Fresh Faces

Last Minute Stuff

2008-05-13T21:28:07Z

Everyone's probably studying for finals, but summer's just around the corner!!! Even though I'm supposed to be concentrating on studying for finals, I keep daydreaming about what I'm going to do this summer. I know I should try to be productive and volunteer or work somewhere doing something that's related to the medical field, but...staying at home and getting a fun summer job sounds so much more appealing.
A few months ago, I applied for volunteer positions at some hospitals near home, but I haven't heard from any of them, yet. Even though you probably think you have to do something productive every summer of your college career, some experts say you should just take it easy summer of freshman year. You still have a few more summers to show those graduate schools how productive you can be. Why not take a well-deserved vacation? Or get a fun summer job?
If I don't hear back from any of the places I submitted applications to, I'll probably just get a fun summer job and hang out with my friends and family all summer long.

]]> But before you guys can go home for summer, you probably have to move all your stuff back home or to a new apartment. That's my case. I really have to try to minimize the amount of stuff to pack up. There are so many little things I have to take care of before I can go home: call the electric company to turn off the electricity, clean my studio, maybe sell a book or two, eat all my food....
Anyways, I hope everyone else has more definite summer plans than I do! See you all back at Cal in Fall! Another semester of organic chemistry...

Summer!......almost!

2008-05-13T09:02:02Z

Yes, as I should be studying for finals now, I am thinking about summer. I find that taking intermittent breaks like now help me concentrate better. Anyway, as I ask many what they are doing in the summer, as I still don't have an actual plan, most of course, are going back home. Others are taking classes, and others, are getting summer jobs and volunteering activities to fill up their summer. Wow, for most, we're actually going to be back in our parents' homes for 3 whole months!! It's going to take a while to adapt back to my old life.haha. Well, for my summer, I plan to learn how to cook since I am going to live in an apartment next semester! yay! Other than that, I plan to relax, have fun, get a tan, exercise, and spend time with my family! Nothing like a homecooked meal and my OWN ROOM!!!! What are your plans? Get ahead and think about making your summer productive and worthwhile!

tsavo maneaters

2008-05-11T06:24:17Z

I decided to take a break from studying, and post a little entry. a while back i wrote a post about ligers, and my friend john showed me this link about the tsavo maneaters. I don't know if you have heard about them, but to sum it up in a nutshell:
"The Tsavo maneaters were a pair of maneless lions responsible for the deaths of a number of construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway, from March through December 1898."

sounds like something from a horror movie, doesn't it?!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsavo_maneaters

]]> According to a site i looked up, lions rarely eat people however during this time period there had been a disease outbreak that killed the zebras and gazelles, so to stay alive the pair of lions had to eat people.
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/exhibit_sites/tsavo/maneaters2.html
In March 1898, during the building of the Kenya-Uganda Railway, Engr. Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson led the construction of a railway bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya. During the construction period, many Indian railway workers were killed by two maneless male lions, which dragged men from their tents at night and devoured them. The workers built bomas (thorn fences) around their camp to keep the maneaters out; but the maneaters were able to crawl through. Patterson set traps and tried several times to ambush the lions at night from a tree. After repeated unsuccessful endeavors, he finally shot the first lion on 9 December, 1898. Three weeks later, the second beast was found and killed. By that point, the maneaters had supposedly killed 135 workers. According to Patterson's calculations, though, railway records only recorded 28 deaths, however Patterson later said in a speech of his account that 28 Indians were killed, as well as a large number of native Africans, so the total number is closer to 135.[1] A number of these deaths were unrecorded locals.[2]

After two-and-a-half decades as Patterson's floor rugs, the lions' skins were sold to the Chicago Field Museum in 1924 for a sum of $5,000 US. The lions were then reconstructed and are now on permanent display along with the original skulls, although the lion recreations are smaller than their original size because the skins had been cut and used as rugs for twenty-six years in Patterson’s home, leaving them in relatively poor condition and not conducive to full-size reconstruction.

Patterson's accounts were published in his 1907 book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo.

i'm sure you've probably heard by now

2008-05-09T05:18:03Z

of what happened this past weekend on south side. there has already been a memorial on sproul plaza, and i'm sure a lot of news stations have picked up on it already. but in case you haven't heard, here's some scary news for you:
BERKELEY, Calif. -- A 20-year-old college student is due in court Tuesday after being arrested in connection with a fatal stabbing at a party at UC Berkeley over the weekend.

May 2008: Berkeley Man Accused Of Fatal Stabbing Of Student

]]>
Andrew Thomas Hoeft-Edenfield was arrested in connection with charges he fatally stabbed Christopher Wootton, a 21-year-old engineering student due to graduate this month, in the midst of an argument that started as a verbal exchange and escalated to a physical fight, according to Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss.

Hoeft-Edenfield, a graduate of Berkeley High School, is being held without bail. He was attending Berkeley City College.

At about 2:45 a.m., the Police Department received a report of someone brandishing a knife, and officers responded to the rear of 2421 Piedmont Ave., a Chi Omega sorority house, Kusmiss said.

Officers were then directed to 2434 Warring St., about a block east of the Piedmont address, where they met up with a crowd of about 20 college-age males who were circled around Wootton, according to Kusmiss.

Wootton had been stabbed on the left side of his upper chest. He was transported to a local trauma center, where he was pronounced dead, Kusmiss said.

Detectives interviewed several witnesses and believe Hoeft-Edenfield stabbed Wootton, then fled westbound on Channing Way and tossed a bloody knife that was later found by police, according to Kusmiss.

Hoeft-Edenfield was booked into City of Berkeley Jail for one count of murder, Kusmiss said.

Wootton planned to study nuclear engineering in graduate school at UC Berkeley following his graduation this month, Birgeneau said.

"This futile and senseless killing is a loss felt by us all, including his teachers, friends and especially his fraternity brothers," Birgeneau said in a prepared statement.

The last killing of a Berkeley student was in 1998. Kenneth Ishida, 20, a Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity member, was carjacked and kidnapped from the garage of his apartment building, Kusmiss said. The killer shot and killed Ishida and dumped his body and his car.

Classes at UC Berkeley will continue Monday as scheduled, according to Marie Felde, a campus spokeswoman. University Health Services at the Tang Center will provide counseling for students, faculty and staff.

(taken from NBC)

SF gate says:
Wootton, who had a 3.8 grade point average at Cal, was scheduled to graduate with honors May 24. He was planning to stay at Berkeley and work on a master's degree in nuclear engineering...
Wootton's girlfriend, 20-year-old Brandy DeOrnellas, went to the Sigma Pi house Sunday to mourn with friends.

"I know Chris is always a mediator during altercations," she said. "Chris is always in the front trying to fix it. I believe in my heart that's what happened. I wish he would have stepped back and not tried to fix it. But he wanted to help his friends."

She said her boyfriend turned down scholarships to MIT and UC Santa Barbara and decided, instead, to do his graduate work at UC Berkeley, close to his girlfriend and his friends."
---
who knows what they were thinking, except that the both of them must have been extremely charged about whatever they were arguing about. One guy died, the other guy might as well have died considering the sentence he's bound to get. I'm not defending the suspect's actions; by all means it was a horrible thing to do. but i guess part of me does feel bad for him. Sure he killed someone. that's unforgivable. but i'm sure if he were thinking logically, and if he had cooled off a bit instead of adding fuel to the fire...he wouldn't have made such a stupid stupid move. And maybe then both of them might still have been alive today.
it's ironic; my friend told me that a few weeks ago he almost got into a fight with someone at the dining commons. it was a purely verbal/push and shove fight until they both backed down and sat at their tables. then, my friend said he saw the other guy pull out a knife or something from across the hall. luckily my friend was able to call his friends to walk out with him, so he was safe.

but man, it's really scary how people can act when their egos are high.

kill the languages?!

2008-05-06T16:43:37Z

Letter from EALC Chair
To All Students Wanting to Enroll in Fall:
Due to the budget situation, EALC is having to cut Chinese, Japanese, and Korean courses by over 50%. This means that not everyone currently enrolled will be able to enroll in the Fall semester. We will not be able to accommodate students from other Colleges and Schools (outside of Letters and Sciences) in our courses. We recognize that many of you need our courses to complete minor or major requirements, and we sincerely apologize to those of you who will need to change your plans.

We will continue to accept students from all colleges in our summer courses on a first-come, first-served basis. This coming summer we are offering Chinese 1, Chinese 10, Japanese 1, Japanese 10, Japanese 100, Korean 1, and Korean 10. We are also offering 4 literature courses: Chinese 7A and Japanese 7A in Session A; and Chinese 7A and Japanese 7B in Session D.

That sad message above was taken verbatim from the East Asian Languages and Cultures department website :http://ealc.berkeley.edu/message.htm

Pretty sad, isn't it?

]]> http://savekoreanstudies.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html
http://www.angryasianman.com/2008/05/save-east-asian-languages-and-korean.html

"Thousands of UC students are protesting the drastic cuts made to East Asian language education at UC Berkeley. According to the projected budget figures for the next academic year, 66% of Korean language classes, 54% of Chinese language classes, and 40% of Japanese language classes will be eliminated. As a result of the cuts, more than 1500 students currently taking East Asian language classes will no longer be able to continue their studies."
"➢ Percentage of classes to be cut from each language in EALC
o Japanese 40%
o Chinese 54%
o Korean 66%
➢ Numbers of students to be cut from next year's classes
o Chinese: 550
o Japanese: 496
o Korean: 484"

I know California is going through a giant budget crisis, and some people will always get the short end of the stick. But i definitely feel like Ca schools have been living off the short end for quite some time now. I heard recently from my high school friends that college acceptance rates have been lower than ever this year. And, of course, tuition continues to increase. My professor last week told us that he receives around 50,000 a year even after getting a Ph.D. And now the east asian languages are feelin it too.
Here are some websites that you might want to look into for more information
http://www.petitiononline.com/ucbealc/petition.html
http://www.dailycal.org/article/101592

The Maker Faire: Hotdog Lightning

2008-05-05T23:00:19Z

http://makerfaire.com/

Pyrotechnics, robots, explosions, lasers, tesla coils, solar powered Arnold Schwarzenegger chariot.

I spent this past Saturday at the Maker Faire in San Mateo. The Maker Faire is a huge overwhelming spectacle of the most creative people in the bay area. I spent 10 hours there and still did not see everything it had to offer. I will try to recap some of the highlights:

This nightmarish thing:

An armada of cupcake people:

Some hotdogs cooked using lightning coming off a 25' tall tesla coil. Sorry, no video for this one just imagine lightning striking a hotdog and jumping from hotdog to hotdog down a 20' pole. As it got more intense the lightning began vaporizing the hotdog - this vaporization pulled hotdog bits into the arc and the color changed from brilliant purple to a vivid orange!

super smash brothers!

2008-04-29T06:51:19Z

Well, I don't know about all you readers out there, but I can say that ever since my arrival here at UC Berkeley, I've spent more time playing super smash brothers than I have in the rest of my life combined. If you play smash, you might understand these next few paragraphs, but if you don't then you probably wont get a lot of the terminology I'm going to throw at you. Anyway, here's my take on the subject:
It started out last September, when my RA invited me and a few floormates over to his room for a good ol' game of classic smash on his old-school n64. I used to play every once in a while back home, so I figured "oh hey, this sounds like fun. I can try to play Kirby again!" So i grabbed a controller, sat myself down on his couch with a few friends, and played my first collegiate game of smash. Little did I know that within only a few weeks, the game would take over an unprecedented amount of time in my waking hours.
After that first game of smash, I began to play whenever I was bored in the dorms. I was terrible at first, but as I kept playing, I kept improving, and as I improved, I became determined to play more.
Before I knew it, i was playing smash three times a day; it even took priority over my schoolwork at times! And to make matters worse, my roommate decided to bring over her gamecube, and with a game counsel in our hands, all our studious endeavors were lost.

]]> Our free time was dominated with thoughts of Starfox's space plane, throwing pokeballs, and the happy song that repeated throughout yoshi's island. I even recall one time falling asleep in math class, then being awakened by the thump of my professor's eraser on the chalk board; except in my half dazed frenzy, my first conscious image was one of Kirby pounding Mario into the ground on Corneria. I remember going through a phase of frustration when I couldn't get any KO's on my fellow gamers, but as I improved the playing ground leveled out (that is, with respect to n64 smash. I was never really that fond of melee, but I play it anyway). I remember teaming up with my roommate to try to kill our friend across the hall, who had played just as much as us and became a smash master himself. I remember sneaking over to one of our hallmates' rooms and secretly using his TV monitor when he wasn't around so we could indulge in a few good matches that would satisfy us for the remainder of the day. I sacrificed hours and hours of sleep to play the game, even on the dreadful nights when I knew I had to wake up for an 8am session of Italian again.
And you would think that after playing a single game for more than half a year now, we would be bored of it! But no, each time we pick up the controller the game is as enticing as the time we picked it up back in our RA's room eight months ago.
I know what you're thinking; that the chick writing this entry is a loony gamer who could put her time to much better use. But no, I disagree. Because as these last remaining months of school wind down to days, so do my days with my hallmates. And as I realize that my days as a freshman are slowly dissolving, I'm also realizing that my days in the dorms with my best friends are disappearing as well. Smash is just a game, but it represents so much more. As lame as this may sound, the little chip in a little piece of plastic represents the ties I made with my friends here. Of course by now, we have formed strong enough a bond that we have fun with or without the game; but when I think about it, every match we played was a sweet match. Every hour I played late into the night, as I neglected my homework and studying, I was spending time with the people who made my first year experience what it is.
So no, It's not about the game, it's about the people I played it with. The game really wouldn't mean much to me if it were me playing against a computer; rather, the reason that a silly video game merits an hour's worth of my time writing this entry is the fact that it represents the time i spent with the people I got to know here in the dorms.

Sockbaby!

2008-04-28T22:46:13Z

If I were you, I'd get me some Sockbaby. It's a trilogy of short films made by some Modesto community college students. These have everything you've ever wanted in a quality film experience: a 1960's kungfu guy imbued with the power of James Brown, a sock-puppet messiah, some fedora wearing aliens and a cyborg named "Burger." It will change your life... perhaps not meaningfully or for the better, but still.

Stressed?!

2008-04-27T02:35:32Z

Don't worry. You're not alone. Even though the second wave of midterms is over, finals are looming just around the corner. Just perfect. On top of that, everyone probably has a paper due sometime in the next few weeks.

I have a paper due in about a week. Whenever I write papers, I always feel like I'm trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle. First, I write random paragraphs, or parts of paragraphs, to just get down all my ideas. Then I have to fit all the pieces together and smooth it all out. Papers take such a long time for me to write. I've always been envious of those people who can crank out an A paper the night before it's due. No wonder I'm a science major.

Besides the paper, I keep getting this feeling that I really should start studying for my Chemistry 3A final. Chemistry 3A is the first part of Organic Chemistry. A few days ago, I read over the notes I took since the last midterm and my head literally hurt after an hour.

]]> Have you ever tried convincing yourself that you love studying? I think I've tried. It works sometimes. Also, remember not to slack off in your easier classes! Don't lull yourself into a state of confidience and let let that "easier" A slip by.

Another thing that's been stressing me out is the apartment hunting. It's so competitive! My roommates and I are still looking for an apartment....

So, now that I've rambled about some things that are stressing me out, let's focus on the bright side! Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day is this coming Tuesday from noon until 8 pm! Free ice cream's gonig to be amazing in this hot weather.

Scheduling

2008-04-26T21:10:24Z

CNR is a great college to be in. The advisors are very supportive, have great answers and resources to any questions that you have, especially during telebears time! Most of my friends who are in Letters and Science are clueless when it comes to scheduling- what classes, which classes are needed to fullfill their major, and such. I mean, ratemyprofessor.com can only help a little in terms of which professors to choose, but it all comes down to what classes you actually need. For instance, since I am a NS/ intended Motox major, I need to take Bio 1A. Most of peers say that Bio 1B is the easier bio so taking that first would be better. However, after going to talk with my advisor, I realized that I can't do that. For Motox and NS majors, in order to take one of the upper div class for spring 2009, Bio 1A is a prerequisite. So, if I had taken Bio 1B for the fall, I would not have been able to be on track towards my major. I am also taking MCB 32. It usually comes with the lab part, but due to the budget cut, there isn't one. One alternative is to take an upper div lab, or just take an upper div physiology class later. However, CNR may waive that requirement later on if MCB 32L is still not available. MAY! Anyway, when you are scheduling, make sure to balance out science classes and other varieties of subjects- english, ac class, social science class,etc. Otherwise, you will definitly feel very stressed during the semester, especially if you are going to have 5 hours of lab for every science class you take.

Temptations, temptations... part 2

2008-04-26T05:43:25Z

Chapter 2: Control, or Get Controlled

As I mentioned in Chapter 1, I was controlled by video games. That was two years ago. Now is time to strike back.

]]> As I am writing this blog, the evil video game called World of Warcraft is being installed on my laptop. Despite what I have said earlier about video game addiction, I decided to play once again. But this time, I'm taking control.

This decision is indeed very risky, but it is a personal challenge to test myself if I developed my self-control. I am also experimenting to see if playing can help me with academics. Wait, what?! Yes, that's right. I am using this game as a reward wherein I have set my own rules:

1) I can only play if I have finished all my homework.
2) When there is a paper due, I can play 1 hour for every hour I spent writing.
3) No playing a day before a midterm/final.
4) Anything lower than a B- on a paper or an exam will result in termination of my account.
5) Extracurricular/socializing comes first, I should be just playing when I have really nothing else to do.
6) No playing past 12am.

May sound weird, but if it does actually help me stay on top of things then why not. Again, no one is watching me besides myself. I can totally ignore these rules, but part of the challenge is actually keeping my own rules in effect.

In a week I will write an update to see how it works. You can also try creating your own "reward system" by restricting yourself from doing a certain activity you really like until you meet a certain goal. Again, it's all about self-control.

Now my game (well it's actually Blizzard's) has finished installing. Time to get in control! :)

Temptations, temptations... part 1

2008-04-26T02:34:17Z

Chapter 1 : Video Game Addiction

Midterms were over last week (at least for me), about time I caught up with all my readings (10 minutes ago, finally), and now I'm deciding what to do. It feels great that I have more time again, but I'm sure this won't last long; my final paper in College Writing R4B is due in three weeks and finals are up that same week.

Again, like always, I'm facing against the temptation to slack off and not do my homework in advance.

]]> The biggest temptation I am dealing with at this moment is whether to play World of Warcraft. I've always been a big fan of video games. In fact, I don't remember any instance in my life that video games were not present. It's been a while since I played WoW because I just had not much time to do so.

Playing video games is not bad as long as it does not badly affect your academics and social life. Sometimes it is good to play once in a while for fun with friends; however, games (like WoW) can get very addicting and destructive especially if a person loses control and plays obsessively. I've been there once, when video games took control of my life: I delayed dinner with my family, procrastinated with my schoolwork, and wasted countless of hours because I was prioritizing playing video games instead.

Anyways that was junior year in high school. The next year, I gradually started disliking the game. I realized that the thousands of hours I spent playing turned out to be NOTHING. I thought maybe I could have done something else FUN and PRODUCTIVE, something that can develop me as a person. Tennis for example. At some point I wished that I learned about that sport before I got addicted to WoW. If I played tennis for at least 3 hours a day instead of playing WoW, maybe I'm at least good enough to join a tennis club. I play video games for fun, but isn't tennis fun to play also? Or maybe I could have just spent time with people and made real life friends. What I'm trying to point out is that there are many things we can do for fun besides spending too much time on video games.

So do I really regret wasting time playing video games? Yes and no. Yes because I did waste a lot of time. And no because if I didn't experience this firsthand I wouldn't be writing this blog in the first place.

--- End of Part 1 ---

Being a Transfer Student and Research

2008-04-25T19:16:53Z

Here's my experience with doing research at Cal as a transfer student. I applied to SPUR to find a faculty project. I got the position but I definitely felt at a disadvantage while being interviewed. The first question: What research projects have you worked on at Cal? I'm thinking, well I've only been here for 4 months and they expect me to have a vast list of skills? Yes they do, fortunate for me I had experience doing a research class at DVC (the jc I went to). The next question: Could we get an email address to ask for a letter of recommendation? I'm thinking, in four months I'm expected to be buddy buddy enough with a professor to be asking him/her to take out of their busy schedule to write me a letter or rec? Yes they do. Fortunately for me again, I spent a lot of time in one of my professor’s office hours. The bottom line: If you're going to do research when you get to Berkeley you better spend that first semester doing all you can to boost your resume. Some things you can do: volunteer in a professor’s research and get to know at least one of your professors so you can ask them for a letter of recommendation.

]]> Now that I have my lovely SPUR position, the challenges change. The UC did a study that showed that transfer students work and study more hours a week than freshman admits. This in my experience is true. Trying to squeeze my research into 17.5 units and 15-20 hours a week of work can be challenging and tiring. I definitely think that it's worth the time and effort it takes to do research with a professor because there are so many benefits to it.

Berkeley Parkour Club

2008-04-24T23:55:18Z

So yesterday I took my first parkour lesson. For those of you who don't know, parkour is a French sport which combines running and gymnastics in urban environments. The underlying idea is that our bodies can do much more than just walk around on a horozontal plane as we do everyday. Instead those who practice parkour, called "traceurs" try to find the most efficent way to interact with their physical environments.

This video shows David Belle - the founder of the sport - performing some really advanced and showy parkour for a BBC commercial:

]]> The move that I was working on yesterday is called a speed-vault and David does it 37 seconds into the above video. You can see an example of a speed-vault more clearly in this video:

If you are interested in becoming a traceur as well then you should join the SF Parkour forums at: http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/ and join us at one of the weekly parkour sessions around campus. It's a fun way to workout and to make use of that mandatory student health-insurance.

Theo Jansen's Biomechanical Sculptures

2008-04-24T23:32:31Z

So there's this guy in the Netherlands named Theo Jansen. He's a kinetic sculptor which means that he builds huge moving pieces of art. His sculptures are strange mechanical interpretations of the biological world. Watch this video to see an example of his work in action:

]]> (Turn off your sound to avoid horrible techno in this one...)

All of these are completely wind-powered. Some of the creatures have bottles that are pressurized by the motion of their wings - the compressed air gathered by the wings is in turn used to move the sculpture when there is no wind.

Jansen releases these things on his native beaches and observes how different designs survive. From these observations he builds new creatures by combining the attributes of those creatures which survived best. The goal of this quasi-evolution, Jansen says on his web page, is a day in which he can release his creatures in herds and let them live out their lives.