A Murder Suspect’s Worth to Science

NY Times ^ | February 22, 2010 | GINA KOLATA

[Pharmboy]

Amy Bishop, neuroscientist, inventor, murder suspect, has become bigger than life, a symbol for those who think that genius is close to madness, or that women cannot get ahead in science, or that tenure systems in universities are brutalizing — or even that progress against fatal diseases is so important that someone like Dr. Bishop should be set free to pursue cures.

At least that is what emerges from hundreds of comments on the Internet about Dr. Bishop, the assistant professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville charged with shooting six colleagues — three of them fatally — at a faculty meeting on Feb. 12.

“Perhaps the saying ‘There’s a fine line between genius and insanity’ has a lot of truth to it,” George from Pennsylvania wrote at nytimes.com.

Many posted comments like this: “I do not approve of what Dr. Bishop did, but I understand her frustration.” Being denied tenure “in spite of her contributions past and future,” the writer added, “is sufficient to provoke a murderous rage against the chairman and the university...

[Pharmboy]

Her research was garbage. She published her most recent "science" in vanity medical journals where it was pay to publish. She's a psychopathic fraud and always has been. The husband is also a at least a sociopath, IMO...

[Pharmboy]

Psychopath ping...

[Mygirlsmom]

But she's "their kind" of psychopath, so that makes it all ok. In the twisted logic of the left she is deserving os sympathy. Contrast that with how IRS plane-man is portrayed in the news once they decided they could manufacture a tie to the Tea Party movement.

I was wondering where the Barf Alert was, but then I saw that this was nytimes and there was no need for redundancy.

[Condor51]

A Murder Suspect’s Worth to Science

Well ... we could always cut the top of Amy Bishop's skull off, dig into her brain, and see what 'makes her tick'. After all, it is 'in the interest of science' so there shouldn't be any objections.

And heck, its like like it would kill her or anything. Just a little probe 'here', a needle 'there' and so on. Plus, doing any experiments on her after she's dead would get zero results. In this case 'speed is of the essence'.

[ZX12R]

I would question the level of genius, when you end up at UAH and struggle to get tenure there.

[Condor51]

oops, typo...

And heck, its like like it would kill her..

Should be:
And heck, it's not like it would kill her..

I need more caffeine, more caffeine, more caffeine :-)

[Poe White Trash]

Wasn’t there a case a couple of years back of a famous scientist who molested children? He was defended by his colleagues, but luckily was convicted/imprisoned regardless. Not Kinsey — someone more recent.

[detective]

There is no mention of her strong support for Obama, her leftist ideology or her previous shooting of her brother. There is no mention of her career at Harvard. The article only describes how her research was not impressive or groundbreaking.

There are plenty of scientists who do unimpressive or mediocre research. There are plenty of professors who are denied tenure. They don't shoot their colleagues.

[detective]

There is no mention of her strong support for Obama, her leftist ideology or her previous shooting of her brother. There is no mention of her career at Harvard. The article only describes how her research was not impressive or groundbreaking.

There are plenty of scientists who do unimpressive or mediocre research. There are plenty of professors who are denied tenure. They don't shoot their colleagues.

[Nepeta]

Not everyone with a scientific degree produces anything useful--some aren't even competent in their degree fields. Some aren't even honest about their work.

Television presents science as something done in isolation by geniuses. In fact, much of it is collaborative and if you are half-crazy or wholly obnoxious, you're going to have a hard time accomplishing much.

Just being polite and respectful with the people who do maintenance work in a facility, for example, can become critical to keeping things running in a lab. People who look down at the guys who replace the overhead fluorescents or who deliver the purified gasses might easily find themselves in the dark or out of argon at an inconvenient time...

[phrogphlyer]

...that is what emerges from hundreds of comments on the Internet about Dr. Bishop...

So the blogosphere and/or comment boards are legitimate sources for the NY Times now? Cool.

[Pharmboy]

Yep...The Golden Rule is something that all should strive to live by everyday. Her life was the opposite...

[Pharmboy]

Here's one off today's newswire...

[freedomfiter2]

I think her brain should be donated to science as soon as possible.

[Pharmboy]

They do quote scientists in this article that say her work was useless...and that she was no genius.

[DUMBGRUNT]

"She had nothing published in 2007 and 2008, and during her six years at the university in Huntsville she published three papers that appeared to be original research articles, none of them in major journals — often a requirement for tenure."

The claim was that Obama was offered tenure at U of Chicago? What sort of work did he publish?

[outpostinmass2]

good article by the NY Times of all papers. By the way her father was professor at Northeastern. It would not be a stretch to think he knew people at Harvard and got his daughter into the school. Harvard postgraduate is not the exclusive club that the undergraduate school is. I know people who graduated from Harvard undergraduate. I know way more people who graduated postgraduate.

[Pharmboy]

Well, I can speak for science in academia, but he was in law. For tenure there, I would imagine you had to publish dissertations on some cases or historical investigation. It was said at Harvard he headed Law Review but never wrote anything...

[outpostinmass2]

Science is whole different ball game from Law.

[Pharmboy]

Indeed...and there was evidence that she did not do well there. When a pediatrician (Rosenberg) at Harvard voiced some issues with her work, he got a pipe bomb delivered to his house. The Bishop-Andersons were spoken to about it, but evidently cleared. Another case of influence??