Genetics Final

I am behind on updates. Been focusing on finals even though there's been a lot going on. Time to start correcting that.

Alright. Let's first talk Finals prep. I wanted to begin studying the Saturday before the final (scheduled for Friday), but then I received an email from my Psy Research teacher that our group project got selected as one of the Top 5 projects of the class, and would be presenting for extra credit that Monday. (More on that tomorrow.) So there went my weekend. I didn't want to let my group down, and well... I wanted to win.

So that left me Monday through Thursday to study, keeping in mind that my final paper for Psy Research was also due Friday. We had two full chapters to cover (11 and 12), and then five partial chapters to study for (in order of assumed importance - 16, 17, 13, 14, 10). I divided the chapters up to cover Monday through Wednesday, and to just review on Thursday.

It didn't turn out that way. I didn't study Monday, but I still did get studying in the rest of the three days. I'd read a section of a chapter, digest the information, study the figures we needed to learn, and then took a break. I'd write down all the info from memory, and redraw the diagrams til I could regurgitate it just fine, then moved on to the next section.

It was a nice system, and with frequent breaks, it didn't feel like it took too much time out of my day. It's nice not cramming material the night before. My study habits aren't where they should be yet, but they're certainly improving. I didn't feel pressure when it came to studying for Genetics and meeting up with my group to work on our presentation and paper, but if I went into pharmacy school now I don't think it'd be good enough. (Another thing that I did was to delete Plants vs Zombies from my computer, which was sucking up a couple hours of time each day.)

Then came the actual final. The way I calculated it, I needed to get 104 points out of 100 points + 5 extra credit, to get an A. That would be highly unlikely. I had a 21 point cushion to get that A- and not drop down to a B+. As it is right now, I feel I should have gotten an A in the class, but an A- will be acceptable. I won't be happy, but I'll accept it. Getting a B- would be dissatisfying, and a B would be somewhat devastating.

From an Admissions standpoint (at least the one that I have in my head), this is my first science class since I switched to pharmacy, and I only had a 6 unit semester, so I should have gotten an A. On the other hand, since this is my first science class since I switched majors, maybe there's some leeway there. When I'm done, they'll see my progression and recovery since the "bad days" as long as I really do get all A's and some A-'s with the rest of my classes, maybe it's not so bad. And this isn't my last science class at SFSU anymore, like I thought in the beginning of the semester, since I'll be able to take Cell Bio and General BioChem this summer. (Although it's my last first attempt science class... sheesh... I think things through way too much.)

So I went in, and took the final, and it was pretty easy. All the answers came to me pretty quickly. I didn't answer what I assume is 1 point of the extra credit, and 2 points of the regular questions, so that guarantees no A in the class (unless the professor "curves" the scores, which I will not rely on), but that was unlikely in the first place.

But... while I felt I finished with a good 10 minutes left, and was just glancing over all my answers, as soon as I walked out the door, I realized I messed up a simple part of the first question! It was a 20 point question. I tried calculating it in my head, and originally thought I'd for sure get 12-14 points wrong. Adding that to the questions I didn't answer, that left me with 4 points left of my cushion left!! But after thinking more about it, I think it's more like 6-8 points marked off, which is a little bit better.

Realizing a mistake right when you leave an exam is not a fun experience. It's been constantly popping up in my mind these past three days. I do not want a B+. I do want to see my grade now, but I'll have to wait until June 2nd. We'll see how it goes then.

Genetics Take Home Exam - Quick Correction

Two things about the exam. It seemed to be a consensus that the Question 1 could have been worded better. That seemed to be the question most people were asking about before class was started as they compared answers.

The other thing is that it's good I double checked with someone else. I overlooked an important sentence that was part of Question 2a. I read the question as: Both John and Jane have siblings with sickle cell anemia but don't have it themselves.  What is the chance that their child will also have the disease. I overlooked the part of the question that said that no one else in the family had sickle cell anemia. That completely changed how the problem should be approached since the disease is autosomal recessive.

Genetics Take Home Exam

I've been working on my Take Home Exam (which will be averaged with my lowest exam score). For the most part, most of it is pretty easy... except for the very first question which is worth 15 points. I don't think we were taught how to indicate the chromosomal make-up of a cell that's gone through meiosis I. How do you show chromatids connected by a centromere if the original cell began with 1m1d2m2d3m3d?

And the question asks to state the possible chromosomal composition of daughter cells.  Does the=a? Because there isn't much space to write the answer, so it can't be to write down all the possible combinations due to crossover.  Well, there is no Psy Research tomorrow due to a furlough, so I'll have that hour free, and get some help from classmates. (Working on the exam with others is allowed. I wanted to work on it by myself at first because I wanted to really see if I knew the material.)

We'll see how it goes.

Summer 2010 - Revised Again or SFSU Continues!

I'm juggling so many balls in my head right now.  It's somewhat hard to know where to start, but let's go ahead with school.

Summer 2010. I made an assumption, and I made it wrong, that it would be nearly impossible for me to get into Summer classes at San Francisco State. The programs are impacted, and it has been nearly impossible to get into any class these past couple semesters. But when I checked, just in case, on the enrollment info for Cell Biology, I was surprised with a nice 76 seats still vacant out of the room that seats an estimated 120!  Priority enrollment continues on until tomorrow, but no one added today.

8:00am Monday morning I'll be adding the class, and I expect to get in. The $325 a unit isn't going to be fun, but this is an opportunity that I shouldn't pass up.

More importantly, because of this latest development, I was browsing through the other available classes for the Summer. I had always assumed that BIOL 340 was the only Biochem class, while it was BIOL 349 that was being offered. Well... just in case again, I just clicked on over to the Western U website to pull up their convenient website that lists equivalent courses, and voila! BIOL 349 is also an acceptable class!! And it still has 39 seats open in a room that holds an estimated 150!

This is huge. I was going to play it by ear, with what classes I'd be able to take and see which schools' minimum requirements I'd be able to reach. Prior to this, I really only had a solid shot at UCSF and Tuoro, but all the out of state schools that I have yet to research. With as many units as I have, and the F's that I allowed myself to get by prioritizing school last in my life, it remains to be seen whether or not I can get the 3.0 minimum prerequisite GPA for USC or UCSD. hose schools are already moved over to the 2nd Round of applications column if I don't get in to other schools on my first attempt.

I also will not have the two required BioChem classes that Western U requires, nor do I plan on applying to Loma Linda because they ask for one Letter of Rec to be from a... I forget how they word it exactly... but something like a faith counselor. Right now I'm a non-practicing Catholic, and I wouldn't feel right asking a priest to write me a letter or recommendation.

So that cuts my choices down to four. UCSF, Northstate, Touro, and UoP. Four thanks to my ability to take both Cell Bio and BioChem during the summer. I expect the reason why there are still seats open is because this isn't the normal enrollment system, and people have to go through the special College of Extended Learning portion of the website, rather than the normal sfsu.edu. Whatever the case may be, I lucked out.

What does this mean for Microeconomics and Intro to Biotechnology at CCC? Well, if I get in, I'm going to drop that, because my schedule would conflict, but I'm still going to take the Biotech class. That class is online and isn't offered on a regular basis from what I can tell.  It's certainly not offered in the Fall.

And this post is long enough as is. I'll just have to get to the other thoughts moving around in my mind in a later post.

CCC - Summer 2010

So with my hopes of being able to get into Cell Biology at SFSU burned down to a nub, I went to my safety net of CCC to sign up for classes. I signed up for Microeconomics with no problem... but when I attempted to add Gen Chem I, it said I couldn't add it.

Apparently since the 8 years or so since I took that class and left CCC, they started a new school wide policy.  No classes can be repeated unless you receive below a C-. That was new to me. After emailing all the schools to find out their expiration date policies for prerequisite classes, I'm pretty safe not retaking a class I already got an A in. But that alters my plans for the coming Fall and Spring semesters. There's no retaking Calculus I & II at CCC. I'll have to explore other community colleges if I want to take those, unless I can get permission.

So what to do? I signed up for Intro to Biotechnology. If things don't work out, I gotta prepare for a back up, and right now working in the biotechnology industry might be it.

SFSU Genetics Exam 2 Results

Ok, exam results in, and it's not good. I got a 62 on the exam. A 62!! Of all the thoughts that went through my head as I walked out that door, almost the wost case scenario happened. The big issue... problem number 1 which was worth 30 points.  

It was one of those problems that had multiple parts to it (5pts, 10pts, 10tps, and 5pts)  For some reason my mind couldn't just quite get the first step to the problem (figuring out the order between three genes) and that messed up my results for the rest of the problem. I changed my answer to one part losing me 5pts, missed a 10pts part, and only got half of the other 10pt part. Netting me only 5 points. (I do however think I should have gotten partial points because I did the calculations flawlessly, just with the wrong assumed order. I'll be going to my professor's office hours and discuss that.) Considering how much time I spent on problem 1 that took time away from reviewing a simple problem that I wanted to take a second look at, in total that simple mistake cost me anywhere from 20-30 points on this exam.

So where does that leave me? There are 400 points to the class. I got a 99 for Exam I + Bonus Quiz.. I have perfect attendance which should equal 50 points. I have my research paper on ALS turned in which can get me up to 50 points. With this 62 points, that's a total of 261 points of 300 taken so far, with 100 left to go.  Sort of.

Good news is that the professor is going to give us a take home exam. Open book, open notes, open people.  The score on this take home exam will be averaged with my lowest score. That means my 62 can turn into an 81. I need a 92% to get an A in the class.  So I have a 12 point window if I perfect the take home and the paper. Perfecting the paper is unlikely. I'm guessing 1 to 5 points taken away from that. If I can get some partial credit of 2 points on my Exam 2 raw score (netting me 1 point after averaging a perfect take home.) then that means I have an 8 point window for Exam 3.

That A is still possible, but I want it guaranteed.  I'll be going to my professor's office hours once a week from here on out.  I don't want a stupid brain fart to cripple my score again.  There will be no bonus quiz this time.  No take home exam.  Exam 3 is Exam 3 and that's it.

SFSU - Summer 2010 Update

Summer registration is coming.  But sadly I have to report a correction to my previous post. SFSU will still be handing out priority registration dates, even though they'll be using the college of extended learning type of registration. That means the chances of me being able to squeeze in Cell Biology even though I'll be graduated have been greatly reduced.  They'll be getting a week head start on me, beginning April 12th, while I can't attempt to register until the 19th.  (I know some people have come across my blog looking up info specifically about Summer 2010, go here for all the info, including how to request financial aid and the special form that takes.)

So what does that mean for me? That means I need to plan out backups. I'll be on the lookout to see how class Cell Bio fills up, and if that happens, prepare to enroll in summer classes at City College of San Francisco and Contra Costa Community College.  At this moment, those classes are looking to be physics I and microeconomics.

Google Docs is Your Friend - Psy Group Project Lit Review

I haven't posted in nearly a week, not because I had nothing to say, but because I was trying to focus. Had a group project due today. Pretty much we had to research, summarize, and put together a paper that describes all the related previous research for the project we chose. That sounds fairly simple. But we had to cite at least twenty peer reviewed journal articles. And that means finding and reading much, much more than twenty articles. Thankfully things are easier now with internet databases at our finger tips, but still... it's like going to a wikipedia article, then clicking on a link in the article to lead you to another, which will lead to another, and another, until you found enough useful information to tell the story you want to tell.

Thankfully my group members did their share of the work for the most part. Certainly one of the best groups I've worked with in recent memory. I did not feel like I was alone doing all the work. One of them didn't help as much when consolidating our different segments of the paper into one coherent paper with one coherent voice, but he did a lot of research, and I find that to be the harder part. I enjoy writing.

And even with just three people, sometimes it's hard to get together all at the same time, but I came up with the idea to use Google Docs from the beginning. If we found an article, we numbered it, linked it, and put it up there. If someone summarized an article, even one that they didn't find themselves, they left the notes up there for everyone to see. If we had messages to each other, we left them up there. And you can see when other people are on there the same time as you.

There is no chat feature incorporated into the software, but eventually I came up with the idea to just box off the top section of the doc with some dashed lines, and labeled it chatbox. So when we put together the final paper, and edited each other's sections, and went through the checklist of things we needed to accomplish, we could leave messages for each other fairly easily, since we knew to periodically look up and check for new messages. Not as convenient as a true chat feature, but came pretty close.

Google docs is such a beautiful program. Simultaneous editing until 3am in the morning, all from the comfort of our own homes even though we live pretty far apart. And no need for one person to do the work, email it to everyone else and have them review it, and then someone else revise and email it out again. So convenient, so useful. Google docs is your friend.

Alarm Failure... My First Missed Class

Oh man.  I already missed one day of class.  I slept through my alarm on Friday.  Well... not exactly.  I set my alarm to go off at 6 o'clock... but I set it for 6pm, rather than 6am!  What this means is that I most likely missed a pop quiz that was strongly hinted at for my Psy Research class which was worth a decent amount of points.  (Only 6 pop quizzes for the semester.)

And on top of that, I had my Saturday class today, and when I set my alarm to 8 o'clock, I forgot that it was still in the PM time range!  I woke up at 8:43, and luckily my community college is nearby, and I made it to class on time.

So I went and ordered a new alarm clock from Amazon, this one with dual alarms.  We'll see how that's going to work out for me.

First Week of My Last Semester at SFSU

My first week is over.  I'm not used to having to leave the house at 6:30am, but I'm managing.  I need a bit more work in fixing my sleep cycle but I'm getting there.

And 6:30 isn't exactly right either.  I can leave a little bit later, but 6:30 is being safe.  I'm doing the dreaded morning commute across the San Francisco Bay Bridge during the peak hours.  I actually got to a late start on Monday and left at 7:00am and got to class by 8:20am (it starts at 8:10am).  On Friday I left at 6:45am and got there by 7:30am.  That's only a difference of 15 minutes for departure time, but a 50 minute difference in arrival!

But on to my classes...

Intro Psy Research

It's hard to evaluate the class.  It's a large class, and we spent most of the time with administration issues. There wasn't much actual learning.  That ended up being somewhat convenient, since my textbook should arrive from amazon.com tomorrow.  I do hope the learning ramps up soon though.

Genetics

Now for this class I had the book before the first class started, and I was glad I did. The professor definitely expects you to read the relevant chapter before going into lecture.  There's no step by step instruction on minute details.  I like that.  This is my first science class in three semesters, and I want it to be challenging.  It's time to dive back in.

GLP and GMP: Principles & Compliance

This is just a one unit class at my community college.  I didn't really know what to expect out of it, but it seemed like it might be relevant.  And since it takes place only over three Saturdays, if I was wrong, then it wouldn't be a big deal.  After the first class is over... I'm still not sure.  We went over some of the basic history of some of the laws that I had to learn about when studying for the PTCE like the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, we learning how to write proper research notebooks, and then given worksheets and homework to help us learn how to navigate the FDA website.

I think what I'm getting out of it is worth it.  I am actually learning some stuff.  And this should help me be able to register for future classes as a continuing student, when it comes time to retake some prerequisites.


My Cat

Since I mentioned my cat a couple days ago, and how he made me late on Monday, I thought I'd put up one last update about Pouncer.  The cancer has seriously impeded his ability to eat.  I was watering down soft canned food and he still couldn't eat that.  He would start choking and then back away from food.  Now he just looks and the food and doesn't even try to eat it.  =/  Today he pretty much just drank a lot of milk after he saw that he couldn't eat the food we were trying to feed him.  So tomorrow we'll be taking him in to the vet before he starts starving.  That would be a horrible way to go.  I'm gonna miss him.

My Final Undergrad Semester Begins!

Finally my last semester as an undergrad has begun. It's a relief, but one that comes with many regrets. I wish I had more time to retake some of the pre-pharm prerequisites. But I have no choice. I have reached the end of my degree completion plan, and the school knows it.  They even sent me an email saying, "The spring 2010 will be the last semester that you are permitted to attend San Francisco State University." to let me know that they know it.

With as impacted as a lot of the programs are at SFSU, more specifically the chem and bio departments, and the push to relieve that stress on the school (so far as to no longer admit freshmen and transfers for this Spring semester), that means I'll have to get lucky if I'm going to be able to take any of the prerequisites at SFSU.

There is absolutely zero chance of being able to squeeze my way in to any class through the Open University method (which is last priority, open to everyone including non-students), so I'll have to be on the look out for any prerequisites that are offered as night courses and pay a high per unit cost.

So how did my day go?

- My Cat & Getting to School

Well... my schedule is 8:10-9:00am Introduction to Psychology Research, then 9:10-10:00am for Genetics. I was doing well this whole week prior in getting my body adjusted for the morning commute across the Bay Bridge. That meant I would need to leave the house at 6:30am to comfortably arrive at SFSU, find parking, and make it to class.

Well... problem is that my cat got sick. He's 14 years+, he has cancer in his mouth, and lost all his teeth.  We're ready to put him to sleep sometime within the next several weeks, because it's getting hard for him to even eat the soft canned food. And he got sick over the weekend, constantly sneezing and having a hard time breathing. And he likes to sleep in my bed.

What this means for me is that while I went to bed at 9:00pm, he kept me up all night. I never slept for more than two hours at a time. I didn't have the heart to kick him out of my room.  I'd wake up and the clock showed 2:10, then 2:30, 4:00, 5:05. I was thinking that I'd get up shortly after 6:00am to get ready and be out the door by 6:30am. But when I woke up for the last time, it was already 6:53!

I got out of bed, threw on some clothes, grabbed a Nutri-grain bar, and headed off to school. Some teachers  drop students if they don't show up to the first day of class. Even though I left the house thirty minutes later than I planned, I was still able to get in the door only ten minutes late.

- Intro Psy Research

As I walked through to door, the teacher commented on how students shouldn't be late. (Perhaps she's new, she definitely isn't the regular Psy Research teacher who teaches all the sections.)  I didn't plan on being late of course, but I also knew I wouldn't the last to enter. It was the first day of class, and there hasn't been a single class that I've ever attended where students didn't keep on coming in late on the first day, as students fumbled through their new schedules. Especially morning classes.

I must have been the one of the first few people to arrive late, because sure enough, people kept on coming in up to fifteen minutes after I arrived. Her reaction was also exceedingly more and more harsh, so the point that this one girl froze as she entered because the professor grunted at her, then violently waved her hand in a hurrying motion telling the girl to go find a seat.

As I don't plan on ever being late, I don't expect to get that reaction anytime soon. But who knows.  Occasionally something happens.

- Genetics

Genetics was a much more pleasant reaction. Besides haven't to stand the entire time because the room was full of enrolled students and students who wanted to add, the teacher seemed friendly, laid out some straight forward grading policies, explained the book and the associated website that goes along with it, and overall created a very comfortable environment.

Later on today I'll be downloading the syllabus, and begin reading chapter one today (and finish reading it by Wednesday's class). I'm also going to be taking all her suggestions in working on the problems in the book, even though they won't be collected for points, as well as going through the activities on the book's website.

I'm excited to be in my first science course in a while, and especially one that's fresh material.  It's nice having a desire to learn once again. And applying that desire in a class that I know will benefit me in the career that I'm pursuing.

SFSU - Summer 2010?

Good news! Summer 2010 classes will be held through SF State Extended Learning. We are preparing to offer a wide variety of high-demand courses this summer that will help you complete some of your degree requirements.  We are still finalizing registration deadlines and class offerings for summer 2010. We will provide detailed information online in the next couple of months so please check the SF State Extended Learning website frequently for information: http://www.cel.sfsu.edu/summer.  Further details regarding summer registration and class offerings will be sent to you in the spring.

I received this email yesterday.  And this is good news.  For me at least.  It can be viewed as bad news to regular students in respect to last year, and how Summer registration was just like a normal Fall/Spring semester, with all the priority registration and all that.  But it can also be viewed as good news to them since there was a worry that Summer classes would be canceled, much like Winter classes were this year due to budget constraints, so at least summer classes are offered.

What does this mean for me?  It means I'm put on an even playing field with everyone else.  If I understand this right, classes are now more expensive (paid by the unit and not the normal part-time/full-time plan) and there is no priority registration.  That means I have a chance of getting into some summer classes at SFState, whereas before I felt that I had essentially no chance of getting into any classes after I graduate.

It still remains to be seen as to what classes will be offered, and if any of those classes will be any different from those that I can take at my community college, but now I know I should be on the lookout.

CCC - Spring 2010

Well, I went an enrolled into a one unit class at my community college.

Course Title: GLP and GMP; Principles and Compliance 

Description:  This course will introduce students to the laws, regulations, and quality practices associated with the biotechnology industry, with emphasis on the development of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Students will gain hands-on experience navigating and using the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website.

It's only a one unit class from 9am to 3pm, and takes place for only three Saturdays during the semester.  I'm taking the class for several reasons.  For one thing, I had no idea my community college offered classes like this, and it's not something that SFSU offers.  Another is of course that it seems like something that might be useful to know.  Another reason is that I need to look for more units to take that aren't repeat classes.

And the final reason is that by taking one class in the Spring, I'll be able to get in on the early enrollment of continuing students for the Summer or Fall (whichever I do first), rather than have to wait for the new student enrollment period.  I've been through enough enrollment problems in the past.  That's not going to happen again.

SFSU - Spring 2010

Well.. my registration time appeared, and I've registered for my final classes at San Francisco State University as an undergrad.  I'm taking "Introduction to Research in Psychology" and "Genetics."  The first because it's the final class I need to get my degree in Psychology, and the second because I need to take a class that I'm not repeating that will also help to demonstrate that I can handle the material in pharm school.

I'm only enrolled into two classes for two reasons, money is an issue right now and with this schedule I should be able to (hopefully) get a full time job as a pharmacy technician.  My classes are MWF 8-10am, with one more hour "to be arranged" whatever that means.

The good thing is that both these classes are fresh, and not courses I'm repeating.  The bad thing is that it's only six units, and I will have to take on a much harder load in a later semester to help my chances of getting accepted anywhere.

The worse thing is that I talked to an adviser on Monday, and found out that SFSU only accepts post-baccs in a specific two year program for pre-health students.  I can qualify for that, but it's a specific program and costs over $30k a year.  That's just as much (or more) as pharm school!  I can't afford that money, and the time commitment is pretty huge.

The California schools are in trouble, and have too many students at the moment.  They can't afford to take on more than they have.  That means my only option (to take classes at SFState after graduation) is to attempt to enroll through the Open University policy.  That essentially boils down to "Show up to class on the first day and cross your fingers that there is a spot open."  That'll be extremely unlikely with how packed the classes are.

What that means for me is that, unless I find out that it's possible for me to get into classes at another 4-year university, then I'll have to hope that taking all the classes I can at my local community college will be enough to help offset my grades.  Thankfully there's still Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology that I still have to take that will be available to me.  Unfortunately BioChem and Immunology classes may not be possible for me to retake.  And somewhat in between fortunately and unfortunately I may have to retake my Physics and Calculus classes because I took them so long ago.  (Having to retake them over kinda sucks... but then I have a reason to stack those hard classes with the other ones to create some tough semesters.)

This also places greater importance in studying for the PCAT and doing well on it.  I was starting to think that maybe I'll just apply to California in my first go around and add more schools for the second attempt, but with limited options into what classes I can take at a community college... well... it might not be enough to get into California schools.

It's not impossible.  The plan is to get all A's from here on out.  We'll just have to see how it goes.

Undergrad Degree Delayed

Due to reduced support from the California Legislature and the governor, Winter 2010 has been canceled.

Well, that's depressing.  I got a text from my friend, and my hopes for finishing my final class in the short winter session have been crushed.  I'll now have to go through the full Spring semester before I can finally get that degree.

The BECA (Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts) Department was very helpful in putting up more information that I could find in the main SFSU website, as well as offer up options on how to voice complaints to the state.

Frustrated by the lack of available classes? The state cut the CSU and SFSU’s budget by over 20%, so there is no money to offer more BECA classes or teach more students. The best thing all students can do right now is to contact the following state decision makers and make sure they know how their decision to cut the CSU is impacting your life. Below is a list of legislators to contact.

A student complaint form can be downloaded in pdf format at the beca.sfsu.edu website, as well as contact information for:

-Governor: Arnold Schwarzenegger
-U.S. Senator: Dianne Feinstein
-U.S. Senator: Barbara Boxer
-State Senator: Sen. Leland Yee
-State Representative: Fiona Ma

The State of California's State Colleges

My friend sent me this link today from Yahoo News titled "College cutbacks make it harder to earn degrees."

It isn't just tuition increases that are driving up the cost of college. Around the country, deep budget cuts are forcing colleges to lay off instructors and eliminate some classes, making it harder for students to get into the courses they need to earn their degree.

The news isn't news to me. While I haven't graduated in large part due to my priorities shifting in the wrong direction for a time, once I regained my determination this issue has certainly contributed to holding me back. It is the reason that I needed to still get once specific class to graduate, rather than having already completed it. And it is part of the reason that I'm not currently in school now.

Redoglia unsuccessfully crashed 26 different classes, hoping to find space that would move him closer to a hospitality management degree.

I know that many majors are impacted, but even with going to school at San Francisco State, that is a surprising number. That really makes me sad. It's not the school's fault specifically. There's just no money. The budget got cut.

As an example of what the school system is doing to try to keep teachers and classes, the school has instituted "furlough days" into the school semester. There are, I believe, two additional extra long weekends that students get off this semester. Besides Thanksgiving break, there are two extra Friday/Mondays off, where the school is completely shut down, and all the lights turned off. The school saves on electricity and there are unofficial pay cut across the board for all instructors, and probably all campus employees.

I know what the counter argument said at the end of the article, but education should have a higher priority in the state's budget than it does.

The schools are in a tough spot and so are we.