Hartog’s Den

by Nalin Ratnayake

I get pensive sometimes. I go into this zone where my mind just wanders from subject to subject, exploring possibilities, pondering what-ifs, and reflecting on my life. It’s a sort of re-alignment for me, a chance to stop my busy schedule and let my mind calibrate itself to who I have become since I last checked… which is usually awhile ago with how busy I get. In these times I need to talk, to discuss, to bounce grandiose schemes off of someone who will build off of them and fire it right back.

The James and I met up for the first time in a long time, in a city neither of us has ever been to before. We are here in the Queen City, Cincinnati, attending a meeting of the minds of the aerospace propulsion industry. Near 6th and Vine, set back and almost lost in the high rises of downtown, we found a middle eastern restaurant to grab a “quick” bite to eat. Four hours, three hookahs, and a pot or two of tea later, we were well on our way to solving the mysteries of the universe when we realized that the place was shutting down for the night.

We talked politics, science policy, Islam, girls, plasma physics, beer, old friends, Europe, business plans, trains, quantum mechanics, growing up, the merits of current energy deposition theories in the presently modeled magnetohydrodynamic numerical codes for ion and fusion thrusters, NASA funding, the historical ethnic conflict in Cyprus, and just how nice Lebanese mint tea is. Fantastic.

Thanks James, I needed that. Bring it on world, I’m ready for you.

by Nalin Ratnayake

Everyone in Idaho either owns a mountain bike or at least pretends to own one. You’ll find at least a cheap one in the garage, whether used for actually biking off-road or not. And boy, was mine cheap (as far as mountain bikes go anyway). I don’t remember how much exactly it was, but I would be willing to bet that my “Diablo Canyon” (oooh, sounds impressive) was less than $100. Without shocks or quality tires, it really was the worst of both worlds; too heavy and wide-tired for a road bike, and not quite study enough to qualify as a mountain bike in any legitimate sense of the term.

I used it though, quite a bit. I zipped around the neighborhood and to the library, and took it on several moderate dirt trails while camping with my family. When I moved down to Arizona for college, the bike came with me, for short hops between apartment and campus. And then it broke. The thread on the left pedal screw was worn beyond recognition, and eventually the thing just slid off. I left it unlocked and pedal-less on the apartment bike rack in the spring term of my junior year; it was there when I graduated and moved out of Arizona a year later, and for all I know it could still be there, rusted (yes, there are a couple days of rain a year in Phoenix) and abandoned. I did not bike for two years after surrendering my last bicycle to the elements.

It wasn’t directly for missing cycling that I decided to buy a new bike. I used to jog for exercise… that got boring. I like to explore, and jogging just doesn’t cover enough distance in short enough of a time to prevent me from getting bored. Separately, my adventures in LA were reaching the limits of the on-foot envelope. After some research, I dropped some cash on a new Breezer Greenway, a range bike (distance commuter) from Breezer Bikes.

Within a week, I was hooked to this new… sport? Hobby? Way of life? Having always owned mountain bikes (or shades thereof), the road bike makes me feel like I’m flying. It’s super-light, smooth-shifting, and came with all the features I would want: built-in lights and dynamo, rear rack with holder, and fenders to ward off water from puddles. Armed with my new mode of transportation, I can get some physical activity in while catching more scenery than jogging, and the bike+metro combination has served to expand my LA envelope like never before.

After powering through the first week or so of getting into marginally good shape, biking has become addictive for the first time in my life. Two or three times a week I’ll take a 5am morning ride before work; two weekends so far have seen 30+ mile exploration routes through the greater Los Angeles area. And free bike websites like RouteSlip have let me define and share my own routes and track my progress in terms of both elevation and distance.

In just the last week, another good reason to cycle has come up… apparently my cholesterol is quite high thanks to a genetic predisposition and the lingering college diet. Under doctor’s orders, I’ve begun tailoring my cycling into an effective and fun cardio fitness regimen, which I hope will help raise my HDLs and overall resistance to heart disease. (Look for an article on my new healthy cooking adventures soon by the way).

For fun, health, and the environment, allow me to strongly recommend the fine sport of biking. Check your local metro agency or city website for bike route maps. Fellow residents of Los Angeles County, your one-stop pdf for Metrolink regional transit, light rail, subway, and bike routes is on the MTA website. Bus routes are on the main MTA site.

Get out there!

by Nalin Ratnayake

I haven’t written anything but technical memos for a long time, so to get back in the zone I’m going to take a transition approach. This is an edited and expanded article that I published some time ago on another blog.

Time and time again I see articles and blog posts, mainly on liberal-leaning sites, lamenting the disparity between white males and everyone else in the workplace. I think these articles by and large miss the point. Certainly, there is a still a troubling disparity between white males and everyone else in acquiring professional positions. But I do not believe the problem lies entirely, or even mostly, in the hands of the institutions doing the hiring.

Read this entire paragraph before reacting. I suggest that perhaps not enough minorities and woman are skilled enough to be hired fairly for these positions. This *not* to promote the idea of an “innate disparity in aptitude” as Harvard President Lawrence Summers seemed to suggest so infamously some years back. Rather I would like to point the finger of blame at the root cause of so many of America’s domestic problems: a flawed and underfunded public education system.

We must remove the social bias that is built into public education to remove the social bias that will form in the mindset of the next generation. For this next generation will be the parents of the generation succeeding them, and parenting is an inextricable part of a child’s education.

I have heard countless stories from my female friends of family and teachers simply assuming (whether subconciously or not) that women do not belong in science and engineering. The general mindset seems to be, “if a woman makes it in the sciences, great; but we won’t encourage it.” This is connected to the dangerous mindset that postulates if women aren’t voluntarily going into the sciences or professional training, they must either not want to be there or they are innately incapable of doing so. It is flawed logic, but much easier to accept than a complete overhaul of the way we think about education.

With minorities on the other hand, often the problem is economic in nature. Minority communities tend to be much poorer on average than whites. Poor families cannot afford private education for their children, and are forced to send thier kids to under-funded public schools; these schools do not have the resources to provide the same education as private institutions, so minorities graduate with skills and knowledge inferior to whites. This in turn prevents them from getting high-paying positions, and the cycle continues.

I’ve said it time and time again, on every blog and general interest website I have ever had. The major domestic issues in this country could be solved, or at least alleviated, by biting the bullet and rethinking public education at a fundamental level. All other solutions only scratch the surface and delay the issue; the root of the problem is simply not addressed in programs like affirmative action and special hiring policies for women.

A national standard for students, teachers, and curriculums alike would be a start. Funding in the form of resources for failing schools and discretionary funds for achieving schools would be an excellent next step. The longer we wait, the further downward this spiral will descend, negatively affecting this country politically, socially, and economically.