What's that Smell?

Man, today was bound to be bad. There were signs everywhere telling me not to go to school. My alarm clock was disconnected, the train was super late, and the printers in school wouldn't let me print out my Student Audit. It was just a series of events saying that I shouldn't be in school.

Then, 10:15am the fire alarm blared. I was in my Oral Communications class. It seemed like it was a normal fire drill. Farrington even joked about it. It was all jovial until we got outside and were hit with a strong smell. The smell of gas was everywhere. You saw everyone's faces get serious. Some people let immediately. They jumped into their cars and jetted out of there. The rest of us stayed to see what was going on. It wa pretty bad because of the worried looks on the faces of the professors, administration and security guards. Everyone trying to get on campus was redirected. They had to turn around and leave. Almost 40 minutes later, it was official. All day classes were cancelled and everyone had to leave. I was lucky I had a buddy with a car. I didn't hear anything about transportation for shuttle people. Most of the cars had at least 3 people in them so I'm sure everyone found a ride.

Text messages were sent out by the school a few minutes ago announcing the cancellation of day classes. Hopefully, everyone who dorms is alright.

Registration for Winter Already? Wow.

We're already half way done with the quarter! Can you believe that?

Today, I saw a bunch of people lined up at the Student Accounts hall. That pretty much an indication that its time to register. I looked up my progress report and figured out a way to only have class twice a week. I kinda wanna try this out. It'll give me a chance of maybe holding down a normal part time job for the rest of the 5 days of the week.

I'm not too sure what'll go on with this but I'm gonna try it out. Hopefully, it'll pan out alright. My credit card bill needs paying and I have to start making some kind of money for a car! So far, the 4 days a week/getting out at 2 schedule setup has made it impossible for me to get back in my town before 5. Maybe with this two day thing, I'll have a better chance at a steady job.

Anyone else out there do the carless two-days a week thing?

The Music Club concert was Great!

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the show on Thursday! I thought I made enough cupcakes for the audience but we got a pretty big turnout! So, if you got a cupcake, you were lucky!

The Jazz band was amazing. Its was so much fun because the show was totally interactive. You could sing and clap and dance along. If you had the guts, you could have even gone up and duet to any song! There was a sing guitar and bass battle.

Hopefully, this got the music club enough exposure so the whole school knows we're here. Its open to anyone who wants to join. We do all and any kinds of music. If you're interested, look around for the club president, Travis, or the vice-prez, Brian.

Here's the facebook link for more info. You can check out announcements and some photos from our practices. There's even one of me trying to remember how to play a Weezer song on bass.

Tomorrow is Super Busy Thursday

Even though its only Wednesday morning, I'm already prepping for what will be one of the busiest Thursdays ever.

Tonight, I have to finalize my oral communications speech. Usually, that'd be an easy process but I decided to completely change the focus of my subject. Then, I have to write 3 two-pages essays for humanities in the media, based on the movies we watched in class. I was absent during one of those days so I didn't get to finish watching "Wag the Dog". Thank goodness for IMDB.com. After I'm done with that, I have to start baking cupcakes. Yeah. Baking. I'll explain that one in a minute.

Tomorrow morning, I get to present my oral comm speech. Right after that class is activity period. I have to head over to the Student Center for the "What Not to Wear" presentation that the Fashion Club is having. There's also a raffle going on in the presentation. The winner of the raffle gets to have a complete makeover. I bought my ticket last week. :-D Who wouldn't want a makeover? Okay, after that, I have to hand in my essays and start studying for midterms. After class, I have to run home and finished up decorating my cupcakes.

The cupcakes are for the Music Club presentation being held in the Community Room at 7pm on Thursday. I didn't get to make it to a couple of the practices and since I didn't think I was stage-ready yet, I opted for making cupcakes for the audience.

Busy busy Thursday! So, in case you didn't catch all the activities going on, here's a rundown.

• What Not to Wear at the Student Center (Activity Period 11am)
• Don Carter Jazz Trio and Berkeley Music Club concert at the Community Room (7pm -9pm)

Please please come to the concert on Thursday night. C'mon. Cupcakes! You'll also get to check out Berkeley's talented students do their thing on stage. And its free!

Great Feedback from Readers

I'd like to thank everyone who's been commenting and emailing me through this blogger. Its good to know someone out there is reading this thing. :-)

Remember, all my info is on the right side of the page so if you have an questions concerning Berkeley (anything from admissions to which bathroom is the cleanest), just click on my email link and send me a note!

I'm updating right now because my Macro class was cancelled early. My professor had a meeting so its a perfectly valid excuse. Usually, I'd run to catch my seat on the 2:10pm shuttle, but today I'm sticking around campus for a Music Club meeting. (By the way,if you're reading this and you're still on campus, Music Club meeting in Community room today from 3-5. My bad for the late posting.)

Since the last shuttle leaves at 3:20pm, I'll be left to walk around Garret Mountain. Its cool. Im actually kinda looking forward to it. I have my sneakers on and the weather is nice. I haven't really wandered around over here so today, I'm planning on walking through the Garret Mountain Reservation and catching my bus on the other side of the mountain (the Montclair side). Maybe I'll spot a deer.

Dracula Was Postponed :-(

Bram Stoker's Dracula was to be performed today at 2pm in Garret Mountain. According to Blackboard, ALL the performances are being postponed.

I'm still planning on going to see the play. Its free with your Berkeley ID and $10 for everyone else. Its being performed in almost all the Berkeley campuses so that's pretty spiffy. Hopefully, the show will be back soon.

Shuttle Bus Cram at 2:10pm

If you're on the 2:10pm shuttle bus on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you know exactly what I'm taking about.

Since there was a surge in enrollment this quarter, of course you expect large class counts and overbooked dorm rooms. One thing that someone forgot to think of was the packed shuttle bus!

The shuttles only run during 1:10, 2:10, and 3:20 (I don't know when they changed that one but I think I was one of the last to know.) Almost every Tuesday and Thursday, the bus is packed with no room to spare. Sometimes the driver says there's room in the back but he tends to forget that the students need room from books and, I don't know, breathing? Usually, the 2:10pm leaves early to drop off the first students who got there. Once the bus is emptied out, it comes back and picks up the rest.

This is all fine and dandy if it wasn't for the fact that I have to miss my 2:30 train every time I don't catch the first bus. I end up having to take a two one-hour buses home because if I wait for the 3:20 shuttle, I'll miss the 3:30 train and I'll be stuck wandering around downtown Paterson until 4:30. I would leave class earlier to be one of the first on the 2:10 bus, but I'll end up missing 20 minutes of class.

I think I might start walking down to Paterson from campus. Maybe then I'll be able to catch my train.

College Veg Pledge 2007

Okay, so this isn't directly related with Berkeley College itself, but it is a college thing and its something I'm really passionate about.

I signed a pledge on CollegeVeg.org that says the following:

"As a university student, I realize that I am a leader for my generation
and an example for society. I am concerned about the inherent cruelty of
consuming animals for food and the impact meat has on global warming, the
environment, and my health. By signing my name, I pledge to abstain from
consuming meat on November 13th, 2007, and commit myself to exploring a more
ethical diet in the future.”

If you're interesting in joining in and leaving out the ham in your sandwich for a day, feel free to sign.

I'm not planning on shoving all this vegetarian-vegan stuff into anyone's face. I'm just doing my normal college activist thing and letting people know about the things I care about.

By the way,
Did everyone remember to register to vote in '08?

Double Presentation Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow I have two presentations for two different classes.

The first of the day will my "first draft" speech about Andy Warhol in Oral Communications. I wrote about the downfalls of 3 of this "superstars" and how the events could have be linked to the artist himself. I know its not that good of a description, but its only a rough draft so in reality, I'm not even sure what my speech is about.

:-P


My second presentation was in Humanities in the Media. My class was broken up into groups. Each group was in charge of outlining and presenting certain chapters from the textbook. Our mindterm, which is the first week of November, will be based on each group's presentation. Needless to say, these presentations have to be pretty good since everyone is going to be studying them for midterms. Talk about pressure!

Crazy Movies in Humanities in the Media Class

We finished watching a movie called "The Name of the Rose" in my Humanities class. What a crazy movie. It deals with censorship back during the Inquisition days. After this movie, we're watching two more. We have to write essays about each movie and hand them in at the end of the third one. Im starting to write my essay on The Name of the Rose today. I have terrible memory so I might as well get all this written down before I completely forget the film.


Tomorrow is the first music club meeting! If you didn't sign up on last Thursday, show up anyway. Im taking my little sister to this one because I got stuck with babysitting duties at the last minute. I already asked the head of the club and he's cool with it. The first meeting is like a "Hello. My name is _______" kinda thing. I think we're also trying out some instruments. Lets hope I still have a drop of guitar skills left from high school. If I completely reek at it, I'm cool with playing the triangle or kazoo.

JDRF Walk with Berkeley College

JDRF is the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Their mission is to find a
cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. If you
have diabetes, or know someone who does, you know just how important this is

Pretty much half my family had Diabetes. This is a pretty important run for me. As soon as I can secure a ride from a friend, I'm signing up for the walk. I might even get a couple of friends to come along for it.

There's a bunch of flyers all over campus for more info on the walk. There's also a website (http://www.walk.jdrf.org/) AND there's a window full of info for the walk on the homepage of Blackboard. I know a lot of students work on Saturday mornings, but if you have nothing to do on the morning of the 21st, come to Franklin Lakes and get to steppin' for the foundation. If you can't join in the walk, sponsor a walker!

:-)

Andy Warhol: Master or Monster?

That the title of my presentation in Oral Communications. We had to come up with three subjects that we would like to present. My options were Priorities of News Media, the Straightedge Movement: 1981 and Now, or Andy Warhol: Master or Monster. The class seemed pretty split on which one to pick. I guess that's a good indication that my presentation is something to look forward too. I'm actually excited about this project because I've kinda always been interested in the dynamic relationship of Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol. Hopefully, my true passion for the subject will come across in my presentation.


Here's a parking tip for everyone who start classes a little later. Show up at the end of periods. If you show up at the end of 2nd or 3rd period, people are usually headed to their cars and out the lot. Just make a few rounds and you'll eventually find a spot. Today, I got a nice spot in Parking Lot A in less than 5 minutes. Trust me, this works.

Berkeley's Club Convention / First Activity Period.

I was actually amped for Activity period today. Everyone's back on campus so it was time for everyone to meet up and catch up. Of course, Berkeley whipped out the big speakers and played some hangout music in front of the student center. Haha. I always loved that. What other college provides a soundtrack during break?



I went around taking photos of some of the clubs on campus. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera ha low batteries so I only got to take a few photos. But, hey! The ones I did take were pretty cool.

Here's a new club. Music club! All I needed was a guitar and Circa Survive shirt to conviced me to sign up for this club. That and I'm pretty sure I went to high school with one of these guys. I'm pretttyyyyy sure.

This is the paintball club. Yeah, that's right. PAINTBALL! This was one of the most popular tables. So, if you're a glutton for pain and bruises, sign up! Haha.

Here's the soccer club table. Check out that sweet jersey. I saw the soccer girls practicing yesterday and thought they were amazing.

I feel kinda bad that I didn't get to take pictures of the other tables. They were all full! Well, before my camera died, I managed to get this picture. Now, what you are about to see next is something that completely made my day.

VEGAN BARS!!! YES!!! No more having to walk to 7-11 for some vegan goodness! For real, Berkeley really stepped up their menu. Not only did they add tons of vegan/vegetarian options, but they also expanded their menus like crazy! The cafe was pretty much packed.

It was really nice to see everyone back. Seriously, I don't know how many times I said "Hey! How you doin'?! How was your summer?!"

So, When is that new parking lot gonna be done?

For some reason, students think that I know all the answers to some of the toughest questions on campus. One of these questions is "When is the new lot gonna be done?" To be honest, I have no idea when it'll be done. All I know is that you better get to school with plenty of extra time so you can find parking and still make it to class on time.

I know some kids who have been parking in the residential streets behind the school because there are no spaces left after 9am. Others have taken the risk of parking in spots that they're not allowed to be in. If they're lucky, they won't end up with the big ugly orange "don't park here" sticker when they return to their car.

So, I'm sorry to say that I really don't know when its going to be done. I've asked around and kept getting different times and dates. For now, we're all just going to have to deal with it and show up early to get dibs on a space. Or carpool! Or do what I do. (Take the Berkeley shuttle!)

If you wanna know the shuttle times and stops, just drop me a comment or email, or you can check out the bulletin boards around school for the schedule flyer.

Serious Presentations in Oral Comm.

Today, in Oral Communications, the students had to stand in front of the class and talk about a serious incident that they've been through. There were tons of stories about family tragedies and personal shockers. It was the most tense and emotional class I've ever been in. There were tears in a lot of peoples' eyes. I was welling up a little bit when I was presenting my story. I talked about this past summer. If you've been reading my blogger for a while, you remember that I would mention my parents being in the hospital here and there. Well, I went into great detail about what happened during my presentation and found myself getting emotional. Although a few students did end up crying at the podium, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I abruptly stopped my story before I got any more emotional.

It was kinda cool because the class got to learn a little something about everyone. I just hope thats the last time we do the "serious incident" presentation. It was way intense.

My Refund Never Showed Up. / Book Selling

:-(

My Berkeley refund never showed up. Today, I just remembered that I put in the paper check preference for my refund and it still hasn't showed up. I'm not a big ton of money coming in the mail but its enough to buy my Macroeconomics book.

Today, I'm calling the company as soon as I get home and see what's the deal with my check! I would have put direct deposit if I wasn't so darn paranoid about my bank account. And you guys already know what I thought about the debit card.


Other than that, I've sold a couple of books thanks to this blogger (and you guys responding and emailing me.) I still have some books left to sell but so far, so good. :-)

There was an email sent out saying that students aren't allowed to post up flyers about selling their books. They suggested using other ways of selling/buy/trading like ebay and facebook. Facebook actually worked for me. I think I might even start a Half.com sellers account. I wanted to keep my textbooks nice and cheap for other Berkeley students, but if no one wants the books I have, I might as well offered them to other people in other parts of the country.