Kimberly Moffitt, assistant professor of American studies, appeared on Midday with Dan Rodricks on Tuesday, October 9 to discuss the upcoming election.  Moffitt discussed both the presidential election and Maryland ballot initiatives with Rodricks, the other guests, and callers.

The first topic the group covered was the widespread consensus that Barack Obama lost the first presidential debate.  This led to Mitt Romney’s poll numbers going up despite the fact that the unemployment rate fell below 8 percent.

“Visuals make a difference for us. Being able to see Romney come out and be aggressive, seem confident and show us that he had the ability to be a president is what really stuck with the American people, and that is what carried us through the weekend, instead of talking about the job numbers. [The job numbers] didn’t hold water for us, but the visual of seeing him on that split screen with Obama who seemed very reserved and not his usual self, is what made the huge difference,” Moffitt said.

The full interview can be heard online here.

Most political ads use a tiresome formula… deep forboding voice, grainy gray pictures, omnious predictions of doom etc…

For this reason we at USDemocrazy were delighted to discover this innovative political ad by comedian Steve Martin. You may not agree with his message but we think you will agree it is pretty darn effective.

The NGP faculty is large and diverse, but we have kept the number of graduate students relatively small, so grad students have great access to highly accomplished scientists. The NGP faculty includes many highly recognized senior scientists as well as a growing number of outstanding junior faculty members. Our graduates go on to excellent postdoctoral positions and a wide variety of positions in academics and industry as well as science-related jobs like science writing and work with foundations. There are vignettes about the experience of a few of our graduates at our website. Some areas in which we excel include membrane biophysics and structural biology;synaptic physiology, neuronal signaling and gene regulation, neuroendocrinology and neurobiology of disease. As a medical campus, we have strong connections to the clinical departments with their translational and clinical research activities. All students receive a graduate stipend that covers all fees, tuition and living expenses.

We have a great program and we are located in one of the most livable and beautiful cities in the United States Check out the NGP website (www.ohsu.edu/ngp ), and  feel free to have your students contact us for more information – I think they will be excited about the quality of our program and the opportunities for a great PhD experience. The application deadline for next fall is December 1, 2012.