http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/ A journal of new students at the College of Natural Resources, UC Berkeley en Copyright 2009 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:44:10 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.38 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss A friend asked me, "What’s for dinner tonight," while we were haphazardly running alongside the Strawberry Creek from Koshland to Brancroft after attending a seminar about plant pathogen given by Alexander M. Jones. I quickly replied, "Bruschetta." She stared at me for two quick seconds and innocently asked, "But didn't you have bruschetta for Thursday's and Wednesday's AND Tuesday's dinner?" I laughed and responded with, "Yup. I'll take it one step further. Bruschetta was on the menu for Thursday's, Wednesday's, Tuesday's, Monday's, Sunday's and Saturday's dinner AND lunch." "Uhhh... no green smoothie?" "Is there a need to ask that question?"... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/bruschetta.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/bruschetta.php Amelia Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:44:10 -0800 There is a slight difference in my opinion. One that draws attention to an issue and supports a viewpoint that gains sympathy and one forces that a viewpoint on others that results in alienation or backlash of that view. Just because I don't have the time or feel the need to have teargas thrown in my face doesn't mean I don't support a certain viewpoint that pervades that campus. In fact I'm on your team, but forcefully disrupting my right to an education-we're not quite on the same team. People do not like being forced to do anything! So why... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/picketing_vs_pr.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/picketing_vs_pr.php Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:23:47 -0800 ME! (and fellow blogger Amelia and classmate Vincent). I like this whole system here at Berkeley where the lab wraps up before finals-how neato is that? At community college, we had labs practically to the last day of instruction-so I'd be sitting stressed in a lab coat wishing I could be studying for my lecture-but now I don't have to. They saved the best lab for PMB 150 for last. It was actually one of the more stressful and confusing ones-but if you think about it, having to identify mutant Arabidopsis' utilizing the information gained during lecture-it's kind of cool.... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/and_the_winner.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/and_the_winner.php Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:30:16 -0800 Last weekend, I went to Redwood Forest with my CA Mushrooms class! I've wanted to go to the Redwood Forest for the longest time, but somehow never managed to find the time to. Even though it's a 6 hour drive there, it was totally worth it. We got there on Friday night around 10 pm, so most of us marched off to the cabins. My professor described the cabins as "Spartan, wooden plank bunks and a single light bulb." I'll let you guys be the judge of that: The cabins were ice-cold! I actually spent Saturday night sleeping in a... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/redwood_forest.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/redwood_forest.php Victoria Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:15:37 -0800 Recently, I was pleasantly surprised by Alex Tellez's spontaneous comment on my blog about my daring attempts at drinking green liquids for lunch. It was quite an honor that he took time out of his busy schedule to read my random- most oftentimes crazy- posts! Since he was the sole person responsible for motivating me to change my sodium enriched canned foods and take outs eating habits, I felt he deserved a long detailed explanation of the many times I stared at my revolting green smoothies- thinking how in the world am I going to force myself to swallow another... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/green_smoothies.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/green_smoothies.php Amelia Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:22:11 -0800 So earlier on tuesday, our class headed to SF chinatown to tour medicinal shops aka GSI Chris' shopping spree. Today there was an demonstration of making powdered extract from the spoils and sampling of the asian medicinal patches. My mom and grandma used to use them, but I was never allowed to touch them. Today-I stuck three of them on me and got cupped! Nyah nyah. Here are some of the things I sneaked out of lab: analgesic patches, mushroom tea and cold pills are to be had!... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/things_from_tod.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/things_from_tod.php Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:33:23 -0800 So this semester, I decided to apply for URAP and looking at our NST department, I was in luck. There were many new projects that were available this year and I quickly applied. Along with four other undergrads, we got accepted in the Vulpe lab! I'm so excited to be a part of the research that we're doing. Let me introduce to you what daphnas are. They are nicknamed" water fleas," because these little transparent "bugs" can swim around really fast in the water. We are using these daphnias for toxicity assays in hopes for the long run goal: testing... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/working_with_da.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/11/working_with_da.php Casey Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:22:58 -0800 I'm pretty sure you guys are tired of hearing about my indecisiveness, but I just wanted to say that I've decided what to do! Well, for now, at least. I'm definitely not going to graduate early so that I can spend my time wisely at Berkeley. For next semester, I'm already signed up to take PMB C112/L (General Microbiology and Lab) and ESPM 12 (Bioethics). The only problem is that on Thursday, the bioethics lecture goes from 2-3:30 and the microbio lab lecture goes from 3-4 pm. I really hope one of them is webcast, but I highly doubt it.... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/final_decision.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/final_decision.php Victoria Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:15:49 -0800 Courtesy of Keiko O.... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/breakfast_of_ch.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/breakfast_of_ch.php Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:30:52 -0800 I thought I had decided not to graduate early, but now I'm on the fence, again. I talked to my mom about it and she said it was my decision, but that I could get a job and save money for medical school if I do graduate early. I'm basically going to be living in a box and eating ramen everyday in medical school. :( Hopefully not, but close enough. Anyways, I've been trying to plan out my schedule for my remaining semesters. I still have to take PMB C112/L (General Microbiology), MCB 104 (Genetics, Genomics, and Cell Bio), MCB... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/decisions_part.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/decisions_part.php Victoria Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:31:28 -0800 As I'm sure you all noticed, the storm on Tuesday was horrible, so why am I so glad it rained? Because mushrooms are popping up now! I'm in California Mushrooms, an upper division elective for Microbial Biology, and we have to collect mushrooms for our personal collection to turn in. We were supposed to have 50 points of our collection by this coming Monday, but it's been postponed to the following Monday. I was totally stressed out before Tuesday since it hadn't rained for weeks and the only mushrooms I could find were little brown mushrooms (LBMs) and they're extremely... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/thank_heavens_i.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/thank_heavens_i.php Victoria Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:39:43 -0800 Answer:... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/how_do_you_stud.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/how_do_you_stud.php Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:45:26 -0800 As you all know, Telebears season is upon us, again. Be sure to make an appointment with your advisor and figure out which classes to take next semester. Remember that some classes are only offered either spring or fall semester, so plan wisely. You don't want to have to stay an extra semester because you have to take that one upper division course requirement. So I met with my advisor, Trey, this past Friday. After looking over my DARS report, he told me that I only had 5 more courses to take in order to graduate! The only problem is... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/decisions_decis.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/decisions_decis.php Victoria Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:36:16 -0800 Before skipping school to attend the SFO Breast Cancer 3Day, I spammed all my Professors and GSIs with emails excusing my absence from class and to make up any work that I will miss. Let me just say...Boy was that a stressful process!!! Juggling the workload I had at that time with deadlines meant for two weeks later is something I never want to repeat. Without the accommodating and understanding responses from my Professors and GSIs, I would have forfeited about one fourth of my final grades. So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Berkeley teachers. As part of our... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/breast_cancer_e.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/breast_cancer_e.php Amelia Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:51:10 -0800 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... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/the_sniffles.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2009/10/the_sniffles.php Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:21:44 -0800