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

Continue reading "tsavo maneaters" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 10:24 PM | Permalink

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

Continue reading "i'm sure you've probably heard by now" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 9:18 PM | Permalink

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?

Continue reading "kill the languages?!" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 8:43 AM | Permalink

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.

Continue reading "super smash brothers!" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 10:51 PM | Permalink

It's nearing the end of April, which means for me, it's almost time to sign up for classes via telebears -.- It's a pain in the butt for a lot of people, especially those who have no idea what to sign up for when that vital 24 hour period comes around- the one they call "phase 1." I remember people telling me "don't worry about what classes you take your first year. it doesn't really matter as long as you get your prerequisites them done eventually." And to those people, i say BOLOGNA!! Of course there's some breathe room to take some "just for fun" classes, but I recommend by all means to figure out some sort of plan to figure out when to take your prerequisites.
I'm an undeclared student, and for the last 2 telebears appointments I've had (fall 07 and spring 08), I've ripped out a lot of hair when the stressful time comes around to choose what classes to take. After a (almost) a full year here at berkeley, I highly recommend you to check out your college advising center.

Continue reading "some tips for incoming freshies :)" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 6:39 PM | Permalink

i know it's a day late, but i was reading online some april fools jokes that made me laugh. so, i decided to share them with you :). it's amazing how clever people can be, and wow you'd be surprised of how big-scale some of the pranks are...check out the website: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/
Here are a few of my favorites:
#1: The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
spaghetti harvest In 1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
#4: The Taco Liberty Bell
Taco Liberty BellIn 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.

Continue reading "april fools!" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 10:12 AM | Permalink

So this past week marks the second time in a month that I've been pretty sick with a cold. Do you remember reading that book "Alexander and the terrible, horrible, No Good Very Bad Day" ? I read it back in elementary school and it was one of my favorites. Anyway, my point was that I felt like I was having one of those the day I got sick. See, on thursday morning at 8:00AM, I had a lab report for Chem 1a to turn in (a FORMAL lab report, might I add). So, I set my alarm for 7:10 because, well, 50 minutes is PLENTY of time to get ready for class right? Yes. But no, not if as soon as your alarm rings, your subconscious decides to pull a sneaky "lets turn off that darn noisy wake up call and go back to sleep"

http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/family/alexander/

Continue reading "sick." »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 9:18 AM | Permalink

What do you call an animal that is a hybrid cross between a lion and a tiger? Well, that depends on who you ask. According to me, it's called a liger- a real living animal... but according to my hallmates and some other skeptics out there, it's a load of bull.
Recently, I've been going through a bit of a "liger obsession phase", which was sparked a week ago by my roomate's boyfriend who was watching a liger video on youtube. He seemed pretty impressed and showed it to other people on the floor(including me)...who welcomed it with varying reactions. Half my floormates thought it was cool, and the other half thought it was all made up. "What proof is there?!" they would ask. Now, I know that googling is not the most completely credible way to find scientific articles, but in order to prove their existance I found some pretty legit sites including national geographic, wikipedia (a little more questionable),

Continue reading "what the liger?" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 2:25 PM | Permalink

so i don't know if you've heard the news from a few days ago, but being so close to san francisco it wouldn't surprise me if you have...
the tiger from SF zoo escaped!! it was a 300 lb tiger named tatiana (my roomate's name...hmm...) who may have climbed/leapt over an 18 foot wall to escape o.O!!
There were two injured people, and one was a 17 year old boy from San Jose (right by my hometown, by the way)
bleecchh, check out the details:
"The second victim was about 300 yards away, in front of a cafe. The man was sitting on the ground, blood running from gashes in his head and the tiger was sitting next to him, police said." (http://www.local6.com/news/14922583/detail.html)

Continue reading "holy moly" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 7:18 PM | Permalink

Mmmh, there's nothing like a good 15 weeks at berkeley to appreciate the home-ness of home. Without a doubt, it's one of the most relaxing feelings to be able to go to sleep as late as you want without the worry of waking up for an 8am the next day (which was well...monday,tuesday,wednesday,thursday,and friday for me). There is nothing in sight to do for the next few weeeks but hang out with friends, eat with family, and shop shop shop and get ready for the holidays.
Although at the moment, this seems like such an appealing idea I know that there is one rule that should be followed during winter break, and that is: don't just sit around. It is all too typical to succumb to the stereotypical actions (or lack therof) of being being a college student on vacation. This would entail sleeping when you see the sun come up and waking up when it goes away, eating junk food, watching tv, playing video games, computer games, watching tv, eating more junk food, etc. etc. Personally, I've had some pretty pathetic vacations which entitled way too many hours of tetris, sees candies, and the sad times I promised myself I would get out and run.
Hopefully this break will be different! We'll wait and see =] But I guess i'll have to start tomorrow since today I already went over to a friend's house in newark and played super smash brothers for a good two hours after watching "I am legend" and grabbing a burger at In-n-out. But i'll try real hard to make this the last day of lazy before i get out and do things this break

Posted by Angela Hsu at 11:12 PM | Permalink

Being at berkeley, it's inevitable that you're probably surrounded by places to eat. whenever I walk to school, work, a friend's dorm, I more restaurants than I can count.
But what makes the food here at berkeley so great is that not only do we have a lot of restaurants, but we have an incredible variety of cultural foods that reflect the fusion of cultures that is prominent here at berkeley. Just walking down telegraph, I can spot out a mediterranian restaurant next to a chinese take out place which is right across the street from a sushi bar with an italian restaurant just across the street.

Continue reading "some yummy places to eat" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 9:00 PM | Permalink

Finals are approaching faster than I would like to admit, and like most of my floormates and classmates, it would be an understatement to say that studying takes some major willpower. But how should I study? When? Where? How? Here's my plan for the next two weeks.
Week of December 2-8:
-Check out study groups at Chavez learning center (located in lower sproul)
-Cross campus to Doe Library for some hardcore brain-frying in the depths of main stacks

Continue reading "time to crack down for finals" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 4:23 PM | Permalink

with only a few weeks left of school until the dreaded finals, there are a few things I have figured out about collegiate life here at berkeley that may be useful to freshman who may read this sometime next year...
1) If you live in a dorm, get to know your floormates: Chances are that for most freshman, dorm life will be last unique experience of living together in somewhat of a community living environment. Most of my closest friends here are the ones that live only a few doors away, and getting to know them has been the best way for me to feel at home here at cal.
2) Don't be afraid to challenge yourself. Although this may seem a bit clique, i really wish I took this piece of advice for myself a little more intently both from academic and non-academic perspective. For example, I originally was signed up to take chemistry 1a but was scared that I wouldn't remember my chemistry from high school. So instead I took the P chem class with Richard Gibson. And don't get me wrong, Richard is an amazing teacher and the class is helpful for those who didn't have too good of a chemistry background, but I really wished I went ahead and took the more challenging chemistry 1a class. Especially since many of my floormates are taking that same class right now, I realize that if i were to take that class then I would be surrounded by peers who could help me out. Also, since I've looked at the material that my floormates are studying, i've realized that the concepts were not as difficult as I thought. In the end, it's one of my regrets of this semester that I didn't challenge myself.
3) join things! clubs, sports, volunteering, jobs....whatever you choose, it will round out your experience here at cal.

Posted by Angela Hsu at 1:56 PM | Permalink

So unless I'm mistaken, Berkeley has a reputation for having one of, if not THE, "healthiest" dining options in the nation. I most definitely agree with the fact that our organic selection blows away competing universities', and I applaud the fact that trans fats don't dare trespass our campus boundaries. As I acquainted myself with the "healthy" campaign that seemed to surround me everywhere I ate during the first few weeks of school, I had high expectations that I would end up eating a relatively nutritious diet. But after those first few weeks I began to realize that my food options, that is, the "nutritious" ones, were much more limited that I had presumed them to be. For example, I remember specifically avoiding the main dishes at cafe three for a few days straight because the only options were fried burger patties, roast beef with a generous helping of lard on the side, or kung pao deep fried chicken loaded with extra salt. The only other alternatives were pho or pizza...which are not terrible themselves, but failed to attract my taste buds after eating them continuously for a whole week.

Continue reading "what to eat?" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 8:25 PM | Permalink

friday!!! wahoo! =] just a few more hours and then I will be over and done with my ancient babylonian seminar, then it's friday, the last schoolday of the week! As I write this, I have a big fat smile on my face because something about the weekend is so therapeutic.
and that's nice!
but..
...what exactly do I do during the weekend? As I am writing this, I am beggining to realize that that I just plain...don't do much. I remember at the beginning of the year, I made the conscious decision to not inundate myself in extracirriculars like sports, clubs, jobs, etc. Sure, I considered it perfectly acceptable to join a club here or there that catch my attention, but I wanted to be sure that my studies were my number one priority. Fast forward a month and a half later and I am starting to get the feeling that it worked out all too well.

Continue reading "it's almost..." »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 12:47 PM | Permalink

hi =] right now it's 10:37 and i am taking a break from studying italian in the academic learning center in unit 3. If you're reading this and you live in unit 3, i strongly suggest you check it out! It's this really awesome study space underneath cafe 3, by the mailboxes, and it's basically study heaven (as nerdy as that may sound). I discovered this place last week when i started studying for my nutrisci midterm which was two days ago. my FIRST midterm ever. wow it feels weird to say that; I'm still getting used to the fact that i'm a college student taking college courses, living in a college dorm.
So today, I went to an informational meeting today about being a calso counselor. For those of

Continue reading "hello hello!" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 10:37 PM | Permalink

Hi!! I have been meaning to write in this blog for the longest time, but i've never gotten around to it. Bummer. Just goes to show how easily it is to get caught up in all the things there are to do here at berkeley.
So tomorrow marks my third week of class, and my fourth week here as a berkeley student. I have finally figured out my way through campus and can figure out the way to all my classes (except I always get lost on the way out of dwinelle! that is one confusing building...)
Looking at my schedule, I think it's fair to say that I'm pretty content with the courses I am taking:
1. Elementary Italian
2. PE: Stretch, Strength, and Alignment
3. P Chemistry
4. Nutrition 10
5. Astronomy 10
6. MCB Decal course
7. What would your life be as a babylonian student?

Continue reading "courses courses courses..." »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 9:20 PM | Permalink

This is my first post ever as a CNR Fresh Faces Blogger. Whoa.
Well, i guess i'll start off by saying hi. Hi!!
I'm assuming that those of you reading this have never heard of me or seen me around before, so I guess i'll do a quick intro about myself. My name is Angela and I am an incoming freshman, class of 2011. I am undeclared in CNR, but i am really interested in nutritional sciences and am going to take nutrition 10 this week (eek! the first day of school starts tomorrow!)
So what have i been doing during my first week as a college student? This past week was welcome week and I got to meet people from all over the country, but mostly from somewhere in california. A few of the events i have been to already were Caltopia, Calapalooza, hall meetings, convocation, UHS opening, and the CNR meeting this past wednesday.

Continue reading "HI!" »

Posted by Angela Hsu at 4:21 PM | Permalink