Osteology and You

One of the classes I took last term was human osteology - lots of work (you have to be able to identify bones and their features in fragment form), but an excellent class.  I thought that I'd share some of my knowledge and insights from the class:

1. If you pass out during an exam, campus security has to come. Your backpack will get a ride to the Student Health Centre; you will walk over, accompanied by a security officer. (Ok, so that actually has nothing to do with osteology. But it's something I learned!)

2. There are three general types of joints in the human body (synovial, cartilaginous, and fibrous) and your vertebral column contains all three.

3. My favourite bone group is the vertebrae, partially because of the fun fact noted above, and partially because so many diseases, biomechanical markers, etc. are evidenced there.

4. My favourite individual bone is the sphenoid. It's complex, and sometimes difficult to identify in fragment, but very pretty. It reminds me of a butterfly, or this flower.

5. In trying to figure out which side is up for tarsals, metatarsals, and pedal phalanges (ankle bones, foot bones, and toes), the sides that are bulgy, rough, have grooves for nerves and ligaments, and generally look uncomfortable, are invariably the sides that you're walking on. Plantar fasciae are your friends.

6. There is incredible variation in number of bones per individual, bone robusticity, skull shape, etc., all within normal parameters. The average person may or may not have exactly 206 bones. Children have more. 

7. Most of the bone names are in Latin, with a few in Greek. They translate to some really....interesting things:

• Coracoid process (part of your scapula)= crow (shaped like a crow's beak)
• Malleolus (exterior ankle bones)= little hammer. 

Some of the really fascinating meanings got me wondering about who thought up the bone names in the first place and the circumstances under which the naming occurred. Here's one possible scenario:

Act 1, Scene 1: Somewhere in Europe, several hundred (or more) years ago. 

" Ok, y'all. We've got 15 articulated skeletons, 327 individual bones, vellum, ink, quills, and 47 bottles of Antonio's papa's home-made wine. LET'S DO THIS THING!!!"

Act 2, Scene 1: Several hours, and 34 bottles of Antonio's papa's home-made wine later.

"BOOBS! Heh heh heh.....skull has boobs. Mastoid process!! Skullboobs...heh heh heh....boobs."

"Duuuude...you could totally drink out of this thing. It's like a little wine goblet... for, like, squirrels."

"Yo, Bartholomeus! Wake up! You gettin' this %$^# down, bro?"

8. It's somehow satisfying to be able to identify and use the correct term for the exact bone that you've injured, stubbed, whatever. For example:

Slipping on ice before taking osteology: " Aggggrrrrrhhh! Owowowow! Goatbothering%^&^%&$#!!"
Slipping on ice after taking osteolgy: "I have landed on my sacrum! Aaaahhhhh! %$%$#*&@onastick!!

Much better.

Compare and Contrast.....

I always loved exam questions that started out with that phrase... blargh.

Anyway, one of the more interesting aspects of going back to university after a long absence has been observing how things have changed (or stayed the same, for that matter) since the early-mid 1990s. Buildings have been renovated, new classes have been added, and regulations have changed. Not only can you now eat and drink in the library (which I find really odd - does this mean that book lice are now extinct?), but there's even a library Starbucks for your convenience.

One of the main changes has been the technology available. When I finished my master's degree, the internet was just becoming a Thing. Professors had email access through the university servers, but students didn't. It was just starting to be common for people to have email addresses and home internet access - always dial-up, of course. Most businesses didn't have email or a company website. Cell phones were big, clunky things, most often used by people who spent time working away from their offices, or for emergency purposes. I don't think I have to spend much time talking about how all of this has changed!

For students, all communication from the university, class announcements, grades, assignments, etc. is done online. Instead of interlibrary loans for journals the library doesn't have, you can access resources online. Much as a I love physically going to a library, I really enjoy the experience of  "going to the library to do research" at home, on my couch, with a nice glass of Ardbeg beside me. Lots of people bring laptops to class to write notes; instructors use PowerPoint- no more frantically copying notes off hand-written overheads. Many post their lectures online - any time I don't have to read my own or someone else's handwriting is a bonus.

Everyone seems to have a cell phone or smartphone, which leads to the interesting condition of being both connected and disconnected at the same time. Connected for obvious reasons -people can text friends, or post on Facebook, Twitter, etc. any time. However, they tend to be disconnected from their immediate surroundings because they spend most of their time looking down to text, or listening only to their own playlist. One consequence of this that I've noticed - students don't talk to the people sitting next to them in class unless they already know them. Instead, they text, surf, or check email until class starts. This does change in smaller or upper year classes, as people are more likely to know those around them, but it's especially noticeable in the larger, mainly first year classes. And I find that phenomenon odd - how are people supposed to get to know each other? When I first moved to Saskatoon to start university as an 18 year old, I didn't come as part of an existing group of friends. If I wanted friends, I had to make new ones. I'm still friends today with a couple of people that I initially met because I talked to the person sitting next to me in class. I don't know that someone starting university today will be able to say that in 20 years.

And, there are the fashions. Well, of course, those have changed, right? Weeelllll......you know the saying that everything comes back into style? As it happens, my return to campus has coincided with one of those cycles. The cycle from 1989. This has lead to some interesting internal comments:

" I had that shirt and those glasses! BEFORE YOU WERE BORN."

"Hmmm. Maybe I should have kept my desert boots."

"Please tell me that you're wearing that sweater ironically and not because you find that particular colour combination soothing."

" Are those....acid...washed?? Excuse me, I need to assume a fetal position now."

One of the strangest fashion (I don't know what else to call it) changes has been in backpack wearing. Everyone has a backpack, and these days, most people wear it on their backs, straps over both shoulders in order to correctly and evenly distribute weight over the whole back and adjusted so that the shoulder or pelvic girdle take the most strain blah blah blah ergonomics. All of which makes perfectly logical sense.

However, back in the day, that was not the case. When I attended first-year orientation, we were instructed that backpacks should be worn with one strap over one shoulder only. Both straps was Simply Not Done. Also, one's backpack should not look new. So, if you had a new backpack (and what first year didn't), you should rub dirt on it, use it as a placemat for a messy sandwich, etc. Why? Because otherwise you might look like a first year!! Ohs noes! Not wanting to look like a first year, I complied with instructions. Looking back now, I have no idea what consequences I might have faced; my university has never had much of a reputation for violence or freshie hazing. Since I wasn't in engineering or agriculture, I had no reason to fear being kidnapped or taped to anything.

I'm quite happy the backpack fashions have changed - much less back and shoulder strain that way. However, I would be most grateful if someone could explain to me the significance of the Hello Kitty mustache backpack....