Candidate for
Member, Democratic Party County Central Committee; County of Contra Costa; Supervisorial District 2

I was born and raised in the Chicago area and moved to California for my doctoral studies in Cognitive and Personality Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. I taught at Berkeley as a grad student, then Harvard Extension (night school) and then at the University of Michigan. I am retired.

I had two children the last 14 months of graduate school (there is never a good time if you are an academic)! In 1985 my first child Ryan was born in Berkeley, then I moved to Ann Arbor, MI for a position at the University of Michigan while I finished my dissertation. In 1986, my second child Tara was born. My children are currently both in graduate school obtaining their PhDs, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Cognitive Science (Ryan) and Berkeley in Political Science/Latin American Studies (Tara).

I was a teacher and researcher at the University of Michigan until I became a whistle-blower in what became a nationally prominent science fraud case. Subsequently, I have worked with Congressional Subcommittees, testified to a Congressional Commission (the Ryan Commission) and been an outspoken widely publicized activist in science, speaking out about science fraud and particularly on the protection of young scientists from exploitation by senior scientists.

In Ann Arbor, I volunteered extensively in the schools when my children were young and won the Ann Arbor School District Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award in 1997.

Although I was a "lab rat" early in adulthood, my activism in science involved me in politics. I have been a political activist and organizer in the Democratic Party and the community for 20 years. In the 1990s, I served as a publicly elected member of the Democratic Party in Ann Arbor. In 2010, I was elected to the Contra Costa County Democratic Party Central Committee. I immediately became the Field Organizer for the county party and under my leadership and the help of many we delivered nearly 10% of the Official Democratic Party slate cards that were delivered in CA (nearly 200,000). (Our county party had never delivered such slate cards before.) Our work in this county probably made the crucial difference in electing Congressman Jerry McNerney and Attorney General Kamala Harris, as our county produced unexpectedly high votes for each of them in very close races.

A year ago, I founded the Michelle Obama Fan Club on Facebook to influence the national 2012 Presidential election by helping close the "enthusiasm gap" for re-electing our President. We have over 12,500 members, who will probably get off the couch and go vote to keep Michelle our 1st Lady!

One of my passions is being a booster for the California Democratic Party's California Young Democrats and I do this by fund-raising for them, helping them with their campaigns, attending events where they are honored,driving them to the State Convention, and so on! We have wonderful young leaders, but we must mentor them so they can be most effective in their leadership.

Currently, I have initiated a project working with Board and Staff at Contra Costa County Central Sanitary District to use some of the approximately 50 million gallons of recycled water they throw away every day into the Bay to instead grow organic fruit and vegetables on 5 acres of land they have which they are not currently using. The plan is to donate these fruits and vegetables to local schools to provide healthier lunches for children and to the Food Bank for distribution to those in need. This garden will also be a demonstration garden to teach the community organic practices they can use in their backyards, which will help keep toxins and pesticides out of our water. It is our hope that our wonderful 1st Lady, Michelle Obama, will come to our county and help dedicate this community garden.

Lastly, I ask you to join me in supporting Women's Rights and be careful not to unwittingly vote for a candidate who is against a Woman's Right to Choose, because such are running in this election. Investigate the candidates in County races to see their positions before you vote! Thank you!!