My good friend Martha Stewart (Hi Martha!) was quoted in a recent Robert Novak article regarding Alaska Senator Ted Steven's earmarks. Martha is the lobbyist for the University of Alaska in Washington D.C.
From Mr. Novak's February 23, 2008 column:
A footnote: The Stevens newsletter also defends his Alaska earmarks, including a Defense Department appropriation for research into hibernation genomics of Alaskan ground squirrels. Martha Stewart, the University of Alaska's federal lobbyist, is quoted as saying: "We have a number of ground squirrels that are in various stages of hibernation in Fairbanks."Among the University's more quixotic research projects is attempting to understand the mechanism for hibernation in ground squirrels. As I understand it from my former boss, Commissioner Karen Perdue, also a University personage these days, the notion is that there may be some application in the field of human anesthesiology. Instead of getting the gas...perhaps you could hibernate during surgery.
I have chuckled about this for several years...the picture comes to mind of being strapped to a gurney with a ground squirrel strapped to the gurney next to you and various tubes running between the rodentia and homo sapiens. And maybe the "counting sheep" of mattress commercial fame standing around in surgical garb. Damn I wish I was a cartoonist!
Hey Martha, do the squirrels get per diem? Health benefits? If I was a ground squirrel living in Fairbanks some nap-time in the lab might be a pretty attractive proposition in the winter...
I will be smiling the rest of the day. And thanks to a sharp-eyed Dougie for the link to the column.
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