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!

Posted by Eric Thurston at 3:00 PM | 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

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.

Posted by Eric Thurston at 2:46 PM | Permalink

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.

Continue reading "Temptations, temptations... part 2" »

Posted by John Cortez at 9:43 PM | Permalink

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.

Continue reading "Temptations, temptations... part 1" »

Posted by John Cortez at 6:34 PM | Permalink

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.

Continue reading "Being a Transfer Student and Research" »

Posted by Marissa Ponder at 11:16 AM | Permalink

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:

Continue reading "Berkeley Parkour Club" »

Posted by Eric Thurston at 3:55 PM | Permalink

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:

Continue reading "Theo Jansen's Biomechanical Sculptures" »

Posted by Eric Thurston at 3:32 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

To every hard-working college student shaking their head in the wee hours of the night, rock on. Rock on :)

To every college college student procrastinating while shaking their head in the wee hours of the night, get busy :)

I everyone who slept tonight: I envy you.

www.pandora.com -- Free internet radio from the Music Genome Project.

Posted by Tay Feder at 2:06 AM | 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

Here's what I learned when it comes to scrounging around for apartments in Berkeley- rumors and facts!!!:
1. begin 4 to 6 weeks in advance of your target move date.
2. if you rent a place in may or early june and then sublet it over the summer, be wary of the following:
a) you need your landlord's permission to sublet
b) if you don't find a subtenant, you might be stuck paying rent over the whole summer
3. if you are planning to live in berkeley during the summer, begin housing search in early mid-april wiht targeted moving day in late may or june.
4. try going on Craig's list or cal rentals to look for apartments
5. when looking at apartment, bring: roomates, safety issues, resume, transcripts, camera ( all explained below).
a) bring resume and transcripts since it will be very competitive when trying to get apartment from other people too. You want to look convincing, responsible, persuasive.
b) questions to ask: when to pay security deposit? utilities? sublet possible? How many people allowed? lease? payments? neighborhood? transportation- is there a bus stop nearby, etc?
c) bring a camera so when you get to the apartment, take pics of all furnishings before move in to check condition. This prevents difficulties when moving out of apartment and having potential extra charges......
d) meet the landlord to see what kind of person he/she is- nice, roud, etc.
e) if decide to get apartment, quickly sign lease to avoid missing your target.

hope this helps because I know as a freshman, apartment hunting can be a huge, unecessary headache !!!

Posted by Casey Wang at 12:07 PM | Permalink

Can you believe that this will be the only break we have until the end of the semester!!?? It's ridiculous. Now, we have 5 more weeks until finals.... time sure does fly. Spring break was fun- I went to San Francisco and it was actually WARM! My friends and I went to City Light Bookstore and it was really cool because we got to read books written by the owner of the bookstore! I never knew I would love poetry so much until I went here. Then, I went to Pier 39 and walked around looking at all the shops there. Oh my gosh!!! There was this cute musical box store that had hand made italian made music boxes that were so lavish and intricate and beautiful!! but everything in it was like 800 to 1000 dollars!!!! It was mental anguish i tell you...:(

Continue reading "Spring Break" »

Posted by Casey Wang at 11:47 AM | Permalink

I went to talk to the MEB advisor this afternoon since I really need some advice on planning for my upper division curriculum. I guess some students would probably roll their eyes and like: “it is just continuing in a bunch of science classes as the introductory ones we have been taking.” But trust me, the upper division requirements are quite different! In lower division, you would take Chem 1A, Chem 3A/3AL and Chem 3B/3BL to fulfill the chemistry requirement. For the biology requirement, it is Bio 1A/1AL and Bio 1B. For the physics requirement, it is Physics 8A and Physics 8B… You know all those mandatory, huge and competitive courses…

However, you have a variety of courses to choose from for the upper division requirements. For example, I am majoring in Molecular Environmental Biology, and there is the Upper Division Biology Requirement where I am going to take a course from each of the seven categories. In addition, I would have to choose an area of concentration and take another 12 units from a list of approved course.

Continue reading "Schedule Planning" »

Posted by Yang Cao at 9:41 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 most college admission decisions are out already! Having problems deciding where to go for the next 4 years of your college life? or 5... or 6... but let's not hope for that :) . If you want to learn more of how I dealt with this same problem, the first part my story is found on my first blog "Introduction". Now I am going through some things you may want to consider before deciding for a school.

Continue reading "John's Guide to Choosing a College!" »

Posted by John Cortez at 12:06 AM | Permalink

So this afternoon, I went to my first RPP appointment. For those of you who do not know this, RPP is the Research Participation Program that gives undergraduate students a chance to participate in some of the research being conducted by graduate students and faculty researchers in the Department of Psychology. Since I am taking Psychology 2 this semester, I am required to participate in research experiments for a total of 5 hours.

I didn’t want to sign up for those experiments that would require putting wires around my head to measure some kind of brain activity, because what can I do if something goes wrong?! So I was trying to find survey-based experiment from the list of available studies online. Finally I decided to give a try on Experiment 73.

The experiment was scheduled in Tolman, and it was specified that the experiment would start right at the hour, not 10 minutes after. Tolman is that strange building that you can never figure out where you are. As I wandered around on the fourth floor, I thought that it would be such a good idea to just let us search for a room that does not even exist and record how long it takes us to figure that out! Anyway, after spending five minutes wandering around on the fourth floor, and I finally found room 4105.

Continue reading "My First RPP Experience " »

Posted by Yang Cao at 7:42 PM | Permalink

No, this entry isn't about paramedics or anything remotely as exciting. Just noting that, since I got into Berkeley, I've walked around a lot more than I ever did in LA. The very nature of the city lends itself to bipedal transport, I suppose. Everything is in convenient walking distance away (or at least is reachable by bus), so there is no immediate necessity for a car. Indeed, sometimes owning a motor vehicle in Berkeley is supremely trying, since there are the draconian parking laws and unintuitive road structures to manage. It seems that the city of Berkeley actually intentionally discourages driving; how else can you justify those large barricades in the middle of the road that divert traffic in only one direction?

Continue reading "Ambulatory Adventures!" »

Posted by Joel Kim at 11:58 PM | Permalink

If you're interested in making a difference you can see...

On March 29 at 8 p.m., switch off your lights for Earth Hour. Millions around the world will be doing the same in a global effort to demonstrate how a simple gesture can have far-reaching benefits for our environment. Join the Earth Hour movement and see the difference 60 minutes can make.

Earth Hour is a global event created to symbolize that each one of us, working together, can make a positive impact on climate change - no matter who we are or where we live. From Sydney to San Francisco, the World Wildlife Fund is spearheading this initiative in 25 cities across 6 continents.

Posted by Juan at 8:30 PM | Permalink

So this semester, I've decided to get more involved on Cal campus and spend less time studying! It's been a great goal. What have I done differently? Well, I've been swimming at least 2 days a week now(yay me, even though it seems pathetic!), joining more clubs, and signed up for a DeCal. This one decal is amazing- Relay for Life Decal! In the two hours on thursdays that I spend time there, we get to listen to a different speaker each time speaking about cancer, typical job professions in the health field. Then, we split up into our committees and plan for the much anticipated upcoming event: Relay for Life. For those of you who don't know what relay for life is about- it's a 24 hour event held( for cal, behind the RSF on May 3rd) where participants, people, volunteers spend one day to fight back cancer- hosting games, teams( where we walk for 24 hours straight), entertainer- make aware of cancer. Not only have I learned much more about different types of cancer, I've taken an active role in preparing for this event and I know it's going to be lots of fun!!! So, all you reading this, come!!

So, after I joined this, I became involved in CAC(colleges against cancer) club and we've been doing many fund raising activities to bring awareness about various cancers and going to volunteer events. The other club I joined was PILLS- it's a club for interested pre-pharmacy students. It's a great club in that it advises you on the classes you should take to get into pre-pharm grad school, the various opportunities that you can get involved in right now that involve this field, and just networking with other like-minded people. I find that making the choice to get more involved has created a great balance so far- academically and socially. Anyway, my next goal is to find an apartment for next semester, although I'm quite reluctant to search for one since I've heard that it's quite difficult?

Posted by Casey Wang at 4:34 PM | Permalink

Have you ever heard of BERC? It stands for the Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative, a 2-year old graduate student club that brings together people interested in energy, climate change, and sustainability. With over 400 graduate student members, the most active mailserv I've ever seen, and creator of the huge UC Energy Symposium that just went down on March 7th, I always thought it was a shame they didn't have a place for undergraduates. It's going to change this week:

**Cheese Board** Pizza, Ping Pong, and Air Hockey

Wednesday March 19th, 5pm-6:30 pm

Mulford, Room 260, CNR Student Resource Center

As a loyal reader of Fresh Faces, you're invited to the BERC Undergrad Kickoff Night! We want to have a fun, relaxing, time while introducing undergrads to the incredible opportunities and especially the community that is BERC. This event is for EVERYONE, grad students, undergrads, faculty and staff. There is no agenda, come eat, drink, be merry, and practice your leisure sports because the competition will be fierce.

The event will be organized by Harris Cohn (CRS) and I (EEP) who were appointed VPs of BERC Undergrad earlier this year. The title is still fuzzy, but our role isn't. Our plan is to first create a mentoring program where undergraduates interested in energy, climate change, and sustainability, can pair up with graduates students in business, law, engineering, public policy, and the many sciences: social, physical, biological, & environmental. Second, we're looking for sophomores or juniors who might be interested in taking over our role and developing something larger for future years -- like a BERC study abroad program, or renewable energy projects in developing countries.

Feel free to forward this announcement to your friends.

Drop us a line if you have any questions. We're looking forward to it, hope to see you there!
Harris Cohn (harriscohn@gmail.com) and Tay Feder (tfeder@gmail.com)

Continue reading "Pizza, Ping Pong, and Air Hockey" »

Posted by Tay Feder at 9:15 PM | Permalink

About five years ago, I thought to myself: why don't networks stream their shows online? Don't they want more viewers? It took them a while, but they're doing it now. Most stations, FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS, have started to offer their content online with ads. One site that has episodes and movies from multiple studios is Hulu.com, which just recently finished its beta testing and is open to the public. Netflix.com, also offers online viewing. If you or your parents use Netflix, you can log-on and watch some TV and movies online ad-free. Their content isn't as great as Hulu or content providers' sites, but the video quality is top-notch. In my mind there's no need to download illegal torrents / files from p2p apps and risk getting 'the letter' when there's a free and legal alternative...

--

Continue reading "TV, online & legal" »

Posted by Tay Feder at 8:23 PM | Permalink

I used to hate the thought of using the microwave, everything always turns out rubbery or just odd. But last night changed my mind...

I didn't want to wait to heat up the oven, but I really wanted sugar cookies. Found this recipe at www.cooks.com decided to try. It turned out delicious! Cakey, fluffy not-too-sugary cookies.

MICROWAVE SUGAR COOKIES

3/4 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 2/3 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Soften butter (15 seconds in microwave). Cream butter; gradually add sugar. Cream until fluffy; beat in eggs and vanilla. Toss flour, baking powder, and salt to mix; add to creamed mixture and combine well.
Chill dough 1 hour until firm. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut in shapes. Arrange 8 cookies in a ring on waxed paper. Cook 2 minutes on HIGH. Yield 3-4 dozen.

This experience has opened my mind to the fact that yes, sometimes microwaves can help you make things that taste good.

Posted by Christina at 9:51 AM | Permalink

Interested in all organic? Organic foods have limited amounts and types of pesticide residues. Although they're priced higher than non-organic foods, organic foods can be quite appealing to some people. Whole Foods Market sells mostly organic foods and it's only a short bus ride away. Simply take the 1R that goes along Telegraph and you'll go straight to Whole Foods Market. Another appealing aspect of Whole Foods Market is that they always have plenty of samples. They also have a large selection of granola, cheese, and breads. So, if you're interested in organic foods or if you're hungry, you should go visit Whole Foods sometime! :)

Posted by Victoria Eng at 5:01 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

For though who don't know, on-campus recruiting happens in Fall for most full-time (for seniors) and Spring for most summer internships (2nd, 3rd years, and junior transfers). Although the majority of the OCR deadlines have passed, there are still some great job fairs. Here's one that I've been waiting for. I'll be at the Carbon Forum America Conference in San Francisco until 4pm, so hopefully BART will get me back in time!!! Hope to see you there!

ECO (Environmental Companies and Organizations) Career Fair
Wednesday, March 12, 2008, 5 - 7 pm
MLK Student Union, West Pauley Ballroom

Employers who will be at the fair listed online at: http://career.berkeley.edu/FairDir/fairDirDisplay.asp?fair_id=21

Continue reading "Job Search" »

Posted by Tay Feder at 11:57 PM | Permalink

Did you know that CNR is selecting a new dean? There are four candidates this time and you can eat lunch with them! Three of the luncheons have already passed, but there's still one more! This Wednesday is the last luncheon with the last CNR dean candidate. Not only will you get free pizza and soda, but you get to voice your questions and concerns to the candidate. What are his or her goals for CNR as Dean? How will he or she increase student enrollment in CNR? Can he or she make sure classes stop getting canceled at the last minute? Ask the candidate anything that concerns you about CNR!

Continue reading "Have lunch with CNR Dean Candidates!" »

Posted by Victoria Eng at 8:12 PM | Permalink

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Time: 7pm - 9pm.
Location: Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way, Berkeley.
Cost: Free.
Info: 510-548-2220 x233, erc@ecologycenter.org, www.paksbab.org.

Rebuilding with Straw Bale in Earthquake Affected Pakistan
Berkeley architect Martin Hammer recently returned from Pakistan where he has been working to bring straw bale and other sustainable building practices to the mountainous region devastated by the 2005 earthquake, which was responsible for over 80,000 deaths, and left millions without permanent shelter. He'll give us an update on the work he presented last year, as well as provide details about straw bale construction. Straw bale construction is earthquake resistant, energy and resource efficient, and an affordable solution to northern Pakistan's enormous reconstruction needs. Martin Hammer has been involved with the design, engineering, and construction of straw bale buildings since 1995, and is the lead author of the proposed straw bale building code for the State of California. In 2006 he co-founded Pakistan Straw Bale and Appropriate Building (http://www.paksbab.org ). Come join us for this informative talk and slideshow.

Posted by Christina at 9:50 AM | Permalink

Would you believe this beautiful earthquake-proof California home is made of hay?

You can find more pictures of that beautiful Berkeley home here:
http://www.2339ninth.com/

Straw home construction started in the sand hills of Nebraska, when the European settlers couldn't find building materials, and made do with straw. Now desired for its incredible ability to insulate, and its safety against strong winds and earthquakes, straw is starting to move up in the world, beyond hobbyists and into the mainstream as a sustainable building method. Even this conference and retreat center, the Presentation Center in the Santa Cruz mountains, has chosen straw for construction.

Straw construction is reinforced with steel and framed by wood. Compressed hay bales make up the bulk of construction, which is later covered with several layers of plaster. Not only are these homes earthquake safe, they are esentially sound-proof with their two-foot-thick walls.

(photo from http://www.redfeather.org)

An organization called Builders Without Borders is making a difference with straw home technology in earthquake prone countries like Pakistan. Straw has become one of the most practical and economical methods for common folk to rebuild their communities after earthquakes. Since hay is grown locally, costs are reduced in all areas of construction, especially with transportation. Here is a link to an organization that promotes and educates the people of Pakistan with hay building: http://www.paksbab.org/

Here's a story from CNN about a straw house in Santa Cruz:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/08/10/straw.bales/
Website for the Presentation Center in Santa Cruz:
http://www.presentationcenter.org/

Websites of interest:
http://www.strawbale.com/
http://www.strawbalebuilding.ca/strawbales.shtml
http://builderswithoutborders.org/
http://www.redfeather.org/programsStrawBaleConst.html

Posted by Christina at 8:29 AM | Permalink

Spring semester is about 4 weeks in and midterms are looming in the next few weeks...so how is Marissa Ponder-Bowen doing? Well I'm doing just fine. I feel much more adjusted to Cal in my second semester. It's nice to have a rough idea of what to expect. I've added an extra 7-12 hours a week of work to my schedule and made climbing more regular. Last semester I barely made time to go to Ironworks and have made it a priority in my week now. Instead of thinking if I have time I'll go, I've put into my schedule and worked other things around it. Yes I am busy however setting time aside to do something I really want to do forces me to focus and finish my reading/essays in a timely manner instead of procrastinating.

Continue reading "1 Month Check In" »

Posted by Marissa Ponder at 11:56 AM | Permalink

Today Dr. John Francis came to speak to my American Cultures & Natural Resource Managment course.

Experience of a lifetime.

He's the one who spent 17 years not speaking while he crossed the United States by foot. He currently spends 6 months every year walking around the world to raise awareness of environmental issues.

He's a UN delegate, and writes environmental policy.

Check out his website (his photo came from here):
http://www.planetwalk.org/

Posted by Christina at 3:55 PM | Permalink

So, I went to a undergrad research workshop yesterday. It was very informative. Before I went in, I had no idea why and how important doing research was, besides the fact that it looked good on a resume:). Anyway, as I was handed thick packets of info, I learned from others great ways to find a research topic. First off, though, you need to find a mentor. You can either find one first and then brainstorm topics, or have a research proposal in mind then find a mentor. Good hints I heard were that setting a specified number of hours to how much time your mentor would be devoting to you is a good indicator to how well you and the mentor will be able to make the best out of your research.

Research is a great opportunity to explore your interests and it's exciting- shows how motivated you are and how interested you are in your major. It shows you took initiative and of course, it's more of a hands-on application type of work, rather than reading dryly out of a textbook and going to lectures. Other tactics/alternatives I found out:

1. senior honor thesis- shows up on transcript
2. join OUR very own CNR undergrad research SPUR
3. URAP-i heard a rumor that they like junior transfers a lot!!
4. to find out what research you even want to do, start taking classes you are interested in. Perhaps, then, you can find a potential research topic!

Hope this helps to all the freshman/sophomores interested in undergrad research! I know it helped me!

Posted by Casey Wang at 8:02 PM | Permalink

I know it's a bit early to worry about my plans for this summer, but I just can't seem to decide what to do this summer. I've created two options for myself:

(1) Stay at Berkeley and take a summer course (maybe Chem 3B/L, Physics 8A, Bio 1A/L, or Bio 1B/L...any suggestions?), continue working at Moffitt Library, and maybe find a clinical positon...

OR

(2) Go home to SoCal, take Spanish somewhere, and find a clinical or volunteer position

Continue reading "Summer Plans?!" »

Posted by Victoria Eng at 10:00 AM | Permalink

Thought maybe a few folks will find this interesting! I'll definitely be there.

Intellectual Reflections of a Christian Geneticist
7:30pm. Wheeler Auditorium, UC Berkeley
Francis Collins
Author—The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.
Director—National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH.

The talk will be followed by an interview conducted by Professor Jasper Rine (Howard Hughes Professor and Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development UC Berkeley (MCB))

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., is a physician-geneticist and currently serves as the Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. In this capacity, he oversaw the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, and its landmark effort to sequence the entire human DNA code; the Human Genome Project. Building on the foundation laid by the Human Genome Project, Dr. Collins is now leading the NHGRI effort to ensure that this new trove of sequence data is translated into powerful tools and thoughtful strategies to advance biological knowledge and improve human health.

Posted by Christina at 10:02 AM | Permalink

Grab your student ID, hop on the Hill Line at the Hearst Mining Circle, and get your bum up to the Botanical garden. Yeah, I realize it's raining.

Ok, if you don't go, I won't hold it against you.

I might shed a tear or two for you, though, since you'll miss the orchids that are going crazy right now in the Fern and Carniverous Plant House, which is a little, almost invisible greenhouse right by the main gate to the garden.

Posted by Christina at 9:25 PM | Permalink

We all get one for free, as long as we're enrolled in classes at Berkeley. It's the AC Tranist bus pass. It goes on the front of our ID cards, next to our picture. Most of the time, students just use it to ride around campus on the Perimeter, Reverse Perimeter, or Hill Line.

But there's an awesome resource that few students know about. The online trip planner:
http://transit.511.org/tripplanner/index.aspx

Just type in where you're starting, and where you want to end up. It'll tell you the best way to get there. If you scroll to the bottom "4. Transportation Options", you can choose Only Buses.

Some enticing places to visit, via AC Transit:

- Tilden Park
- Tilden Park Botanical Garden
- El Cerrito Plaza (Trader Joe's, Barnes & Noble, Lucky's, Ross, PetCo)
- Michael's Crafts in Emeryville
- Home Depot in Emeryville
- Office Depot in Berkeley
- Oakland Animal Shelter (to pet bunnies)

Continue reading "Getting the most out of your bus pass" »

Posted by Christina at 9:20 PM | Permalink

Do you like bunnies? They're soft and fun to pet.
Well, even if you can't have one in your apartment, I know of a great place to go and visit them in the afternoons. The bunnies at the Oakland Animal Shelter will welcome your pets and affection, even if you do have to put them back in their cages and go home without them.

At the Oakland Animal Shelter, they take care of a couple dozen rabbits. With their no-kill policy, excellently trained volunteers, and plentiful healthy hay, they take great care of their rabbits. Unfortunately, they're trapped in little boxes in a back room for most of the day, with tons of hay and good sanitation - but still, not much room to hop or folks to cuddle with.

If you find some free time, you should definitely go to keep them company!

To get there from campus with your free bus pass, take the 1R line (#1lx/1) from Telegraph Ave. in the direction of the Bayfair BART station.

Here's a website that tells you all about the available dogs, cats, and rabbits in Oakland:
http://www.oaklandanimalservices.org/index.php?z=4

If you live anywhere in the United States, here's a great resource to help you find your new companion. With Petfinder, you can search all of the animal rescue centers nationwide, by zip code or city name:
http://www.petfinder.com/

Posted by Christina at 8:56 PM | Permalink

Part of the governor's massive state-wide budget cuts includes a significant reduction in aid for our California state parks, forcing the closure of nearly 20% of our parks.

Here's a map with the affected parks:

Here's the official stance of the state parks on this issue:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/712/files/budget%20fact%20sheet%20w-graphics%20-%2001-14-08.pdf

*Most* of these parks will be closed to public, and placed in a "caretaker status," which requires fewer full-time employees. Many will be closed with no care. The parks they have chosen have the least amount of traffic, generate the least revenue, and are dependent on volunteers. Previous budget cuts have made it impossible to do trail maintenance anyway, so why not shut them down (ACK!!!! If I had known, I would gladly have chipped in extra for admission!)

It is horrible, but it's good to read that the parks tried their best to find the parks that will make the least impact. I'm super sad, though, because Topanga State Park was a favorite for Tom and I to go backpacking. It's on the cutting block, along with several others that I've visited and loved, like San Simeon State Park, Benecia, Railtown, Sutter's Fort, Bolsa Chica, and Tomales Bay. Tomales Bay was one I visited recently with a class. There was some interesting geology there and unbelievably beautiful wetlands.

Here's a website where you can write a letter to the governor about your sentiments on the issue:
http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/preservation/state-parks?id4=TAFsent

Continue reading "California is Closing 48 State Parks" »

Posted by Christina at 8:22 PM | Permalink

When the sun peaked out from the clouds the other day, I decided to pull out my camera.
Hope you enjoy!

Posted by Christina at 8:13 PM | Permalink

Yes I am still alive and I am still blogging on this site. How long has it been? Forever has it? Well as long as they keep letting me sign on I'll still be blogging. I wonder when I'll finally go to the page and find out they changed the password. I can see it now, "Jonathan, give it up. You're not a fresh face anymore. You've been here for two years. What more can you say?! Please stop!"

It keeps my brain young and limber to write like this anyway. I spend so much of my day writing lame stuff like, "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs."

I am taking an economic demography class. Now I've used this punchline a million times before but I'm still refining it for maximum hilarity. This could take years. In this class they really like to talk about demographics of our industrialized nations and how our more industrialized nations have aging populations and that eventually that population will slowly decrease in size because of plunging fertility rates. Now I'm a pretty normal guy (or so the voices in my head always like to insist) but every time I leave lecture I can't help but feel this need to go and reproduce. Like if I'm being compelled to have hundreds and hundreds of Asian babies to replace all the ones in Japan not being born. If it turns out that there are no Asians in Asia anymore, then it's my fault for not popping out 2.1 babies to keep replacing the population. Sigh.

If you are reading this then you are bored. No question about it. Why don't you cheer yourself up by heading over to UC Berkeley's Wikipedia page and feel awesome at going to such an stupefyingly awesome school? I do it all the time.

Posted by Jonathan Yu at 9:14 PM | Permalink

Today there's a guest lecture on campus that many will find of interest!

Dr. Edward F. DeLong is visiting from MIT to discuss his work on Genomics in Microbial Oceanography.
His seminar will be from 4-5 today, January 31, 2008 in 100 GPB.

Here is a link to one of his papers, to give you a better idea of his research:
http://pmb.berkeley.edu/~taylor/pmb290cg/pdfs/DeLong_2005.pdf

Posted by Christina at 2:27 PM | Permalink

If you're in GPB or MB, you're going to meet the awesome Undergraduate Advisors Trey and Dana. If you haven't spent time with them yet, you will be required to meet them soon. Be sure to ask them all the questions you have about course requirements - they can tell you all about creative ways to meet your elective requirements, or let you know that you don't really need that insane MCB class you were planning on taking.

Now, something to know - they're new! And dangit - they know their stuff. But occasionally some paperwork gets lost in transitions like this, so don't be shocked if you need to remind them you've completed a requirement.

For any of you transfer students out there - you're going to want to make super good friends with Trey and Dana. That's because they approve all of your course substitutions. If you've attended another four-year school like me, it can get pretty tricky. Like most upper-division transfer students, I took almost all of my lower-division requirements at another school. That means that Trey and Dana have to work some magic to make each one of those count toward graduation. It can be tricky at times, but worth it to not re-take courses.

Posted by Christina at 11:57 AM | Permalink

The yuletide relaxations have been concluded and now our hero set forth to smite his final semester at UC Berkeley. Last semester was a mind bending decerebrational dropkick of sub-epic proportions. This semester he will surely be transformed into a photo-phobic corpse of the benevolently peering sort. Yay philosophical zombies!! Speaking of which you should all submit to Jonathan Coulton's Re: Your Brains.

Posted by Eric Thurston at 3:03 PM | Permalink

Today I visited with a large portion of the Botany faculty at Miami University of Ohio. This is one of the schools to which I have applied for graduate school. You can visit their Botany website here: http://www.cas.muohio.edu/botany/

Tom toured the little town and took photos while I met with faculty.

My schedule for today:
8:45am - Hotel pick-up by Dr. Prem Kumar (Post-doc in Dr. Kiss' lab)
9:00am - Dr. Linda E. Watson (Botany department chair)
9:30am - Dr. John Kiss (NASA-funded space Botany)
10:30am - Dr. R. James Hickey (fern systematist)
11:00am - Dr. Mike Vincent (herbarium curator)
11:30am - Dr. Quinn Li (genetics)
noon - Lunch with Prem Kumar (Post-doc for Dr. Kiss' lab) and Neela Kumar (PhD student Dr. Kiss' lab, vegetarian)
1:30pm - Dr. Richard Edelmann (electron and light microscopy specialist)
2:00pm - Dr. Nik Money - (Mycologist)
2:30pm - Dr. Beth Schussler (Biological sciences education researcher)
3:00pm - Dr. David Gorchov (Ecology)
3:30-5:15pm - Meet with Tom and discuss day.
5:30pm - Driving tour of campus with Dr. Kiss (Tom, too)
6:00pm - Dinner with Dr. Kiss (Tom, too)

The weather was cold, but not at all unbearable. Dreary in the morning, clear blue skies in the afternoon. People asked me often my impression of the weather. It was pretty. I liked watching the little flurries of snow caught up by the breeze.

Impressions of the program:
Well-established Botany program. Knowledgeable staff. Focus on teaching. Kind people.
Dr. Kiss is my favorite faculty member. His research is fascinating. The folks in his lab are kind and fun.

Drawbacks of the program:
May not be easy to petition into PhD program. Many encourage you to complete your master's, then move on to PhD.
Described by one graduate student as having "low expectations" (challenged by other students I met, who found it quite difficult to juggle teaching, their own coursework, and research)

Pluses:
Excellent funding
Diverse coursework offerings
Gentle people
Fun, fairly isolated college town, but driving distance from Cincinnati and Dayton.

I like it.

Posted by Christina at 5:46 PM | Permalink

This was my favorite super hero when I was a kid! He still is!
Stopping sugar-eating criminals in the act, Captain Vegetable convinces all of us that eating veggies is cool.

Posted by Christina at 1:52 PM | Permalink

Reading a fellow blogger's post about national parks in California inspired to me write about my experience visiting one of the parks on her list--Point Reyes National Seashore/Tomales Bay (nps.gov). It's a very cool place. It's right on the coast and the drive is just as fun as the scenery once you get there. My girlfriend and I took the 580 across the bay and went up the 1. If you want to check out our route click here. We made a couple of stops on the way. It took us about 3 hours to get to McClures Beach, though, from Berkeley, google estimates about 1 hour and 54 minutes.

Our first stop was along Fairfax Bolinas Road along Alpine Lake (Click for map):

A couple of shots from Alpine Lake:
Click to view

That last picture is of Fairfax Bolinas Rd. Although it looks nice in that picture, parts of it were less than adequate...in other words, you'd spill your tofu (Initial D "joke"). The lake is dammed and you "get to" drive across it. Past that, you drive through more forest (very cool).

After driving up the 1, we took Sir Francis Drake Blvd up past Inverness (which is, coincidentally, the name of a really cool city in Scotland) to Pierce Point Road. Here's a shot of what Pierce Point leads to:

Once you finally get to McClures Beach this is what you'll see:
Click to view

Continue reading "National Park - North Bay" »

Posted by Juan at 10:01 PM | Permalink

If you're planning on staying in the Bay Area through the New Year (and don't just want to stay indoors), here is something you might want to consider.

BART is offering a "Flash Pass" (providing you unlimited rides on BART) that is good from 6 p.m. New Year's Eve (Dec. 31) through 3 a.m. (Jan. 1) for only $6.

Read more at: Ring in the new year with a BART Flash Pass

Happy New Year!

Posted by Juan at 12:56 PM | Permalink

So I took my first trip to San Diego about three weeks ago. I'm originally from Miami and had never been down there even though I'd been living in California since 2003. It was a great trip! The flight only takes about an hour or hour and a half. Being used to flights back to Miami, this short trip was a very welcomed change. We actually went to meet my mom who I hadn't seen in almost a year. The only "bad" part was that the trip was the last week before finals began lol. Anyway, I wanted to share some pictures. Most of these are my girlfriend's pictures since my camera broke the first day we were out there.

Click to view larger


Flickr

Continue reading "San Diego!" »

Posted by Juan at 10:16 PM | Permalink

So those sunset pictures were taken from a turnout off of Grizzly Peak Blvd. Want to know how to get there? The route I took was just off the 24. I took the 24-WB and exited at Fish Ranch Road (this is in Orinda). I made the first right to stay on FRR and then at the next intersection made another right, getting on Grizzly Peak Blvd. There are many turnouts along the way--just choose the one you like. I'm not sure if most of you have cars (I'm assuming no if you live on campus), but that's probably the best way to get up there. People do ride bikes (both motorcycles and bicycles), but I wouldn't do it :-x lol.
Here's a shot of the side of the hill from the turnout:

See the Bigger Version, Click the Picture

Grizzly Peak can also be accessed via Centennial Drive or Campus Drive (Shasta Road).
Here's a great article from the Berkeley Daily Planet: East Bay’s Most Scenic Road Turns 75

Posted by Juan at 8:50 PM | Permalink

Hi again (it's been a long time).
So I have some pics to share that I hope you like!
About a month ago, my girlfriend and I went up into the Hills in between Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve and Charles Lee Tilden Regional Park. It'd been a cloudy day all day--at least where we live (up the 24)--'till around sunset! We'd been wanting to get some pictures of a sunset over the bay. And here they are:

Click to view Larger

These were pictures I took.

Here's a much better one my girlfriend took:

Flickr

Continue reading "From the Hills" »

Posted by Juan at 8:07 PM | Permalink

So today, I had a one-on-one meeting with one of the PASS interns.I took her to one of my favorite places in Berkeley, Brazil Cafe. If you have never been there I definitely recommend that you go and either order the tri-tip sandwich (or plate) or for those of you who prefer veggies, the Lambada, either with a mango or acai smoothie. The intern loved it and other people I've brought love it. I haven't heard many bad things about the place but hey, you know, everyone's a critic. Pedro, the man with the vision, is extremely nice, actually a few weeks ago he told me to visit their new location. A new location, just around the corner? It's definitely different from the lively and bustling shack on University, I see it more as an indoor, longer-hours, no-student special alternative (so slightly more pricey) to the original place. The service is just as great and the people are just s nice. I think Pedro said his sister was running this one, but after "the Shack" is closed, you can sometimes find him here as well.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/431044

Well the second place is just as good, totally different food but hopefully the colorful descriptions of the first won't make this one pale in comparison. The other is Thai Noodle on Shattuck - great food, again, nice people, it's a few blocks past University but well before Elephant Pharmacy. Fan favorites? Fried chicken over fried rice :)

Enjoy!

Posted by Nikki Fernandez at 12:39 PM |