Comments on: W-I-N-N-E-R! Desi Kid Wins Spelling Bee, Again http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/05/31/winner_desi_kid/ All that flavorful brownness in one savory packet Sat, 30 Nov 2013 11:11:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: anonmousQ http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/05/31/winner_desi_kid/comment-page-2/#comment-281665 anonmousQ Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:16:08 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5225#comment-281665 <p>While the MD/PhD overall is pretty impressive (extremely difficult program to get accepted into), the paper you cite as evidence for her academic success is rather trivial. For its gratuitously long and obfuscating title, all the paper is saying is that they identified two separate medical conditions in the same patient. This kind of case study paper belongs to the category of easy, hand-me-down publications that they award to MD/PhDs since the point of the program is to train a medical doctor to do clinical research and to get them out within a certain timeline. An MD/PhD gets a full ride and a stipend, which is an enormous cost for the medical school to absorb, and so the cost of failure is financially unacceptable. As a result, MD/PhD students are awarded the PhD portion under more lax requirements for publication so they can move onto medical rotations without worrying about being stuck on their PhD research project. For example, no PhD student would ever get a paper like that published much less graduate on its academic merits.</p> While the MD/PhD overall is pretty impressive (extremely difficult program to get accepted into), the paper you cite as evidence for her academic success is rather trivial. For its gratuitously long and obfuscating title, all the paper is saying is that they identified two separate medical conditions in the same patient. This kind of case study paper belongs to the category of easy, hand-me-down publications that they award to MD/PhDs since the point of the program is to train a medical doctor to do clinical research and to get them out within a certain timeline. An MD/PhD gets a full ride and a stipend, which is an enormous cost for the medical school to absorb, and so the cost of failure is financially unacceptable. As a result, MD/PhD students are awarded the PhD portion under more lax requirements for publication so they can move onto medical rotations without worrying about being stuck on their PhD research project. For example, no PhD student would ever get a paper like that published much less graduate on its academic merits.

]]> By: tash http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/05/31/winner_desi_kid/comment-page-2/#comment-205358 tash Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:36:40 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5225#comment-205358 <p><b>competition heavily loaded with over-achieving, heartbreaking desi kids</b></p> <p>hmmm which we all either:</p> <p>a) rebelled against by becoming artsy alterna desi's, using varying amounts of tequila/belle and sebastian/raging self pity to ease our guilt over familial disappointment, or</p> <p>b) conforming and becoming super hyperprofessionals who still feel vaguely guilty at not having thrown it all away to go backpacking through france, using the same mixture as above to ease our guilt over living up the stereotype...</p> <p>maybe the 'competition' in that sentence should read 'blog'...? ;p not wanting to call anyone out/label but when i read this post i immediately sensed the odd mixture of pride/embarrassment/annoyance/discomfort/more pride by association...i was so that nupur kid in spellbound! eep.</p> competition heavily loaded with over-achieving, heartbreaking desi kids

hmmm which we all either:

a) rebelled against by becoming artsy alterna desi’s, using varying amounts of tequila/belle and sebastian/raging self pity to ease our guilt over familial disappointment, or

b) conforming and becoming super hyperprofessionals who still feel vaguely guilty at not having thrown it all away to go backpacking through france, using the same mixture as above to ease our guilt over living up the stereotype…

maybe the ‘competition’ in that sentence should read ‘blog’…? ;p not wanting to call anyone out/label but when i read this post i immediately sensed the odd mixture of pride/embarrassment/annoyance/discomfort/more pride by association…i was so that nupur kid in spellbound! eep.

]]> By: test http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/05/31/winner_desi_kid/comment-page-2/#comment-205229 test Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:01:57 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5225#comment-205229 <p>are these kids reinforcing the geeky stereotype? Not picking on them, but when would one see a desi ABD kid, solidly built/fit, no eyeglasses, intelligent yet not geeky, being shown on TV? I think these kids are no different from some indian kids in india whose parents raise them only for getting a rank in some obscure exam. how many of them go on to become anything famous later in their life because of this bee thing? I think kids should be balanced between academics an the rest of the time in some physical activity. healthy mind in a healthy body, you know. Desi parents typically ignore the games part, instead forcing the kids to train for these competitions, whether in india or US.</p> are these kids reinforcing the geeky stereotype? Not picking on them, but when would one see a desi ABD kid, solidly built/fit, no eyeglasses, intelligent yet not geeky, being shown on TV? I think these kids are no different from some indian kids in india whose parents raise them only for getting a rank in some obscure exam. how many of them go on to become anything famous later in their life because of this bee thing? I think kids should be balanced between academics an the rest of the time in some physical activity. healthy mind in a healthy body, you know. Desi parents typically ignore the games part, instead forcing the kids to train for these competitions, whether in india or US.

]]> By: Mytri http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/05/31/winner_desi_kid/comment-page-2/#comment-205188 Mytri Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:29:53 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5225#comment-205188 <h1>90</h1> <p>If there was no English, I would be writing in Hebbar Bhashe and you would be left scratching your head! How in heavens name are we all to communicate? Is India to be broken further down into linguistic countries so that we can keep the purity of our mother-tongues. Why not learn MORE languages? What is the harm in that? As a mother of an ABD I see lots of highschoolers happily traipsing around learning so many languages like French, Spanish, Greek, Latin, Arabic... No different from me learning my language at home, learning Hindi while we lived in the North, learning Tamil when we moved to Madras and then learning Kannada when parents moved to Karnataka. The more the merrier is a better phrase than to just shut down borders and minds to new ideas and languages.</p> 90

If there was no English, I would be writing in Hebbar Bhashe and you would be left scratching your head! How in heavens name are we all to communicate? Is India to be broken further down into linguistic countries so that we can keep the purity of our mother-tongues. Why not learn MORE languages? What is the harm in that? As a mother of an ABD I see lots of highschoolers happily traipsing around learning so many languages like French, Spanish, Greek, Latin, Arabic… No different from me learning my language at home, learning Hindi while we lived in the North, learning Tamil when we moved to Madras and then learning Kannada when parents moved to Karnataka. The more the merrier is a better phrase than to just shut down borders and minds to new ideas and languages.

]]> By: Desiderius http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/05/31/winner_desi_kid/comment-page-2/#comment-205118 Desiderius Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:40:34 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5225#comment-205118 <p>Gandhi said be the change you wish to see in the world. If english speaking indians raging against the use of the english language stopped using the english language and stopped enrolling their children in english language schools the change they wish to see would happen.</p> Gandhi said be the change you wish to see in the world. If english speaking indians raging against the use of the english language stopped using the english language and stopped enrolling their children in english language schools the change they wish to see would happen.

]]> By: amaun http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/05/31/winner_desi_kid/comment-page-2/#comment-205098 amaun Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:27:31 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5225#comment-205098 <p><i>Better than being a "most likely to success" high school kid and wasting away all of your later years at a Super Cuts, Meineke or a mcDonalds.</i></p> <p>I bet you also look down on a desi motel owner.</p> Better than being a “most likely to success” high school kid and wasting away all of your later years at a Super Cuts, Meineke or a mcDonalds.

I bet you also look down on a desi motel owner.

]]> By: Ash http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/05/31/winner_desi_kid/comment-page-2/#comment-205097 Ash Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:34:55 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5225#comment-205097 <p>I disagree with Krouse or whatever that guy's name is. Bees are not a waste of time. Track each of previous bee winners and see where they are going. Bees spruce up your mind and keeps it sharp. These are achievers every way.</p> <p>Better than being a "most likely to success" high school kid and wasting away all of your later years at a Super Cuts, Meineke or a mcDonalds.</p> I disagree with Krouse or whatever that guy’s name is. Bees are not a waste of time. Track each of previous bee winners and see where they are going. Bees spruce up your mind and keeps it sharp. These are achievers every way.

Better than being a “most likely to success” high school kid and wasting away all of your later years at a Super Cuts, Meineke or a mcDonalds.

]]> By: UberMetroMallu http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/05/31/winner_desi_kid/comment-page-2/#comment-205096 UberMetroMallu Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:50:03 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5225#comment-205096 <blockquote>My son though stinks in spelling ;-). </blockquote> <p>You're obviously not feeding him enough Horlicks:)</p> My son though stinks in spelling ;-) .

You’re obviously not feeding him enough Horlicks:)

]]> By: shankarkotkar@gmaik.com http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/05/31/winner_desi_kid/comment-page-2/#comment-205095 shankarkotkar@gmaik.com Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:29:49 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5225#comment-205095 <p>Good post.Indian are more concern about achieving difficult contest.</p> Good post.Indian are more concern about achieving difficult contest.

]]> By: Amitabh http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/05/31/winner_desi_kid/comment-page-2/#comment-205083 Amitabh Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:04:34 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5225#comment-205083 <blockquote>My son is learning Latin and French and <b>is fluent in a dialect called Hebbar Iyengar Tamil </b>that probably only a handful of people even know exists! </blockquote> <p>Rock on!</p> My son is learning Latin and French and is fluent in a dialect called Hebbar Iyengar Tamil that probably only a handful of people even know exists!

Rock on!

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