Professor of Biology
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JFT's portrait by talented artist and dear friend,
L. Dennis Sears. |
In memory of my friend, Dave O'Drobinak, who died too soon, at Halloween, 2006. |
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Working with a colleague in the A&P labs. Photo 2005. |
JFT is a Professor in the APSU Biology Department. He was the instructor in the 3 semester Clinical Chemistry sequence from 1993 through 1998. He was appointed to be Program Director of the Medical Technology Program in July of 1998. He continued to teach the Urinalysis and Body Fluids course. He also taught the Pathology/Education/Research and Medical Serology courses. His clinical responsibilities included travel to clinical affiliate hospitals to observe senior MT students in their clinical rotations. He left the MT Program in 2002.
JFT's current academic assignments include teaching Human Anatomy & Physiology and Principles of Evolution and Topics in Health Science (Spring 2009).
For an excellent web site on "current events" related to health care, visit: The Antidote: Counterspin for Health Care and Health News.
PlaceboTelevision is a humorous site related to current medical events.
You might also like Science Blogs and SciTechDaily and The Science Fiction and Biology Blog and World Science and Olivia Judson's The Wild Side blog.
For an excellent web site on Evolution, visit Understanding Evolution.
For intelligent viewpoints (potentially including your own) on all aspects of life, try BigThink and Free Exchange on Campus.
JFT's PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS (current and former)
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of University Professors
American Society of Clinical Pathologists - Medical Technologist - Associate
American Society of Clinical Laboratory Science
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
The Association of Southeastern Biologists
Clinical Laboratory Management Association
National Center for Science Education
The Society for the Study of Evolution
The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (formerly ASZ)
The Tennessee Academy of Science
Tennessee Society of Clinical Laboratory Science
JFT is a member of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and a member of the APSU chapter of the AAUP. JFT is the List Manager for AP-AAUP-List, the E-mail discussion group for the APSU chapter of AAUP. For information about the APSU Chapter of the AAUP and about AP-AAUP-List, use this link: AP-AAUP.
JFT is a life member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (PKP) and a member of the APSU chapter of PKP.
Until Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1450s, there wasn't much for the average person to read, aside from inscriptions on buildings and coins. Scholars have estimated that there were only about 30,000 books in all of Europe when Gutenberg began printing his Bible,. Fifty years after that, the scholars estimate, the number of books had risen to between 10 million and 12 million. Have you read a good book lately?
James F. Thompson, Ph.D. MT(ASCP), thompsonj@apsu.edu
JFT's Home Page and its associated subpages are unofficial pages. Their content does not reflect the policy or opinion of Austin Peay State University or the APSU Biology Department.
These unofficial pages follow the guidelines of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s "safe harbor" provision, which holds that a Web site is not liable for any infringing material posted on it, as long as the site’s operators remove that material when asked to do so by a copyright holder. If there is any objection to the use of copyrighted material within these unofficial pages, please notify me and I will remove it post haste. JFT
My friend, Hunter Dice, shared this quote with me: "I can picture a world without war, without hate. And then I can picture us attacking that world--because they'd never expect it." Me, too, Hunter!
The meaning of life for twenty-first century college students -- the short version: What gives you the power to do the harder thing, to be disciplined and opt for delayed gratification? You forego the immediate pleasures in order to get good grades in order to get a good job in order to get into the nursing home of your choice.
For the biochemical details, read "The Pleasure (and Pain) of 'Maybe'" by Robert M. Sapolsky, neurologist and primatologist at Stamford University, in the September 2003 issue of Natural History magazine.
“The world we live in is an institutional response to our biology.” David Laibson, Professor of Economics, Harvard University
"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." Buddha, the Awakened One
"Man’s inhumanity to man is not only perpetrated by the vitriolic actions of those who are bad. It is also perpetrated by the vitiating inaction of those who are good." Martin Luther King
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 17th century French philosopher
“As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods – they kill us for their sport.” the Earl of Gloucester cries out in King Lear. William Shakespeare
What if there were no hypothetical
questions?
This site best viewed with an open mind!
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The Thompson Cats Live the Nine Lives of Riley→
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Are you familiar with The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?
Religious scholars mull Flying Spaghetti Monster (2007)
Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New "Intelligent Falling" Theory
go to top Last Updated: April 7, 2011.
JFT: Corrupting the minds of impressionable youths since 1982.
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"You can follow the action, which gets you good pictures. You can follow your instincts, which'll probably get you in trouble. Or, you can follow the money, which nine times out of ten will get you closer to the truth." Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) in THE TWO JAKES (1990).
Exchange Server 
"Learn to fail or fail to learn." old proverb
"A little work, a little sleep, a little love and it's all over." author Mary Roberts Rinehart
Ben Wekselbaum: "It's all so pointless. That's the realization I came to at States last year. Life is nothing but repetition, the same thing over and over. Somebody might give you a trophy and that's supposed to mean you're making progress but there's no such thing. The fights you fight today are the fights you fight until you die." From the movie ROCKET SCIENCE (2007).
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"Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion--several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven....The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste." ~ Mark Twain
Don't forget to smell the flowers.
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| Photo "Tigger" copyright by Jody Black; used with permission. |
"I regret that I am now to die in the belief, that the useless sacrifice of themselves by the generation of 1776, to acquire self-government and happiness to their country, is to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy passions of their sons, and that my only consolation is to be, that I live not to weep over it." Thomas Jefferson, 1820.
"It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties." James Madison
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"When enough people share a delusion, it loses its status as a psychosis and gets a religious tax exemption instead." Ronald de Sousa
EVERY GOD
CAN BE DEFIED
NO CHOICE, NO DEVOTION
There have been many rebels who have chosen to defy their gods. Without this option, there can be no true devotion to a holy concept. For devotion is only valuable when a conscious decision is made to follow that course, even in acknowledgment of the difficulties ahead. Choosing to be a devout person is good. Choosing to defy the gods is also good, for it reaffirms the basic ability of human beings to make choices. We cannot support religions which say that there are no choices.
Metaphysical totalitarianism of any kind stifles the freedom we have as human beings. It is not acceptable to have a religion where the alternative to faith is punishment -- that's how you train dogs, not develop people. Spirituality is only great when it allows that utmost freedom to follow it. If we suffer from difficulties, this is not holy retribution, and we should not allow it to create debilitating questions.
If you endure a crisis in your life, it may well challenge your faith. Perhaps you will even respond bitterly to your gods and cry out: How could anything holy permit this atrocity to happen to me? But gods are not our parents or protectors. They are there only to inspire us to be better people. They symbolize the inherent choice of this existence. It is secondary whether we choose bellief or defiance. What is precious is that we are always able to choose.
From 365 TAO: Daily Meditations by Deng Ming-Dao (1992)
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." Clarence Darrow
Severe
Thunderstorm Warnings and Tornado Warnings
Each year, APSU faces dangerous weather conditions from severe
thunderstorms and tornadoes. In the event that one of these weather conditions
occur, Austin Peay State University will use the campus siren warning system to
alert people on campus to take appropriate action to protect themselves.
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings
Severe thunderstorm warnings are announced by a voice message that
says, “Attention! A severe thunderstorm warning
has been issued. Seek shelter now. All outdoor recreational functions are
canceled.” In these situations you should seek shelter indoors. Classes
will remain in session and on schedule unless otherwise notified by campus
officials.
Tornado Warnings
Tornado warnings are announced by a wail tone (http://www.apsu.edu/alert/sounds/wail.mp3)
followed by a voice message that says, “Attention! A
tornado warning is in effect. Seek shelter now. I repeat, a tornado
warning is in effect. Seek shelter now.” In these situations you
should seek shelter indoors, in the basement or lowest level of a building, away
from windows or glass. In situations of tornado warnings, classes will be
temporarily delayed so individuals may seek appropriate shelter and will resume
on a normal schedule once the threatening weather has passed or the warning has
expired unless otherwise notified by campus officials.
For comprehensive information on emergencies and related campus warnings, please
visit
http://www.apsu.edu/alert/ .
