Page 2 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - Apr 7, 2021

2 HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK APRIL 7, 2021
Rotten
The Tales Of Two Super Women
BY CHRIS MCKINNEY
PAPAYAS
I ’ m currently consuming media about two very dif- ferent women on two very
physicality to do her work. She just needed to continue to use her already-world- class brain. She didn’t need to constantly travel around the world, and she didn’t work alone. She led a lab. She managed a team. Tasks could be delegated.
athlete, aging looms in a much more immediate fashion. Al- ready in her mid-30s, having a child undoubtedly threatened her career. I’m sure her daugh- ter will hear all about it when she’s really bad.
have children. NFL legend Drew Brees just retired. His four adorable kids publicly announced his retirement. Never did having children threaten his career.
different platforms. I’m read- ing The Code Breaker, which is the story of Jennifer Doudna and her Nobel Prize-winning breakthroughs in gene editing while I’ m watching Being Serena, which is about Serena Williams’ comeback to tennis after having a baby. I can’t help but compare in my head. What’s harder? Being a revo- lutionary biochemist or being an all-time great professional athlete?
Comparing these two gi- ants is a rather silly exercise, the kind that my friends and I would participate in over beers. Both just made me think about motherhood and the gender disparities when it comes to the decision to
In the end, both women’s stories are equally inspira- tional.
Jennifer Doudna
PHOTO COURTESY
AP PHOTO/JEFF CHIU, POOL
Serena Williams
PHOTO COURTESY
AP PHOTO/ANDY BROWNBILL
For Williams, the decision to have a child had much more severe ramifications. It’s not just what pregnancy can do to the body (incidentally, it almost killed her), but as an
The Code Breaker is avail- able in hard cover, digital and audio formats. Being Serena is streaming on HBO Max.
but she started when she was 4. Her family moved from Compton to West Palm Beach when she was 9 so that she and her sister could attend a renowned tennis academy. She would go on to win 23 Grand Slam titles and become one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Then she got pregnant and wrecked it all. I kid, but only kind of.
it’s about meeting the right people at the right time and collaboration. Doudna’s suc- cess depended not just on her brilliance and tenacity, but also on the brilliance of those around her. The fact that she had a child is merely a blip in the book.
chrismckinney808@gmail.com
Fill in the blank cells using numbers 1 to 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, column, and 3x3 block. Use logic and process of elimination to solve the puzzle. The difficulty level ranges from Bronze (easiest) to Silver to Gold (hardest). Answers are on page 7
RATING: BRONZE
Clearly, they’re both incred- ibly hard. Doudna, who grew up in Hilo, was allowed to intuitively navigate into what would become her life’s work. She went from wondering if chemistry was too hard for her at Pomona College to leading the scientific team that showed that a protein could be pro- grammed to cut and edit DNA.
Here’s the thing: The Code Breaker is not just about Doudna, who’s also a mother, but it’s about the giants that preceded her. It’s about her competition. And
Unlike The Code Breaker, Being Serena isn’t about Wil- liams’ historical successes. Instead, it asks whether be- ing a woman, having a child and staying on top is human- ly possible. In science, ap- parently it is. Doudna didn’t need to maintain world-class
On the other hand, I’m pretty sure Williams was born with a tennis racket in her hand. An exaggeration,
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Back when I needed a new treadmill, we were visiting Costco pretty regularly so I began looking at theirs seriously. I started taking notes when I noticed the little square QR code on the side of the box. A simple “snap” put all the specs right on my phone. For many, this is old stuff but for the few uninitiated, QR codes may seem a curious little blip on an ad. Much like a UPC code, Quick Response Codes encode digitized
information. Unlike UPC codes which are commonly read by a commercial UPC scanner, QR codes can be read with any camera phone equipped with an easy to install reader. Most commonly found on smart phones, the appropriate application captures the QR image which opens a website, connects to a You Tube video or displays whatever information the originator desires. Move
CODE BREAKER
over George Jetson! It’s snazzy tool to be sure! Some display static data while others are more robust. Take for instance the code we put on our house ads. One click and the words in the ad come to life. Opening the QR code on the sign posted outside our listings takes you on a virtual walk inside. Buyers no longer need to sit outside a listing and call agents for additional information. Remember, the purpose of advertising is to “get the phone to ring”. Because sign calls are some of the strongest calls we receive, the idea that we are giving away so much information runs counter to the core concept of lead generation that agents learn is so critical from the moment we get our license. After all, no call, no appointment. Time was, real estate listing information was closely guarded. As commonplace as it is now, the idea of putting listings on-line was initially considered completely radical. To
put it mildly, not all REALTORS® embraced the idea of making the entire Multiple Listing Service self-service. Public perception was that providing access to listings was our core value. In fact, it was predicted that real estate agents would become obsolete. Truth is, being the gatekeeper of listing information was never our value proposition. For me, arming the public with MLS information has made my job easier. Buyers are better educated about the inventory, the property and the process. Armed with a QR code reader, a buyer calling after taking a virtual tour linked to a QR code is a stronger, more mentally qualified buyer than those slugging along the old fashioned way. So go ahead, click away, take the tour, “break the code “but by all means, if you have questions or want to take a look inside, there’s still a human anxious for you to call.
Blog forward each week at www.majormom.com
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