In the 1970's, the prevailing wisdom was that children with 'pre-homosexual' behavior required therapy to allow them to develop into straight individuals. Jim Burroway of
Box Turtle Bulletin researched the story of "Kraig," a young boy whose journey through therapy was published as a gold standard of such attempts to change what was considered abnormal gender behavior. "Kraig" was in fact Kirk Murphy, and Burroway tells Kirk's real (and tragic) story in seven parts:
What Are Little Boys Made Of? [more inside]
posted by Chanther
on Jun 7, 2011 -
49 comments
The
FIRST ("For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology") robotics competition has recently begun it's 2007 competition season. The competition, which began and still enjoys it's greatest popularity in the United States, challenges high-school students and mentors to design and build a (teleoperated) robot to play a game in six weeks. Founded by
Dean Kamen, of
segway, IBOT,
the first home dialysis machine, and
clean drinking water fame founded the competition in 1988 to inspire students to enter the engineering profession.
Every year a new challenge is put forth, and
this year's game involves placing inner-tubes on a cylindrical rack in addition to lifting other team's robots. A
sizeable community has sprung up around FIRST, with much attention paid to Dean Kamen's ideal of
gracious professionalism which is like sportsmanship without the sports.
The 2007
regional competitions provide teams an opportunity
to show off their work. If you're interested in getting involved, or just
watching the events, FIRST provides a handy
Event Locator.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms
on Mar 8, 2007 -
14 comments
