Life, the Universe and Everything

When biodiversity-related topics were mistakenly (obviously) sidelined with the advent of molecular sciences, one module attempted to cram the basics of ecology, evolution and biodiversity into the already confused minds of our young undergrads. Well, sympathetically, it was a desperate attempt by biologists to pass on some basics to clueless undergrads, to inject society with some understanding of how to cope or improve things.

But it was too much. I hijacked the prac schedules (okay I wrote them) and renamed them "Life, the Universe and Everything".

Were we successful?

Well the students moaned a lot, but grinned in amusement during practicals in field sites around Singapore, as demos performed theatrics in an attempt to facilitate some understanding. We simplified the syllabus every year to the point a younger demo shook his head when I recently asked to see it - he claimed I would be shocked, for it had lost so much substance. But the elements conspired against us further by reducing the capacity and/or the interest of the student just as gradually each year.

Those were the good times. Then the ice age came. So now we meet surreptiously in corridors around the university to appraise each other of developments in ecology, evolution and biodiversity. And if that wasn't enough, most of us use macs.

But we got tired of whispering. And then one guy got posted to Beijing. And now its so hot *whine*. Perhaps in the monsoon it will be trendy to drink at Science Canteen Spinelli's once again. And then blogger.com got revamped. Don't you just dig those new templates?

So Hello World! Here's goes nothing...