It's amazing how a head cold can severely reduce one's willingness to go to class. It's already enough of a struggle to wake up at 7 am for an 8 am class, especially when it's cold outside. But when you've got to wake up early, and you've got a killer sinus headache, going to that class may just not happen. It's so much easier to stay in bed after all.

In college, being sick really sucks. Chances are there isn't anyone there to make you soup, and do your laundry and make tea for you. You're essentially on your own wallowing in a nest of blankets and used kleenex wondering if it's worth it to get up and find something to eat. I know, it's a pitiful image but it's the truth.

The best (and by that I mean also the cheapest and easiest) cure for sickness is sleep. Sleep also happens to be one of those things college students never have enough of... along with money and time of course, but back to what I was saying. I find that by drinking water, taking a shower and going to bed at 7 pm or whenever is the fastest way to recover. Problem with that is adjusting to the usual 5 hrs of sleep per night after you're well.

Posted by Leighna Baxter at 12:21 PM | Permalink

Washing hair and academic semesters are similar. Semesters always go through the same set of stages, always in the same order. Washing your hair always goes in the same order, just like the academic year.

There's the beginning stage (or as I like to call it, the "I-can't-believe-that-90-minute-lecture-just-flew-by" stage) where class is exciting (because it's new) and since it's the beginning of the year there aren't many assignments. The lax atmosphere of this portion of the semester often causes student to ignore homework and studying because they're too busy catching up with friends or getting back into the academic swing of things. I think that it's probably easier to slack off at this point of the year because as far as students are concerned, exams are a whole month away at this point.

Continue reading "Lather, Rinse, Repeat" »

Posted by Leighna Baxter at 4:53 PM | Permalink

Greetings internet world!

This is my first post... and quite appropritately so since I've only recently become a Molecular Toxicology major. So about that... it's a long story. I started at Cal in 2006 as a Chemical Engineering major. After about a year in that major, I decided it wasn't a good fit (I couldn't pass Math 1B even after a few tries) and I really wasn't happy. I searched for another major that would improve my mood and settled on Molecular Toxicology. It took both my sophomore and junior years (summer school included) to work towards meeting the minimum requirements to be eligible for filing a petition to change major. Those two years of college were nuts! At one point I was taking a full course load at Cal, working part time and taking a 5 unit class at night at Laney City College in Oakland!

All the hard work was worth it... after 2 years of working to meet the requirements I finally received notification of my acceptance into the College of Natural Resources as a Molecular Toxicology major! YAY!!! I have a major!!! I can graduate next spring!!! HOORAY!!

What? Graduate in spring 2010? You've only been there 4 years... and you changed your major your senior year?? These are questions probably running through your mind about now... Thanks to the guidance from advisors in both College of Natural Resources and College of Chemistry, and due to endless hours of planning my schedule... and due to my advisors' support, I enrolled in classes for Molecular Toxicology while I was still a Chemical Engineering major on paper. It sounds like a great plan initially and it looks like it's going to work out just fine for me... but it could all horribly backfire. Here's how: by taking classes for molecular toxicology for two years but not actually having that major, if my petition to change major wasn't accepted I would have effectively had lots of course credit that wasn't applicable for any degree and my time at Cal would not have resulted in earning a Bachelor's degree. No pressure, right?

So now enough about that... and a little bit about who I am. I'm a first generation college student raised in a small town in the high desert of Southern California. My mother and I were born in the same hospital, and we both graduated from the same middle school AND the same high school (we even had some of the same teachers). I love the Bay Area, and hopefully will never leave. I'm a campus ambassador for the university which means that I give campus tours out of the Public Affairs office. I have been an active member of UC Rally Committee since my freshman year. That's about me in a nutshell.

On Friday I'm participating in a Strawberry Creek clean up project to help remove invasive species. I'm really looking forward to splashing around in the creek for a few hours.

My class schedule this semester is as follows: PH 162 (Public Health Microbiology), PH 162L (the microbiology lab), MCB 104 (Genetics), IB 117 (Medical Ethnobotany), and two PE classes, Introductory Taekwondo and low intermediate swimming.

There will be additional, fancier blog entries to follow. :)

Posted by Leighna Baxter at 12:30 PM | Permalink

Did I ever mention that I applied for med school and now I'm in? School began for me at KCUMB on August 3rd. I moved to Kansas City on the 1st of August. Boy, is Missouri different from California.

Just wanted to mention how awesome it is to be in class and already know microbiology and pharmacokinetics stuff from being a molecular toxicology major. =)

Posted by K. Lee at 8:25 AM | Permalink

So as I have previously stated I am now declared Molecular Environmental Biology, but I have always thought about getting a minor. After taking NST 11 (Intro to Toxicology) and finding it really interesting, in general, I am thinking of minoring in Motox. The minor requires the following classes.
- NST 110
- NST C112
- NST C114
- NST 120
- NST 121

Continue reading "Class frustrations with minors!" »

Posted by Fabian Collazo at 10:34 PM | Permalink

My physics grade came in on bearfacts. I'm cleared to matriculate to med school! whoh!!!
I had finished all my prereqs except for 2nd semester of physics and genetics when I applied. You don't actually need to have all your prereqs done before you apply, but you do need them done to matriculate. Along those lines, I got my hepatitis B titer results--well over 200. yay. I'll be heading to Japan tomorrow, then Taiwan next week to complete an internship. It's my last real summer vacation ><. Yikes. You bet I'm treasuring it.

Posted by K. Lee at 4:14 PM | Permalink

View image

We graduated!!!
The tox major was first separated out from the NutriSci umbrella in 2005, when my class entered.
And now we're done!
Yay!
Hip hip horray!

Ultra coolness, no?

Posted by K. Lee at 8:15 PM | Permalink

One of the best things about MolTox is the people that you get to know and they way you spend time with them--academically, in laboratory, and outside of brain-work. This time, my MolTox buddies and I ventured out into the world, away from Berkeley, to just hang out. Our mission was: PAINTBALLING! Only one of us had ever been, so we were all excited and somewhat fearful of the pain. (not that the guys would admit it). Thus, 9 MolTox seniors went to American Canyon (30 min north of Berkeley) in order to train our bodies and to engage in teamwork, since it had been more than a month from the time we last had a project where any of us worked together. Unfortunately, we forgot that its spring break for many high schoolers, so the place was packed and there wasn't enough rental equipment at a reasonable price. So what to do?

Fortunately, American Canyon is located in Napa County, so there was something else for us to do. What else in Napa but wine-tasting! So we merry Molecular Toxicology comrades went off to an adventure. Adam, with his 3G Apple iPhone, was the navigator. Luckily, Adam had visited Napa before so we followed a trail that his parents had blazed out.

Continue reading "Adventuers of the Molecular Toxicology Major" »

Posted by K. Lee at 9:01 PM | Permalink

This is how some of my peers double majored in both MolTox and MCB.

Apparently, out of the five tracks, two the the tracks Cell Developmental Biology and Immunology (either Immuno Track 1 or Infectious Diseases Track 2) work well with Molecular Toxicology.

Note: Double Majors don't need NST 11 for some reason. Only two upper division courses may overlap and be used for both majors.

Legend:
Green - classes for both majors
Yellow - classes for MCB
Red - classes for L&S breadth
Blue - classes for MolTox

Click here for Student A's schedule - MolTox & MCB-Immunology

Student A specific Notes: Plans on attending pharmacy school. She took a lot of extra math classes because she was originally MCB w/ Math minor.Could have graduated as MCB in 3 years.

Click here for Student B's schedule - MolTox & MCB-Infectious Diseases

Student B Notes: Doubled in 4.5 years. Waived out of NST 171 by using 6 units of research. Check with department before doing so. Started as an Engineer major, then switched to MCB. Added MolTox later on when he realized the coolness of it. Plans on attending graduate school. VSET is a volunteer summer English teaching program that teaches in various Asian countries. Student B volunteered for and was sent to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Student B was the hydration technician and sports medicine intern for the football team.

I asked David (Student B) some questions.

Q: Why did you double major?
I decided to pursue double major because I found to both MCB and Molecular Toxicology to be very interesting. One of the advantages of having a dual degree is that it allows for a greater understanding of biological mechanisms. Another advantage is that the combination of both degrees helps you stand out from other undergraduates. In addition 2 majors = 2 graduation ceremonies, it helps when you friends/family can't make it to one. Completing two science majors is challenging. One thing you will never have enough of is time.

Q: Would you do it again if you had a second chance?
A: If I had a second chance I would do it again. Even though it was challenging but the sense of accomplishment afterward makes it worthwhile. One thing I would have differently is to make the decision to double major earlier and plan better.

Q: Did you matriculate with MCB in mind?
A: As an incoming freshman I had hoped to transfer into Bioengineering, but multi-variable calculus helped change those plans.

~Special Thanks to Student A and David W. (Student B) for providing me with their schedules~

Posted by K. Lee at 3:52 PM | Permalink

Many people don't start as MolTox majors. We have more people graduating with MolTox than we have matriculating into Berkeley with a MolTox major. In my sample size of 10 from my NST 171 class, only 20% were entering MolTox majors. 20% were MCB majors who had added MolTox to double major. The other 60% were either undeclared or ex-MCB majors. Moral of this story? Become a MolTox major. =)

Reasons why:
1) It's a good conversation starter.
2) You can actually see the professors in your classes--instead of using binoculars.
3) You can actually make friends with classmates because you'll see them again in other classes.
4) You won't need to climb the hill since the College of Natural Resources is on the lower North-West end of campus.
5) You can always change to a different major if you don't like it. (According to this article, 50% of people change their majors at least once during college. It may or may not be lower at Berkeley since L&S matriculates are technically undeclared.

My biased opinion: If you start with an interesting major, you're more likely to explore. And, what is college if not to explore?

Posted by K. Lee at 2:49 PM | Permalink

This is an explanation of how I did Molecular Toxicology and completed my pre-med reqs in basically three years. I spent 4 years at Berkeley, but one of those years was abroad in Japan where I did nothing related to Molecular Toxicology. And, I did not use those years in Japan to fulfill my breadths, because I had already completed those.

There were certain things that helped me finish in at the pace I did. I completed the math requirements and breadth requirements before I entered college by taking those through community college. Instead of taking AP calculus in high school, I took it at the junior colleges. I passed my UC Entry Level Writing, American History, and American Institution requirements during high school, which is common with most students. The American Cultures was fulfilled through music in multicultural America which I took during the summer as an online course though Foothill Community College while doing research in Taiwan.

1) TAKE MCB 32 during your Fall frosh year. It's a fall only class.
2) MCB 32 is considered a biology class by many medical schools, so you won't need the other semester. I also took Bio AP and got a 5 so that counts as a second semester bio class by some med schools. It didn't bother me that I could not apply to some specific med schools.
3) I'm taking second semester physics my senior year because physics is not my strong point and that way I will have gotten into med school by that time. It's also not a required class for moltox so I wasn't taking a extra class that I disliked if I had changed career plans by then. Sure... I wasn't as prepared for the physics part of the MCAT, but I was still a bit above average on the MCAT on the physics portion... so I guess it didn't make that much of a difference. If you're an ultra-gung ho person who's only goal in life is to get into an extremely competitive med school and become a dermatologist.. this advice is not for you. I was sure.. but still shaky on my plans for life.
4) Going abroad is a good GPA booster... unfort... that's only if you're good at languages and if your grades come in time by the time you apply. Note.. they probably won't.
5) If I could have done things differently: It's nice to study abroad. Apply during your freshman year to go abroad in your sophomore year. =)
6) Choosing a different major?: No. I love this stuff and I'm staying with it. I came in as a MolTox. yay MolTox power!
7) Other advice: I heard that NST 171 won't be offered to all students. You'll be able to use research NST 199 (6 units) to fulfill the same req. So.. do research NOW!. And remember, you can always get units for research as long as you aren't paid. Even if you aren't sure that you'll use it to fulfill the req, you should still get the units anyways. They'll come in handy if you're short a few upperdiv units at the end.

Continue reading "How to do Molecular Toxicology in Three Years" »

Posted by K. Lee at 1:14 AM | Permalink

This

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/toxicology/

Is a toxicology blog called

In the pipeline.

I love everything toxicology related... this is quite awesome as it makes tox more relevant.

Now.. back to studying. ahhahahahha....

Posted by K. Lee at 10:02 PM | Permalink

For the first time in my Berkeley Career, I'm taking classes that are dominated by Toxicology majors. One of them, NST 171, Toxicology Lab, is restricted to senior moltox majors. In the class of 30, we have 10 people in each team. I'm in Team C. And, we were encouraged to come up with a team name beginning with C....so after Jason's suggestion, we became the CareBears! Hahaha.

We've begun cell culturing, a painstaking process of keeping sterile. Adam and Marisela are pros in this as they're involved in research that has required them to work with these. Next week, we'll begin on real stuff and work on stuff relating to the endocrine system.

What is also kinda nifty is that Michael, Gary, Marisela, and Karen are also in my NST 110 or PH 162 courses. I shared a class with Lena in the past...but we're not sure which one it was. ^^

Since we're the carebears, we just HAD to take the CareBear test to see which carebears we are. Interestingly, Lena, Alan, and Karen are all Tenderheart Carebears.

The best thing about molecular toxicology is that everyone in the major has a different background and how they came to the major is different. The 10 of us came with different backgrounds, different reasonings, and went through different choices to land together in this class. Some of us went through three different majors before landing here. Others are transfer students. Some began with Toxicology from the start, and others added on Toxicology when they learned how cool it was. ^^ What's also awesome is that my group is exactly 1/2 male and 1/2 female. Most of the classes I've been in have been highly skewed one way or the other. So its nice to have an even distribution.

So.

To: Jane, Lena, Marisela, Karen, Gary, Jason, Alan, Adam, and Michael,

Let's make it a good year Carebears!

Best Wishes,
Kristin

Posted by K. Lee at 10:39 AM | Permalink

Have you ever checked out http://www.toxicology.org? If not, you should. Head to the site and see what your Molecular Toxicology major can give you. It explains more about our awesome major (so that you can clearly explain to other people what you learn).

In general, there are six types of toxicologists: clinical, environmental, forensic, industrial, mechanistic, and regulatory. The CNR Mol Tox people are generally more environmental and clinical.

Continue reading "Mol Tox - Society of Toxicology" »

Posted by K. Lee at 9:56 PM | Permalink

So today was the ESPM Ice Cream Social. I was planning on making an announcement here sooner, but I totally blanked on it yesterday. Sorry about that. For today, the ESPM department was giving away free cones of Ben & Jerry's ice cream to anyone who stopped by outside of Mulford. Some of the professors were scooping cones for people; it was pretty cool get a cone from Keith Gilless, acting dean of CNR. I wasn't able to stay for too long (I had to go to class), but just getting the chance to enjoy the beautiful weather and talk with some friends was great. The Strawberry Kiwi sorbet was pretty good, too. This event reminds me of why the ESPM department is pretty cool (and CNR as a whole).

Yeah, CNR is a pretty chill place to be.

Posted by Joel Kim at 3:02 PM | Permalink

As well as you try to prepare, you can never be prepared enough. I like to think that I'm a pretty well prepared person. Before I went abroad, I tried ensure my own graduation safety. I made sure that I finished my freshman to junior courses all in my first two years. That way, when I went abroad, I wouldn't have to worry about getting credits for my major. I thought that that kind of preparation would be a worst case scenario. Thank goodness I did though, because that was just what happened. I was unable to take a single course towards my major. One of the issues upon returning from abroad is unit conversion. As you know, eight of the UCs are on a quarter system. Thus, the Educational Abroad System uses a quarter unit system. These quarter units are converted to semester units for Berkeley (and I suppose Merced). If the school abroad you are at is a quarter system, then you mostly don't have any complaints. The issue comes in when the school abroad is a semester system. Instead of direct semester to semester transfer, it is from semester to quarter to semester units transfer. For example. I'm taking a 2 unit Organic Chemistry I class here. This becomes 2.5 quarter UC units. This will finally become a 1.6 semester Berkeley units. That missing 0.4 units is a painful thing and can often mean the difference between a course being accepted as equivalent and not.

Another issue is the course schedule. Before coming, I had planned on taking a dozen or so courses in international studies, humanities, and Japanese. Yet, all Japanese courses are 2nd and 3rd period every day of the week. Most of the classes I was interested in fell into 2nd and 3rd period. Unlike Berkeley where one may sign up for time conflict classes, you may not do so at ICU, nor is there any way to override the system.

Thus, while I enjoy studying abroad, don't expect to get any major or requirements done while abroad. The only thing you may be able to get fulfilled are your breadths, and you may not even be able to do that unless you have advanced level Japanese. If you have beginner to low intermediate level language skills, the course and scheduling restrictions will keep you from doing so.

But note, I would still study abroad again if I had to do it all over. The experiences you gain here are worth more than the difficulty in getting credits.

Posted by K. Lee at 10:45 PM | Permalink

I don't mean that BBC News is rewriting history in a good way. As some may or may not know, Taiwan is holding their presidential elections tomorrow, March 22. This, along with the coming Beijing Olympics, has caused more news to be written about Taiwan than normal. Thus, the proliferation of incorrect and suggestive sentences, strongly biased towards the People's Republic of China, has increased.

Sentences and Formatting that Greatly Irritate Me:

(1) "China says that Taiwan is part of its territory, although the two have been separately governed since 1949."
Tibet focus for Taiwan election

(2) "Taiwan broke away from the mainland in 1949, when the Communists took over."
China trade links are key in Taiwan poll

(3) Interactive History BBC News Interactive History

Rebuttals:
(1) This sentence completely ignores the fact that beginning in 1895, Japan had formal control of Taiwan with the Treaty of Shimonoseki. And it was only in 1887 did the Manchu Empire (the Qing Dynasty who ruled China) declare Taiwan part of China. Actually, when the Taiwanese heard that they were to be part of Japan, they declared a Taiwan Republic. A couple days later, when Japan came in, the republic was taken over. Check out these maps:
Taiwan is not part of the map here in the Qing Dynasty, nor on this Ming Dynasty map (the dynasty right before Qing). Taking into consideration history, one must remember that possession is eleven points of the law. Immigration between the mainland and Taiwan was also quite fluid as they are located close to each other. (Currently the closest territory of Taiwan is less then a mile away from China, but the main island is at least 80 miles away.) Control of Taiwan varied throughout history with different empires ruling over portions of it at different times.

Continue reading "BBC News Rewriting History" »

Posted by K. Lee at 7:10 AM | Permalink

Telebears Phase I begins in mid-April!!! The online schedule of classes for the fall semester is already up, so start planning your schedule! Remember, during Phase I, sign up for classes that fill up quickly, like organic chemistry and the other general science classes. The labs for these classes fill up really fast. You should schedule your other classes to fit around these lower division science requirements since their labs take up so much time.

I've already started planning my schedule and so far, I know I'm definitely going to Chemistry 3B/3BL (this is the second part of organic chemistry) and Biology 1B. Most students take Biology 1B before they take Biology 1A

Continue reading "Fall 08 Semester Planning!!!" »

Posted by Victoria Eng at 1:44 PM | Permalink

After church at Berkland Baptist Church, Tokyo, I went to the park behind Korakuen with some people. For only a 300 yen ($3) entrance fee, we got to tour the entire park. It's plum blossom season and it was beautiful. After, we left and went towards the Korakuen Department store. Parked outside was a bike with a kid in the backseat. No parent to be seen. We stood there for 25 min before we decided to get help. Two people went in to ask the station master what to do. He said it wasn't his jurisdiction and to get the police to handle it. (Closest police station is a 7 min walk down the street). Meanwhile, the kid's dad finally came back. He unlocked his bike, patted his kid's head, and rode off. It was like.. hum...
Tokyo's safe, but not that safe. There are often kidnapping reports (according to the Japanese people-church-friends).

Posted by K. Lee at 11:59 PM | Permalink

It's been one and a half weeks into my lovely vacation. Japanese universities have March off....and some even have February off too. I only have March off [International Christian University]. During this month, I've moved in with my cousin who is located in central Tokyo. The apartment is near Tokyo University [a.k.a. Todai].
Yesterday was quite productive. I finished my HTML final project for the UC Berkeley Extension class Creating Websites with HTML. http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/ Since I could do everything online, I had started in October. One has 6 months to finish an online class. Haha.

Continue reading "A month of Vacation" »

Posted by K. Lee at 5:39 PM | Permalink

A girl in my dorm is taking an English class on Bioethics presented me with the following case.
A scientist/doctor in Japan has transplanted 42 cases of kidneys into patients on dialysis. The issue with these kidneys was that they were previously diseased but had the diseased portion cut out before transplantation. In none of these cases did complications arise. Due to the situation in Japan, the scientist was unable to present his findings/paper in Japan. Yet, he will be bringing the paper to present in the USA this month (or perhaps he has already presented it this month).

She asked me about my thoughts:
Q: Is this more acceptable in the USA? The USA is probably more open about presenting abnormal, groundbreaking, cases. However, this does not mean that the situation would be more acceptable in the USA.
Q: Would you give your diseased kidney to someone? No. I don't want to deal with liability issues our legal system makes it easy to sue. Even with liability waivers, it is still possible to sue.

Continue reading "Bioethical Issues on Kidney Transplants" »

Posted by K. Lee at 7:24 AM | Permalink

I've never seen it snow before! It's 1 AM and my UC Irvine buddy texted me. I went outside to see for myself. Holding my hand out, tiny white droplets fell. Snowflakes!! They only lasted a second.. but.. SNOWFLAKES!!! As you can see, I am excited. :)

Posted by K. Lee at 8:00 AM | Permalink

It's still vacation for Berkeley, but I'm in the middle of my second trimester here at International Christian University, Japan. Thus far, I've learned about international representations.

When I think about America, I think about immigration. It's a soup bowl of people. It may be a melting pot or a salad, but either way we're a unique culture of combinations. There is truly no uniting force in the USA except that we are ... here by accident or by purpose (whether our own or some other force). Going overseas, we represent this conglomeration of cultures. Yet, because it is a glop of cultures, when we represent, we are unable to represent the entirety. We do not have a common history, ancestors, or thoughts to bind us together. The question of what is an American is a difficult question.

Continue reading "Representing" »

Posted by K. Lee at 12:59 AM | Permalink

The campus is flat and wide. Well, flat except for these two lumps of hills in the middle of campus called Baka-yama and Aho-yama. (Stupid mountains) People who cut class tend to go there to sleep and hang out when they're cutting. There are lots of large tall trees. They're right outside of my window so its quite nice. My window faces the east which allows me to wake up with the sun on my face at around 8AM naturally! Isn't that amazing? Or maybe that's the jetlag waking me up. hahaha.

Ah, and the free bike. There was a drawing for 4 free bikes and I won one. yay! Now I have a bike to get around and I don't have to buy one. I was planning on buying a bike to get around for the year, but this is much better. Now I can spend the ~$100 on food. Food is expensive. It's not more expensive than UC Berkeley campus food, but eating that everyday adds up. I went grocery shopping a few days ago so I've been cooking for myself mostly. Thus far, I've spent 10152 yen (~$88). That's not too bad as a week in itself, but I've actually only been spending money for 2.3 days. Now it gets scary.

A nice thing I've noticed is that my skin feels nicer. It doesn't feel dry and scaly without lotion anymore. yay.

Posted by K. Lee at 7:58 PM | Permalink

We're getting our house exterminated. What's awesome is that I actually know what they're talking about. The pesticides, fumigants, sprays, etc. I know what they're talking about! It's awesome. =) I know the dangers, application, usage, mechanism of action, and toxicity of each chemical. yay!

Posted by K. Lee at 5:42 PM | Permalink

More than two years ago, I was a h.s. senior eagerly looking at Berkeley. I was visiting Cal a week before Cal Day. I'd looked up the Toxicology building, Giannini, on the website. Walking up those beautiful marble steps, I was wowed. The elaborate details and elegance stood out. As my parents and I walked down the hallowed halls, a professor came out.

She asked, " Can I help you?"

That in itself was amazing. I'd expected Berkeley to be this enormous and impersonal place. Instead, there was an engaging, friendly, professor. She took the time to answer my questions. There was an enthusiasm I'd never seen before. Before we parted ways, she offered me her e-mail address so that I could ask any questions I had later.

That day was the day I decided to go to Berkeley. My worries of being lost in the crowd dissipated. Now, I'm not sure about the rest of Berkeley, but its hard to be lost at the College of Natural Resources because the people there care.

Posted by K. Lee at 1:27 PM | Permalink

Telebears Season.
Well, it has been for the past month or so.
DSP students get super crazy priority- they get theirs on the first day.
Then grad students, upper divs, lower divs.
You priority is determined based on which category you are in (1st year, 2nd year, etc) which is determined by the number of units you have. For example, once you hit 30 units, you're a 2nd year, and once you hit 60, you're a 3rd year. However, there is no difference between having 30 units and have 59 units. Within each category, the actual day and time you get is assigned randomly. Telebears are assigned every 20 min. 9 am, 9:20, 9:40, etc. and you get one hour to complete your telebears.

Good to have great priority.

Continue reading "Mol Tox Progress & Telebears Priority" »

Posted by K. Lee at 2:45 PM | Permalink

Hey folks, I was reading this article in the new March edition of Common Ground. Thought plastics would be a great topic of discussion. Anyone in Toxicology able to add more insight on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)? This is the first I've ever heard of them!
Here's the text of the article:

Continue reading "One Great Big Plastic Hassle" »

Posted by Christina at 12:24 PM | Permalink

I'm taking five courses this semester, four of them for my major, one for fun.
MCB 102 Survey of the Principles of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
NST C114 Pesticide Chemistry and Toxicology
PH 150A Epidemiology (the study of diseases)
UGBA 96 Personal Finances
Chem3BL OChem Lab

Guess which is the fun class....Personal Finances. =) That's the great thing about Molecular Toxicology. There's so much room to explore since our only breadth requirement is 22 units in the Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Philosophy & Values, or Foreign Language. That covers pretty much everything you would want to study. Actually, it doesn't cover my Personal

Continue reading "Classes I'm taking Spring 2007" »

Posted by K. Lee at 4:14 PM | Permalink

Heya. I'm a Molecular Toxicology major. What is MolTox? It's the study of toxicology at a molecular level. What's Toxicology? It's the study of adverse effects of substances on life. So why MolTox? I have two answers, a short one and a long one. To make things short, when I was applying to colleges back in high school, I didn't think I would get in anywhere. I did the "spray and pray" method. I applied to a total of 27 schools. At every school I chose something that seemed interesting. At Berkeley, it was MolTox. I figured that 1/2 to 2/3 of college students end up changing their major. It couldn't be that difficult to change majors. If I chose a safe major, I wouldn't take the chance to experiment and try new things. So MolTox.
For the long answer, read on:

Continue reading "Hi. Why Molecular Toxicology (moltox)" »

Posted by K. Lee at 5:14 PM | Permalink