TL;DR class descriptions/info to help underclassmen know about classes thru personal experiences. Add to it with extra info or questions!
To all the incoming freshmen or other underclassmen - you’ll prolly hear it a lot, but the time really does go by so fast. Enjoy it, soak it in, and step out of your comfort zone. Someone posted their classes thru Purdue to let other students know how those classes were (in case it was a niche/high-level class or it wasn’t on RateMyProfessor). That was pretty helpful to me so Imma do it too. I’ll let u kno how the courses went and what I can remember. I’m graduating from the College of Ag with a B.S. in Animal Sciences with a concentration in Biosciences and minors in Biotechnology and Real Estate. I came into Purdue with AP and Dual Credits, so some things I didn’t take. Anyway, here are the classes I took.
Anyone who’s taken any of these, please add on/say smth else if it has changed! Underclassmen, feel free to ask about them!
————————————————————————
FRESHMAN YEAR
AGR 101: Intro to Ag & Purdue (Multiple lecturers)
This course was THE intro course to Purdue and Ag (duh). It was a 1/2 semester course so I was done with it by week 8 and there was only a quiz. We were told the purpose of Purdue being land-grant and were just intro’d to the different parts/departments of the college of Ag + different success tips. This was also the class where u begin (already) thinking about your 4-year plan and create a LinkedIn. Easy A, just show up and learn about the college of Ag
AGR 114: Intro to ANSC Programs (Ashley York)
Also a 1/2 semester course that was done by Oct. This class just went into depth on what to expect as a student in the department. You may start work on a resumé, continue with planning or LinkedIn. Again, easy A, just show up. Also, Ashley was a saint helping me each year to make sure I was on track, even tho she wasn’t my advisor.
ANSC 102: Intro to Animal Ag (Elizabeth Karcher)
This class was the first “real” class of college. It was just an intro to different domestic species and the operations tht are part of animal ag. I think there was also a lab with the class where u were introduced to animals. Dr. Karcher also was a pretty good professor. Just pay attention - it’s sort of memorization for random facts about animals/common sense depending on what u took in high school/home life in a rural area. Should be easy A.
CHM 115: Gen Chem (Multiple lecturers)
Was never a fan of chemistry, so this class I went into with dread. I didn’t want to take AP Chem, and just dealt with it in college. Honestly, if u took honors/were a good student in hs chemistry, there should be no problem - was basically just like a high school class. There was a lab that went with this course, but because of COVID, I just had an online worksheet to do every week for pre-, in-, and post-lab so I can’t speak on it. If u aren’t inclined to chem, it might take a bit of extra studying, but I was never worried.
PHIL 110: Intro to Philosophy (Taylor Davis)
To be fair, I never exactly wanted to take this exact class. I came from a small town in the Midwest, so I wanted to be sure I wasn’t dumb or anything to the people, cultures, etc. around me. Told my advisor I wanted to take a class to give me more of a “world” perspective, so she suggested the class. It honestly was not bad at all. The professor knew what he was talking abt and very accepting of questions. We learned how to tear down an argument and build it up in several ways and talked about cool things like if we have free will, does God exist, etc. The only assignments that counted for the sem were a midterm and 2 papers - 1 small and 1 large philosophical essay over any topic from the class. Definitely changed my outlook, would recommend taking it. The first part of class was harder - making sure u understand why/how an argument does or doesn’t work - but the rest was fun/easy as the topics were just presented and talked about.
AGEC 217: Economics (Larry Deboer)
I found Econ as a topic in and of itself to be quite boring. Supply and demand, money, etc. The class kind of turned out that way. Its presented as basically supply/demand and reasons for changes to the them were slowly added throughout the semester. We had several assignments, but they were nothing terrible. Gotta give props to the professor, tho. He knew the class wasn’t great but made it fun. Also, the class is flexible for schedules as in some situations it can count for credit in place of ECON251.
POL 223: Intro to Environmental Policy (Tara Grillos)
When I first started, I thought the route I wanted was ANSC with some focus in environmental issues. That’s why I took this class. I don’t understand the “intro” part, really. The whole class was presented as just case studies for things that have happened that impacted policies from the late 1800s/early 1900s until recently. Some of the info was cool. I don’t remember much for assignments, but there was a group project/paper where u had to decide on an environmental issue, state how u plan to fix it, on what level of government, etc. It wasn’t a crazy class to be in as a freshman, but it was not what I was expecting for a POL class.
ANSC 181: Orientation to ANSC (Elizabeth Byers)
Another 1/2 semester course. This class, as far as I can remember, was just for showing u the possibilities available to u in ANSC. This was specifically ANSC. It went over every concentration and what jobs/salaries there were. This was also a class where we were assigned to create our resumés (professionally) and start networking. Just as, if not easier than the other 1/2 semester classes so far.
ANSC 221: Principles of Animal Nutrition (Dale Forsyth)
Sorry but not sorry for anyone in ANSC. The class is boring, but Dr. Dale Forsyth is such a sweet old man. This class is the intro for nutrition in ANSC. U will learn the different required nutrients, food stuffs (supplements and stuff too) that have these nutrients, what happens when animals are given too little of these, and how to balance/create rations for animals (ruminant and non-ruminant). As long as u are okay/good with algebra, there shouldn’t be a problem. U just need to solve systems of equations in Excel to get the right weight of a food stuff. Homework was balancing rations. Exams looked at that + nutrients and their deficiencies. Dr. Forsyth also talks fast and doesn’t slow down because he has a lot to get thru. Come into the class knowing it prolly isn’t going to be very fun, but u need to know it. Try to find something interesting in the whole.
BIOL 111: Fundamentals of Bio II (Sean Humphrey)
Not sure how this class really is. I came into college loving biology and being (not to sound like an ass) great at it. To me, it was easy and relearning biology from high school for a bit. To others it may be a bit more difficult. There is just a lot of memorization. The professor was nice and answered my questions when I had them and explained in great detail if I was confused. I can’t remember any assignments I turned in, or anything about exams. Overall, I thought it was an easy class, but be the judge urself.
CHM 116: Gen Chem (Multiple lecturers)
Just a continuation of CHM 115. It picked up where it left off. Got a little harder, but it was nowhere as hard as TV or anything makes it. There are definitely topics that show up from hs again, but a lot is new. Wasn’t fun for this class switching lecturers every few weeks since they each had their own lecture style. Again, there was a lab section, but because of COVID, it was a worksheet. Not the worst class, but a meh class.
MA 16020: Applied Calc II (Alexandros Kafkas)
The first and only time I had to take math here. In hs I took MA 165 and thought it was a breeze (prolly bc it was hs). To anyone wondering, MA 165 SHOULD count in place of MA 16010 in college of ag. With that in mind, I went into the course knowing what Purdue math is known for, but still keepin an open mind with my abilities. I’m really proud of the grade I got, too. I think a lot of the course depends on the lecturer - mine was good at teaching us new concepts. Learn all you can about the lecturer beforehand, find out if they are good, and see it for yourself. We had quizzes in class every week (MWF) over the previous lecture and homework thru LON-CAPA that was usually due the day aftebefore (Tues, Thurs, Sun, I think). The quizzes and homework were good starting problems. The exams were tough and harder than quizzes/hw. If u’ve done well in math, but aren’t a prodigy or someone who can put in hrs of work, don’t expect to get likely higher than mid-70s on exams. It was common to get around a 50-60%. They do curve “if it’s necessary” but it is ALWAYS necessary.
————————————————————————
SOPHOMORE YEAR
AGR 201: Communicating Across Cultures (Pamala Morris)
To start…BOO. Was not a fan of this class. Felt like it was a money grab and busy work. It was required for some international understanding credits. The content wasnt interesting but for sure important. We were taught to basically be good ppl and about the different types of hardships that groups of ppl could go thru (ageism, sexism, racism, classism, etc.). We were required to buy the book, which was $50, but written by the prof and from what I assume was her website. I don’t recall ever using it unless it was necessary for an assignment. The class helps u relate and think critically, but is done in a piss-poor way. It could hv been the COVID aftermath where lecture was done virtually but we had a class later on with other students for a “lab”. Quizzes were easy, and overall easy, but so bad too.
SPAN 201: Spanish III (Nancy Reyes)
I know I’ve said this already abt other courses, but this still applies. This course was 100% a high school class. I did a placement test into this course (after 3 years in HS Spanish - Fr. to Jr. - with a 2 year gap of not learning) and got all credit for Spanish 1 and 2. Took it for international understanding credits. This course made sure u knew the basics again, spent a lot of time in past tense, then ended w maybe a month in subjective and future tense. There were a few speaking assignments and cultural readings/lectures. Was encouraged to speak Spanish for class, but the prof knew that couldn’t happen but still helped us all. Exams included MC, writing, and listening. Not sure if this is the same for other languages, but hopefully it is.
CHM 255 + 25501: Orgo + Lab (Elizabeth Parkinson)
Dreaded this class, but went in confidently. The class sucks, no other way abt it. It was a lot of memorization and practice. A lot of the “basic” stuff started sticking about halfway thru the semester. It doesn’t help that I stopped going to lecture about 3/4 thru the sem. It wasn’t as hard as expected, but it was still quite hard. The prof was amazing at making the content interesting. Labs were ran by GTAs. Depending on the section your GTA may not kno anything. The labs also did not go along with the lecture - they are 2 separate courses that can individually be passed or failed. Exams were as you would expect with the course - a few high spots among a crowd of C’s and D’s. The lab had multiple things due every week w the semester started. It was expected to do ur pre-lab at start of week, turn in ur in-lab immediately after finishing lab, then the previous week’s post-lab/final lab was due. The lab also holds the policy that if u don’t show up dressed right or sleep late, if you don’t show up within 10/15min of start that u can’t show up and will receive a 0 for the lab.
ANSC 230: Physiology of Domestic Animals (Rod Allrich)
This class taught me a lot. Each week was a different body system and learning info regarding animals individually. Things were taught in general as overarching concepts, but then things were applied as necessary for individual species of animals. Everything was brought up from the digestive system to the endocrine system. The class met 4 days a week and had a quiz once a week. There was no lab when I took the course. The specific professor I had was also interesting to say the least. Dr. Allrich is a funny, good man, but he does not use or create slides. Instead he uses his own website to post info (usually from Merck veterinary) abt whatever it is he wanted u to learn. In class he would just ramble on about what he thought was important. ANYTHING he said could be test material - no matter what (I was told by an upperclassman to remember that his favorite pie was sour cream and raisin pie bc it was a quiz question they had). Now, there is a lab that goes with the course. Also, if u hv Cabot the course material and class are much harder than with Rod. There are expectations, lectures, and more. Regardless of the professor, the information that was taught was useful, remembered, and interesting. In any class, Rod typically will have this structure but will grade easily. Quizzes will be to write statements of fact and exams won’t exist or will be take-home with only having 5 paragraphs to write using a word bank
ABE 226: Biotech Lab I (Kari Clase)
This was the first course I took for my minor in Biotechnology. I did not know what to expect going in as I didn’t grasp the scope of biotech. The course was ran well. The whole class is a wet lab where u are in the scientific process trying to find a new species of bacteriophage. U dig in dirt, do some pipetting, use beakers, make plates, isolate DNA, and send it off. Any research u do/finding a phage gets put into a national database for phage research. U do hv lab notebooks that get checked, but hv an outline to go off. There were several quizzes and deliverables that had us learn about phage more, or aseptic technique. It was a good class. U do have to buy a lab coat (which is kinda cool). Easy class that kickstarted my interest.
CHM 256 + 25601: Orgo II + Lab (David Thompson)
This class was disastrous. It was me, the content AND the professor as to why that was the case. This was just a continuation of course and lab. The new content was harder to wrap my head around, + I stopped going to the lectures about halfway thru the sem. To make matters worse, the class was early and the prof was speaking in mach turtle. I would listen to the lectures a day later so I could 2x speed thru them and the man was sounding like a normal person talked. This class was harder than the previous course. If u didn’t like CHM 255, sorry this is worse. The lab was just the same as the previous sem, but the GTAs changed. Again, labs didn’t go with the lecture and are 2 individual courses to be passed or failed separately. I passed but the class made me rethink my life once or twice and was potentially the worst class I ever took.
STAT 301: Elementary Stat Methods (Spencer Hamrick)
I did not enjoy this course a single bit - besides the professor. The course throws, what I felt like, was the entire concept, terms, rules, designs of statistics at u. It was a lot at once for me. I felt like there was a disconnect between what I was learning and in what ways it applied to me. It wasn’t too difficult, but the class was boring. There was also a lab section that was not great either. We were forced to use SRSS. There were homework assignments on a different software/website that equally were boring. The exams were harder than expected - there were some sections with questions with such small disparities that the answer came down to a difference of 1 word in a sentence. Overall, there’s a lot to learn and it’s all pretty basic to give a general understanding, but it was done poorly. If it was done better, it likely would have been an easy course. This course tho is also one of the worst classes I took.
AGRY 320: Genetics (Joseph Anderson)
There’s not much to say about this course. It was genetics. It felt like another continuation from the end of BIOL 111. It built a foundation for DNA, chromosomes, and went from there. There was a lot of higher thinking and content that was build upon thru the semester. It was a bit of memorization, but the content was fun. There were hotseat/iclicker questions for each lecture. Prof. Anderson was also really good at presenting the info.
AGRY 321: Genetics Lab (Aneesha Kulkarni)
This was the lab that went with AGRY 320. It was separate from the lecture. I do not believe it ever followed along with the lecture. The semester was spent with Arabidopsis. From the plant, we extracted DNA, did PCR, did mutant analysis, etc. The whole semester led up to a final lab report for what had been done that semester. There were also some small lab assignments that needed done. The class was also serious about attendance which could have made a major impact on grades. It is also typically ran by a GTA. It was fun and I enjoyed it. There was never really any work that needed to be done outside of class and at times it let out early.
ANSC 333: Physiology of Reproduction (Jonathan Pasternak)
This was a good class. The content focused on female anatomy/physiology first, then male anatomy/physiology, then on interactions and changes to the body through hormones and development. I found the class to be interesting as there is a lot more that goes into reproduction that u think. It’s a lot of cool info thrown out, but in a manageable way. Notes can go fast n there is a lot of terms and items to pay attention to. There was also a lab portion to this class. The lab went with what we learned in lectures. It was hands-on learning and doing things. It might sound gross but we had a lab where we took fetuses from a pig uterus to weigh and look at. We also looked at pig semen under a microscope. The professor was obsessed with histology. Expect to look at many slides of different tissues and know how/why they differ, where they are from, etc. I don’t remember assignments, but there was a lab practical that involved many things. Overall, it was a fun class.
ABE 227: Biotech Lab II (Kari Clase)
This class was busy. There were lots of things that needed to be done often (oddly no true deadlines it felt like). This was the dry lab portion. After ABE 226, any DNA that was collected sufficiently was sequenced and the data came back. That’s essentially what the semester was for. With the DNA from a phage, u must make entries to find out the start/stop site of genes, gene function; BLAST the genes, gather evidence there is truly a gene, and more. There were some small assignments with deliverables. There was also a larger project that was put into the undergrad research symposium. From the DNA, a small group chose a gene and researched. A lot of busy work and nights up, but there was a final genome announcement and research went into real life.
————————————————————————
JUNIOR YEAR
HIST 33805: History of Human Rights (Rebekah Klein-Pejsova)
This class was a requirement for an upper level humanities course. This class was easy and interactive. There were some readings that had to be done outside of class, but not much else was required. U would read, then come to class, fill out a discussion, and talk. The content started back in history and moved all the way to just beyond the Holocaust. There were a couple writing assignments that were like a paragraph. The final was to write a paragraph on when u thought the history of human rights began. Again, easy and almost no work required.
BCHM 307: Biochem (Barbara Golden)
I loved this course. Dr. Golden was soft spoken but she made sure u got the info u needed. The content felt like a mix of genetics and chem. The course was biology-sided for those that hate chem. This course went back to the central dogma and such, but then included a lot of metabolism and inner workings of cells. There were parts involving the Citric acid cycle and other “basic” biology concepts that went into further explanation from a different perspective. I believe there were also hotseat/iclicker questions. If u liked biology or genetics, u should like this course, too.
BCHM 309: Biochem Lab (Orla Hart)
Just like the genetics lab, this lab did content that led up to something big at the end. The lab was spent learning basic lab technique, then focused on isolating and purifying LDH from a Bradford assay. There were lab reports/assignments, but they all help and lead to the big lab report. It was a fun time. Dr. Hart was a fantastic prof for the course as she fully knew the topic, always helped out, and had high expectations. She would also joke and talk with us. She shared about her family (she’s Irish), her cats, n more. + she would talk with you in her office, where she had Ghirardelli chocolates to eat. There was a written midterm + u are required to wear a lab coat and goggles during lab.
ANSC 311: Animal Breeding & Genetics (Donna Lofgren)
This was another class that I liked a lot. For anyone interested in this topic, it is not what u expect. The class is not punnet squares and seeing what traits u can see. This class was a lot of math. You had to find the allelic/gene frequencies, var, covariance, selection intensity, generation interval, EBV, etc. I cannot stress that this class is a lot of math (prolly 75/25 to 85/15 for math/concepts). It is, however, one of the few genetics restrictive selectives for ANSC (if I remember right). There is other content too, learning about how to breed animals, components of breeding and genetics, etc. There is a lecture and lab. The lab is when homework was intro’d and we were given time to ask questions/complete it. The lab lasted 2 hours, and usually there would be several homework problems left. There was also a large project that used a sim (mine was beef, other years used lamb/sheep). I would have to cull and breed to get better genetics, get rid of disease, etc. The better the offspring the better. This sim was paired with an arrow chart and written report. Lot of work, but a lot of fun.
ANSC 326: Applied Non-Ruminant Nutrition (John Radcliffe)
This class was boring. Unless u love animal nutrition, it’s hard for it not to be. This was like a continuation of ANSC 221, but only focused on (essentially) pigs. Once again, just learning the background/basic info for feeding animals, providing nutrients, and balancing/creating rations. Also, this class also uses a lot of Excel - more than ANSC 221. There was a final for the course, but it was only a 1/2 semester course. There may have also been a lab section, but the work typically finished quickly.
ANSC 446: Companion Animal Mgmt (Rod Allrich)
Another course with Rod. It was basically nonsense. U learned what it took to keep companion animals healthy and managed. Specific diseases/interests were looked at for animals during class + issues/problems with animal clinics, shelters, etc. There wasnt much to learn. Since it was Rod, there were no slides. Anything written could be tested. Students had to present some issue with companion animals for points twice in the semester. There was also an animal business plan due at the end of the semester. It was required to describe the location, services, employees, their benefits, etc. There were no exams, but there were his quizzes - u were provided movies to watch and write a 1-page summary/reflection on what u saw. Once u get used to Rod, his classes are some of the easiest to ever take.
MGMT 200: Intro Accounting (Terra Maienbrook)
This was my first class for my Real Estate minor. If u have taken any math class at college u should be fine. This course is an intro. U learn the accounting equation, debits, credits, depreciation, and interpreting it through balance sheets. It can get a little confusing when things are broken down further, but as long as u pay attention there shouldn’t be trouble. Just remember what debits and credits do and u should pass the course. There were assignments that helped understand what needed to be done and how the content u are learning works, but it turns into busy work later on. If u get 1 small error as ur doing ur balance sheet, then the whole problem will be wrong and it probably won’t tell u what the error is. The professor also used hotseat/iclicker for attendance, so make sure to show up. She did let u come to any section at any time and still do the attendance. Exams weren’t difficult if u pay attention and do well in lecture and homework. If u do well, the prof would even email saying that u did well.
MGMT 304: Intro to Financial Mgmt (Phil Baeza)
This class was okay. Part of it could have been it was the prof’s 2nd semester teaching here. The class was a lot of basic info for management/econ and was also a requirement for the Real Estate minor. U are taught corporate finance + the goals of it, cash flows and a bunch of math with related terms (NPV, PV, NWC, NOI, etc.) None of it was exactly difficult to figure out. The class itself wasn’t bad content-wise. Once u learned the information, it was there. There was a lot of Excel for solving problems. If u aren’t good with Excel - make that a priority. The course also had exams, but you were allowed a typed cheat sheet for each. Besides the exams, there was also a case competition (so many of these in MGMT classes). Info was gathered about a company and with a group had to decide to approve or disapprove of their loan request. Overall, not terrible, but hard to sit thru.
ANSC 303: Animal Behavior (Marisa Erasmus)
This was an interesting class to take. It was pretty fun (and I ended up as a TA, my last semester). The course is essentially psychology in animals. You learn conditioning, scientists who contributed to the study, types of interactions, and types of behaviors (maintenance, maternal, social, play, sickness, etc.) and how they are in animals. The course also has a lab section with it. The lab section is essentially to allow for time for the zoo project, although there were some labs that went to the ASREC to observe those animals. For the project u are provided an animal at the zoo to research, go to the local zoo, and observe them. When ur back you create a presentation for the research you did involving the animal and enrichment provided by the zoo. In class, there were several quizzes over lecture content plus a midterm. There were also assignments, but many of them had some involvement with the zoo. The class also had no final, but there was a final quiz. The professor did talk fast sometimes, but as long as you typed or rewrote notes later, there was no issue.
STAT 503: Stat Methods for Biology (Yan Xing)
Unsure of why, but I loved my grad level stats courses. They were much easier and fun to learn than STAT 301 (so if u hate STAT301, give 503 a try). This course basically started at the beginning. The content started with learning sample vs population, statistic vs parameter, plus sample unit, size, variables, and variable types. The course became harder as time went on, but nothing was super difficult. The topics included basic stats (mean, stdev, var, types of distributions, unions/intersection), marginal probability, tree diagrams, binomial distributions, chi-square, ANOVA, hypothesis testing, and multiple comparisons (like bonferonni). The information was always presented in a way catered to life sciences (crazy). The lectures not presented in class, but expected to be watched beforehand. I did not go to lecture, but watched the lecture videos on my own. That was enough understanding to easily pass. There were homework assignments that were due every other week. Start them sooner than later, you’ll need the time! This class was also my introduction to coding in R. I had no experience in any coding beforehand but easily got the hang of it, especially since the professor provided tutorials. It was used for every homework, basically. There were also quizzes that weren’t too difficult. The class was not easy, but it was fun.
ABE 512: Good Regulatory Practices (Keri Clase/Stephen Byrn)
This was the final class I needed to get my Biotechnology minor. It was terrible. The professors were nice, but there was no structure. The lectures were about regulatory science and dealt a lot with information from the FDA. The course went over the good and required practices required for the creation, testing, passing, and distribution of medical equipment and/or drugs. Every small detail and information that was not in lectures was required to be known. There were quizzes and assignments that all got turned in through Gradescope. The quizzes are where random information was expected to be known. The assignments were deliverables which asked some question or inquired about a part of the process and write about them. The final was a final deliverable that had to effectively be a conglomeration of the other deliverables (but not just copying and pasting). The class wasn’t hard, but very poorly set up.
————————————————————————
SENIOR YEAR
CSR 103: Intro to Personal Finance (Wookjae Heo)
I just needed a filler class in my schedule. I figured it could help learn some “real world” stuff that maybe I wasn’t sure about. The class was completely online with provided lecture videos. It was very easy and what would be expected. Topics went from how to manage debt and make sure you can get loans, to being informed about credit cards and insurance. All the information was easy to get through. There were writing assignments to be done basically every week. The professor would have you read a paper that 50/50 he had a part in writing, and answer questions. Some things were interactives that just needed to be completed (regardless of how well). Not a bad class. It will definitely pad your GPA - everything taught should be common knowledge.
MGMT 370: Real Estate Fundamentals (Lindsay Relihan)
This course was quite informative. It was an average level of difficulty. There was a lot of information that went into it - I mean it is a fundamentals class. Topics that were talked about included foundations of real estate, what is real estate, valuation of property, lending, time value of money, multiple financial ratios, and taxation. There were multiple assignments - some writing and others math. The writing was for discussions (5 of them) about certain papers provided or certain book chapters. The math assignments were problem sets to get done for what we had learned. They gave plenty of time to finish them. Beyond that, there was also another case study/competition. For this a company was selected and given potential locations to move to. You had to decide if it was worth it for the company to move locations.
ANSC 345: Animal Health Management (Rod Allrich)
For this class, I just needed to take another ANSC course. This class was practically the same as any other Rod Allrich course. We learned how to keep animals healthy and basically many different common diseases of animals. From his website, we would get brought to a page talking about some disease or medical problem that could potentially happen and have to write a 1-page summary/reflection. This happened each week. He still did in person quizzes with statements of fact. Once again, students had to make videos/presentations for the class to present on some problem. There was no final exam. Did not learn too much from this one, but it was a great space filler and GPA booster.
ANSC 481: Contemporary Issues in ANSC (Barry Delks)
This is essentially the final push for ANSC students. As seniors, you take this course to prepare you for the real world. Lectures were given by guests who the professor brought in. They would talk about their specific company, career, or niche and any issues they were seeing there plus how to stop them. The professor would then have groups get together to discuss ways to fix the problems and have the guest comment on what was said. There were also assignments to be done, but they were very easy. They were just things to make sure you were on track for a job and/or graduation (having a 30-sec intro, making a cover letter, redoing your resumé). Part of the class was also just attending the career fair.
STAT 512: Applied Regression Analysis (Tiantian Qin)
Like my other grad level stat course, I absolutely loved this one, too. This class was a DIST course. This class solely focused on regressions (simple linear and multiple linear regressions). Topics for the course started with the basics (terms of regression like betas, Xs, SSE, SSR, SST, and diagnostics) and moved to more difficult content (lack-of-fit-testing, global f-testing, transformations, ANOVA, marginal effect, coefficient of partial determination, multicollinearity, and more). I found the content interesting and it was fun to learn about. Nothing was too difficult and could always be asked about through office hours. There were homework assignments that corresponded with the lectures that were due every other week. Again, take the time. The course also used R coding for everything that was done. The course also had a couple exams to do. But the biggest thing was the regression project. This required a group of students to get together, find a set of data, and use it to form a regression analysis. There was a lot of coding involved, but it was fun parsing through and wrangling data.
MGMT 375: Real Estate Law (Cecelia Harper)
This course has been super personal and fun to take. This is one of my last courses for the Real Estate minor and I am glad to have taken it. The course goes over any and all laws that relate to real estate in some way. The course talked about property rights, subsurface rights, common laws, easements on land, financing/lending, prenuptial agreements and other contracts. Most grades come from exams, though. There were 3 during the semester plus the final. All exams (except the final) were open note and book. The final we were allowed a 1-page cheat sheet that was front and back. The only grades that did not come from exams were from the contracts we drafted. You create your own lease agreement and purchase agreement, then pair with someone to mesh them together for a new one of each. I think the course is particularly made tho by the professor. She is a practicing real estate lawyer who knows what she is talking about. She would set it up so the class was very personal and we each asked her questions. It was interesting because she could have stories about clients to connect things from class. She would always entertain questions. There was no extra credit, except for when she would randomly do attendance. The course structure could be changing quite a bit now, tho.
MGMT 43901: Real Estate Investment & Development (Michael Eriksen)
The other last course for my real estate minor. This class was a step away from what I thought it was going to be. This course is geared toward commercial development and the business side, as I felt. There was nothing really said about personal/residential property. The course topics included an overview of real estate, ways/types of investment, estimation of cash flows for commercial real estate and finance terms associated, providing loans/financing, the roles of a developer, and taxes. The course didn’t have many plain assignments. These were Excel files with attached questions and instructions. If you could follow the instructions you did well, plus the assignments built on each other, except the last one - this one used ARGUS software. The majority of the work was spent on a case competition (go figure lol). Students were put into groups to select a plot of land to develop for some commercial purpose and provide the financials, timeline, and reasoning for the decision. There were several required tasks to be done for this assignment, plus a presentation at the end. There was no final exam, but there were 2 midterms. You could use an excel sheet with notes throughout, tho. The professor was good. He catered to his students and asked questions about how we thought the class was going. A good class to take.
BCHM 421: R For Molecular Biosciences (Pete Pascuzzi)
I took this class because my previous classes had made me really like working in R. I took the class to continue on with that. If you do not have a basic understanding of R, it may be a slight learning curve. The class only met on Wednesday and Friday for 2 hours. There wasn’t a lecture every class, but there was usually some work to be done. All assignments were done through R and could typically be finished in the class period. If this wasn’t possible, it could usually be finished the next class. The class just showed different things in R, from graphics and data wrangling to how to process gene ontology. There were homeworks and labs, with labs being more involved. There was a midterm that was open resource and a project. The project was done at the very end with groups who put together code from previous lectures/labs to create an RShiny document. The class did have a final, again open resource, but any graduating seniors did not have to take the final. There was an opportunity for extra credit by creating an R notebook for all your notes for functions and lines of code. The professor was also nice, helpful, and willing to put in effort to match you.
ANSC 351: Meat Science (Yuan Kim)
This class is basically just biology plus some extra info for meat processing. If you have taken muscle biology (or just bio) you will do well. The class does have some busy work, tho. The first part of the class was solely muscle biology. After this, the class went into meat quality (including analysis, factors affecting quality, etc.), parts of production (packaging, freezing, heating), slaughter and that process, then into meat safety. The content was interesting to learn and easy to take in. The class did have several assignments. After every class was a lecture quiz, each week there was a reflection, and every so often there was a case study. Case studies involved reading a case and providing a response to address the cause of a problem and fix it. The whole semester, there was a project involving some topic in meat science (novel tech, meat in diet, lab-grown meat, alternatives, etc.). Groups got together at the beginning of the semester to make a decision on the topic. Then, throughout the semester, groups met with TAs, wrote drafts of a paper, critiqued other student papers, and made a presentation to show the class. Throughout the semester, you have to work 2 shifts at the butcher block or write a giant essay on a book, too. The class also required 4 exams and a final. If you showed up to every class, you were able to skip the final. Dr. Kim loves the topic and wants you to learn, but most of the grading will be done by TAs.

I posted last week about making a mistake and making an unkind comment to a pupil and recieved so much support and advice I wanted to make an update.
First of all thank you all for the advice and support. I had a conversation with the child in question and apologised for my comment profusely. As some advised I left any comments about his behaviour out of the conversation to be handled at a later date. He expressed that he had been encouraged by other pupils to "get back at me" because they were annoyed I was contacting home about my concerns for their collective behaviour. We had a good chat and relationship was repaired. He then came into the next lesson very different and did way more than I've seen from him in a long time and I made sure to give him plenty of praise for that so he knows I'm proud and appreciate his hard work. We're on good terms now.
Sadly the downside of it is I'm now under a microscope. My mentor (im an ect 2) has been observing more of my lessons and my HOD has been dropping in more too and they've started cracking down. Eg my year 10 books which havent been marked in a hot minute have been put under scrutiny. And its no secret they're keeping an eye on me. So I've been instructed to basically keep my lessons to silent worksheets to mimise any possibility of "banter".
Sadly my groups have noticed a change already and have been asking why I dont joke around anymore. One was even worried they'd upset me! (Which broke my heart but I just assured them I'm just trying to keep everyone uber focused as mocks are coming up).
Just going to have to ride this one out I think.

Title taken from a poster I saw some years ago.

1. Spend as little time as you can in class. Either skip class entirely or arrive late, take a nap, go to the bathroom, go to the nurse, sneak out early, it’s all good.
   
2. Plagiarize word for word from Wikipedia or a site that pops up immediately on Google. If you copy someone else’s answers, do so verbatim.
   
3. If you don’t feel like plagiarizing, use AI to write your work. Flatly deny that you have done so, even when the teacher busts you for not knowing the definitions of words the AI used.
   
4. Your phone and your tablet are your friends. Text, play games, check your appearance, put on makeup, listen to music, look up answers, watch videos, and even make calls if you can.
   
5. Never read the directions on an assignment, project, or test. If you must read them, or if someone reads them to you, don’t follow them.
   
6. Did someone 30 feet away say your name? Better get up and walk over there to investigate.
   
7. Silence is your enemy. Talk, sing, flirt, make random annoying noises, argue with the teacher and other students, shout across the room, drop things, throw things, twist empty water bottles, drag furniture, slam doors, and jiggle anything that’s not nailed down or red hot.
   
8. When you start work on a project or question with several steps, work until you come to something that you don’t understand or don’t want to do. Then stop. Don’t try harder, don’t read the directions, don’t ask for help, and don’t go on to a different part of the project.
   
9. Argue about everything, at all times. Protest that everyone else is doing whatever it is that the teacher is telling you not to do.
   
10. For group work, you have several options:
    

a. Sit like a lump and do nothing.
b. As soon as the group disagrees with you, sulk and do nothing else.
c. Have a relaxing chat with a friend, or use your phone.
d. Wander off to a different group, hang out with them, and prevent them from getting anything done.
e. Actively sabotage the group by harassing the members who are academically capable but socially lower than you are.
Needless to say, you should complain about whom your teammates are, how they’re treating you, your grade, and how you deserve full credit for your contributions.

1. A microscopic pinprick must be treated immediately with a bandage – or, better, a trip to the nurse.
   
2. If it’s been a full period since you went to the bathroom, that means it’s time to go again. Yes, of course it’s an emergency. The teacher said no? Wait five seconds, then ask again. Repeat.
   
3. As soon as the teacher stops scolding you, or the class, for talking, it’s time to continue your chat with your neighbor. Oh, wait, the teacher wasn’t done? Well, then why did he stop to take a breath? If he meant for you to stop talking, why did he stop looking at you?
   
4. If you’ve just finished an extra credit worksheet that was due a week ago, it’s perfectly appropriate to get up, walk to the front of the room, interrupt the teacher while he’s writing something else on the board, and ask him to take your work.
   
5. Teacher, how old are you? Are you married? Do you have any children? How old are they? What’s my grade? What did I get on that assignment that was due two months ago and that I turned in yesterday after you nagged me incessantly?
   
6. If you’re bored, get up and walk around. Do something ostensibly useful like sharpening a pencil, getting disinfectant, playing with the thermostat, throwing something out, or using the bathroom. Alternatively, just wander around like a goldfish. While you’re up, make sure to check in with your friends by having a chat, stealing something of theirs, or poking them.
   
7. An uncovered wastebasket is your personal basketball net, no matter how far away from it you are or what you’re throwing.
   
8. Ask “Is this graded?” about every assignment, no matter how important or trivial. If you sense any hesitation on the answer, blow the assignment off.
   
9. Most teachers have one thing that irritates them more than it should, like wearing a hat, eating in class, or dropping a metal water bottle. Figure out whatever it is for each teacher, and do it constantly.
   
10. The teacher passed out worksheets, and you got an extra one? HOLY CRAP, THIS IS A NUCLEAR MELTDOWN EMERGENCY AND YOU MUST TELL THE TEACHER IMMEDIATELY, AT FULL VOLUME, NO MATTER WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON!
    

42/F - I have a rare, poorly understood and rarely researched condition called Loin Pain Hematuria Syndrome - main symptoms are constant blood in urine (usually microscopic, but always originating from kidneys) and severe flank pain. I’ve had symptoms for at least 15 years, with oral opioid pain management daily for the past 13 or so years since diagnosis. I had a nephrologist who was one of the main researchers of the condition for about 10 years, but upon retirement was transferred to a GP for pain management. I am grateful to him for continuing my meds with the opioid epidemic creating problems for both him and I every month. However, my current doses are maxed out according to the morphine equivalent….worksheet, I suppose? And I am finding that they are barely working for me anymore. How can I talk to him about a change in medication, or other options?? I am currently on 10mg Oxycodone and 50mg Tramadol every 6 hours. Thanks in advance!

One of the other SPED teachers pulled me aside and told me they will be looking at us through a "microscope" this semester, specifically over accommodations. I'm high school inclusion and we have lots of kids who refuse accommodations. They do not want small group, extended time, etc. So they simply refuse. Last semester we often jotted it down on their paper, and I nearly always do that in resource class. I haven't had an offical email or department chair tell us this as of yet, so I'm a little put off by these veiled warnings from one of the other SPED teachers. It feels like a "gotcha". The teacher said they want signatures from the kids that they got or refused their accommodations. I have kids who refuse accommodations because they don't want to be labeled. There is no direction as to how this is to be done, just whispers and comments like "I wouldn't want to be the one caught without it". My SPED bestie hasn't heard anything about this and suggested I wait until we get an offical word from higher up. I used to mark on worksheets and then notate in the grade book. Is that enough? Do other places require kids to sign for their accommodations?

Ok here is the context,

1. I am teaching Cambridge Science for middle school.
2. I am teaching 3 hours a week, for a Turkish class that has poor english skills.
3. The book is in english, complicated and hard.
4. I am teaching them one grade higher, [For example my 6th grade Turkish class has 7th grade book]
5. I make slides, with translations, pictures and videos to help them understand [because they don't understand anything]. Then we do problems in workbook because I have only 3 hours and the book is long, about 200 pages]
6. I do a lot of 3d models [we made one for cells, skeleton, and human organs] we looked in the microscope, however most of the time I just do slides, worksheet and workbook.
7. Official cambridge people are coming next week to check my lessons, but I'm worried because even though I am asking questions, and once every 2 weeks we do an experiment. I don't consider my lessons inquiry based. The kids don't know the scientific method, they don't know how to write a basic lab report, some of them have difficulty reading a table or drawing a graph. I am trying to teach them but it's hard because parents don't care and most kids give up because they don't see my class as important.
8. Should I make flashcards activity, make them work in pairs or something, I give them worksheets.
9. Please help me my school administration sucks ass..

​

Hello! I wrote this last year and have wanted to post it as an open letter for a while with the hopes of people researching Eva Carlston Academy will find it and read it.
Dear Krista,
I think about Eva Carlston almost daily. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful. Words will never be enough to convey my experiences at Eva Carlston. I will never be able to convey the sense of awe of standing in front of the dining room table at Draper house during med time and looking out across the valley as the sky lit up and displayed breathtakingly beautiful colors as the city below was cast into a beautiful golden light. I will never be able to share the terror of 5s being called and rushing into the basement of Wasatch house, sitting in petrified silence as the screams and pounding of feet up above filtered down below. I can’t explain the sense of anxiety I get when someone says “Hey Audrey, so I understand that…” how my heart begins to pound, my palms begin to sweat, and I am once again thrown back to a life where everything can be taken away with such a simple phrase. How do I explain to someone how I know that a serving size of costco plain greek yogurt is 1 cup, or that veggie straws have a serving size of exactly 38 straws? My aunt one time asked me if I thought going there was worth it, after all I appeared like my mental health issues had vastly improved. I didn’t know how to tell her that my mental health issues are still there and even grew, just hidden, terrified of showing through because of the fear of being punished still lingers even though it has been more than 5 years since Kristi had placed that necklace around my neck.
I know that it has been quite some time since I contacted you. Honestly, it was because I didn’t know what to say. I’ve spent the last 5 years wading through all the trauma I endured at Eva Carlston. For the first year after leaving Eva Carlston I sang its praises. I was so terrified that if I showed one sign of slipping, a single breath of not being ok, that I would be sent right back. I lied to everyone, even myself, that I was ok. It wasn’t until one year later that I began to suspect that everything that Eva Carlston had taught me was a lie. I was working one night at Pizza Hut and my shift was coming to an end. I asked my manager if there was anything else I could do before I left and she jokingly suggested that I stay to close. I knew she was joking, but an authority figure had given me an instruction and I couldn’t say no. I couldn’t do anything because it hadn’t been 10-15 minutes. The other cook that night told me I could go, but I was frozen. I knew that I could leave, but the programming from Eva Carlston was overriding every rational thought. I kept responding to the other cook, “I know but I can’t,” unable to explain the frustration of being a prisoner in my own body. About 10 minutes later I told my manager I was going out to my car to get my earbuds for the delivery driver to borrow for the night, and she looked at me surprised and said “I thought you left.” I cried the whole drive home.
The next few years were difficult as I confronted everything that happened at Eva Carlston. I so desperately wanted to hold on to the lie that Eva Carlston ingrained in me, that I was better now having gone through the program. That Eva Carlston didn’t harm me but helped me. I know that you will disagree with the next word I am about to choose, thinking it too strong of a choice, but honestly, the brainwashing that occurred at Eva Carlston was strong and powerful. The weird thing about being brainwashed is that it is hard to tell when it is happening. Looking back at my journals I found a picture I drew near the beginning of my stay of a girl getting her brain sucked out of her head by a giant machine. I wonder when the girl who drew that picture disappeared, when did she give up fighting?
I used to think that it was Christmas Eve 2015, when Jill and Jocelyn stood on either side of me in the laundry room and told me things could get a lot worse if I didn’t pull it together and act happy. However, I think it started long before then, like water dripping onto a stone - at the beginning the stone will look the same but over time the water will erode the stone till there’s nothing left. I think Christmas Eve was when the last of the stone washed away, but I had started to erode long before then. Every interaction, every positive and negative point written, every point card taped together slowly broke me. You were adamant that Eva Carlston didn’t expect perfection but if I’m punished for every mistake I make how can I think anything else?
I think that’s what did it. When I finally realized, after years of struggling with my perception of Eva Carlston, that Eva Carlston said one thing then acted completely opposite. I was given the skill “express emotions appropriately” which honestly has to be one of the funniest skills given at Eva Carlston, because anyone who had that skill knew that unless you expressed your emotions apathetically to a staff member after being granted the permission to express those emotions in the first place, it wasn’t allowed. Whenever new girls came to Eva Carlston, their big sister would wait until there was a moment away from staff to quickly explain that even though we were told that crying was allowed, it was not. All crying had to take place in the 15 minute shower we took everyday, or quietly in bed after lights out.
The thing I remember most from Eva Carlston was being cold. In winter, when it was below freezing outside, the house would only be 60 degrees. Kristi said there wasn’t much they could do because it was an old drafty house. There were days where all I wanted was a nice hot meal to warm me up, only to be greeted by a nice cold salad instead. Before going to Eva Carlston I naively thought that the idea of someone’s lips turning blue due to the cold was just a figure of speech. I’ll never forget lining up to grab lunch one day, wearing 2 shirts and 2 sweatshirts and seeing another girl's lips literally blue. I expressed concern for her but she quickly brushed it off, fearing what the attention would bring if staff noticed. On Sundays, we would be forced to go swimming for our daily work out, but we wouldn’t be allowed to change out of our wet suits after, just throw on clothes that would inevitably get damp and march out into the cold. I’ll never truly explain how the cold would pierce through my jacket and wet suit and settle deep into my bones. When I got back to the house, I would sit at the kitchen table waiting for the manager to assign the shower order. Only the first girl and a half in a room would get hot water because the shift lead wouldn’t allow us to wait for the hot water tank to refill. The only time I felt warm was when I crawled under my covers at the end of the day.
Eva Carlston seemed to really only care about appearances. There is a large gas fireplace in the middle of the living room of Wasatch house, but we were never allowed to turn it on to get warm. It was only turned on for tours, so prospective parents would be warm while Sue and Kristi would tell them why sending their daughter to Eva Carlston was the only hope for saving their daughter's life. They would spin stories about how healthy the food at Eva Carlston was. Yet, anyone who didn’t come in with disordered eating habits certainly left with them. The program I was at before Eva Carlston treated people with eating disorders and I spent quite a bit of time talking with a registered dietitian while attending. The main thing I learned is that my body will tell me what I need, I just need to listen. My body will let me know when I am full and when I need to eat more. Eva Carlston taught me not to listen to my body. Staff members would force me to eat more food even when I was full, or tell me to put food back if I grabbed too much. There were many evenings when we didn’t even have enough food to go around, so each girl had to scrap some off her plate so there would be enough for everyone. We were never allowed fatty foods like butter on our toast, and our sugar intake was closely monitored. Some mornings, staff would act as the honey police to make sure we didn’t put more than a tablespoon of honey on our cream of wheat. I would spend every day compulsively checking my point card, calculating how many more points I needed to earn an extra snack. Using food as a reward warped my relationship with food. When I left Eva Carlston I started to overeat at every meal, eating as quickly as I could because a small part of me was terrified that my food would be taken away from me or that there wouldn’t be enough for everyone. Before I started treatment my relationship with food was rocky, but at my program before Eva Carlston I had gotten used to feeding my body, to listening to what I needed. All that progress disappeared at Eva Carlston.
I realize that I haven’t talked that much about the point card, which was probably the most damaging part of my experience at Eva Carlston. I’m not sure I can communicate how much harm that tiny piece of cardstock did. Constantly being evaluated and judged wore me down. I became paranoid near the end of my stay of receiving even the smallest consequences because of all the pressure that was placed on me to get 30 bonds in such a short time span. Looking back, I’m glad that I got out when I did because I’m confident that had I not left I would have spiraled. Being under a microscope 24/7 for 11 months has left lasting scars on my mind. I started to believe that I deserved to get punished, that I earned it, because staff wouldn’t just give me consequences just because, right? It must be me because I’m not good enough, right? My mom told me last year that you told her that you would tell staff to make sure I didn’t get my privileges because I needed a challenge. Being denied the privilege to speak is not treatment. Being denied the privilege of engaging in socialization with my peers for days at a time is not treatment. Being denied free time, to be a kid, to have fun, is not treatment. Sitting in silence writing essays and problem-solving worksheets about how I need to be better is not treatment. Especially if those privileges are denied because my pant zipper was down, or I left my water bottle out, or heaven forbid I close the closet door at Draper house (even though it was announced 2 weeks later that we had to keep the closet doors closed at all times). I will never be able to make people fully understand what it was like to have every action I took evaluated and assessed. But I am of the firm belief that not a single staff member that worked at Eva Carlston would be able to live for a week in the conditions they subjected us to for months on end.
For years I have resisted writing to you about these feelings or experiences. Mostly because my closest held belief from Eva Carlston that I refused to let go of was that you were the greatest therapist I ever had. It was easy for me to separate my therapy with you with the day to day life at Eva Carlston. Because at the end of the day, your office was the only place I felt safe at Eva Carlston. It was the only place that the point card would seem to cease to exist. You were the only adult figure that I could truly trust and express myself to. You related to my nerdiness. You talked to me about Harry Potter and Marvel and all the other fandoms I adored. It took me a really long time to accept that you were a part of the system that hurt me. I saw that you were promoted to Clinical Director which is why I decided to write after all these years. At the end of my last session with you, you asked me if there were any changes you could make to be a better therapist. At the time, I didn’t have much feedback to give but now I will say this, if you want to be a better therapist you need to leave Eva Carlston. I truly believe that you have the capabilities to help so many people. I still have deep respect for you and want nothing but the best for you. However, you can not help others while partaking in a system that hurts them. I personally know how little the words of others mean when they go against deeply held beliefs. I recognize that my letter will not change anything instantly but I hope it can start a chain reaction that will lead you to ask yourself if the work you are doing at Eva Carlston is truly helping those who attend the program.
Sincerely
Audrey
Note: When I wrote this letter Krista Duarte was listed as the Clinical Director for Eva Carlston Academy, at the time of posting this she is no longer Clinical Director and is just listed as a therapist.

Let’s begin with a quick review of the known facts:
The three segments of Z408 were mailed, with cover letters, on July 31, 1969. They arrived at the Vallejo Times-Herald, the San Francisco Examiner, and the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday, August 1, 1969.
I worked for the U. S. Postal Service for 37 years (coincidentally Me - 37), from October 13, 1973 to June 3, 2011. I was 22 when I was hired and 60 when I retired. I never worked for the United States Post Office, which processed and delivered those letters, since USPS came into being on July 1, 1971, but the changeover wasn’t exactly from caterpillar to butterfly. Operationally, USPS was virtually identical to its predecessor agency, so I can speak confidently about postal operations in the summer of 1969.
I mentioned recently that the vast majority of Zodiac hobbyists weren’t alive when the murders took place, and this lack of familiarity with everyday life in the late 1960s and early 1970s causes them to make assumptions they shouldn’t make, and to not make assumptions that they should make. An additional misunderstanding hobbyists bring to the table is their lack of familiarity with How Things Work, and nowhere is that ignorance more glaring than their belief that DNA attached to Zodiac letters would somehow be actionable against a suspect, that all we have to do is find a DNA profile under one of the Zodiac stamps and then do a GSK genealogy on it and POOF! goes the Zodiac Killer.
I hate to break this to everyone, my apologies are proffered ahead of time, but
THE MAIL STREAM ISN’T PRISTINE.
I ran the same canceling machines that cancelled and postmarked the three Z408 letters. Postal equipment like hampers and trays and canvas sacks contained hair, spit, sweat, snot, skin cells, probably some blood, and perhaps even a fair amount of semen. Hair and other tiny pollutants made their way in under stamps routinely, because canceling machines held each envelope very tightly and stamped it very ballistically and the machines were more than hot enough to liquefy glue.
Granted, what’s in your mailbox looks pretty much like what left the sender, but we’re talking about DNA, which is microscopic, and microscopic contaminants. You simply cannot compare a 50-year-old piece of paper which traveled significant distances and passed from hand to hand (there were no sorting machines in 1969, so all mail was processed manually at every point) with a fresh DNA sample which is collected firsthand by a trained professional at a crime scene. Apples and oranges.
And this doesn’t even get into SFPD’s habit of passing the Zodiac letters around at parties and allowing administrators to take them home and wipe their asses with them.
I had an angry poster on Reddit, Opotheyahola, tell me that, if the police had a circumstantial suspect, and his DNA profile matched what was taken from a Zodiac letter, no judge would throw the case out. That’s like saying, “Hey, I’m broke and my mortgage payment is overdue, but no worries, I’m going to start playing the Powerball lottery.” Let me know when you extract a full DNA profile (or the identifying equivalent of that), and when you’ve got a circumstantial suspect who looks good enough to a judge that he’ll let you take an involuntary DNA sample. The clock is ticking and nothing degrades faster than DNA that wasn’t looked for and collected in the first place.
Wait. Where was I? Oh yes, the Z408 mailings.
I’m not a huge fan of the Fincher movie but it does do a good job of showing the mail truck pulling up to the Chronicle just as the Robert Graysmith character gets to work. In 1969, the Chronicle would have received its mail no later than circa 9am, possibly earlier since some high volume businesses would receive an initial delivery of what was sorted by the city units (broken down by zip code) during the first four or five hours of the graveyard shift, which was typically dispatched at lunchtime or just after lunchtime (4am or 5am), depending on the individual unit.
So the newspapers would have read the Zodiac letters no later than mid-morning or so.
At this point, the Fincher movie turns into science fiction. The newspapers would have called the police immediately, and the police would have come at once. Instead, the movie has the editorial board discuss the pros and cons of running the letter in its next edition. I assume Fincher did this to present the characterization of the Graysmith/Avery pair first, and then present Toschi/Armstrong after the Stine shooting.
I mentioned my belief that the police altered Z408 before allowing it to be published in my 1990 copy center book. They had a police artist alter 20 of the symbols while maintaining the neat look of the grid. When I arrived back on Mike Morford’s message board in January 2013, a poster named glurk sent me an indignant PM:
“I have heard a lot of bullshi* in my life. My detector for it is fairly strong. What you have said on the link above sets the detector OFF OF THE CHART. As you probably know, my main interest in this case is the codes and ciphers. Do you REALLY BELIEVE what you said? If you do believe it, I feel sorry for you. And if you do not (which I believe to be the case) you are just a sorry scam artist. I have actual, good quality scans of the 408 cipher, all three parts, as it was sent to the papers. From the actual newspapers. But you are "trusting" what Gareth Penn used? What a joke. This cipher has been studied, verified, checked, double-checked and even the Harden's worksheets checked time and again for nearly 40 years now. There are so many analyses it's hard to find just one to show you. But look here:
http://www.zodiackillerciphers.com/?p=233
doranchak has done so much factual work on these ciphers that it boggles the mind. His link above is studious, factual work. Your link is nothing more than mental diarrhea.
-glurk”
I wasn’t expecting quite that level of resistance to the idea that the Z408 that people have been looking at for the past 51 years and 4 months isn’t what the Zodiac sent.
1. Altering a piece of evidence to create an investigative key is standard operating procedure for police agencies.
2. We don’t have a police report from SFPD, alas, but there is one from VPD. Most of the police report as published on Tom’s board is presented in chronological order.
For example, page 31 presents events from 7-21-69 and 7-23-69.
https://www.zodiackiller.com/DFR31.html
Page 32 presents events from July 24, 1969.
https://www.zodiackiller.com/DFR32.html
Skipping ahead, page 34 presents events from 8-7-69.
https://www.zodiackiller.com/DFR34.html
But page 33 merely contains, at the top, the following notation:
[8-1-69 Anonymous letter received by Times Herald Paper. See 5-8 245 834. (jmc)
INDEXED
https://www.zodiackiller.com/DFR33.html
On the page that should have featured information about the Z408 segment(s) and cover letter(s), the page has either been left blank, or what was originally on it has been erased.
Since it’s doubtful that an event as significant as receipt of the Z408 segment(s) passed without notation,one has to believe that whatever VPD chose to do about Z408 has been suppressed, such that page 33 of the police report was blanked out.
So there is reason to believe that VPD is being very mysterious about its receipt of the mailing, and that would be consistent with its altering some symbols, which would be standard operating procedure under the circumstances.
The second source which points to an altering of the original symbols of Z408 is page 50 of Gareth Penn’s TIMES 17 (1987), where a grid for Z408 is presented which differs from the published grid, as for example presented in Graysmith’s ZODIAC (1986), by 20 symbols. Assuming that the Penn version was the original, 19 of the 20 symbols were altered by adding lines or filling in blanks. Only one symbol, the 13th column of line 5 of the SFC segment, would have required the artist to use Liquid Paper to white out a filled triangle and add a dot inside it. The 14th symbol of line 7 of the VTH segment contains a clever alteration: a dotted circle has been made into a ‘Q’ by drawing a slanted line from the dot to a point below the circle.
In other words, the changes look as if they were made fairly quickly by a police artist just using his pen. So we have two interesting situations:
1. On the weekend of August 1-3, 1969, the three newspapers published a cipher grid that could easily have been altered by police to create an investigative key.
2. Then, in 1987, Gareth Penn self-published a book which contains an altered cipher grid which is close enough to what was published that it could be the original.
So is it plausible that Gareth Penn’s cipher is, in fact, the original?
If it isn’t the original, what would Gareth have to gain by changing 20 symbols of the grid, since he hasn’t offered an alternative solution to the cipher?
The answer is: nothing. I can’t think of any plausible motivation for anyone as bright as Gareth Penn, who has multiple degrees from Cal-Berkeley and was a member of American Mensa, and who has published multiple books and articles about the Zodiac Killer case, to alter a cipher grid for no apparent reason.
Again, I’m sure glurk would tell us that Gareth did it out of sheer perversity, but since Gareth Penn never mentioned that the symbols in his grid were different, it’s one of those tree-falling-in-a-forest-with-no-one-to-hear-it ideas.
Gareth’s father, Hugh Penn, was a statistician for the CA DOJ. Could he have obtained a copy of the original grid and given it to Gareth to publish in his book? Again, that’s a plausible idea. The problem with it is that Gareth never mentions that his grid is the original, and that the Graysmith grid is the altered version, so why wouldn’t Gareth have given his father credit for correcting the grid?
So if the police altered the Z408 grid to create an investigative key, and Gareth Penn’s Z408 grid is the original, and Gareth didn’t get the grid as a result of his father’s connections in Sacramento . . . how is it that Gareth Penn has the original Z408 grid?
If, as I’ve been saying for the past 30 years, Gareth Penn is one of four people (Berta Margoulies, Michael O’Hare, Gareth Penn, and Hugh Penn) who created the Zodiac Killer, he would be in possession of the original grid because he was involved in the Zodiac Project. And he would publish the grid in TIMES 17 because Z408 is a two-step cipher, and by altering the 20 grid symbols, the police altered the solution. In other words, though I LIKE KILLING PEOPLE is the first of the two steps, one can only arrive at the correct second step if one has the correct original symbols.
On his website, which he’s linked to often enough that I probably don’t need to, Dave Oranchak has said:
“Penn and Grant seem to be intelligent, capable writers. But any serious analysis of their claims will lead you to question their sanity. Or at least their motivations.”
I minored in Psychology in college. For a person to be clinically insane, he must fit three criteria: he must exhibit bizarre behavior, be dysfunctional, and be in pain. Clearly, Gareth and I are both sane, however bizarre our behavior may appear to others.
My motivation is to solve the case. Gareth’s motivation, as one of the four Zodiacs, was to write TIMES 17 to correct the damage the police did to his father’s cipher grid.
In any case, to summarize:
1. The evidence is consistent with the police having altered the Z408 cipher grid.
2. The evidence is also consistent with Gareth’s version being the original and Graysmith’s being the police artist’s.
There are other examples, in Gareth’s book, of his being disingenuous to the point where Dave and others like glurk have suggested that he is cryptographically incompetent.
It’s a little like saying there’s too much dissension in the WWE.
The dissension is the whole point, and it’s not genuine. Pro wrestling is scripted.
In like manner, Gareth’s apparent incompetence is simulated. He’s trying to goad you into solving the puzzle by presenting intentionally incorrect solutions.

I am unoriginal when it comes to names, but hey at least I can start working on Broken Arrow now! (I am very excited and ready to see y'all's reactions)
“Good Morning class and happy Wednesday,” Owen spun around back from the holo board. “So, I’ve got a few choices for the school trip over Fall Break.”
A mixture of unease, quiet noises came from the lecture hall full of high school students, “Ok, you have three choices you can vote on for the trip. Number one, we can go to Lunar Base on the moon.”
A series of contemplating whispers rippled through the crowd and a few hands were raised, “No we’re not voting now, besides you haven’t heard the other choices,” Owen said with a chuckle. The hands fell.
“Number two, we could go to the Helios Shipyards and museum,” more whispers rippled through the crowd.
“And number three, we could go to the old United States Air Force Academy in North America,” A few seconds of quiet went by before a hundred voices piped up. Owen patiently waited for the students to quiet down. “Ok then, let's have a vote shall we? All in favor of option one, Lunar Base, raise your hand.”
A few hands shot up and Owen tallied the hands, “Alright, all in favor of option two, Helios Ship Yards, raise your hand.”
Again, a few hands shot up and Owen tallied, “And last but not least, all in favor of option three, the US Air Force Academy, raise your…oh, ok then looks like Air Force Academy it is.”
The next week…
“Arriving at Colorado Springs terminal, please remain seated until the train has come to a full stop,” announced a robotic voice. Owen and his students sat in the passenger car lining the falls.
“So teach, are we going to have to do anything for the trip?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do we have to do any work sheets?”
“Yes, but it’s simple, and you shouldn't have any problems completing it,” The student groaned and sat back in their seat. “I know, I know, but I don’t have a say in this one.”
Within a few moments the train came to a stop in a station. Owen stood up and stretched his back, “Alright ladies and gentlemen let's get going.” The small group of about forty students walked onto the train station platform before regrouping. “Ok, the Academy Museum is only a ten minute walk from here, once we get there I’ll hand out worksheets. Yes, yes, I know it’s not something you want to do, however the school requires me to give you some form of assignment to work on. But first, we need a headcount to make sure we didn’t leave anyone on the train.”
After a very quick roll call, the group made their way to the old United States Air Force Academy. On the way there, Owen stopped by many statues and sculptures of pilots and aircraft that lined the paved walkway. He stopped in front of one, it was of a man in uniform saluting the world with a smile, the fresh smell of metal work still hung in the air. At the base of the statue was a carbon black plaque with silver writing reading;
“Lieutenant Commander Ari Kean
Silver Arrow 1
Phoenix
In honor of the Phoenix Ace by the GHR admiralty office in Washington D.C., North America, for destroying one cruiser, two frigates, one corvette, and damaging multiple other Federation warships during the Battle of the Kepler System”
Owen stood there for a moment, “Mr. Owen? Are you ok?”
“Hmm? Oh yes, just a man my father talked about.”
“What do you mean?”
“My father served on the USS Chuck Yeager as the weapons officer, he knew this man, Ari Kean, and would often tell me stories of battles. But that’s all for another day, right now we need to get signed in,” the group walked up to a window.
A man in an air force service uniform sat at a desk typing away on his laptop, “Hello, Olrick Owen with Winston High School.”
The man looked up, “Yes, please go through the door and wait there. I’ll radio for them to send a security team down to get you situated.”
The man grabbed his radio, “Thank you very much,” Owen said before turning to his students. “Alright ladies and gentlemen, let's head inside.”
The group walked through the glass doors into a massive hall. An AI appeared in front of them, “Well hi there, I am JA/59-2, military Museum Archival unit, but you can just call me Jay. Please take a seat and make yourselves comfortable, a security team is on its way.” The AI was a meter and a half tall with tiger orange hair. It wore dark blue jeans with leather work boots and a tucked in, red and black flannel shirt.
“Ok, thank you,” Owen turned to his students. “Alright students, let me hand out your worksheets.”
The students groaned and threw their hands up as Owen handed out the worksheets, “Worksheets on a trip? That’s just messed up.”
“You act like I have a say in this, but all of this is pretty self explanatory and easy. Find ten aircraft, aviators, or any inventors or innovators and answer the questions on the paper, plain and simple,” Owen said, simply. “If you need any pencils then ask me.”
Minutes dragged by as the group waited for the security team. Owen pulled a book out of his bag and began reading. After a while he heard loud footsteps coming down the hall. Owen looked up to see twenty soldiers wearing navy blue uniforms and black riot armor.
Shock batons, tassers, hand guns, and handcuffs on their belts, some carried briefcases while others carried nothing at all. One walked up to Owen and stopped, “Are you Orick Owen?”
“Yes, I am. Are you the security team we were told about?”
“Yes,” the guard gestured to the rest of his team. The few with briefcases stepped forward and set to work. Minutes later the group of students and Owen had ID’s around their necks. “These will tell any other guard teams that you’re supposed to be here and should keep you from getting harassed. Alright you’re all good to go, enjoy the museum.”
The guard spun on his heel and walked away with the security team in tow. Owen looked to his students, “Well then, where should we start first?” The students looked at each other while no one said a word. “Oh, I know, let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Good ol’ World War I?”
The slow, lumbering buzzed above the fields. Hundreds of open miles of fields stretched on.
In the distance, Justin could see a small city skyline.
“Now isn’t this a sight? The Martin MB-1, or the first American bomber. Look at this beauty, 400 horsepower and carrying 2000 lbs of ordinance, Above them was a shrunken down bi-plain with long wings and a short, thin tail. “Oh look, they even have an excerpt of one of the pilots.”
The ice cold wind whipped, making Justin shiver uncontrollably in their open cockpit.
A bullet whistled by, hitting the wing with a thunk. Another hit the wing, then another, then another.
Almost instantly it was a storm of bullets all around them, and yet they pressed on.
“Bandits!” a tail gunner screamed. Justin looked back seeing six Fokker Eindeckers in a dive.
The machine guns sounded with a deafening drumming.
Justin looked forward, keeping his eyes on the city below.
The Fokkers respond by strifing the bomber. They dived down past the hole riddled bomber.
They were now over the city, “Drop the bombs!” Justin called.
“Truly fascinating,” Owen said. “This was one of the first bombers created. Set the standard for bombers to have multiple machiene guns to deffend itself, and to have escorts.”
The students looked at the model hanging above them in front of a black and white backdrop. Owen stared up at the ancient war plane before moving on.
“Teach, we’re not just going to look at ancient war planes are we?” A student asked.
“No, no, we’ll look at some inventors and aviators and we’ll even go through some simulations throughout the generations.”
The buzz of piston engines filled the air. Minutes later two planes sped down a runway and leapt into the air.
The lead plane pulled up towards the sky climbing higher and higher.
Owen stopped in front of another plane suspended in the air and banking right, “Ah yes, the T-6 Texan. Quite an intricate little training craft.”
“Training craft?”
“Yep, it was used from the 1930s till the 1990s when it was decommissioned. One thousand horsepower and no guns,” Jay said, casually walking up to the group. “It was used to train quite a few generations of fighter pilots, but of course became obsolete. Should have been sooner in my opinion.”
“Yes, very true.”
“Alright newbie, let's see what you got,” said Trevor’s instructor. “Attack your wingman.”
Trevor flew up into the clouds, disappearing from sight before slowly maneuvering behind where his wingman was supposed to be.
He waited for several seconds for some kind of action from the pilot but saw nothing.
This worried him as he stalked his wingman when suddenly it flew right through the cloud in front of him.
He instinctively pulled back on the stick and pushed his throttle forward. He broke through the cloud to see his wingman flipping around and behind him.
He banked left and dove back into the cloud hoping his wingman would follow. Trevor looked back, “That cleaver…”
“LOOK OUT!”
Trevor’s head snapped straight looking at the fast approaching ground.
“Pull up! Pull up you fool!” his instructor barked.
Pulling back on the stick, Trevor pulled his plane out of the dive and back on level flight. He tried to catch his breath and look for his wingman’s plane just to see it fall behind him.
He pulled back on the stick as he tried to break away and banking right and left but his wingman refused to break chase.
He began spinning and banking right, and so did his wingman. Then Trevor fell into a dive before pulling back and launching himself upward towards the sky.
“That’s enough, return to base,” his instructor ordered. “You failed, report to my office as soon as we get back.”
“Fascinating, multiple stories like this exist, and this was how so many pilots came to be,” Owen stated.
“Yes, it’s how so many pilots came to be now. Most of our aces were almost born to fly, take the Phoenix Ace, he came to the academy never even touching an aircraft and left the top of his class.”
One of the students groaned loudly, “When are we going to go to the simulations? I want to shoot stuff and blow up things!”
“Settle down, we’ll get to it eventually,” Owen said walking on to the next plane. “But don’t you want to hear about the P-51 Mustang?”
“Bandits! Jets coming in from above!” Screamed a pilot.
Al flew past the B-17 he was escorting and stopped in front and above the bomber.
Al looked down at the bombs raining down on the factories causing plums of smoke to rise from the burning buildings.
“It’s an old plane! Who cares?”
“We do, it's a part of history.”
“It’s just old stuff that has no relevance to us now!”
“I beg to differ. If there was no aircraft ever created, then I doubt we would have ever gotten to the space age leaving humanity woefully behind in technology.”
The student scoffed and folded his arms across his chest.
Al pulled his plane into a climb after the ME-262’s, “All escorts, engage and destroy the bandits!” he ordered.
Al saw a jet in a dive, falling towards him at an insane speed. It let loose a burst of bullets tearing not into Al’s plane, but the bomber he was escorting.
The jet sped past Al causing him to flip into a dive after the German jet.
He locked onto the jet and fired. Almost instantly the jet broke off onto level flight.
Al knew something was off, it was known the German jets had poor climbing capabilities. Then he saw it, directly behind him and just above him.
He pulled back into a climb and banked left watching the jet follow him though the mirror.
Al weaved up and down, and side to side in a failing effort to break away from the jet.
He pushed his plane into a dive and looked back. The jet followed him, staying on his tail. For a heart stopping moment, Al could see the enemy pilot’s face right as he fired.
“Now don’t be like that, this is a marvel of engineering! All of these are,”Owen stated gesturing to the line of exhibits.
“Think of it like evolution, you start off with the literal sticks and stones and move onto the nuclear engines and jets that fly in space,” Jay said, pointing down the seemingly endless line of aircraft.
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Well, take this, the B-29 “Superfortress”, the long range strategic bomber. Four engines producing 2,200 horsepower each,” Owen said with his hands on his hips, looking up at the model bomber. “Did you know, it was one of these bombers that dropped the first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima in World War Two?”
Hundreds of soldiers rushed back and forth as they preped a lone bomber sitting over an oddly designed loading bay.
Teams of Military Police stood by, rifles ready, guarding the bomber.
“Aren’t nuclear weapons banned by the GHR?”
“Yes, but this was the first nuclear bomb made. Actually no one had an idea of what it would do. Anyways the bomb created a lot of controversy with the people who created it and the military and gocernment,” Owen informed. “And eventually the pilots as well.”
Paul looked out the cockpit windows seeing the rising sun. The bomber slowly flew over the island of Japan below.
“Think there are any interceptors waiting for us?”
“I would hope not, but knowing the japs…” Paul let his voice trail off.
The flight continued for a few silent minute as the bomber slowly approched it’s target.
“Approaching target, get ready to drop the bomb,” Paul called back to his bomber.
They waited for several minutes, the tension growing in the cramped bomber until they were over their target.
“Bomb dropped!” the bomber called.
The crew waited several seconds before a blinding light came from behind the bomber. Paul banked right and listened to his massive plane creak.
He looked out his copilot’s window and saw a massive black cloud, seemingly folding in on itself.
They stared at the cloud, “My God, what have we done?”
“The first nuclear weapons forced the Japanese to surrender at the end of World War Two. An inhumane end to be sure, but still an end,” Owen said looking at the picture of a nuclear blast.
“Why would anyone create a weapon like that?” A student asked.
Owen shrugged, “Humans always strive for more powerful weapons.”
There was a brief silence as the group stared at the plane, “I think it would be fair to say Humans are always pushing for better technology, take the X-1 for example,” Jay said, walking over to another exhibit.
“Ah yes, the Bell X-1. The experimental jet, designed to break the sound barrier and fly faster than sound. Actually it was designed after a bullet,” Owen said, walking up next to the AI.
“System check…everything is green,” Michael said. “Runway clear, ready for take off.”
Michael looked down at the almost pure white jet against the blackened air strip.
“Now students, we’ve talked about the man who piloted this jet, can anyone tell me who it was?” Owen looked around at his students. “We just went over this.”
“Chuck Yeager?”
Owen snapped his fingers and pointed at the student, “Yes.”
“Alright Captain, you are clear to launch.”
A minute later the jet was sped down the runway and leapt up into the air.
“Captain, altitude restrictions are lifted, happy flying,” Michael watched the jet pull into an almost vertical climb. “Get a feel for the aircraft and after five minutes we’ll start testing.”
The jet flipped and dived through the air, “All systems nominal, we’re ready to start testing,” A scientist called over the radio.
“Copy,” Michael picked up another radio. “Captain, we’re ready to start testing, go ahead and get back on level flight and wait for further orders.”
The control tower filled with the jet engine roars as the jet roared overhead. Minutes passed by as the scientists walked around with clipboards of working on the versus equipment in the room.
A man with glasses walked up to Michael, “May I speak to the Captain?”
“Yes of course. Here, the transmit button is on the side,” Michael said, giving the man the radio.
“Alright Captain, since you have an idea of the jet's controls, let's start testing shall we? First we want to see the top speed, can you fly due north and come back on a straight path at top speed?”
Michael watched the aircraft fly away from the control tower, bank right, and fly closer. At first Michael didn’t hear anything, nor did he in the minutes that seemed to drag by as the aircraft approached.
He took off his headphones and listened, only hearing the silent chattering and noise in the control tower. He waited and watched the jet fly closer, growing more curious and worried as it got closer.
Then when the jet was almost past them it hit, the whole tower shook and the world sounded like it exploded, and for a moment, Michael thought it did.
“The first supersonic flight was in 1947 by this guy, Chuck Yeager,” Jay said, pointing to the picture of a man in a pilot's uniform leaning against a jet.
“Yes, a very momentous occasion for Humanity, when we broke the speed of sound. We never had another moment like it until early 2298 when Explorer broke the speed of light on flight to Alpha Centauri,” Owen said, looking over his shoulder at his students.
“Will we look at an FTL capable jets?”
“Yes, but not right now.”
“What about reconnaissance aircraft at all?”
The black plane lumbered in the sky, its long thin wings erected from the sides of its fuselage.
Thousands of feet below lay a series of nuclear launch sites.
“Oh, you want recon aircraft, hmm?” Jay asked enthusiastically. “Then look at this one, the U-2 spy plane. The planes that found out about the nuclear missiles in Cuba that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Thunk Thunk
Thunk Thunk
Major Anderson listened to his camera traverse the land below. It was a long and complicated task.
Anderson was skimming the very edge of space, he knew it. He could see the stars above him.
The plane was fragile and albeit new, seemed old to Anderson. He sat awkwardly in his cockpit and his suit. He was wearing a white, pressurized suit. Anderson found it difficult to move or control his plane with the big gloves on his hand.
Suddenly an alarm went off, a missile was flying straight for him. He banked right in an effort to evade the missile while his plane creaked in protest. He waited and held his breath.
WHAM
Shrapnel ripped into the cockpit, Anderson’s face plate shattered, and then, depressurized silence.
“The U-2 was made during the Cold War, obviously, when else would we make a camera that can take a picture of you and see the stains on your shirt?” Jay said in an amused tone.
“Hold on, it could really see that?” a student asked in disbelief.
“Pretty much,” Owen replied, casually. “Cameras now can detect microscopic organisms from space, I wouldn’t doubt it.”
“I'm assuming this escalated the Cold War?”
“Yes, I won’t say this exact event led to the Vietnam War but the Cuban Missile Crisis sure did, at least for the Americans.”
Lieutenant Charles flew in formation with multiple other F-4 Phantoms. The air inside his cockpit was tense as he watched the clouds for enemy interceptors.
He waits and waits, watching for any change, until a pair of MiG-21’s leap out of the clouds.
They walk up to another exhibit, an olive green fighter jet sat on the ground with a simulated air base as a backdrop, “F-4 Phantoms were used during the Vietnam war against MiG-21s. They were deadly in air to air combat and could easily take down the MiGs,” Owen stated.
Charles flew in pursuit after one of the MiGs. He punched his throttle forward and sped after the MiG.
The enemy fighter broke left leaving Charles to tilt and pull back on the stick.
Multiple other MiGs broke through the clouds at randomized points throwing the Phantoms into pursuit.
Charles stuck on his enemy like glue as it tried to weave from side to side. He growed as the targeting system failed to lock on to the elusive MiG. Charles found himself with no other option than to roll and perfectly align himself with the MiG.
For a second he had a lock and launched a missile off. He waited and watched the missile fly through the air and into the MiG’s engine.
Charles let out a whoop before going on the hunt for another MiG. He found one in a tight turn above him and pulled back on the stick. He climbed after the MiG and watched it fall into a dive.
Charles rolled and flipped onto the MiG’s tail and locked onto it. The MiG pulled into another climb causing Charles to curse at it and pull into a climb. He watched the MiG flip into another dive as he got another lock on the jet. Chales lowered his speed and increased the distance between them.
The MiG pulled back into another climb and Charles pulled back almost instantly. He locked on and fired the missile soaring through the air, impacting the MiG and exploding.
A student crossed his arms and began tapping his foot, “Ok that’s cool and all but can we go eat something? I know I’m hungry.”
“Yes of course, but let me end this little section with this; Aviation was always a dream for Humanity and to not only pass such a milestone, but to pass other milestones as well in such a short amount of time is incredible. Humanity is always advancing, and while you may be annoyed at all the stuff we put on you in your classes, it only gets you ready for the world and to be the next innovators,” Owen announced, gesturing to the line of aircraft. “Anyways, let’s go get some food, I'm starving too.”

I don’t know what to say. This is…this is beyond anything I could have ever--I ever thought could happen. It’s all just…I can’t believe that she would…that they would…
[“Take your time. Now, this is just a short interview to get your testimony on the defendant. You don’t have to say anything you’re not comfortable saying, but anything you can provide will help us get everything worked out.”]
Right. Alright.
[He takes a second to compose himself]
What would you like to know?
[“Other testimonies state that Brian and Sam were both in your class. Was there anything that stuck out to you about them?”]
I mean…yeah, I mean, or course. I noticed that they had a relationship. As a teacher you can always tell when two of your students get together, it’s just…it gets kind of obvious after a while. There’s always some patterns you can spot and umm…yeah, Brian and Sam were acting like that. They’d always come in the classroom around the same time, they’d sit at the same table. They didn’t talk as much as other couples did, so I let them do what they wanted, for the most part. So, yes, I uh, I was aware of their relationship before the um--before the…
[“Ok; you knew that they were together. From what you can remember, was there anything unusual about their interactions?”]
No. They acted like regular kids. Just…in love, I suppose. As close as a high school relationship can be to love. They always think everything is so important at that age. They can’t see life beyond high school, so they always take things just a little too far…
There, umm…there were moments where it seemed like they were fighting; like they were arguing, I mean, about something, but it was never physical. Just times when they gave each other the silent treatment. I actually thought it was quite mature, at the time. I’ve seen those kinds of relationships blow up far too many times; get in the middle of school and of life and…well it seemed like they had decided that, when they had disagreements, they would take a step back. Cool off. It was refreshing, in a way.
[“So there was no history of any kind of physical or emotional abuse; not that you were aware of.”]
No. No, none of that. Neither of them had a violent history. Sam was never in any sports…not after she finished her P.E. classes, anyway. Brian was good at basketball, but he never really played professionally; he never joined the team or anything like that. From what I’d heard about them, neither of them did anything strange outside of school. Nothing that I believed, anyway. From what I saw there was nothing that would have…that could have warned…
[“You’re aware of their extracurriculars?”]
I try to keep informed about all my students. It’s…umm…it’s kind of expected that…well-- teachers gossip about their students. It’s just the way of things; you’re forced to stay after school for a meeting, or it’s a ‘training-day’ and you’re waiting on a few people and you…get to talking. It was never anything malicious, you understand. Just some light chat about where the kids might be going, what they might be doing. The coaches complained about how they weren’t able to get Brian to join their team; that was really the end of it.
[“Alright. You said that you heard things about Brian and Sam during these meetings; things you didn’t believe. Tell me about that.”]
[…]
The--um--the teachers that I associate with try to give students the benefit of the doubt. We don’t start rumors. But, sometimes…we can’t help but pick them up.
I’m not very sociable while at work. I usually stay at my desk for the majority of the day. So, when the kids come into my classroom for a club meeting, or for a seminar, I…well, I listen in. I’m not proud of my eavesdropping habit, but it…I don’t know. It’s a good way to stay connected with ‘the news.’ That’s what I tell myself. But it’s mostly just a way to get a hold of the most recent rumors going around.
[He scoots forward]
There was this--this ongoing, persistent rumor that Brian was a stalker. Brian Davis is a stalker, so be careful when you talk to him. I always--well, I always found it strange. I’ve done my fair bit of reading about psychology and criminal behavior, and none of what I read lined up with Brian. There was always this emphasis on obsession. There’s some kind of hole in this person’s life and so they stalk someone else to fill it. But that didn’t match Brian at all. He had a big family, a couple good friends, and he was an excellent student; there was absolutely no reason for Brian to exhibit that kind of behavior. Not to mention that most stalking is done online: emails, passwords--that sort of thing. Many of the students I overheard were adamant that Brian was following someone; which would have been impossible, since then his parents would know if he was disappearing for long stretches of time in order to do so.
I’ve met Brian’s parents--they’re some of the few couples that actually come to parent-teacher-conferences. They care very deeply about their son. They would not let something like a psychological disorder go unnoticed. He couldn’t have been a stalker.
And then with Sam…people never talked about her. She flew completely under the radar. Usually there’s something; even the most unpopular kids are sometimes discussed. But there was nothing. No drama whatsoever. And then she goes off and does this…I just--
[He leans back in his chair]
I just wish that…that I had…I don’t know.
[“It’s alright; we’re going to figure this out.”]
I know it’s just…three of my students. Three. Once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence, but three crimes? That’s a pattern.
[“Three?”]
The cameras. Someone told me about them before I came here. Before he was…you know…Brian had set up cameras in Sam’s room; that she didn’t know about. They’re probably the whole reason she…He violated her privacy. That’s a crime.
And then there’s Maya. She’s another one of my students; a poor girl who got herself put in jail for stealing one of my checks. God. She didn’t even know that she couldn’t cash it. Lord almighty…
I just…I can’t--I can’t stop thinking about it. We failed those kids. It was our job--my job to make sure that stuff like this wouldn’t happen. To teach them how to be better. Then, bam. One after the other.
[“None of this was your fault, Dr. Fletcher.”]
Don’t give me that shit. It was my responsibility to set those kids straight. I was a model for them; I taught them. If there was something I missed, something I could have done, then it is my fault, damn it.
…I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know. It’s just…three people. All at once.
I became a teacher so I could be better than the ones I had growing up. But I became something worse.
[…]
[He sits up]
Something happened after Brian's death. I’m not sure what it was, but something changed drastically--and it’s happening right now.
I told you before that I umm--I talk to other teachers about my students? Well, I don’t anymore. I can’t. Because they won’t talk to me; most of them won’t even look at me. They act like I’m some sort of plague--some bad luck charm that’s cursing the school. And maybe…well…
It isn’t just me that’s being ostracized. Ms. Laura Madison, an art teacher for the middle schoolers? She is being torn down; nobody listens to her, nobody talks to her--she’s not even being invited to meetings anymore. She didn’t come to school for all of last week and nobody cared. She didn’t give an excuse, any advanced warning; nothing. The Laura I knew would never have allowed that. Never.
The students. Christ…I think It’s the worst for the kids. I can still listen to what they’re saying; Chess and Yearbook meet in my room during lunch and after school, so I get plenty of opportunities. I’ve been watching during my regular classes as well. The notes I’ve been taking about it are--well it’s…something is wrong.
XXXXXXXX is a good school. We’re a small community, we take care of each other. Bullying, although there have been some incidents, has never been a problem. But now, well, the switch, it was almost instantaneous.
[He sits forward and fishes a small notepad out of his pocket. He flips through pages filled with dates and tick marks.]
Barbara New-gate. She’s a transfer student. She arrived at our school halfway through last year. Due to her speech impediment and weight she’s never been popular, but she has been able to find a small friend group within the middle school chess team. Before she would take some mild jabs at her body and some name calling from idiots that called her ‘nougat’. All in all, she was a happy and competent student.
[He jabs his finger down on a mark that reads “28”.]
A week after Brian’s death, it’s a completely different story. I think it began…Monday, the 22nd. I’m getting my papers in order for the middle school class. The bell rings 3 minutes late, like usual, and the students file into the classroom. They sit down; Barb sits in her usual seat at the center left table. Everyone scoots in, puts away their phones, and class begins. I hand out the papers; it’s a lab assignment with premade groups. I tell everyone to go get their goggles from the rack and get to work.
It was a simple assignment to show them the structure of a plant cell; they each are given a little slide containing plant matter and they take turns looking at it under a microscope. It’s very basic group work. They’ve got a good routine by now: they all tie up their hair, put on goggles, and go to the available microscopes. Soon there was the regular chatter as they tried to use our banged up equipment and recorded their findings. But, as I looked, I realized that Barb hadn’t gotten up. She hadn’t even touched her paper. Barb is a good student, she wouldn’t just ignore work like that. So, I walk up to her and ask her what’s wrong.
She says that she doesn’t know who her group members are. I show her where it says it on the paper and point to where her partners were working. I’m…I’m not sure how to explain her response. Barb stared at her team members with…apprehension? She was clinging to the sides of her chair and was hunched over her desk. It…she didn’t move, at first. I told her that this was an important unit and that it would be difficult to make up a lab. So, she finally gets up and goes to join her team. I was curious, so I stayed to watch.
As she walked up…they stared her down. Like…like a pack of dogs guarding food. She stopped not two steps from her seat…and I don’t blame her. They looked disgusted--beyond disgusted. I’d never seen these students act like that before. Barbara, probably aware that I was still watching, shakily walked the final steps over.
[He runs his hand over his face.]
As soon as she gets to them, the students pick up all their stuff and walk away. They all--just--switched microscopes; moved to the opposite end of the classroom. Barbara was left, near tears at the other workstation. I was appalled. I wanted to go over to those students and tell them that they needed to…I don’t know. I wanted to force them to work with her--send them to the office or something, but then I looked at Barb. She was already mortified. If I made a scene she would just get teased about it later. So, I…I just worked with Barb to complete the lab and told those students to see me after class.
It wasn’t the worst thing. But it was the start.
[He folds his arms and begins tapping his foot.]
When I talked to those students, I explained that ostracizing was not allowed in my classroom. That if they were assigned a student to work with, that they would work with them and that they would be kind to them. Usually, when I scold my students they at least pretend to be cowed. But this time they didn’t react at all. Throughout my entire lecture they were entirely unresponsive. When I told them to make up the lab with Barb, finally one of them stated, “I’m not going to work with someone I don’t know.” The others nodded.
I was at a loss for words. They’d been learning alongside Barb for half a year; all of them knew her. All of them should have…The one who said that she didn’t know Barb was Kaylee Davis.
After that incident, I started looking closer. Specifically to the Davis’s. I had both sisters in different periods of science. Both of them sat in the same seat, so it had taken a while for me to learn their names. But I knew them now. And this time I wasn’t going to miss anything.
The next day, nobody would sit at Barb’s table. They moved their chairs to be away from her. I told them to move back. They wouldn’t. I tried yelling at them, singling them out, talking about reducing grades or calling parents. Nothing worked. After ten minutes of wasted class time I just--I just started teaching. I didn’t have the resources to do anything yet. But I kept track. I kept track of every time someone whispered, or burst into giggles, or stared at Barb. Twenty eight times. During a single class period.
I know that other teachers would call me hyper aware; too concerned about what some people would call ‘normal middle school behavior’. But bullying shouldn’t be normal and at XXXXXXXX it’s not. I thought that the faculty would agree with me on that. But by that point…by that point they weren’t agreeing with me on anything. They just looked past me. Like I wasn’t even there.
The next day Barb didn’t arrive to class on time. Something had to be wrong. She was never late. So, I gave the kids a worksheet and went looking for her. You should never leave teens alone with scientific equipment, but I couldn’t just stand there teaching like something wasn’t wrong and I knew that none of the staff would help me. So I left them.
I went looking for her locker. There are specific hallways for different grades, so I ran to the eighth grade hallway. She was there, at her locker, sitting on the floor and doing something to her shoes. I leaned down to ask her what was wrong. Barb was barely holding it together--she couldn’t speak. She just shook her head. I looked at her shoes. There were thumbtacks in them. When I glanced at her hands, I realized that she’d cut herself on some while taking them out. I took her to the nurse. When she was finally well enough to speak, she said that someone had slipped the tacks into her locker and they’d fallen out when she opened the door. That’s not normal. It’s not.
[He runs his hands through what’s left of his hair]
They were getting violent. And not the obvious kind of violence that you can immediately punish. The slow, methodical kind that others can ignore. And…God…and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.
I kept watching, I kept on keeping track. The more I watched, the more I saw them: after school, in class, during lectures. The Davis sisters, both of them, sat in the middle table at the middle seat. Everyday, they would watch me. And everyday there would be something left on my desk. A crumpled sticky note with an upcoming date, a scrap of paper with names scribbled on it, a torn piece of cloth; every time I left the classroom, there was something waiting for me when I got back. And whenever I found it and looked up, there one of them would be, staring at me.
[…]
Barb was in the Chess team. Kendra Davis was a member as well. That day, about a week after Brian’s death, we were supposed to have a speed chess tournament. Just among ourselves, for fun. I thought that maybe it would break some of the tension in the air. That it would help us to…to get along again. It didn’t matter. Everyone skipped over Barb’s table, and they moved when she tried to sit with them. I tried to stop it, tried to direct the kids to go play with her. I couldn’t. They wouldn’t listen to me anymore. Every time I tried, they shook their heads and looked at Kendra.
I left for one minute. One minute, so I could go get a chip box. I usually bring snacks to the clubs I sponsor…to try to…I don’t know. But when I got back…
Have you ever seen something so incongruous, so opposite to everything you expect, that you freeze? You physically can’t process what’s going on in front of you? It’s as if, for a moment, your entire body is frozen, unfeeling, and you’re just a pair of eyes, looking on into a world that is not your own. That’s how I felt when I reentered the class and saw them throwing things at Barb. They had--they’d moved some of the tables, so that there was this kind of--a kind of circle in the middle of the room. And um, and Barb was in the middle.
The other kids…they didn’t look like my kids anymore. They were this--this mob. This roiling force of…just…hatred. They were throwing things at her: chess pieces, pencil cases, textbooks. They would--they waited until she tried to leave the circle. Every time she tried to run out, they would hit her with things to force her back into the middle. I finally broke out of my trance when one of them picked up a chess board and cracked it across her face.
I’d never shouted so loud in my life. I roared at them to stop, to get back. Dropping the box, I ran forward and heaved the boy off of her by the back of his collar. I pushed some of the others and put Barbara behind me. They backed away. Barb…Barb ran out of the room. At that moment, as I looked into their eyes, I saw something change. Some of them seemed to come to. They blinked as they saw me and started to groan and lean on the desks, shaking their heads and covering their mouths. Terrified. Others didn’t wake up. The others just stared at me, like an appraiser trying to gauge my worth. Like a mortician trying to calculate how long it would take to pick me apart.
The floor was covered with what they’d thrown, what they’d broken on Barb. I demanded that they clean it up. They actually listened, this time. As the other students bent to pick up their mess, I saw Kendra. She was sitting on a desk in the back of the classroom. She looked…she looked hungry. Her eyes bore into me, disappointed.
I almost didn’t notice when someone ran into the classroom. They were gasping with exertion, but their voice wasn’t urgent enough to alarm me. I only started to panic when I finally understood what she’d said, “Someone’s not breathing in the bathroom?” She ended it with a question. Like she wasn’t sure if there was one or not. Or like she didn’t know if we would care.
Sprinting across linoleum tile is not easy, but I barely cared. By the time I got to the bathrooms, my heart was beating so hard I couldn’t even hear my footsteps. Somehow I knew that it was the girls’ bathroom. Without even thinking, I ran in.
It was Barb. Lord almighty…I think I knew it would be Barb. Even before I got there, I knew. But she wasn’t…she wasn’t on the floor, or in one of the stalls or…She was by the sinks, looking into the mirror. Barb was a mess: her shirt was covered with dust, marker, and mucus. Her hair was so tangled I couldn’t see where each strand began and ended. Her hands were bloody. The way she was standing…it looked like she had glanced into the mirror while trying to compose herself. That she’d lifted a hand to brush the hair from her face.
She wasn’t moving. People--people move when they stand still. Little motions that say that this thing is alive. Those tiny shivers seemed to have completely left Barb, as her breath had left her. She was frozen, stuck staring at herself. As I watched, her face began to turn red.
I rushed over to her, but I--I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t…It felt like if I did anything it would somehow make it worse. Like whatever was keeping her standing would break and she would be…I didn’t touch her. Her face was stretched in a look of terror and her eyes were locked on herself. It looked like…like she was choking without moving. Drowning without lungs. Trapped in her own gaze. I turned to look in the mirror.
And Barb wasn’t there.
[…]
I called an ambulance. They took Barb to the hospital. I wanted to ride with her, but I wasn’t allowed. I still had to chaperone my chess club. That whole period Kendra stared at me. When I looked at my desk…in my desk there was a picture of Barb frozen at the mirror. The camera was bearing down on her with the rest of the bathroom behind her. Taken from the mirror’s perspective.
[…]
I--um, I brought the photograph, in case you’d want it. I don’t know if you can use it as evidence, but it just…it’s not possible, right? None of that was possible. Barb was injured, but she’s not…The doctors said that she just had some cuts and bruises from the…from the…I managed to um, I managed to have most of the Chess club suspended for a time. I guess when other people get involved, then the faculty finally decides to listen to me. But…I just can’t un-see it. The mirror…
[“Thank you, Dr. Fletcher. We would be very grateful for any evidence you would provide.”]
Right--great, um--
[He fumbles a folded up polaroid from out of his pocket. Within it is a picture of a girl with dark brown hair, looking disheveled and afraid. See file 8192]
Thank you for--um, thank you for hearing me out about this. I don’t get a lot of conversation these days.
[“Thank you. Your testimony will be instrumental in our investigation. Do you have anything more to add?”]
I don’t think Sam is a bad kid. I know that she’s made bad choices, but I’ve worked with her before; she would never do something like…something like this. There has to be some mistake.
But then…but then I never thought that the kids at my school could do what they did either. God…what’s happening? It seems like ever since Sam…ever since Brian…it’s all gone down hill. I’ve never considered leaving XXXXXXXX before, but now…
I have a feeling that everything is just going to get worse.
[This interview was discarded and was not used in Samantha Valentine's trial. Dr. Bradly Fletcher did not leave XXXXXXXX before 1252019. Barbara New-gate did transfer to a new school before 1252019.]

Hi all, I'm a 4th year INTSCI major and here's my two cents on some popular UBC courses. For starters I’m not particularly smart but I did manage to do well so if you’re an average person like me this may be useful!
​
CAPS 390 – Introduction to microscopic human anatomy
This course is centered around microscopic anatomy, but in a nutshell what it boils down to is basic physiology with histology thrown in. You’ll tour around the major body systems on a cellular level and what makes up the medium between organ systems like connective tissue and ECM. This course is difficult and what makes the course difficult is a mix of the ambiguity around what you need to know and the amount of volume this course has. The learning objectives are very broad and aren’t good for guiding learning. General rule of thumb, you need to know absolutely everything unless stated otherwise – making this course very memorization heavy. Textbook was virtually useless, and I never referred back to it so I do not recommend purchasing it and if you would like to use a textbook, Libgen is your friend. For each module, you’ll be uncovering a major body system or organ, you’ll receive lecture slides as well as pre-recorded lectures from W2020 and “Summary” documents.
​
How to do “well” in CAPS 390
I received an A in the course, so here’s how I was able to get this grade. As previously mentioned, you receive lecture recording, slides, and a summary. Watch the lecture to see how the lecturer emphasizes certain information. For example, in the respiratory slides they mention “respiratory epithelium” many times, so know what makes up respiratory epithelium. Use the lecture slide pdfs to make Anki image occlusion for major diagrams because they will often be copy paste onto exams or quizzes. “What part of the nephron is highlighted in this image?” these are common question types so memorizing major diagrams is free marks that other people might not get. Lastly, use the summaries to memorize information. Although everything is testable, memorize first what the lecturer emphasizes and then move on from there. If you have any other questions inbox me and I can help!
​
PSYC 367 – Sensory Systems
Dr. Giaschi is an amazing professor, she’s been teaching this course for a very long time, so she’s been able to fine tune her course very well which is good for students looking to do well. The course is initially structured around psychophysics which was a bit more formulaic / mathy in the beginning, I didn’t particularly enjoy this section, but it quickly transitions into more interesting neurophysiological topics at the 3rd week. In a nutshell, you learn about neurophysiology and major sensory modalities, how they are transduced and how they travel to the CNS – sensation is the key word here. The eye / ophthalmology section was my favourite, the neuro-ophthalmology especially, I can’t imagine anyone finding this anything but exciting. This was my favourite class I’ve taken in a while with some existential dread, some cool information to bore your family with – what more could you want?
​
How to do “well” in PSYC 367
In lecture, I hand wrote over lecture slides on my iPad but most importantly I just paid attention. This is a neuroscience class and neuroscience can be hard, so it’s more important that you understand the material before passively writing down what the instructor says without understanding it. For quizzes and exams the only thing you should focus on is learning objectives. Every single question on exams and quizzes is exactly what the learning objectives ask you before each lecture. Treat each LO like a question, if you can answer it entirely you got it right, if you didn’t answer it correctly, review it. But make sure you really understand what they are asking, sometimes the learning objectives ask for definitions, other times they ask for conceptual understanding. If you’re able to confidently write down without a memory aid the answer to each learning objective you should be able to get 100, yes, seriously. The most recent textbook is absolutely essential here, reason being is that the course makes learning objectives that are only possible to answer from information in the textbook. These textbook LOs are always on the quizzes and exams and lots of students miss questions because they didn’t look at the textbook. I used anki for this course, taking each LO and answering it in word, and creating cloze deletion cards in Anki for each LO until I really understood what I was reading. After you review these LO’s enough you’ll start to make extrapolations from the material the LOs capture which means you really understand the material. Message me if you want more specifics or how I studied for this course.
​
ISCI 312 – Symmetry
I really thought this course would be a GPA booster, if you check the UBC grades distribution from last year you’ll see where my thought process came from. This year though it was very different. This course for most will be a relatively straight forward A-, but its genuinely difficult to understand some of the concepts. The abstract algebra / number theory module confuses me to this day, and the final exam was THICK with 23 pages. The professor means well but the canvas page is disorganized, but useable. Because this is a relatively new course, none of the kinks have been ironed out and it sometimes feels as though the source material (canvas) isn’t enough to understand the material fully.
​
How to do “well” in ISCI 312
Pick a smart group of people! I know that’s facetious, but all the quizzes are done as a group + there’s a group project at the end of the course. It’s very easy to mess up a question and lose that 1% of your final mark, but if you and your group are prepared you can reap many perfect scores on these quizzes. The canvas quizzes are very straight forward, you can refer to the canvas modules to find answers or work your way through them. The worksheets you’re given are difficult, I lost many marks on these because they can ask questions that don’t have immediate answers on canvas, so you’ll have to look on youtube or elsewhere for learning materials. The final project is fun, but make sure your group is on the same page as you. After all, its graded as a group effort and each member of your group must present some portion of the project to get full points as per the criteria. The final exam was 23 pages long with conceptual questions as well as questions that pertain to the quizzes. Like what symmetry group is this particular frieze group? Or this particular 3D object? Other questions ask conceptual questions and require you to manipulate objects in your head to answer – “if you rotate this structure 72 degrees relative to this structure, what kind of symmetry has it gained or lost?”. I still would recommend this course for all the faults it has. It kind of felt like a Vsauce video spread over 4 months but nevertheless I thought it was interesting. As always, message me if you want specifics!

Hello everyone!
I have a four year old who I’m the Nanny for, and he’s exceptionally smart. We’ve been working on his reading and he started to read at three and is currently making his way through level 1 books almost by himself. He can count to 100 and we are working on multiples of ten. He has a basic grasp of fractions, and loves science. We’ve been doing storybots a lot for science or taking his microscope out so he can see all the cool stuff in the world. We are going on a dinosaur dig soon and a trip to see alligators.
I’m pretty confident that I can help continue to advance his reading skills, but I need advice on math and science to help build him up there. He’s got a very sharp mind and retains things easily so I really want to make sure that I’m giving him the best foundation. Can anyone point me to resources that would be useful? I’m trying to avoid worksheets if possible. He’s still four and responds really well to hands on activities. Thank you in advance for all of your help.

Company OverviewTeledyne E2V Advanced Electronic Solutions provides innovative technologies and successful program solutions to the aerospace, defense, space and high-tech industries. With an established pedigree of over 50 years, we leverage our experience and broad spectrum of capabilities to provide our customers with a new level of full service design, manufacturing and test solutions. Our world class manufacturing facilities, along with our experienced team of technical experts will assure your program will be successfully finished on time and on budget. From circuit card assemblies to complex microelectronics, to box level assemblies, we are uniquely positioned to help you with your most complex and challenging manufacturing needs.Position Summary and ResponsibilitiesUnder close supervision, performs a wide variety of electronic and electro-mechanical subassembly and assembly operations of a semi-skilled nature to build up and assemble simple units such as power supplies, modules, chassis drawers, cable harnesses, PC boards, electronic systems and subassemblies. Solders and de-solders through-hole and surface mount technology (SMT) components. Installs and/or removes discrete components such as transformers, resistors, transistors, capacitors, inductors, etc., on to printed circuit assemblies (PCA’s), panels using both traditional soldering iron and or hot air techniques.Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.* Follows production drawings, sample assemblies and verbal instructions with general supervision. Understands and applies established acceptable workmanship practices to all facets of electronic assembly.* Interprets and works from electromechanical schematics, drawings, work instructions and bills of material to understand the required parts and steps needed to complete the assigned assembly.* Reads worksheets and wiring diagrams, selects components, such as transistors, resistors, relays, capacitors, and integrated circuits.* Mounts assembled components, such as transformers, resistors, transistors, capacitors, integrated circuits, and sockets, on chassis panel, requiring manual dexterity and the ability to work with simple hand tools, soldering equipment, volt meters and other related test instrumentation. Knowledge of cleaning, lead preparation, component mounting, parts orientation.* Connects component lead wires to printed circuit or routes and connects wires between individual component leads and other components, connectors, terminals, and contact points.* Positions and aligns parts in specified relationship to each other in jig, fixture, or other holding device.* Crimps, stakes, screws, bolts, rivets, welds, solders, cements, press fits, or performs similar operations to join or secure parts in place.* Uses hand and small power tools to place small components in boards, cables, connectors, etc. Inspect parts and performs basic tests.* May perform other assembly tasks such as potting, encapsulating, sanding, cleaning, epoxy bonding, curing, stamping, etching, impregnating, and color coding parts and assemblies.* Adjusts or trims materials from components to achieve specified electrical or dimensional characteristics.* Performs hand soldering using a soldering iron.* May perform work (soldering and general inspection) under microscope.* Performs online go-not-go testing and inspection to ensure parts and assemblies meet production specifications and standards.* Troubleshoots and replaces defects of finished products.* Reworks and repairs defective units rejected by inspection or test personnel.* Follows safety procedures in the use and handling of flammable and hazardous chemicals required to meet all cleanliness specifications.* Must be able to follow specific procedures and detailed instructions completely.* Ensures that quality checks are completed throughout the manufacturing process.* Records information on production records, logs and other report forms.CompetenciesTo perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:* Oral/Written Communication – Listens and gets clarification; Responds well to questions; Records data; Writes clearly and informatively; Able to read and interpret written information.* Teamwork – Gives and welcomes feedback; Contributes to building a positive team spirit; Supports everyone’s efforts to succeed.* Ethics – Treats people with respect; Works with integrity and ethically.* Organizational Support – Follows policies and procedures; Supports organization’s goals and values.* Planning/Organizing – Uses time efficiently.* Professionalism – Approaches other in a tactful manner; Accepts responsibility for own actions; Follows through on commitments.* Quality – Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; Applies feedback to improve performance; Monitors own work to ensure quality.* Quantity – Meets productivity standards; Completes work in a timely manner; Strives to increase productivity.* Safety and Security – Observes safety and security procedures including using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as required and wearing company issued badge when on company property; Reports potentially unsafe conditions; Uses equipment and material properly.* Adaptability – Adapts to changes in the work environment.* Dependability – Follows instructions, responds to management direction.* Attendance/Punctuality – Is consistently at work and on time.* Initiative – Asks for and offers help when needed.QualificationsTo perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.Education and/or ExperienceRequires a high school diploma and some degree of vocational or technical training; 0-2 years of directly related experience.Language SkillsAbility to read and comprehend simple instructions, short correspondence, and memos. Ability to write simple correspondence.Mathematical SkillsAbility to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.Reasoning AbilityAbility to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.Computer SkillsTo perform this job successfully, an individual should be able to enter time and data into a computer system. An individual may require knowledge of database software; inventory software; manufacturing software; spreadsheet software and/or word processing software.Other Essential Duties* Follows all import/export requirements, consulting with facility import/export personnel as required.Other Skills and Abilities* Basic Knowledge of ISO and/or AS9100* Working knowledge of Lean Manufacturing/6 Sigma/Kaizen* Knowledge of specific software (design, analysis, ERP…)Citizenship RequirementsDue to classified work at the facility and related access restrictions, successful applicants must maintain U.S. Citizenship to allow the person to hold a U.S. Government security clearance.Teledyne is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity EmployerAll qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race,color,religion,religious creed,gender,sexual orientation,gender identity,gender expression,transgender,pregnancy,marital status,national origin,ancestry,citizenship status,age,disability,protected Veteran Status,genetics or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal,state,or local law. If you need assistance or an accommodation while seeking employment,please email teledynerecruitment@teledyne.com or call (855)479-1480. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. Please note that only those inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will receive a response.
The post Assembler, Electronics/ Electro-Mech. 1 first appeared on Working in Tennessee.
from Working in Tennessee https://ift.tt/2MqqCwu

Previous Chapter
When morning came, there was still no sign of my dad.
The bruise around my mom’s eye had turned a deep purpley-blue. As I came into the kitchen, she set a bowl of cereal down for me at the table. I got a good look at her neck then. Green bruises laced with purple hues wrapped their way
It was Friday, but I wasn’t in a good mood. After last night’s events, I wasn’t looking forward to another weekend my dad would spend drunk. There was no telling how far he would take it.
“Does it hurt?” I asked. I didn’t have to specify that I meant her eye for her to know what I was talking about.
She just shook her head and changed the subject. “Hey, you haven’t mentioned Martin lately, are you two still friends?”
I nodded.
Martin was a kid my age. We were in the same class at school, and I guess he was the closest thing I had to a friend. I don’t think either of us had friends per se but we were usually thrown together for partner projects. He could get annoying sometimes and most of the other kids didn’t really like him. He always had to be right, so telling him a story or trying to include him in a conversation could prove more frustrating than it was worth. He loved to remind people that he was asthmatic, so he never wanted to play games like tag or hide-’n-seek, but he was also the biggest weenie I’d ever met, so that was probably for the best. He was always worried about getting in trouble or breaking rules.
“Why don’t you two have a sleepover? It’s been a while since you hung out,” my mom suggested.
I shoveled cereal into my mouth and mulled it over. A sleepover might not be a bad idea. If anything, it would get me away from my dad for a night.
***
There was no rain that morning, just a grey foreboding sky. My head must have been up in those thick fluffy clouds, because before I knew it, I was walking up to the school’s main entrance. I was surprised to see Mary Alice was waiting to greet me.
“Did you do your homework last night?” she asked as I approached. There was a look in her eyes like she already knew the answer. I shook my head. “I didn’t think so. Here.” She pulled her own homework out of her backpack and handed it to me.
I looked at her, dumbfounded. “You’re letting me copy yours?” It seemed appalling to me that someone would actually let me copy their homework, especially someone I barely even knew.
“Sure,” she shrugged like it was no big deal. She turned and walked away and I sat down on a bench and got to work quickly.
“Dewey! Was that Mary Alice?”
I looked up to see who was interrupting me. Martin had come over. “Yeah, she’s letting me copy her homework. Rough night.” Martin knew what that meant. He’d even been present for a drunken rampage or two of his own. I was pretty sure the whole town knew what my father was like.
“You know she has the evil eye though, right?” Martin looked panic stricken as he sat down next to me.
“Yeah, but what does that even mean?” I challenged as I scribbled some more on my worksheet.
“I… don’t know. Melanie said if she looks at you with it she can put a curse on you! And Tyler said it means her eye is going to rot and fall out of her head! Chris said it means her grandma’s a witch and she put a spell on Mary Alice when she was still in her mom’s stomach and now Mary Alice can see the dead!” Martin was talking frantically, causing him to breathe heavily. I wondered if it was possible for Martin to work himself into an asthma attack.
“Do you really think all that’s true?” I put my pencil down and looked at him carefully. “Don’t you think if any of that is true, something would have happened by now?”
“Well… I….” Martin scrambled for an explanation but came up blank.
“Seriously man, don’t believe everything you hear. Sure, it looks bad, but you’ve got your own crap to worry about, with your dad and all. Worry about yourself.” That shut Martin up.
The bell rang and I rushed to copy a few more answers before shuffling the papers up and passing them back to Mary Alice as we entered the school together. Martin glanced at Mary Alice warily.
The rest of the day flew by.
“Hey, my mom wants to know if we can have a sleepover tonight,” I asked Martin as we exited the school. The sky was still grey, but a light drizzle had started to fall.
“I’m sure my mom will be fine with it,” he said. We both knew “sleepover” was code for “Can you watch my kid for a night? I need a break”.
“Sleepover, huh? Maybe I’ll crash it,” Mary Alice remarked as she joined us. Martin immediately went pale.
I chuckled. “You can’t come to a boys’ sleepover, you’re a girl!”
“I don’t have to sleep over, but I can still come over.” She stared at me with cold, unyielding eyes, daring me to challenge her again. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Martin shaking his head adamantly. “We can go looking for the beavers.”
“What?” Martin and I both said in unison. We stopped in our tracks. My stomach clenched with dread.
Mary Alice kept walking until she realized we had stopped. She turned back towards us. “The beavers. We can get proof they’re real. Then the class will stop making fun of you. Maybe Katie will even think you’re cool.”
I felt my face flush at that. Everyone knew Katie was the cutest girl in class.
Mary Alice continued like she hadn’t even noticed. “I got a camera last Christmas. We can take pictures of them and then you’ll have your proof. You guys wanna come to my house today?” Mary Alice said it so casually like we were gonna go to the store to get some pop.
“Dewey! We can’t go to her house! Her grandma’s a witch!” Martin hissed in my ear. Mary Alice whirled around and glared at us.
“Really? You of all people should know better than to spread rumors.” Her voice was ice cold. Martin turned beet red and seemed to shrink.
“Sure, we’ll come,” I said, trying to smooth out the tension in the air. “Well, I’ll come. Dunno about him.” I gestured towards Martin, who looked like he might spontaneously combust.
And that was how we found ourselves at the door to the witch’s lair.
Except not really.
Mary Alice’s house looked relievingly normal. Sure, it was a little run down, the yard was a little overgrown, but that’s how most houses were. Her house had the mark of a founding family - made of bricks that were once red but had now more of a faded dirt color. Ivy crawled over most of her house and the grass grew high. A rusted iron fence lined the perimeter of the property. Only the founding families had houses made from brick that were passed down through each generation.
“This is where you live?” Martin asked incredulously. Despite his earlier qualms, he had insisted on tagging along. He argued that if he came with me then someone would know what had happened if Mary Alice and her grandmother had put a curse on me or killed me somehow.
“Yeah, why?” Mary Alice asked.
“It’s so… normal,” Martin replied. I wondered if he had ever seen a founder’s house up close
Truthfully, her house looked in better condition than most of the houses in town. The yard was still overgrown, but the house itself was in better condition than the majority of the buildings in town. I wondered to myself what caused them to stop building houses out of brick if most of the wooden structures were rotting and waterlogged.
Mary Alice shrugged. “My family was one of the original settlers here, way back,” she said, as if that was enough of an explanation.
She opened the front door and we all headed inside. As we took our shoes off, I looked at the house around me. It was warm and cozy. The walls in the foyer were covered in old, faded pictures. It looked like most of the photographs were in black and white or sepia toned. A pastel shade of pink wallpaper peeked around the picture frames. Mary Alice’s home was actually more inviting than my own house was.
A delicious smell wafted out of the kitchen and my stomach growled audibly. I flushed with embarrassment as they both turned to look at me. I realized all that I had eaten that day was the cereal my mom had given me for breakfast. With money being as tight as it was, it was actually pretty rare for my mom to send me to school with a lunch and school’s food was barely edible.
“Grammy? I’m home!” Mary Alice called out as she padded across plush carpet towards the kitchen. “I brought some friends, I hope that’s okay.”
Martin and I exchanged a look. Much to Martin’s reluctance, I followed her, and he followed me. In the kitchen, we found an ancient-looking woman standing at an old oven. Right after we entered the kitchen, she turned around and set down a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the kitchen table. We watched as she pulled Mary Alice in for a hug, and planted a kiss on the top of her head.
“Oh, well hello!” she croaked warmly as she greeted us. “How wonderful it is to see you! It’s been far too long since we had guests here. Come in, sit, sit. You look hungry!”
I flushed at the mention of hunger, and it felt like her eyes pierced right through me. “This is Martin and Dewey,” Mary Alice said, sitting down and grabbing a cookie.
“Of course, how lovely to meet you!” Grammy exclaimed. “Make yourselves comfortable, I’ll leave you kids be.” She gave us a wink and hobbled off deeper into the house.
I wasted no time climbing into a chair and snatching a cookie myself. “Are you going to sit or what?”
Martin was still standing in the doorway, frozen. A panicked look crossed his face. Eventually, he forced himself to walk over and climb into a chair next to me. His eyes were so wide I thought they might bug out of his head.
“Have a cookie,” Mary Alice offered as she bit into another one. As I shoved mine into my mouth, it melted on my tongue. I decided then that there was nothing better than fresh baked cookies.
“What if they’re poisoned?” Martin whispered to me. I was sure he hadn’t intended for Mary Alice to hear him, but she rolled her eyes anyway.
“Whatever, more for me,” I told him as I bit into another heavenly cookie. “Sooo… what do you want to do?” I sat back in my chair and looked at both of them.
“Let’s go to my room! We can play a game!” Mary Alice grabbed the plate of cookies and raced down the hall. She scurried up the staircase in the hall before we were even out of our chairs.
Martin and I crept up the stairs, but without Mary Alice to guide us, it felt like we were doing something we weren’t supposed to be. At the top of the stairs, a hallway stretched ahead of us. All of the doors were closed except for one at the end. I wondered if there were other people living here besides Mary Alice and her grandmother, if there were, then who were they? And if there weren’t, then what laid in the rooms beyond those doors? We only had two bedrooms in my house and a closet.
Mary Alice’s room was at the end of the hall, and based on what I had heard about her, it was not what I expected at all. Her walls were painted a lavender color, and she had potted plants lined up in front of two huge windows on the far wall of her room. Her bed was neatly made, no clothes were on the floor, and no toy was out of place. Tall bookcases lined one wall, stretching from the floor to the ceiling. The shelves were so crammed with books, they bowed slightly under the weight. Some of the books were so worn and old that I couldn’t read the spines. A dollhouse sat in one corner, an exact replica of her own house. Overall, her room looked pretty normal.
Mary Alice and I sat down on the floor as she placed the plate of cookies between us on a rug that looked like a daisy. Martin followed us, looking around her room in wonder. He stopped when his eyes fell to her bed. Two needles stuck out of a balled-up mess of yarn.
“You knit?” he scoffed. “Isn’t that for old ladies?”
“I make blankets and donate them to the shelter and the community center,” Mary Alice replied matter-of-factly, giving him a sharp look.
“So what game do we want to play?” I asked, wanting to change the subject. Martin sat down next to me and gingerly took a cookie. His whole demeanor changed as soon as he bit into it.
“Truth or Dare!” Mary Alice exclaimed.
I immediately felt uneasy. I’d never actually played “Truth or Dare before’, but I had heard enough about it to know how easily it could get out of hand.
“Who goes first?” Martin asked nervously. I was pretty sure Martin had never played it either, or he had, and it just hadn’t ended well for him.
“Dewey! Truth or dare?” Mary Alice smiled.
“Uhh, dare, I guess.”
A wicked look crossed her eyes. “I dare you… To stick your tongue in Martin’s ear!”
“What? No!” Martin squirmed, but I knew the rules of the game and I didn’t want to be the first one to refuse a dare, especially this early. I shut my eyes, stuck my tongue out, leaned closer to Martin, and got it over with. The sour taste of earwax lingered in my mouth. Martin looked mortified when I pulled back.
“Okay, um, Martin. It’s your turn now: truth or dare.” I looked over at him. I knew he wasn’t one for risks, so I already knew what he would choose.
“Truth.”
I thought for a while. I knew Martin better than most people, but I also knew Mary Alice would probably tease me if I asked Martin a lame question. The point of the game was to see how far you were willing to go with dares, or to share something about yourself. I decided on one I thought would be pretty tame, since Martin wasn’t much of a risk-taker. “What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you?”
Martin shifted uncomfortably and I immediately knew whatever he had to share would be more embarrassing than I had anticipated.
“Last summer a bunch of us went swimming in the creek. I had to… um… y’know, fart? But it… um…” Martin’s face was beet red.
Instantly, I knew where this was headed and I wished I had asked him something else.
“That was you?” Mary Alice fell over giggling. “You’re… the one… who… pooped… in the creek?” she asked between laughs.
Martin frowned and looked at her challengingly. I felt a lump grow in my stomach as I realized this had gotten out of hand.
“Mary Alice,” he said firmly. She immediately stopped laughing and sat up. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” she said defiantly. There was a twinkle in her eye like she thought she had outwitted him, but my heart stopped when I heard Martin’s question:
“What really happened to your eye?”
A cold silence filled the air. Mary Alice looked down dolefully.
“Mary Alice, you don’t have to-” I started, but Martin’s icy glare cut me off. It was clear he wanted his revenge.
Mary Alice took a deep breath. “So… when I was born, my eyes were two different colors. The other one was red. Like, the iris was red. And my dad…” I watched her bottom lip tremble.
“Mary Alice...” I whispered.
She took a deep breath before continuing. “I don’t really remember, but Grammy says my dad was a paranoid schizophrenic. At some point he stopped taking his medicine and he really didn’t like my eye. He kept saying it was from the devil. One night he took a knife and tried to cut my eye out. My mom tried to stop him and he stabbed her. When she wouldn’t stop bleeding, he ran away. My mom died and they arrested my dad. So now I’m blind in my eye and I live here with my grandma.”
I stared at her, dumbfounded. A sick feeling was twisting around in my stomach. Neither of us knew what to say. What could we say?
“Does it hurt?” Martin whispered. He seemed genuinely appalled at Mary Alice’s story.
She shrugged. “Sometimes it does. I can kind of see things with my blind eye that I can’t with my normal eye. I don’t think anyone else can see it either.
“What kind of things do you see?” I asked.
“I can see when people are bad. Like, you know how when you watch a scary movie, and you get like, that sick feeling and you can just tell when the main character is about to walk into a trap? I get a feeling like that, but also sometimes my eye hurts.”
“Wow, th-” I started to say, but she interrupted me.
“Martin. Truth or dare.” There was a venomous look in her eye. The game was back on and I knew what was going to happen. Martin was silent for a moment. His cheeks flushed and he fidgeted as he weighed his options. I was pretty sure he knew what was coming too.
“Truth,” he finally said meekly.
“Where’s your dad.” It was more of a daring statement than a question. This time, it was Martin’s turn to look down. I already knew what had happened to Martin’s dad, but I was pretty sure no one else did. I’d overheard our parents talking about it, so I knew his mom was pretty embarrassed and wouldn’t talk about it at all.
Finally, Martin opened his mouth. “He ran off with some guy he was having an affair with. I think it was the intern at his job. Apparently, they have like a whole family of their own. My mom thinks it went on the entire time my parents were married, and that my dad helped the guy get a job at his work so they could spend more time together. Apparently, he’s always been gay and my dad says my mom just trapped him by having me.”
“Well, that’s not so bad. What’s wrong with being gay?” Mary Alice asked. But we all knew not all of the residents of Beaver Falls were as understanding. Sometimes it really felt like we were all living under a giant microscope.
I was surprised when Martin kept talking. Every time I had tried to ask him about his dad, Martin always tried to change the subject, so I had stopped trying to push the subject.
“I’ve tried calling him sometimes. It’s pretty rare for the call to actually go through, but when it does go through, it always just goes to his voicemail. He’s never called me back. I haven’t seen him since he left. I got up that morning and went to school, said bye to him before I left, and he was gone before I got home that day. It’s like he doesn’t even care about me anymore like he just replaced us with this brand new family.”
“My dad’s the town drunk,” I piped up, trying to smooth out the tension. Mary Alice and Martin looked up at me, confused. “I can’t remember a day in my life when he wasn’t drinking,” I continued. “He hit my mom last night so hard she has a black eye. He also said he never wanted me and I think if I hadn’t barricaded my door last night, he would have killed me.
I thought my babbling would have smoothed out some of the tension in the room, but instead, there was just more uncomfortable silence. No one knew what to say to each other.
“Well aren’t we a bunch of pathetic outcasts?” Mary Alice chuckled. We all laughed then and spent the next few minutes trying to one-up each other with stories about how awful our home lives were.
“Is it raining?” Martin suddenly exclaimed. We all turned to look at the window. The clouds were so dark they almost looked black and it had indeed started to drizzle.
“Oh no,” I said, scrambling up.
“We gotta go. We got a long walk ahead of us. We gotta go!” Martin also stood up. I gave Mary Alice an apologetic wave and then we both turned and ran out of her room and down the stairs, leaving her on the floor with the cookies. We both hopped around on one foot as we hurriedly tried to pull our shoes on and race out the door.
​
Author's note: I wanted to apologize for how long it took for me to post this chapter. Even though, for the most part, the story is largely unchanged and all I've really done is add small details and interactions to help beef up the story a little more, this chapter took much longer than I expected it to. Aside from the chaos the holidays brought, I also had a very severe depressive episode that lasted much longer than I anticipated. I was unable to do much of anything, but also didn't want to force myself to work on this chapter and risk having the quality suffer.
Next Chapter

Name	Length(um)
L1	882
L2	708
L1	781
L2	850
L1	829
L2	765
L1	863
L2	690
L1	849
L2	701

^{Table formatting brought to you by ExcelToReddit}

Column1	Column2	Column3	Column4
L1	822	L2	672
L1	816	L2	715
L1	773	L2	675
L1	902	L2	664
L1	855	L2	755
L1	809	L2	630
L1	850

L2705
^{Table formatting brought to you by ExcelToReddit}
So the first table is how the raw data/measurements are exported from the Microscope software to excel when it comes in. Think L1=height and L2=width as height. And the picture below is just another random one sample. We have never had much digital data other than the database we keep. We are a small manufacturing company and we use lasers to put small holes in stuff haha.
No one even knew you could export the measurements until I randomly figured it out Friday. For many years and including now the process to get it from the sample(pictures) to our database has been to a picture under the microscope measure that using the software, after the raw data is handwritten the down on paper usually two per sample, to average the numbers we use excel as calculator essentially, then enter it into a database from the paper.
Some notes on this software for the microscope is called Amscope and it is certainly more geared for processing the image so I can’t really change anything from table 1. But I can link it to export to external program which I can use the excel workbook of my choosing. So if there is a way for when I hit export for it to automatically end up as the second table that would make everything much more efficient and allow me to take more images of each sample to get more reliable data. I feel like I can make this much more efficient for myself so I can examine take more pictures per sample and produce better data. We would end up copying the table into different worksheets or workbooks because we typically have 5 jobs running at once but we always produce heighI am not worried about converting it into the SQC that is an aspect I can either still do manually or just figure it out as I Thank you so much if anyone has even read this far!
Measurements
Edit: I forgot to put the table through the converter.
Edit 2: the data is two different sets I was playing around with feel free to ignore the numbers. Apologies
Edit 3: big edit

Hi all. First post ever. Be nice.
This didn't happen today, but it happened a couple years ago. I met someone that could've been someone really special in my life but like an idiot I let him slip away. Let's call him...hmm...Eddie!
I had heard about Eddie long before I met him. His mom started going to my church and was very cool. Her teenage son, Eddie, gained a reputation, however, for being a little talkative. Eddie needed rides in the morning but didn't have a car and his mom couldn't for whatever reason. My dad, being the wonderful guy he is, offered to drive him before going to work. However, because it would be a little weird for a grown man and a teenager to be alone in a car, my dad made me, his daughter, come along.
It was early in the morning before the sun came up and I was a cranky middle-schooler who was a ball full of raging, uncontrollable emotions. I was not happy to share the same car as this annoying, loud kid when I could hardly keep my eyes open. I hated the early morning car rides and I hated Eddie.
Guys, Eddie was noisy. I had a front row seat to hear his crazy. One morning, he told us about his plans to make a motorcycle from a bike and lawn mower engine he found. Another time he told us about how he was going to make a flamethrower out of some sort of contraption. I heard from his mom that he made an electric glove from a bug zapper he bought. This guy was unlike any other teenager I had ever met. He always had a story to tell. And, as my father pointed out, he was always chipper and happy, despite the fact it was early. I just rolled my eyes and despised Eddie.
Well, I eventually got into high school and shared a couple of classes with Eddie. As usual, Eddie talked my ear off. Even during lectures, he'd whisper a joke or show me something he drew on his worksheet. By now I was a little more mature and was polite enough to listen to him or laugh quietly.
For one thing, we both watched anime but liked reading manga better, a rare find. We both liked to draw silly stuff. We had similar tastes in humor and we both agreed that taco bell was the best fast food restaurant. It was little things like this that made me appreciate Eddie. In gym we'd run together and talk the whole time. In science, we'd work together on projects. In math, we would doodle on our homework.
He'd perk up whenever saw me and I did the same. He'd tell me about this funny video he found ("look at this spongebob anime!"), some weird story from work ("my manager made me clean up human poop in the lobby") or a random thought from his chaotic, unknowable brain ("if you could slap a past american president, who would it be?"). Eddie was funny and happy all the time. I only ever saw him upset a couple times and if I was angry, he was a good person to vent to. I grew really fond of Eddie, but I didn't even realize it. Looking back now, I'm pretty sure our classmates thought we were dating because we were always talking or laughing about something. We were, by far, the loudest people in class. Eddie was sucking me into his noisy, giggling, preposterous aura and I didn't care. I was just along for the ride.
Not everyone felt the same way about Eddie, however.
"That kid's annoying," a friend from work said.
"He talks too much," a classmate complained.
"Can you be quiet for one minute?"
"Dude, do you ever shut up?"
"You're so annoying."
I started to realize the very real possibility that Eddie had some form of ADHD. He really did talk all the time. His school assignments were always crumpled and he frequently forgot to do them. He often abandoned projects as soon as he had another idea. Eddie moved and talked too quickly for the world to catch up.
One time in class together, I was working on homework and his worksheet was already shoved, undone without even his name on it, in his backpack. We chatted and the topic of marriage came up in the discussion between us.
"I'm never getting married," he said, "I'm staying single forever. I'll be the cool uncle."
"Where're you gonna live?"
"Somewhere out in the country by myself. Or maybe I'll just travel, y'know?"
By himself? The thought of Eddie somewhere deep in woods or high in the mountains far from any other people confused me. Eddie, who would talk to anyone who would listen, wanted to be by himself forever? I knew it really was none of my business what Eddie did with his life, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.
One night, I overheard my dad talking on the phone. He was apart of a committee at our church who planned youth activities.
"We really should plan something Eddie would like next week. His mom told me he's been feeling really lonely lately."
I now realize the situation Eddie was in back then. At church, I almost always saw him talking to the adults and maybe one other guy his age. At school. he had a handful of friends. But mostly, he was ignored a lot. Treated like a problem. Somebody no one wanted to join their group. His mom was divorced and his siblings were either much older or much younger than him. Who did he talk to?
I never dived too much into Eddie's personal life, but I have a feeling now that he knew he was being shunned. He couldn't stop his voice and just needed someone to listen. He wanted to be with other people, but other people had pushed him away, told him that he needed to learn to shut up. Even I had done this at one point. If I hadn't been in those classes with him, I would've kept ignoring him, only making his problem worse.
Eddie was a year older than me, so he graduated my junior year. Near the end of the year, seniors weren't required to come to school the last couple weeks and my classes were noticeably more quiet and dull without Eddie. Life happened and I didn't see too much of him at church, either. He went to college across the country and his mother suddenly moved far away. Last I heard, he might've gone into the military. I didn't get his number, social media, email, nothing. I didn't think to.
I really hate myself for never getting any form of contact with him.
Eddie was honestly one of the nicest, coolest, and happiest guys I ever met. I sincerely enjoyed his company and I wished I had told him that. Told him to keep going, to keep ignoring people who put him down. Eddie was the kid who loved to laugh and joke in a world full of self-centered teenagers who would rather die than be caught with an embarrassing smile on their face. He showed me that you don't have to take yourself too seriously and that there was always something to be happy about. He could've been spiteful that no one wanted to listen to him, but he braved through it all.
I miss him, I really miss him. I miss his silly questions, his doodles, his jokes, his videos, his schemes. I really missed out on a good friend. We were good acquaintances, but nothing more. If I had gotten his number or something I could've kept in contact with him. There were a hundred different ways I could've gotten his number but I thought he would be around forever so I foolishly never did. This guy was prime best friend material. I even daresay I loved Eddie, maybe not in a let's-get-married love way but if he asked me to give him a kidney, I'd do it. I'd do it because goshdarnit he'd been nothing but kind to me and I know he'd find a way to make the process enjoyable. I like to think that we'd be racing around the hospital hallways in our wheelchairs.
My motto in life is "It's better to regret what you did than what you didn't." The fact that I missed out on being Eddie's friend rips me apart. Recently, I've been struggling with feelings of loneliness myself and I can't help but wonder if my life would be just a little brighter if I was able to text or call Eddie once in a while. Would somebody who knew loneliness so well let one of his friends suffer the same way?
Wherever Eddie is, I hope he's happy. I hope someone out there is listening to his jokes and laughing with him. I hope they know that someone like him doesn't come around often and they cherish the friendship they have now. If you somehow made it all the way down here, thanks for reading. Go hug your friends and always be on the lookout for someone who needs a smile.
And, in the teeny tiny itty bitty microscopic chance that you're reading this, Eddie, oh geez I hope I don't sound creepy. Please dm me. I miss you. I want to know if you ever made that motorcycle or what your next big scheme to change the world is.
TL;DR guy I knew was really happy and nice, but was perceived by annoying to others so he was usually ignored. I wish I had been his friend.
EDIT: Wow, wow, WOW thank you beautiful, kind strangers for the wonderful reception, upvotes, and awards! I've read each and every one of your comments. You guys are awesome. Seriously.
As someone pointed out in the comments, if I was willing to give a kidney to Eddie, then I'd be willing to go looking for him and dang I can't argue with that. So, I went looking for him on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. Accounts that I think belong to him have been dormant for many years. Hmmmmm...
After a little digging, I found his mom's number from an old exchange about babysitting Eddie's little brother. I wrote out a text explaining how I wanted to reach out to him, thought about it, hesitated for a good three hours, then sent it.
Guys, I'm about it cry. She responded!
Bless this wonderful woman. She told me that he's currently in Marine boot camp and that he's not allowed to use his phone until graduation but would love a letter from me!! YAY!!! I'm gonna write him soon.
Thank you guys for giving me the motivation and courage to look for him again. If anything more happens, I'll let you know.
Edit: fixed some wording. I sent him a letter and I’m planning on sending him another one for Christmas! :D
One last edit to anyone still keeping up: I received a letter back! He graduates in a week and was so happy to get a letter :D we're going to exchange numbers and get in contact once he's done!

Hey everyone! I’m currently teaching 2 remote college classes. One of which, I taught before as an in person zoology lab. We looked at preserved specimens and carried out about 8 dissections. Should I do these labs live remotely? I have access to the college, the equipment and specimens. I even have a classroom to shoot video in. I know I can make really great quality videos with my camera setup, but if I’m live adjusting the camera and zooming in and changing the view to even to microscopic images, I’m sure that will take up class time.
The class ran a T,TH schedule last year. I think the best idea is to do hybrid MWF starting with a live one hour lecture Monday. I want to carry out the lab and shoot footage that Monday. Wednesday, they can watch the asynchronous lab video and complete the lab worksheet. Friday live one hour. It sounds like a lot of work on both ends but it might be the best.
Are there tools I should be using I don’t know about? Like panopto looks cool but I’m using zoom and that seems pretty universal right now. Any ideas or suggestions to make this easier for me or better for my students? Preferably both lol.
Thanks!

Hi! I recently graduated from UCF with my degree in Biomedical Sciences. Although I didn't get a 4.0 (I graduated with a 3.7 so I guess that's pretty average), I learned a lot throughout my undergrad through trial and error so I wanted to pass off some knowledge to those of you traveling down a similar path to mine.

Biology/Genetics

• I took Dr. Thomas (A very intelligent professor and formerly worked in the medical field so she really knows how to tie the basic subjects into what you will need to know as a medical professional).
• I also took Dr. von Kalm for genetics. An amazing professor who I was actually privileged enough to do research under after passing his class with an A. Great pre-MCAT course.
• I loved these classes for being easy but DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE ITS KNOWLEDGE. If you are continuing down this major, this a foundational class. Meaning, all other classes you take after this will build on the knowledge you gain from here. You can probably slack/cram and still get an A but you're setting yourself up for failure. Take the time to UNDERSTAND this information

General Chemistry

• I took Dr. Heider (very lovely and smart professor) & Dr. Lapeyrouse (LOVED her teaching style 10/10)
• I found this class difficult because I didn't have the right study habits. Use the textbook before class as a way to LEARN the material and go to the lecture to REVIEW the material.
• If you don't understand something, SI and SARC are your best bets. They're run by students who have gotten an A in the class and get paid to stay on top of the material and teach it to you. They're there to help you. There are also Graduate Chemistry students available to answereview any materials with you on the 3rd floor of the Chemistry building! I lived in that room for Gen Chem and Orgo.
• Do practice problems!!! From the textbook, homework, practice exams, online, etc. This is also a big MCAT foundation course so don't slack.

Organic Chemistry

• I took Dr. Hashim (A very sweet professor who knows how to simplify Orgo1 very well) & Dr. Frasier (not as great with teaching lecture but very funny - self-taught myself mostly for his class)
• I LOVED this class! Most people hate it but I really think that your attitude going into a class helps determine how well you do. Do not fear new/different information.
• I looked at this class as a puzzle. You learn what different parts of a molecule makes them a good attacker (nucleophile), a good leaving group, and a good place to be attacked (electrophile) and then you get a problem pairing different molecules together and you have to finish the puzzle. It's not about memorizing molecules, it's about learning basic parts of a puzzle and putting them together.
• Use YouTube and the Textbook!!! My favorite YouTubers (for almost every class in this list):
  • Professor Dave Explains
  • The Organic Chemistry Tutor
  • Leah4sciMCAT
  • Khan Academy
• Like the more math-involved classes, this is one where PRACTICE IS KEY. Have one notebook for your notes and another for practice problems.
• This is a class where, unless you have an iPad with the fancy apple pen, use paper and pencil 100%.

Physics

• This class honestly is a hit or miss depending on your professor.
• I had 2 amazing female professors (Dr. Rahman for Physics 1 & Dr. Dove for Physics 2) and I loved the course! I got A's in both classes and even a 116% in Physics 1.
• I survived off of Dr. Dove's textbook for Physics 2 and the website Physics Classroom for Physics 1
• Use the physics help room in the Physics building (PSB), I believe it is still room 158, and SI sessions.

Biochemistry

• I got an A in this class but didn't learn much. I took this course with Dr. Hashim again and although I adore her, she's definitely better at teaching introductory courses like Orgo 1. I felt very babied through the course and didn't feel like I gained enough knowledge.
• If I were to do this again, I would certainly take Medical Biochemistry. Although I've heard it is more difficult, I certainly understand it is a great preparatory class for the MCAT.
• If you're going down research, do Biochemistry 1 and 2, if you're pre-med, medical biochemistry.
• Youtubers!!!
  • AK lectures is GOD!!! Please use his videos!
  • Premed HQ is also amazing! Videos on Gen Chem, Physics, and Biochem
  • Science Simplifiedis a YouTuber that got great scores on the MCAT and makes videos on Gen Chem, Orgo, Physics, Biology/Physiology, and Biochemistry

Molecular Biology 1 and 2

• I did these 2 classes out of order and took Molecular Biology 2 and then 1. This did not affect my understanding of the material at all, especially because of my foundation in genetics. If you haven't taken genetics, do 1 then 2.
• I took Dr. Hawthorne for Molec 2 and would recommend no one else! I, now graduated, am a TA for this class and she structures the material very well. She's an amazing lecturer and truly does care for all of her students on a personal level. HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND HER.
• I took Dr. Chai for Molec 1 (very kind but YOU NEED TO SHOW UP TO EVERY CLASS AND BE ENGAGED. Don't bother reading beforehand, just show up, record his lectures, write down everything he says along with the images he shows, joke around with him, and use those notes for the open-note exams. People complain about him but honestly, those are the people who don't come to class until the exam and fail. Everyone I know who got an A were people I sat with every day in class. Not a single one of us got less than an A; good correlation, no?).
  • Dr. Chai also sits on the admissions committee for UCF medical school...
  • Honestly, though I gained more knowledge from the subject from talking to Dr. Borgon who also teaches this course. He's super friendly and I would recommend him for Molec 1 over Dr. Chai if you're looking for a normal class structure.
• Molecular biology 2 is a tough class with a lot of memorization but you can certainly do it if you devote enough time. I highly recommend taking this class with some easier or less-involved classes.

Anatomy

• The dreaded class lol.
• Obviously I took it with Dr. Samsam (he was the only anatomy professor when I took it). He's very kind but harder to get a relationship with than other professors because everyone tries to get on his good side lol.
• He's quiet and has a bit of an accent, so go to class and sit up in the front to record him. I had the 7:30 am lecture and would sit in for that one AND the 8:30 am lecture to make sure I got any material that I missed.
• His textbook is paramount to succeeding along with his lectures, especially the clinical boxes. There will be questions on the exams that are not in the lecture but are in the textbook so don't overlook it.
• His lectures will be simple questions like "which nerve/artery innervates ___ muscle?" that just come from basic memorization & then harder clinical questions like "A woman comes in, 45 years old, and fell down a cliff while hiking. She sustained some bruising but no broken bones, however, she cannot lift her left arm past 90 degrees. What is the cause?" which requires more critical thinking but they are usually examples either in class or takes about in the textbook. All questions are multiple-choice.
• For his lab, go to class every day and draw your notes if you're good at drawing or print out the diagrams and label. 10000% use the library anatomy lab review sessions!!! they're on the 3rd floor I believe and they're amazing for the lab exams.
  • Also, buy the Great River learning access. There will be diagrams of cadavers that you will see on this website that are copy-and-pasted onto the lab exams.

Physiology

• I took this class in 6 weeks over the summer with Dr. Flory. This is not a difficult class with him although he teaches more scientifically without much clinical emphasis whereas Dr. Ahangari teaches with more clinical emphasis (which I probably would have enjoyed more but she doesn't teach over the summer).
• Very doable just attend the lecture and memorize powerpoints.
• Labs are also easy and very interesting. There are quizzes before class so look over the material beforehand and you'll be fine. Same for the lab exams. If you paid attention throughout the lab, you're ok.
  • Take pictures of the microscope slides after class that you look at because they're fair game on exams.

Immunology

• I took this with Dr. Weigel and really enjoyed myself. He's very funny and also incredibly smart so pay attention.
• The key to getting an A, like most of the classes here, is to pull up the PowerPoint during class, write down what he says about each slide, and memorize. I bought the textbook for this class but didn't really use it. I DID, however, use his videos that he links on his webcourses page. Definitely something to look at and understand.
• Lab advice is the same as Physiology lab advice.

QBM

• Not a hard class at all!!!
• I had both Dr. Hawthorne and Dr. Borgon for 6 weeks in the summer and was top of the class.
• Attend lecture every day and READ THE TEXTBOOK!!!!! The textbook is the best for this class.
• For the lab, it's really chill and you don't have to even wear PPE. Your grade more depends on the person grading you sadly. I got a lax grader and got A's but I know others who worked just as hard and didn't so it's a hit or miss.

Microbiology

• I'll admit I struggled in this class but more because I had a lot of negative things going on in my life. I got a B (88%) but I know that if I could take it again with no knowledge of what I've already learned, I do feel like I could've gotten an A.
• Dr. White was the main lecturer and she is just the sweetest lady around. Dr. Ambivero is at other locations but comes in from time to time. She's younger and definitely harsher than Dr. White but still likable.
• Exams in this class, in my opinion, were the most difficult just due to the fact that, although they were multiple-choice, there were multiple answers with no partial credit. Easy to just add one more answer or forget one and get the whole question wrong.
• I would recommend taking this with easier, less time-consuming classes to give yourself more time to devote to this one.

Microbial Metabolism

• It's not on the course catalog anymore but I highly recommend this class for anyone taking the MCAT.
• Dr. Schroeder is a very kind man and also sits on the UCF medical school admissions committee so definitely good to talk to him.
• He uploads his lectures as powerpoints on webcourses and then devotes class time to doing group worksheets so definitely a teach yourself, class. Use his exam review sessions to ask questions after going through the material online.
• Harder but certainly doable.
• He says he won't curve the class but at least for me, he did (5% curve).

Electives I Recommend (No particular order):

1. PCB 306C - Genetics specifically with Dr. von Kalm
2. PCB 4234 - Cancer biology - essay exams & you can go into exam reviews to argue your grade if it's misgraded (happens often). Most answers you can find from his powerpoints while supplementing extra info from the textbook.
3. PCB 4805 - Endocrinology - Dr. Ahangari is lovely and this is a great class to prepare you for medical school
4. ZOO 3744 - Neurobiology - specifically with Dr. Hawthorne.
5. ZOO 4605 - Human Clinical Embryology - same reason as #3
6. PSB 3002 - Physiological Psychology - easy A, interesting, and good to pair with the harder classes I mentioned above
7. HSC 3537 - Medical Terminology - same reason as #6

​
HOPE THIS HELPS! Feel free to add anything below or ask me questions.