9/10 INT 95 Lecture- Phenology

On tonight’s INT 95 Lecture, we had Brian Haggerty, who is a UCSB PhD student, as guest speaker. He started off discussing how he gets interested in plants. He mentioned that he loves backpacking and eco adventure. Besides the journey of his life, he wanted to encourage us to explore ourselves and those possibilities, but he stated that we do not necessary need to have everything figured out at this point.

In the beginning of the actual presentation, he started off with the advanced technology and led to the issue related to our environment. He also addressed that we had alternated the earth, and the global warming problem was severe. He proposed three methods to address and engage government and citizens to this issue. However, he pointed out that studying in Phenology can be a more practical approach to learn about these problems and understand what actually changes are made to the earth.

As he introduced Phenology, we learned about how Phenology is an ancient science. Phenology had been applied in various forms in different cultures for a long time. Phenology could serve as indicators for hunting, shape our economy, and, most importantly, serve as an indicator for climate change. He brought up four key terms for us to remember. The four key terms are: global temperatures rising, ocean acidification, ice loss, and drought severity. Close to the end of the presentation, he taught us that climate changing has a relationship with the seasonal timing. I did not know much about Phenology before the presentation, but I now know that Phenology has a very strong connection with global warming. In the end, he introduced us an app where we can adopt a plant and record its growth daily. I found the app to be interesting, and I would probably adopt a plant some day.

9/3 INT 95 Lecture - Professor Appel

On last week’s INT 95 lecture, we had Professor Irwin Appel, who is from the department of theater and dance, as guest speaker. He told us about his career as an actor and the reason why he decided to become a professor at UCSB. When he was young, he was very into acting, and he wanted to be become famous eagerly.

Besides the stories of his life, he suggested us to take a class that we never thought of taking it before. He stated that we might find something new and inspiring from the class. Moreover, we would possibly be able to explore more of our interests if we step out our comfort zone and try new things.

Professor Appel had traveled a lot throughout his acting career, but he told us that he considered himself as a New Yorker. He likes the atmosphere of a busy city more than the sunny weather and the relaxing atmosphere in Santa Barbara. He urged us to go to New York some day in our lives.

Professor Appel also discussed about the Macbeth play with us. I could tell that he was really excited for us. He mentioned about how the play would be entirely different from what we would imagine and what we did in high school. He emphasizes on the fact that only minimal props are utilized in the play. I did not understand what he was trying to express about that during the lecture, but I immediately comprehended what he was trying to say after I watched the play.

The photo below is from the UCSB Department of Theater and Dance website.

                                    King Duncan and soldiers. Photo credits: Sarah Kouklis

9/6 (Fri) - Macbeth

On Friday, September 6^th, my friends and I signed up and went to the Shakespeare play directed by Irwin Appel, who was the guest speaker from last week’s INT 95 lecture, at Hatlen Theater. My friends and I arrived at the theater at 6:40, and the theater was filled with people already. I took a flyer on my way in to the theater. I was surprised that many of the audiences were not UCSB students, but adults living close by. I was very glad that FSSP gave us the opportunity to watch this play for free and before other UCSB students.

I found the flyer to be very helpful for me to understand the play. My high school had us read Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Hamlet, but not Macbeth. I had always enjoyed reading Shakespeare’s work, so I was really excited to watch the play.

At the beginning of the show, I was actually scared by the creepy and mysterious laughs from the actresses. Their facial expression was so frightening, but I assumed that it also meant that they were really into the play. Even though the actor and actresses had minimal props, the play was very engaging and understandable. The play probably would not be as successful, if the focuses on the actor and actresses were shifted away to the customs and props. The way that the play was presented was successful and stunning. The only reason that I thought students would not enjoy the show was that they do not know much about the story.

Some of my friends felt sleepy during the play, because they could not understand what was going on. During the intermission, I told them the summary and some important details of Macbeth that I had read online before going to the play. They all seemed to be more interested in the second part of the play.

8/31 Faculty Field Trip

On last Saturday, August 31^st, I went on the Faculty Field Trip to Santa Barbara Historical Museum and Presidio. At 10 o’clock in the morning, my roommate and I went down stair to meet up with Dr. Gallucci at the lobby. There were not many students at the lobby, because many people went home for the three day weekend. Dr.Gallucci led around 15 students, including my roommate and I, to the bus station and took 24x Express to downtown Santa Barbara.

After we arrived at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, we looked at many different paintings of the Adobe. Even though I did not know much about paintings, I enjoyed looking at the jewelries, customs, and items that were preserved until present day. For lunch, Dr.Gallucci took us to a café named Panino. I ordered an Italian combo sandwiches, and I found to be very delicious. Close to the end of the field trip, we went to the Presidio. Dr.Gallucci led us around and told us many of his thoughts on this historic site. It all made more sense after Dr. Gallucci’s explanation, because I did not know much about the history in Santa Barbara. I was glad that I was able to be in an actual adobe after looking at the paintings at the Historical Museum. Visiting the Presidio made me understand the spacial relationship of an adobe to other items better.

After the field trip, I went to look around downtown Santa Barbara with my roommate. We ate some frozen yogurt before we headed back UCSB.

8/9 IV 101 On Patrol with the 5-0

After returning from the Food Co-op field trip, I participated the “IV 101 On Patrol with the 5-0” at 4 o’clock on the same day. The presentation was given by UCSB Police Department Corporal D.Miller. Although there was no food at this event, everyone came for the raffle. The big prize was a brand new beach cruiser with a U Lock. I admitted that I, like many other students, went to the event for the beach cruiser too. The police introduced many common arrests and citations in UCSB and Isla Vista. I found the presentation very informative, because many of us would not know how serious things could be and how to avoid them. There were many ways for one to be arrested without knowing the laws here. For example, people cannot sit on the curb. Another tip that he provided us was to have at least one partner at all times when we go to party. He said that most of the police will let go of people, only when they are almost 99% sure that the person who is not sober can arrive home safely. Thus, having companies are very important for students who want to party at Isla Vista.

Besides learning how to party safely, I had also learned many interesting facts about Isla Vista. I had learned that the theft rate is extremely high and 25% of the crime in Santa Barbara takes place in Isla Vista. For this reason, I still could not decide whether or not to buy a bike.

8/9 Wellness Field Trip – IV Food Co-op

Wellness Field Trip – IV Food Co-op organic vs. non-organic tasting meets.

On Friday, August 9^th, I went on the field trip with the Wellness staffs to Isla Vista Food Co-op. Again, many students, including me, went to the field trip because there were FREE FOODS. We followed a person from the Wellness center to the Food Co-op. It was about a 15 minute walk. On the way to the Food Co-op, I had also made many new friends. One of them even becomes my best friend now. For that reason, I am already glad that I did attend the field trip. After we arrived at the store, we met the owner. She seemed to be very excited to see us. She told us about the history of the store and the reason why she came back to Isla Vista to run this business. I could tell that she really loves her job.

After her introduction about the store, she provided many organic food and non-organic food for us to taste. I had learned the difference between organic food and non-organic food. I was surprised that the organic foods taste so much more delicious than non-organic or processed foods. Organic foods are much more juicy and refreshing. Besides organic fruit, chocolate, and chips, my favorite one was the organic guacamole dip. I had tried guacamole before, but I never really enjoyed eating them. However, the organic guacamole dip at the Food Co-op tasting was very delicious and refreshing. I fell in love with guacamole dip immediately.

8/16 EOP International Desserts Social

EOP International Desserts Social

On Tuesday, August 16^th, I went to the EOP International Desserts Social located at the San Nicholas Rec Room. Many of the FSSP students were already in line when I arrived there. I figured that almost every events use food to attract students to attend, which I thought to be very effective. After my roommate and I signed in with the EOP staffs, we headed in the Rec Room to look for food. There were a lot of tables set up in the room, each with a little tag on it. On each of the little tags, there were different country names on them. Each table represented a country. I was surprised that EOP actually prepared so many different kinds of desserts. Moreover, there were about six kinds of desserts for one country. Before I attended the event, I was only expecting for about five different countries only.

I tried desserts from Denmark, Japan, Mexico, and Belgium. I wished I was able to try more of them, but I was too full from all the cakes, cookie, mochi ice cream, and bread. Besides the desserts, they also serve a variety of beverages. It was my first time drinking Italian soda. I remembered that the soda tasted like bubble gum.

Besides having the opportunity to try so many different international desserts, I hope EOP can introduce us more in depth about every single dessert. I think it will be very interesting to learn about the desserts’ names instead of just eating them. However, the EOP international dessert night was fun.

Dr.Lubach's presentation + Library

On last week’s INT 95 lecture, Dr. Lubach, the associate dean of students, came to give us a presentation on critical thinking. I did love Dr.Lubach’s presentation. I thought that he was an interesting speaker. His slides show was very simple and easy to understand along with his speech. The slides show was composed with many pictures, but it would not make sense without listening to his speech. For this reason, I was very engaged in his presentation. In addition, I thought that he had a good sense of humor. His presentation connected to me, because he pointed out that we, as UCSB students, have to learn to develop our critical thinking ability during college. He showed us a pyramid of levels that lead to critical thinking. The pyramid included knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. For me, analysis is by far the hardest one.

On the last INT 95 section, we went to the library to meet with Mrs. Weimer. She guided us to browse through the UCSB library homepage and taught us how to access to the website when we are off campus. I did not know how to search for books and to look for full text scholar articles from the database before. For this reason, I found this information very useful. After the appointment with Mrs.Weimer, I now know how to access to those different databases that are available for us whenever I need to do a research. I also thought that the handouts that she gave us were very useful, because I did not know how to locate the books that I want in the library before.

Response to the 2 Plagiarism Articles

After reading the article “What Is Plagiarism?,” I think it is horrifying. I personally think that it is hard for college students to avoid it, because there are many times where they have to analyze and summarize articles. Students should be taught about this topic more in depth. Sometimes it is confusing of what to cite and what one do not have to cite. The examples that are given in the passage are clear enough for one to distinguish, but I think more gray area will appear while writing on our own. Even though it is not an easy task, college students still have to learn to do so. Other than knowing what to cite, paraphrasing can also be difficult for an English learner like me, who do not know a lot of vocabulary. However, I believe that most college students are aware of giving credit to the original author, and they do not intend to plagiarize. I think intention should be considered as a factor too.

I have also read the other article named “How to Avoid Plagiarism.” When it comes to “plagiarism,” I have always thought of writing class. I was not aware of how plagiarism could happen in scientific field until I read this article. I have learned different possible ways of plagiarizing that most of us could be unaware of. Compared to the previous article I have read, I think this article provides more types and actual examples of plagiarism. The article makes it more clearly for readers to understand what could be considered as plagiarism.

Yun Ju,Chen

Librarian's Lecture & Career Counseling

On the last INT95 lecture, the librarian came to give us a presentation on the resources in the library and a little bit of introduction of herself. I think it is great that she works at a place that she has always been exposed to and a place that she loves to be in. One of the interesting services that she introduced is the twenty-four hour online chat. I find that service is very useful and helpful, and I will definitely utilize that service whenever I have a problem researching for my papers. After these past two lectures, I am fascinated by the two guest speakers. I wish I have that kind of passion toward my occupation in the future. Both of the speakers devote most of their lives in their career, and they love their jobs.

On last week’s INT section, we went on a tour to the counseling resource room. I picked up many of the flyers that I am interested in, especially the accounting internship flyer. In addition to the resources they provided at the office, I was informed that there is going to be an on campus job fair. I am thinking about getting a job on campus. After the appointment with the staffs at the career services building, I have learned that the counseling resource room is not only for jobs search, but also internships opportunities and resources for graduate school. I have also learned that UCSB will assist students finding jobs for 3 months after they graduate. I find this tour very helpful, because now I know who and where to go to if I want to know more about job opportunities and graduate school.

Yun Ju,Chen

Major Fair & SRB & Being Resourceful

I went to the major and minor fair this afternoon. I thought that it was great to have this fair for freshmen like me. At the major fair, I talked to Kimberly Hampton, who is the undergraduate advisor for the department of economics, and I took a flyer about my major. One of the interesting facts I had learned is that one of our upper classman went to New York Wall Street for internship. It made me really excited about going into my major. Even though economics is not a business major, it serves as the base of business. The flyer provides much information about my major, and it also includes a major sheet for students to keep track of their requirements. I thought that the flyer was very informative and useful.

On the last INT95 section, we were able to take a tour at the student resource building (SRB). I was very fascinated with the design of the building. It was very modern. I had found the EOP office and CLAS. One interesting spot that I had found was the box for people to donate their old sneakers. I thought that it was very nice to have that, because I would definitely donate my old sneakers for people who really need them instead of throwing away the sneakers.

As of being a resourceful college student, I think it means to be a student that people can go to and to be a student that knows how to reach out to the resources that his or her school provides. There are many programs, services, and clubs that are offered to students at UCSB. I think it is very important for students to utilize those resources that are provided for them. It does not only help them to be more successful but also more involved to their school.

INT95 Blog Post#2 - Lecture on 08/13

Hi! This is Yun Ju Chen again.

At the INT95 lecture yesterday, we had Professor Stewart Smith to present about his researches in various locations around Egypt. He is the chair of Anthropology of our school and he is an expert in Anthropology and Archaeology. He shared a lot of interesting pictures of the bones and tombs, and he also demonstrated that people were buried in various positions in different areas. One word that he summed up for those discoveries is “context” because they tell the whole story of the past event. He also mentioned of two essential preparations before starting a research are to find funding resources and obtain all the permits needed to conduct the research. One of the main resources that he requested for funding was the National Science Foundation.

I could tell that he really has passion in his previous researches through his presentation, because he was so excited when he showed us pictures of him working in the tombs. I was fascinated when he told us that he had worked with the Hollywood industry because of his profession in old Egyptian language and knowledge of the Egyptian culture. When he said that he had helped the movie Stargate and The Mummy to translate the scripts, I felt that it was so amazing because I had always wondered how movies in those historic settings were created. I had never learned about the actual Egyptian culture, so I was always stunned by those special customs and landmarks in the movie. After all, I was really glad to learn about Professor Smith’s researches through his presentation and I hoped that I will have that kind of passion toward my profession in the future.

Yun Ju, Chen J

INT95-Blog Post#1-Introduction

Hi! My name is Yun Ju Chen, but everyone can just call me Melody. I grew up in Taiwan and moved to California four years ago. I attended a public high school named Elk Grove High school. I didn't like that city too much, so my first impression of America wasn't so great. After coming to UCSB, I found myself starting to like this place.

I was very involved in clubs during high school. I was the secretary, vice president, and president of Japanese club, and I was also the volunteer coordinator in Key Club. I wasn't a very sporty person, so clubs was my main extracurricular activities. I had also learned four years of Japanese in high school. Japanese culture interests me the most.

The reason why my parents send me here is to have a better education in America, so school is definitely my priority. Even though English is my second language, I have always tried my best and worked hard to catch up my classmates. I choose UCSB over other schools, because UCSB has a really good econ/accounting program and UCSB also offers Japanese classes. I am a first year econ & accounting major and I hope that I will be able to study abroad in Japan through the Education Abroad Program on campus.

I have joined FSSP, because I want to get more familiar to the campus before fall quarter starts. I am having a great time in UCSB so far, and I am really glad that I did apply for FSSP. There are so many activities that teach us more than academic stuff. I really want to learn more about the resources they have on campus and try all the outdoor activities they offer.