My boyfriend asked me to post this for him:

Hey guys I know this is a little late for the summer session but I want to tell you guys about a site that I made. It's another site for the Berkeley community but rather than focusing on social aspects of the campus, this is meant for talking about specific courses. Somewhere that you can ask what grades people got and for homework help. For students by (ex)student(s).

http://www.coursespeak.com

The site is pretty much just a phpBB3 forum, with a few modifications to allow (force) anonymity, since I believe that an anonymous forum (although it also attracts more troublemakers) allows for honest conversation. When I was a math student at Berkeley, I always felt like it was me against the material, with little to no help from the professor or my fellow students... Joining the computer science department after that (and using the newsgroups) led me to realize that an online forum would be a great tool for students to meet and work together to better their education.

I need to flyer and get the word out since this is meant to be a tool for students by students. I emailed all of the summer session instructors and not a single one responded or created an account. Maybe this site is a dumb idea, but I'd rather think that the lack of
a response is indicative that this site is a threat to the way UC Berkeley works. Disappointing, eh? Anyways, enjoy.

-zenkalia (lol been a while huh)

(please keep the /b/ shit in the Random subforum. kthnxbai)

http://berkeleyfail.wordpress.com/

looking for eecs people to collaborate on a DB-java library.. a bit more sophisticated then SQLite, but not quite as cumbersome as Spring-Hibernate.

since it's an open source project, and i'm not expecting to make any money off this, check out the google site: http://sites.google.com/site/automotivejava/ to get the general idea of this.

(no it's not a minicity thing.. i promise i won't do it anymore.

let's create something cool. a lot of innovation happens at the college level.

Post on behalf of my sister:

Has anyone taken the chem 120 series? I'm going to be taking 120b this fall (I haven't taken 120a yet), because it seems like the professor (Chandler) is better than Lester, who's teaching 120a. Although 120a isn't a prerequisite for 120b, I'm worried that I won't have any idea of what's going on in the class without the background from 120a. Do you think this will be a problem?

There's a certain block in North Berkeley where there's a coffee shop. Next to the coffee shop there's a vacant spot. Next to this is another coffee shop. Recently I walked by and saw a coming soon sign...they're opening a coffee shop in the previously vacant spot. Why do we need 3 coffee shops in a row?

Where do you like to watch the local 4th of July fireworks display? There are a bunch of spots up in the hills, on various rooftops, Berkeley Pier, SF Pier, and on the Oakland Pier. For some reason I'm actually itching to see 'em this year.

Will you tell us where you like to watch the local fireworks display?

Barring that, will you tell us about the last non-school book you read? Would you recommend it?

Hey all,

Favorite places for Mac Repair in the East Bay? Places I can think of are... student shop on Oxford, other Mac shop on Oxford, actual Apple store...?

Thanks!

I need to purchase some glasses, because my prescription will expire soon. Does anyone have any recommendations of any reasonably-priced and reputable place where I could buy prescription glasses? Thank you.

The Guide to the Good Life in Berkeley is back in online form, for anyone who misses the coupons. I'm not a fan of the format at all, although I suppose it saves some trees. The coupons are the usual ones, as well as some new ones (e.g. for Nude Sushi, Sun Hong Kong, Mrs. Munchies), and even some outdated ones (for the Parkway Speakeasy).

Hey, so my club is thinking of doing a few bake sales sometime soon. Do we have to get permits to do one? If so, is there a bunch of paperwork that people *never* do, because I see a ton of bake sales on campus that I know were literally put together the day before. How hard does the campus crack down on bake sales? Any one have experience with this?

I'd like to get into sailing a bit. Is the Cal Sailing Club any good in regards to beginner friendliness and having college-age members?

I need help. : )

I've chosen a room I want to sublet from someone...so... now what should I do?  I'm not going to be on the lease, but they are asking for a down payment to secure the room... should a have a contract?

What are your experiences?


Thanx : )

Hello friends of UCBerkeley...I was hoping some of you would be kind enough to help a clueless and soon-to-be Berkeley resident. I live in Florida and am going to be a law student at Boalt this fall...I already found roommates, but they're about as useful as I am since we're all east-coasters and won't be able to make it out there before we make the big move in August.

We found a place at 1925 Delaware St. that sounds great on paper but I'd love to know if any of you have any experience with this area or even this building perhaps. From the mapview I see that it is in North Berkeley.. Any insight you have on the area would be great. Crime, noise, close places to go/eat, bus routes, walking distance to Boalt (which seems kinda far :-/), etc....anything would help! Moving across the country is certainly nerve-wracking, to say the least...so I really appreciate it. 

-Ana

unban ragnus please. I'm coming back in the fall and I have legit stuff to post here.

Sorry if this is like a personal ad, but if anyone happens to have a lab manual for chemistry1A and are on campus, I would love to buy it for 20 dollars.  

The book stores are out of stock, and the class started already. argh.

Email address: hyd628@berkeley.edu, thanks!

I find myself with a free 3-month trial with Blockbuster.com (if you are interested, click here; says three weeks but shows up as three months), and I'm looking for things to add to my queue.

...I was going to just ask for movie/TV recommendations, but what the hell. On second thought, list any movies/TV, books, and/or music that you recommend. I'm sure I'm not the only one who needs more to do (besides write cover letters)! 

It seems that GLADIS is being replaced by OskiCat, and those of us who were using Bookly as a way to automatically renew books through GLADIS are now no longer able to do so.

Now that Bookly is gone, does anyone know if there is another program that automatically renews books through OskiCat? If not, does anyone know if doing such a program is even possible now that we're all on OskiCat? Bookly was written by a UCB math grad student, so I assume maybe CS folks here would know if something else is in the works, or if this is even possible.

So,  upon returning from my trip to Vancouver, I have begun to wonder if there is anywhere that may resemble "Book Off"- a used manga and Japanese book store, ANYWHERE in the bay area. It would be pretty awesome if such a thing existed...

Also, other intriguing store discoveries are welcome!

If you guys haven't been to Willard Park, check it out! It's so relaxing to sit under one of the trees and watch the world go by.

I graduated in May and have tons of free time now that I am unemployed, so instead of spending my time petting my iguana and twirling my mustache, I'd like to know if there are places to go in the Fremont-Milpitas-Santa Clara area other than malls and community centers (Yes, I've been to the Great Mall of Milpitas, and all I have to say is that it's a brilliant idea to build an enormous mall where the only way back to your car is to walk the full length of the mall or admit defeat and walk backward)  I'm referring here to restaurants, bars, clubs, bookstores, vintage shops, arcades, paintball fields etc.  No Googleplexing or sightseeing.

Thanks a lot.

Okay, so it's actually a 98/198 and I know the last thing any one wants to hear about right now is classes, but give me a chance- there was a kind of snafu with the decal registering and I need this to get off the ground now. It's been approved by the bio department (and it's even on the course schedule), so please, take a look.
This is really for bio students of any persuasion, anthro students, art students, and any one that wants to learn about bio illustration.

New Class: Biological Illustration 198
Units: 3, PNP
TuTh 3-6 PM
Want to illustrate your research? How about work with museums on murals
and dioramas? This fall, a 198 in biological illustration is being
offered. The course will operate as a studio with most of the class time
being devoted to illustrating actual department specimens. The class will
facilitate in the building of a portfolio and the finding of
illustrator-research lab relations for students. Typical illustration
techniques like pen and ink, graphite, and water color will be explored.
Requirements: This class is not an introduction to drawing and as there
are only 13 spots available, students' prior experience and skill in
drawing will be considered as their admission to the class Please, by
August 1st (but preferably by telebears phase II) submit two drawing
samples (scans, digital photos) to cmtribull@berkeley.edu
These drawings should reflect the student's proficiency in realistic
drawing- figure drawings, still lives, and studies. No abstract art,
please as the class will function as more of a scientific illustration
studio than a fine art one.
Feel free to email me with any questions

i'm a senior here, working full time over summer and then embarking on a last fall semester before graduating a super senior. my boyfriend and i would like to move in together sometime this year and definitely by the time i've officially graduated, lost my student job, and need to find a new one in the area (something temporary like starbucks, because i'm planning on going to graduate school).

i was wondering where alumni or venturous undergrads/grads migrated to if you moved in the area besides berkeley. i'm interested in oakland, and after today's street fair, i really liked the temescal district. i haven't been in that part of oakland much besides today, and have only been to downtown oakland for bar nights or visiting friends a few times. for those of you who live in oakland, what part do you live in? do you like it? is the rent cheap there? how good is access to public transportation and shops like grocery stores?

if not oakland, what other areas did you move to? my boyfriend's cousin offered us a place in hayward as well, my friend mentioned san bruno is nice, and i've heard rent is really cheap in san leandro. i really want somewhere with good public transportation and that doesn't have a suburbia feel -- big plazas with big department stores especially i want to avoid.

thanks!

I have one ticket to go see Bat for Lashes at the Great American Music Hall this Saturday at 9pm. The ticket is $18 (no markup 'cause I'm not like that) and the show is sold out. You know you waaaant it!

Um, Go Bears?

Does anyone know if either the student store or Ned's is still accepting buybacks from last semester (or if they buy them back as different sessions for summer classes end)? I've got a ton of books that I should have gotten rid of, but haven't...

Thanks.

On the subject of letters of recommendation:

I'm a computer science undergrad entering my 4th year and know none of my professors or GSIs. Oh crap! (I blame the giant classes, but I guess it's my fault for not going to office hours or doing projects/research.)

I'm not terribly concerned about grad school at the moment, but I'm very worried about getting a job. I only started programming 2 years ago, so my skillset is much more limited than that of most Berkeley CS undergrads. What do you think I should do?

I am currently applying to a variety of programs which require letters of recommendation: Teach For America, Peace Corps, and Fulbright Scholar Program.  Do you think it would be tacky if I submitted letters from GSI's.  I would rather not use the professors I have in mind, because I am going to be asking them for letters of rec for grad school.

They get this and we get what? Freeze in place for 3 mins :(.

Taken from here.

A recent study revealed that 67 percent of graduate students at the University of California at Berkeley had “felt hopeless at least one in the last year,” while 54 percent felt “so depressed they had a hard time functioning” and 10 percent had considered suicide.

Having done both undergrad and graduate work at Berkeley, I have to attest that I think this statistic is brutally accurate. As an undergrad I knew wayyyy more happier students then I knew as a graduate student. Furthermore, it's not just happiness that seemed to be the difference between the two, it was sanity. I'd say 90% of the graduate students I know perceive that they live on this precarious edge where they are constantly teetering insane demands and obstacles. There is no feeling of stability or safety, you pretty much feel like your whole future is on the verge of being destroyed any second.

Sometimes that whole thing fades (I agree with the article that the periods of intensity rise and fall), but seriously...should it be that hard to be a student? Should Quals be that ridiculously stressful? Should all grad students be living at poverty wages while fulfilling the same time-intensive teaching tasks that instructors at (say community colleges and K-12 schools) fulfill at non-poverty wages? Should advisors be these non-accountable creatures who have no bosses or overseeing authority to stop them from potentially bullying, overloading, or even destroying a grad students career?

I'm kinda tired of the Health Service PR crap about this. I think the students feel bad because the situations bad...and no amount of therapy band-aids is going to cure a bad situation. If I was chancellor for a day (or someone powerful), I'd do some direct changes to the policies of the school. Since more then one of my friends has been verbally accosted by faculty...which would've been unheard of if this was a "work place" and not "grad school"...I'd create some sort of committee and punishment guidelines for such behavior. Something that made the faculty accountable for their treatment of grad students (good and bad).

I know college (and grad school) is a choice, and nobody forces you through the experience. However, I don't think that excuses mistreatment of any form. I also think the university as a whole could be wayyy more pro-active about protecting the mental health of all it's students (undergrad and grad alike).

Thoughts?

PS FYI Academic Senate doesn't help, as my friend found out.

Reputable places for CPR training? I need the certification if I want to work a job anywhere in a hospital/health setting. Any info would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

I'm in LA for the summer, but my sister and I bought tickets to see Miyazaki at Zellerbach, July 25th (Sat).  Is anybody planning on driving up and back that weekend and wouldn't mind taking two extra people to split the cost?  Please comment if you're willing, or know somebody who is.  Thanks.

Hello good looking people :)

I'm cleaning up my room and found some of my readers. Just wanted to see if you anyone was taking these classes in the future:
Mediast 102: Effects of the Mass Media with Retzinger
Mediast 130: Mass Comm Research & Methods with Retzinger
PP 103: Wealth and Poverty with Reich
Mediast 104: The First Amendment and the Press with Turner
Mediast 180: Television Studies/Topics on Television with Levina

Let me know!  

Enjoy your summer!

I was wondering how early you can get bus passes for the Fall Semester. Any one have any idea? Thanks!

Hey everyone!

I was wondering if anyone here could give me info. on any programs to teach English abroad. I'm interested in teaching in Spain, but have no idea how to go about it. Thanks so much in advance!!

Hey guys-

Have any of you, who are signed up for the summer semester (session starting next week), gotten your loans paid out yet? Starting to get a little worried...

The Spring 2009 semester is officially over. Woo!

How will/did you celebrate? Beers? Write a poem? Streaking? Notes burning party?

Tell us about it!

Any advice on how to turn Christian women into Jews?

This girl won't go out with me. I really want to see her burn in hell.

i'm planning on buying access to caljobs since i just graduated and splitting the cost with a friend, who will share the account. does anyone know if the employer is sent the account holder's email and info when someone submits their resume  & cover letter through the caljobs system? i.e. even though the account will be in my name, can my friend upload and send their resume through the system without it appearing shady to employers? thanks!

Move in June/July

Cross streets hearst & Shattuck, close to F, 51, 7, 9, and a couple blocks away from BART.
Two girls will be sharing a room, a spare room is available for one person. We prefer female roommates, but will consider guys if you wanna ask about it. $850 for your own room, and you get our parking spot. We have a laundry room downstairs. We split PGE and our wireless internet. It's a nice place, pretty big compared to apartments around here. Walking distance to Tolman is about 5-10 mins.

My roommate and I are pretty chill and tolerant. We both drink (mmm, a couple times a month, i guess?) and do sometimes invite friends over for get-togethers/drinks and music.but we're more chill as opposed to partiers. antway, email at mh88 AT berkeley.edu if interested.

1. Buy my 1997 Toyota Corolla

2. Start blasting rap music from the car stereo

3. drive to East Palo Alto