD78) are moving back from Texas
to Los Angeles. Min has taken a senior researcher position in The City of
Hope, Beckerman biomedical research center. Jianghua works in USC again.
They can be reached at (626)447-5848.
2). Weiguo Zhao, MD78 is in his Inernal Medicine residency training at
Pennsylvania Hospital of Philadelphia. He can be reached at
(609)770-0588 (h) or
3). Ninglin Lu (MD78) recently joined her husband Ren Zheng (MD78) in
Portland, Oregon. They can be reached through
4). Kei Miao (MD78) has recently joined Cincinnati University Medical
Center for his internal medical residency training. His detail address is
not available.
5). Xupei Huang (PH77) recently took the faculty position in Department of
Medical Physiology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M;University. His can be
reached at (409) 862-8970 or Fax: (409) 847-8635
6) Jing Chen (GS84) started his academic career as an assistant professor
recently in Indiana State University and he can be reached at
(812)-237-8721 or email at [email protected]
7) YAN YAN (PH78) HAS RECENTLY GRADUATED WITH PHD FROM THE JOHNS
HOPKINS AND JOINED THE FACULTY OF SURGERY AT WASHINGTON
UNIVERSITY AT ST LOUIS AS A RESEARCH ASSISTANT PROFESSOR. HE CAN
BE REACHEDT AT 314-362-9290 (O) OR THROUGH THE INTERNET AT
[email protected].
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ONMUAA spiritual By Jiayin Liu and Yongjian Liu
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Editorís note: Since THE establishment of ONMUAA, and especially the
mail-listserver, the network(ING) among our alumni HAS become tighter
and tighter. When our alumna Jiayin Liu requested two bottle(S) of serum
for her (URGENT) research (NEED) in Nanjing, she really experienced such
alumni spiritual and here are the e-mails I requested from her that will
speak for themselfthemselves .
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Hi Yongjian:
Nice to hear you again. I think it's a good idea to make a summary on the
collaborations among Nanyiers through the net work. And I expect this kind
of communications will be more and more. I did get some responses and
helps from our schoolmates on the "medium" and the "grant application", I
appreciate it very much. I hope all of our schoolmates, either in China or
in USA, can get benefits from the collaborations. That's why I
e(N)couraged our overseas to get the grant from hometown and
mother-school, but unfortunately, it seemed non(E) of our Nanyiers had
been working on the field of reproductive medicine. I have found some
collaborations from other guys from other schools.
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Dear Jiayin,
I realize that you have gotten quite a lot of responses to your request for
culture medium. I am very glad that this oversea alumni network is very
efficient and especially, helpful to our collegemate(SCHOOLMATES) all
over the world.
Best wishes.
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Here are the imcomplete (INCOMPLETE) e-mail responses to my request by
Y(J)iayin Liu
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According to Jianwei Zhou:
> From root Fri Nov 21 16:32:50 1997
> Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 13:32:41 -0800 (PST)
Hi, Mei Deng,
I have forward your message to my friend Ms. Qiu who has been
researching in the field of reproductive medicine. He have ever worked in a
lab of reproductive medicine in UC Davis and backed to Nanjing Medical
University at May of this year. Also, I have another friend who is working
in the same lab as Mr. Qiu (UC Davis). Do you know the Nanjing Medical
University just has a key lab on reproductive medicine?
Jianwei
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Return-Path:
Received: from mail.virginia.edu by seu.edu.cn (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4)
id FAA16622; Sat, 22 Nov 1997 05:54:50 +0800
Hi, Jiayin:
It is not a kidding! It seems that there is a lot of people
pay attention to your message. Why do you not send a
application form to me. How can I reply people's response?
Mei
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Hi, Jiayin
It's funny. Both of my friend forward your message to me about the grant.
It is a good idea to send the news to "onmuaa" list. I send you message
just to let you know my email address. We can also keep contact with
email.
Qing Qiu
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Hi! Bei Chen:
That's incredible! I realy get the response from schoolmate through
network. Thank you so much for your help. Please call me when you arrive
at Nanjing. My home phone number is 6606329 or you can page me as
128-7193399, I will get back to you as soon as possible. And also please
bring the receipt(it may not arrive so fast)or a shipping sheet with the
medium, I will pay you for that.Thanks again and see you in Nanjing.
Liu Jiayin
---------------------------------------------
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 11:33:23 -080009f72a261b91eb
Dear Jiayin:
I will be back to Nanjing On Sep.26 ( the day after tomorrow) and come
back to USA on Oct.6. I already ordered two bottles of HTF for you. Each
cost 39.75, two bottle cost 79.5 plus 5 copay. I have Federal Express
Priority deliver to me overnight. They will come by 10am tomorrow
morning. I did not know the shipping fee yet. I will give you call when I get
to Nanjing.
Bei Chen
-----------------------------------------------
Return-Path:
Received: from mco.edu by seu.edu.cn (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4)
id JAA13132; Fri, 25 Sep 1998 09:16:00 +0800
Hi, Jiayin:
One of my friend will back to China next Fridays, Oct.2. He promised me to
bring something. Please tell me how many bottles of the media you want. I
have read a forward email that Chen Bei has ordered two for you. Do you
need more? Answer me immediately.
Ping
-----------------------------------------------
These are most of the messages responding for my requestion. I do wish to
buy 2 bottles of this kind medium every two months, for non of the
companies in China would like to order it for me, because its limited
expired time, so small amount of bottles needed. It's realy frustrating!
Thank you very much for your concern on my requestions and have done so
much on the network.
Best wishes!
Jiayin
--------------------------------------------------
Dr. Jiayin Liu, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jiangsu
Provinc(I)al Hospital Phone (025)6606329, FAX (025)6606329, E-mail
[email protected]
5. Life tips and Holiday online shopping
By Yu(E) Lin, Youcheng Liu, Yongjian Liu and others
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An Ultimate Gift for Your Loved OnesóWill and Living Trust By Yue Lin
It's that time of the year again. If you are like me (dull and hyper), it's
time to think about GIFT and to PLAN for next year. The best gift which
immediately jump to mind is ESTATE PLANNING, I mean Will and Living
Trust, be it as simple as a WILL or as complicated as one or more LIVING
TRUSTs and sub-trusts.
ìWhy do I need a WILL?î Like most Chinese, I know very little about
American laws, and the last thing I ever wanted to think about was ìWhat
if I were dead?î or ìWhatís going to happen to my family, especially the
kids, after Iím goneÖî About three years ago upon a head-on car accident,
this thought suddenly struck me, and it struck me ever so unendurably
hard, when I realized that I was about to go to hell (instead of heaven
because I felt I didnít do enough for the kids)Ö.
Over the years, I've struggled with whether to keep it as simple as one
will or to bother with a living trust or two. I guess some of you must have
similar dilemmas. If you haven't thought about this at all (shame on you!),
this is the best time to act. If you have established both already,
congratulations.... Regardless where you are, you'll like what I have in
store for you below.
Will NEEDED!!! (minimum for every family) $30
Living Trust ideal for family to avoid probation $50
A-B Trust family w/ Assets >$650K, avoid tax $60 (books/forms only)
The following Nolo Press' software packages are of a great value at this
time (limited time only for the New Yearís Release at an Introductory
Rates, >50% off) at http://www.nolo.com/item/willkeeptrust.html.
(I think Nolo own me a big commission, don't you?)
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SLS in your Shampoo, Watch out for your health ! Provided By Youcheng Liu
Check the ingredients listed on your shampoo bottle, and see if they have
this substance by the name of Sodium Laureth Sulfate, or simply SLS. This
substance is found in most shampoos, and the manufactures use it because
it produces a lot of foam and it is cheap.
BUT the fact is that SLS is used to scrub garage floors, and it is very
strong. It is also proven that it can cause cancer in the long run, and this
is no joke. I went home and checked my shampoo(Vidal Sasoon), it doesn't
contain it; however, others such as Vo5, Palmolive, Paul Mitchell, the new
Hemp shampoo, etc.. contains this substance. So I called one company, and
I told them their product contains a substance that will cause people to
have cancer. They said "Yeah, we knew about it but there is nothing we can
do about it because we need that substance to produce foam.î
By the way Colgate toothpaste also contains the same substance to
produce the "bubbles". They said they are going to send me some info.
Research has shown that in the 1980s, the chance of getting cancer is 1
out of 8000 and now, in the 1990s, the chances of getting cancer is 1 out
of 3, which is very serious.
So I hope that you will take this seriously and pass this on to all the
people you know, and hopefully, we can stop "giving" ourselves the cancer
virus. This is serious, after you have read this, pass it on to as many
people as possible, this is not a chain letter, but it concerns our health.
================================================================
It is Christmas holiday season and the time to shop on the web
Provided by Yongjian Liu
As you witness that the stock price of Amazon.com went skyrocket high
from $25 a year ago to $233 recently, you may wonder if there is
something you are missing. Yes, most of us are sure left out of making big
bucks on this companyís stock.. More importantly, the online shopping is
developing into a retail channel for millions of consumers--not to mention
a direct threat to traditional bricks-and-mortar stores, mail-order
catalogs, and television shopping. The appeal of the more than 20 sites on
the following pages is that they are more than electronic versions of
stores or catalogs. They are reinventing retailing. I have abridged the
article from recent issue of U.S. News and World Report reviewing on web
sites for one-stop shopping. The bottom line is: it is the Christmas
season, you could go online and shop for gifts for your beloved one without
stepping out of your office.
Auctions:
eBay (ebay.com): The worldís biggest online flea market. You can buy (or
unload) mostly used items in dozens of catagories (CATEGORIES) and
subcatagories (SUBCATEGORIES). However, it is up to you to trust the
quality of the items selled (SOLD) here.
Onsale (www.onsale.com): A wonderful place for shopping the refurbished
computers and hardware accessories. Again, as with any auction, itís easy
to catch the fever and overbid.
Autos:
AutoSite(autosite.com): You canít actually buy a car from here, but this is
the place for all the tools to beat a car dealer in to submission. Call up
invoices for almost all models or an invaluable listing of all the latest
rebates and incentives.
Books
These sites start where Amazon.com, the online standard for mainstream
books in print, leave off.
Alibris (alibris.com): Out-of-print and rare books from member dealers.
Ecompare (www.ecompare.com). It provides prices on any book from top 10
online bookstores very quickly. It can also compare mixture of different
books and quantities.
Computer Hardware
NECX (www.necx.com): On-line computer hardware emporium selling
everything from desktop systems to printer cables.
MySimon (www.mysimon.com): An intelligent search agent, mySimon takes
your criteria and then roots through top PC sellersí sites to find the best
match at the best price.
Consumer electronics
CompareNet (www.comparenet.com): Not a shopping site per se, but an
online comparison guide that helps you choose the right gadgets based on
features and price.
Food and Wine
Peapod (peapod.com): Home delivery from a list of 25,000 items including
fresh produce and meats. You can sort and choose products, such as 167
package breads, by price, fat content, cholesterol level, or many other
factors. Personalized lists allow quick reorders of staple items.
Investing
Bigcharts (www.bigcharts.com): The best-packaged site on the web for
charting stock prices
Yahoo financial (quote.yahoo.com): It is free to register and make your own
financial portfolio. A site to start your search for stocks and mutual funds
for making your Roth or Education investment before the end of the year.
Music
Second spin (www.secondspin.com): What Cdnow does for current, mostly
mainstream music, this site does for secondhand Cds and videos.
Sporting goods
L.L.Bean online (www.llbean.com) is an old standby for outdoors and
camping gear, but the site below has more specialized goods and services.
REI (www.rei.com): The famous Northwestern camping and outdoor-sports
store gets extreme online.
Toys
BrainPlay.com (www.brainplay.com): Educational toys and software and a
panel of experts who evaluate them and write articles for the site.
Travel
Bestfares (bestfares.com): Deeply discounted travel deals and tons of
advice to sniff out hard-to-find bargains on the web.
Hotel Reservations Network (180096hotel.com): Low room rates at
hundreds of hotels in 27 U.S. cities.
Priceline.com (priceline.com)
Videos
Reel.com (reel.com): You may know this site by its famous discount sale
for ìTitanicî video tape for only $10.
**********************************************************
**************
6. Job Opportunities
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**************
1). University of San Francisco, College of Arts and Sciences Dec. 8, 1998
The Department of Biology at the University of San Francisco invites
applications for an immediate replacement of a full-time term position
(non-tenure track, but includes benefits) for the Spring 1999 semester at
the Instructor or Assistant Professor level.
================================================================
2). Small start-up biotech company Dec. 8, 1998
An NIH-funded post-doc position is available immediately to join a small
start-up group in beautiful La Jolla, San Diego. The research is directed to
the functional analysis of T cell receptor-mediated signal tranduction,
using primary T cells from knockout or trangenic mice. Extensive
experience in mice breeding, culture and functional analysis of
thymocytes and spleen T cells, a background in immunology and cell
biology, is highly desirable. Please forward your CV to [email protected]
ASAP.
================================================================
3). Two Research Associate Positions available at Bayer Corporation in
Bay area near San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Sep. 1, 1998
Position 1: Brief Description of the Position*: Incumbent is required to
provide molecular biological support for programs in obesity research. The
successful candidate will join a multidisciplinary team focused on the
discovery of central and peripheral targets involved in obesity, appetite
control, and wasting disorders; and in the discovery of small molecular
weight compounds which can be used to modulate these conditions in
humans. Incumbent will clone and molecularly characterize targets useful
for obesity treatments, assist in establishing high-throughput screening
assays with these targets, and assist in neuroscience studies with rodent
animal models. The candidate will interact with and present results to
other members of the section and institute. In addition, the incumbent
will prepare effective written documentation of experimental design and
results.
Position Requirements: M.S. with 4+ years of direct experience in
molecular biology including a solid background in routine molecular
biology laboratory techniques used for DNA purification and analysis,
Southern and Northern blotting, preparation and use of radiolabeled DNA
probes and PCR; or B.S. with 6+ years of stated experience. In addition, the
candidate should be able to work with rodent animal models. Experience in
screening of genomic or cDNA libraries by homology or expression, or in
the isolation and purification of polyA+ RNA would be helpful. The ideal
candidate will possess effective communication, interpersonal, and
organizational skills. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate
enthusiasm, flexibility, and be an effective team player.
Position Requirements: M.S. with 0/2+ years of direct experience in
molecular biology including a solid background in routine molecular
biology laboratory techniques used for DNA purification and analysis,
Southern and Northern blotting, preparation and use of radiolabeled DNA
probes and PCR; or B.S. with 2+/4+ years of stated experience. Experience
in screening of genomic or cDNA libraries by homology or expression, or in
the isolation and purification of polyA+ RNA would be helpful. The ideal
candidate will possess effective communication, interpersonal, and
organizational skills. In addition, the
candidate must demonstrate enthusiasm, flexibility, and be an effective
team player.
For consideration please fax your C.V. to Dr. Joanne Chen at
203-812-2686. [email protected]
================================================================
4). National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety
Senior Research Fellow
Marshfield Medical Research and Education Foundation, a Division of
Marshfield Clinic has a unique career opportunity for a professional to
join the National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and
Safety, a component of the National Farm Medicine Center. The position is
funded primarily through a grant from the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health.
The Senior Research Fellow is responsible for contributing to the
development and continuation of program evaluation, health promotion,
and injury control research targeting children and adolescents in rural and
agricultural settings.
Principal duties and responsibilities include: --conducting research in the
area of program evaluation, health promotion, and injury control as it
relates to children and adolescents in rural and agricultural settings,
under the direction of a career scientist --implementing projects;
collecting and analyzing data; evaluating efforts; and communicating
research results --representing the National Children's Center for Rural
and Agricultural Health and Safety and assisting in the development of its
position on the well-being of children and adolescents --interacting with
public and professional groups as well as policy makers. Qualifications:
PhD or equivalent in a discipline related to health promotion, occupational
safety, injury epidemiology or program evaluation. Salary commensurate
with qualifications and experience. Marshfield Clinic offers an excellent
benefit package, which includes comprehensive health care coverage, life
insurance, professional travel and education allotment, personal leave,
and a retirement plan.
Marshfield Clinic is located in central Wisconsin, the largest rural
medical center in the United States, with over 525 physician specialists
working in Marshfield and its 18 satellite clinics in central and northern
Wisconsin. Qualified candidates are encouraged to submit a resume by
December 29, 1998 to: Marshfield Clinic, Human Resources Representative,
1000 N. Oak Avenue Marshfield, WI 54449, email: [email protected]
================================================================
5). POSTDOTORAL POSITIONS IN STUDY OF PTK-STAT SIGNALING IN
DEVELOPMENT &;IN CELL CYCLE CONTROL &;APOPTOSIS (IMMEDIATELY
AVAILABLE, received at 12/2/98)
Motivated neurobiologists and molecular bologists are invited to join a
laboratory working on the PTK-STAT signaling pathway (please see our
publications: MCB. 17, 5328; Nature 386, 288; Science 272, 719; Cell 70,
323; Cell 74, 1135). MUST HAVE STRONG BACKGROUND IN DEVELOPMENTAL
BIOLOGY, OR MOUSE GENETICS. Several scientists will be recruited to work
on challenging projects on STAT functions in nervous systems and in
develpment in relation to cell cycle control, apoptosis and human
diseases. Please forward c.v. and arrange two letters of recommendation
sent to: Dr. Xin-Yuan Fu, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology,
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven CT 06520, USA, Fax:
203-785-7303, E-mail: [email protected]
================================================================
6). Graduate student opportunity
A qualified applicant should have a TOEFL score well above 600 with
research training in biomedical science. A TOEFL score of 630 for Asian
applicants is required for receiving TA (teaching assistance) stipend and
teaching service is expected from grad students in the first semester. In
addition, a telephone interview will be done to test the applicant's spoken
English before admission decision can be made. The TA financial aids is
available for this openning. For those who want to know more about the
studentship, please contact Dr. Jing Chen at (812)-237-8721 or email him
at: lschen @scifac.indstate.edu. To find more information on Dr. Chenís
laboratory, please go to web site at
http://mama.indstate.edu/dls/facstaff/chen.html. Dr. Chen is a Nanyi
alumni and currently an Assistant Professor in Dept. of Life Sciences,
Indiana State University,Terre Haute, IN 47809-0001
**********************************************************
**************
7. Humor and Jokes
**********************************************************
**************
================================================================
1) Subject: Dictionary Provided by Youcheng Liu
================================================================
Dictionary of ___ ?_____ Medical terms ......
Benign...................What you be after you be eight.
Artery...................The study of paintings.
Bacteria.................Back door to cafeteria.
Barium...................What doctors do when patients die.
Cesarean Section.........A neighborhood in Rome.
CTscan...................Searching for kitty.
Cauterize................Made eye contact with her.
Colic....................A sheep dog.
Coma.....................A punctuation mark.
D &;C....................Where Washington is.
Dilate...................To live long.
Enema....................Not a friend.
Fester...................Quicker than someone else.
Fibula...................A small lie.
G.I. Series..............World Series of military baseball.
Hangnail..................What you hang your coat on.
Impotent.................Distinguished, well known.
Labor Pain...............Getting hurt at work.
Medical Staff............A Doctor's cane.
Morbid...................A higher offer than I bid.
Nitrates.................Cheaper than day rates.
Node.....................I knew it.
Outpatient...............A person who has fainted.
Pap Smear................A fatherhood test.
Post Operative...........A letter carrier.
Recovery Room............Place to do upholstery.
Rectum...................Darn near killed him.
Secretion................Hiding something.
Seizure..................Roman emperor.
Tablet...................A small table.
Terminal Illness.........Getting sick at the airport.
Tumor....................More than one.
Urine.....................Opposite of you're out.
Varicose.................Near by/close by.----
Credits &;Sponsors:
Sponsorship opportunities available:
http://occ-env-med.mc.duke.edu/oem/sponsor.
Ongoing &;unfettered support for this electronic forum is provided
by: CSX Transportation http://www.csx.com
Continuum Healthcare http://continuumhc.com
Assoc Occup Env Clinics http://occ-env-med.mc.duke.edu/oem/aoec.htm
http://occ-env-med.mc.duke.edu/oem/sponsor.htm
For questions, contact Gary Greenberg at [email protected]
================================================================
Joke: I did not CHOP it down
================================================================
George Washington is the Father of the Nation in the USA. He is known as a
very honest man because his father once confronted him as a young boy and
asked, "George, are you the one who chopped down the cherry tree, you
naughty boy?" And he answered, "Father, I cannot tell a lie. I chopped down
the cherry tree." After this, he was always known as an honest man.
"George Washington, did YOU chop down the cherry tree?"
"No, Dad."
"I think you are lying."
"No, no, no! I swear I did NOT chop down the cherry tree.""Son, I saw you
out here with your axe. Your punishment will be much worse for you if you
lie. Now, tell me the truth!"
"Dad, I answered your question truthfully. Still, I must take complete
responsibility for all my actions. While my answer was legally and
technically accurate, I did not volunteer information.
"Indeed, Dad, I did cause the cherry tree to be lying on the ground. To do
this was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal
failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible.
"I know my answer to you gave a false impression. I misled you, my own
father. I deeply regret that.
"I can only tell you I was motivated by many factors. First, by a desire to
protect myself from the embarrassment of my own conduct.
"I was also very concerned about protecting Mom from this shock.
"What I did, Dad, was use a saw to cause the cherry tree to fall. Only after
the tree was already down did I go get my axe to chop off individual
branches.
So, I chopped off branches, but sawed down the tree. Look at the saw cut
on the stump and the axe cuts on the branches. Therefore, legally and
technically, I told the truth.
I would also like to caution you, Father, to think about the person who
first reported my chopping activities to you and ask yourself, "What was
their motivation to represent my personal and private tree chopping in
such a scurrilous and public way?"
"Most importantly, Father, I ask you to turn away from the spectacle of
this fallen tree and to return our attention to a solid family relationship."
================================================================
Joke: Deduction Contributed by Wei Yang
================================================================
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal
and a bottle of wine they lay down for the night, and went to sleep. Some
hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Watson replied, "I
see millions and millions of stars." "What does that tell you?" asked
Holmes.
Watson pondered for a minute. "Astronomically, it tells me that there are
millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I
observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is
approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all
powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I
su(S)pect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell
you?"
Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke. "Watson, you dickhead. Some
bastard has stolen our tent."
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ONMUAA newsletter is a quarterly publication of overseas Nanjing Medical
University Alumni Association (ONMUAA), a free service provided by a
group of volunteers. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the
authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of ONMUAA.
The Editorial Board welcomes and appreciates contributions from alumni,
and encourages volunteers to join the Board or serve as one-issue editor.
To publish an articalarticle or join, please contact any of the editorial
board members (see the end for more information).
**********************************************************
**************Overseas Nanjing Medical University Alumni Association
(ONMUAA)
Wei Yang (PH79), President
Liangfeng Tao (PH79), President-Elected
Qingyi Wei (PH78), President-Past
Ning Jin (NS84), E-mail Center Coordinator
Fuhu Wang (MD79), Homepage Coordinator
Bei Chen (PH80) Treasury and Fundraising Coordinator
Yongjian Liu (MD78), Chair of 97-99 Governing Board