Opinion

Tuesday, September 12, 2017 - 16:52

Why Scientists Should Care About The Repeal of DACA

By Steven Moss

The headlines this summer have been marred by one disturbing theme: an attack on diversity in the United States.

Monday, September 11, 2017 - 13:46

Welcome Back From the Synapse's Editor in Chief

By Ariane Panzer
After a week of vacation I returned to my lab and an inbox crowded with emails. As I read through the 100 or so messages, I noticed a troubling theme emerging. There were emails condemning the hateful actions of white supremacists in Charlottesville, safety bulletins warning about the heat wave that hit San Francisco, and messages criticizing the president’s decision to rescind Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrival (DACA). Reading about hate, prejudice, and extreme weather (or as I was thinking about it, a gentle reminder of climate change) was a hard way to transition back into my normal routine. The familiar feeling of disheartenment that I had left behind while on vacation began to creep back into me.
Sunday, September 10, 2017 - 16:20

Underwater: A Reflection on Harvey, Charlottesville and America

By Francesca Aloisio

I turned on the news and my home was underwater. Drowning.

I was just back in Houston for a visit in May. It was still true: everything in Texas is bigger, even bigger than you remember, especially after you’ve been away a while.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017 - 13:10

UCSF Cares

By Ray
After reading Aaron Mattingly’s recently published Synapse article “Leadership or Lip Service?” about his disappointment in Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Daniel Lowenstein, Dr. Dan Lowenstein, during the Annual Chancellor’s Leadership Forum on Diversity and Inclusion, I’m compelled to weigh in. In last March’s article “Living the Dream,” I highlight the issue of perpetual fatigue caused by UCSF’s stressful work environment. I state that in truth, the dream of coming to UCSF can sometimes feel like a nightmare. Unexpectedly, I received a formal response to that article. And lo and behold, who did it come from? The same antagonist from Aaron’s article: Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Daniel Lowenstein. This is what he wrote to me:
Image of a thumbs down.
Monday, May 8, 2017 - 18:59

Leadership or Lip Service?

By Aaron Mattingly

On Thursday April 27 UCSF held the 10th Annual Chancellor’s Leadership Forum on Diversity and Inclusion, but I was not entirely convinced that all of the leadership were there to listen. In fact, one exchange in particular told me that when it comes to diversity at UCSF, lip service sometimes takes precedence over action.

Image of Dr. Robert Reich at a podium.
Monday, May 8, 2017 - 09:45

The Class Worrier

By Nicholas Gentry

Professor Robert Reich believes that the greatest current threat to our democracy is not our president, not congressmen, and not the bureaucracy of our political system. It is that Americans have lost faith in the strength of their country’s democratic institutions.

UCSF students rally in Washington DC in front of the White House during the March for Science gathering.
Monday, May 1, 2017 - 15:01

Is the March for Science political?

By Allison Wong

“Is the March for Science political?” my friend asked me a week before the march. “Why are you doing it?” I thought about these two questions leading up to the UCSF Stand Up for Science Rally and March for Science, which I participated in along with hundreds of UCSF students, postdocs, faculty, staff and community.

A circle of hands meet at a center point.
Monday, April 17, 2017 - 10:53

Let's Get Together

By Ray

In college, I used to have this one thought every finals week after weekends of pushing back studying while going to bars and binging on TV shows, only to finally cram in the library and study like a life depended on it.

Monday, April 17, 2017 - 10:08

Is Race a Factor in HIV Prevention?

By Aaron Mattingly

HIV rates are declining as a whole among men who have sex with men, but rates aren’t decreasing for Black and Latino populations. The goal is Getting to Zero, but are the institutions dedicated to the cause actually dedicated to these groups?

Friday, March 17, 2017 - 17:03

Surprise, I’m Gay! (and Christian)

By Yolanda Ho

I am a Christian. And I am gay. These two factions of my life have clashed and pulled me in opposite directions my whole life. Among my church family, I heard words like abomination, disgusting, unnatural. Among my LGBTQ family, I heard words like bigotry, narrow-minded, unloving. My choices? Go to hell or live denying myself of love. This rhetoric left me so suffocated, to the point that I actually played with the notion of an irreversible “easy way out” in college. So naturally, I moved to San Francisco.