July 22

Today we went on a field trip to the San Diego County of Emergency Services. The building is a base isolated building, which is separated from the ground by a layer of air and supports. The buildings are less prone to damage from earthquakes because of the isolators. Our cluster went down below the superstructure to see the 29 isolators, which have a lead core surrounded by rubber layers with steel plates in between the layers. In the corner of the pit, there was a ladder for animals that wander down to be able to climb out. Around the building, there is also a moat so that the building is free to sway during an earthquake because the isolators can deform up to 18 inches during an earthquake. We toured around inside the building a little. It was busy because a training session was in progress. We also received information on emergency preparedness as well as magnets and pencils. There was a possibilty of going to the shake table after the tour of the Emergency Services Center to see an earthquake simulation, but unfortunately they ran the test before our tour was completed. Yesterday, we finished our plans for the bridge column we are building for our group project. Hopefully we will be able to start construction tomorrow.

Dr. Linden

Dr. Paul Linden is the Professor and Chair of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UC San Diego. He is the Blasker Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering. Dr. Linden got his degree from the University of Cambridge in London in the Departnment of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. He is currently conducting research in architectural fluid dynamics and gravity-driven flows. He is a brilliant professor with many bright ideas.

Mr. Paul Linden :)...y otras cosas

Hola!
We're currently beginning the third week of COSMOS. woohoo. This past weekend, i went home and slept on my beautiful, queen bed; it felt soooo good. Now i'm back and looking forward to the final project, but first i must talk about Paul Linden. He is the discovery lecturer this tuesday. First of all, he is a Professor and Chair of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He's done research on geophysical, environmental and industrial engineering. ". Linden's research focuses on the physical processes involved to obtain a greater understanding of the underlying principles governing these flows" as his profile states. He's also working on energy efficient buildings. It looks like he's a handful, and i'm eager to hear him speak tomorrow.
hola familia, ¿Cómo están? :D
gracias por el fin de semana.
los quiero <3

Paul Linden

I am very excited to hear the lecture by Paul Linden. He is a professor at UCSD and chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Some of the things he is studying are dynamic flows and environmental engineering. His goal is to create more energy-efficient buildings. Until I read about his work, I did not consider how much energy a building uses. He also is director of UCSD's Environment and Sustainability Initiative. I know that his work in the field of environmental engineering will make a difference in the way we construct our buildings in the future.

Paul Linden

Paul Linden is the chair of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering. He is also a member of the scientific advisory board for San Diego. His research focuses on gaining a better understanding of the physical processes that govern the flows. Recently, he studied the flows and vortices to fish and birds to determine how they propel themselves through the air. I am looking forward to Professor Linden's lecture on Tuesday.

Second Week

These past two weeks flew by very fast. This last week we went to the Shaker Table which was very interesting. They took us on a tour of all the equipment and how they control it. Also, at the beginning of the week we listened to Lawrence Goldstein’s lecture which was very fascinating and I learned a lot. Now I have to work on my essay about Tsunamis.

Paul Linden...Discovery Lecture Number Three

ddddddddddddPaul Linden, portrayed at the left, has contributed much to the scientific community. His studies include application in geophysics, and environmental science. He has studied fishes and birds, and has applied their aerodynamics to buildings, to make them more energy efficient. I strongly look forward to his lecture, because I myself am interested in learning more about the environment. I am thrilled, and can't wait for the lecture on Tuesday. ddddddddddddddddddd

Paul Linden

Paul Linden is a professor of environmental science and engineering. I am looking forward to the Discovery Lecture on Tuesday. I am very interested in Paul Linden's work, because I completed a science project last year in the Environmental Engineering category. I am all for going green and I understand why it is so important. It is really interesting on how he applied fluid dynamics to create energy efficient buildings. He concentrates on the physical aspects of fluid dynamics. I hope it will be easier for me to understand the concepts during the lecture, because we are learning about physics in our cluster. I also find it really fascinating that he is studying how fish and birds propel themselves.

Prof. Paul Linden

Prof. Paul Linden's is the chair of the Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering department at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UCSD. His work on creating more energy efficient buildings sounds fascinating because there is a need for humans to use energy in a better fashion. I hope to hear more about his research during the lecture since there was not much content in the biography. I am also curious about the about how fish and birds propel themselves through the air, which he is also studying.

Prof. Paul B. Linden

Prof. Paul F. Linden will be our next guest speaker at our next discovery lecture on July 22, 2008. Prof. Linden is a professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His current research is now in geophysical, environmental, and industrial engineering. His main focus for research is on the physical processes involved to obtain a greater understanding of the underlying principles governing the flows encountered in natural and industrial contexts. They are turbulent and have variations in density which produce strong buoyancy forces. He applies his work to create more energy efficient buildings.

Paul Linden

Next Tuesday, July 22, 2008, a professor from the Jacob School of Engineering will come to speak to us. Professor Paul Linden is a professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research covers topics on geophysical, environmental, and industrial engineering. He also works on and tries to find greater understanding in the physical processes of fluid dynamics. He is trying to create more energy efficient buildings. I think that he will be a good speaker, and will try to get all of us to create more energy efficient buildings as well so the world will save money and be more green.

Paul Linden

I am looking forward to listening to Paul Linden's presentation next tuesday. He is the director of UCSD's Environment and Sustainability Initiaive. He does research in geophysical environmental and industrial engineering. Personally, I am very interested in environmental engineering and I'd like to learn about future career paths I can possibly take. He has an impressing set of accomplishments including having more than 160 publications in peer reviewed journals.

Paul Linden

On tuesday next week, we will be having a discovery lecture by Paul Linden. He is doing a research on dynamic flows and environmental engineering. He is also the chair of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering and the director of UCSD's Environment and Sustainability Initiative. Since his biography was limited, I hope to hear more about his research and learn the aspects of dynamic flows. 

Day 12...I think :)

For our next study lecture next week, our guest speaker is Professor Paul Linden. He specializes in dynamic flows and environmental engineering. His field sounds pretty interesting even though I do not know much about it. Professor Linden seems to be very involved with different subjects as well. For instance he is the chairman of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department of the UCSD's Jacob School of Engineering, a director of the UCSD's Environment and Sustainability Initiative and is a member in both the American Physical Society, and the Royal Meteorological Society. Prof. Linden is also a member of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoratical Physics at the University of Cambridge. I think he would have liked to meet one of the speakers at our college/career presentation today. There was a guest who liked physics and mathematics. I wonder how this presentation will turn out, but I am expecting good things on Tuesday (the official day of Discovery Lectures). :D

Trip to Torrey Pines Reserve

Today, we went to the Torrey Pines Reserve. Everyone took a van to the beach and hiked around the reserve. The view of the ocean was pretty and I'm glad we went there. It was hot and on the way back, we had to hike steep hills that made my feet sore. Although the hike was tiring, I still had fun today.

July 15, 2008

Yesterday, our cluster visited the shaker table. Unfortunately, we did not get to see it shake. It was interesting taking a tour of the building though. I also really enjoyed Knotsberry Farm on the weekend. At first, I thought that we were actually going to visit the farm, so I didn't understand why everybody was so excited. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that Knotsberry Farm was actually an amusement park. The Accelerator was the best ride. The roller coaster looks very scary because there is a deep drop, but when you ride it, it makes you feel light. Plus, you don't get any uneasy feelings in your stomach. The jello fight was really fun also. I have never participated in a food fight before, but it was really fun to get messy and also throw chunks of wrestling jello at others. I wore a white shirt and so then others could sign it in sharpies and make it into a "memory tshirt". The homework load this week has been pretty decent. It keeps us busy, but it is not too much.
Yesterday's geophysics class was more interactive than usual and I enjoyed doing the seismic wave activity. It helped me remember the different types of waves better. I am pretty sure I learn really well with hands on activities, but writing notes down helps me remember certain ideas and concepts too. I think it is really important knowing what learning style suits you the best, because it will help you in studying for tests, especially in college.
The stem cell discovery lecture today was really interesting. I may even want to go into that field. It has so many possibilities and directions. Plus, it is relatively new and there is so much more to be discovered. I am really glad that Science Buddies explained all the different science fair competitions. I had heard of many of them before, but I didn't know the specific details. I think the hardest part about the science fair process is coming up with an idea that you are really passionate about and that is possible to do. I have noticed that I can spend hours researching something that is really interesting to me. Even though it is a challenge, it is totally worth it.

Weekend

This weekend was fun. We went to Knotts Berry farm on Saturday. I hung out with a group of people who didnt really want to go on roller coaseters, so instead we walked around, watched shows, and bypassed the line for bumper cars (thanks to Sharon and her wheelchair privelages). Sunday we went to the beach and I got a massive sunburn. I actually passed out Sunday night when I was putting Aloe Vera on my shoulders, not a fun experience. After the beach on Sunday we went and had a Jello fight. It was just...messy. Monday we went to the Shaker Table and the Englekirk center. Monday night I played capture the flag, and after a little while I went over to spin Poi with my RA Mike. Maggie helped me to learn the spins, and she was really helpfull. I keep finding myself asleep on the couch, I need to break that habit. Today JR joined me on the couch, just as long as hes not snuggling up with me in my sleep, I think ill be all right. One more week till parent visitation weekend, and ill be able to sleep in my own bed. Anyways, later.

field trip

Yesterday all us earthquake people went to see the shaker table. Unfortunately, they weren't ready to test it while we were there, so I hope we'll be able to go back sometime to see it. For all of you who don't know, the shaker table is a huge device that mimicks the motions of an earthquake. It is where they test building structures to see which ones are most efficient at withstanding an earthquake. The field trip was fun. We all got these awesomely dorky green hard hats to wear while we toured the area. It's crazy how many wires they have in that place. Well, time 4 lunch... bye!

this week

so this week at COSMOS looks to be more relaxing
the first week was really hard because you had to get used to college life, the new schudule, and tons of works all at the same time.
but now, everything looks to be calming down
for winning the COSMOlympics, we get to get pizza from this place called BJ's in the Village Square
we dont get to go off campus and go to the restaurant, which i was looking forward to, but i guess its better than nothing
AHHHHHH
essays!!!!!!!!

Day 9

We recently just attended out 2nd Discovery Lecture by Larry Goldstein. During the lecture he made lots of jokes that kept us interested the whole time. He mainly talked about the ways Stem Cell Research can help cure diseases. He gave examples of things that could be cured like cancer, Alzheimer's disease and also Lou Gerig's Disease. It was interesting to hear him constantly refer to us as the ones who, in the future, will continue to learn more about the possibility of being able to cure those sicknesses.

7.12.08-7.13.08

The past weekend has been fun and exciting. We went to Knott's Berry Farm, which I have never been to before, and the beach. At first, I thought that Knott's Berry Farm was really a farm, but it turned out not to be. It was funner than I expected it to be, except for the 2-hour long ride there and back. The beach was ok. Amy Tsai and I swam about three-fourths of the way to the buoy. It was fun. Sunday morning, Anisha and I went to do the laundry. It took forever, but I guess we saved a lot of money. We walked around to see if there were any machines with leftover time that we could use. We found one with 56 minutes and another with 22 minutes. So we didn't have to pay for the drying part at all. At night, we watched Mean Girls and ate popcorn.

Day 9

Currently, the time of day at which i am posting at this moment is during the time provided in the computer lab. Not long ago, our discovery lecturer, Professor Larry Goldstein, informed us of the future ideas and maybe uses of the stem cell research; How this sophisticated concept can help to create numerous ways to cure many different kinds of diseases society is facing today. I found the lecture overall very interesting, for the subject of sciences dealing with ideas such as these, medicines and cures, tend to fascinate me. His presentation actually gave me a subtle idea of what i wanted to possibly pursue in college later on.

Day ...10?

The day has been going by pretty quick today, and this morning we went to a discovery lecture where we met Professor Larry Goldstein. This lecture (presentation) was very interesting and caught my attention a little bit more than the previous discovery lecture had. His research sounded interesting and he knew his audience. I think I might consider stem cell research as something that I will persue in the future as a career choice. I might just donate money to stem cell researching, even though I might not have that much money to donate to the organizations who work with stem cells, because the government is not paying enough money to fund the research. :)
Yesterday was a pretty fun Monday, and it actually went by pretty quick. (Usually they don't for some reason.) We made a cake yesteray :D ! I think Amy and Yuka made one too...so we had loads of fun stuffing ourselves with cake. I think we still have leftovers in the suite. Cutting styrofoam was interesting yesterday in class too. I never realized that we had a vacuum in class. :x

Second Week In

Now that the weekend is over, it was a little tough getting back into the school routine. I was SO happy we got to go to the beach in La Jolla on Sunday. I got a pretty nice tan :). Yesterday my cluster went on a field trip to the Shaker Table at UC San Diego, and it was HOT! It was pretty interesting to see the hydraulics involved in moving such a massive piece of equipment, but I was a little disappointed we didn't see any test runs on a parking structure. I participated in a cake decorating contest last night which was really fun. My group made a soccer field out of gummy bears and graham crackers. I also played some volleyball and soccer, and it felt really good to run around and release some of my pent up energy. If you are reading this at home, I miss all of you very much! And I am looking forward to complete relaxation during family weekend.

A Tuesday

So today we had to sit through another discovery laecture. This time though it wasn't as bad because the guy made fun of our congress, so he had to be kinda funny. We have to eat with doctor tu; i dont know who that is right now though so i guess we will find out.

The End.

The weekend and this week...

This weekend was fun because of the trip to Knott's and to the beach. I also did jell-o fight so it was entertaining and it stained my shirt. I wish we could do those activities everyday instead of only on the weekends.
Yesterday, we visited the shaker table but we could not see them experiment on the building. They were not prepared so we just had a tour around and it was hot. Then we did lecture in a cramped space and I was so sleepy. I could not keep my eyes open at all during the lecture in the afternoon.
At 10 pm, we watched "Mean Girls" in our suite. I also did cake decoration with Amy Z and ate krispy kreme. It was yummy.
Today we had a discovery lecture with Larry Goldstein. It was interesting to know the research on stem cells. Hopefully, this week will be fun.

My first weekend at COSMOS

My first weekend at COSMOS went by really fast. On saturday, we went to knotts and I drove by where I live :]. I got all my friends addicted to Silver Bullet :]. Doing laundry Sunday morning was definitly the low of my weekend. It took my roommate and I more that 2 hours to finish both of our laundry. The beach later in the afternoon was also fun but crowded. My favorite part of Sunday was the jelly fight. The jello was pretty watery but it was still super fun. I'm keeping my stained shirt as a souvenir :]

I was super tired from my weekend and getting up on Monday morning felt like I was back at school again. xP We went the the giant shake table and got awesome green hard hats :].

This week I'm planning to start research on my individual research project. I'm studying the resonance phenomenon and how its might affect the San Andreas Fault area specifically the LA sedimentary basin (i hope that sounded smart).

Second Discovery Lecture

We went to attend the scheduled lecture about Stem Cell Research by Prof. Lawrence Goldstein. The lecture was actually really interesting. Prof. Goldstein opened up some light about the process of creating stem cells and its applications. He also discussed the process of creating medicines and problems with creating cures for diseases. The speech provided a lot of insight into the medical field, especially pathology and cells.

More News

We went to see the shake table in the searing heat and ended up getting told that we weren't even going to see the structure shake. Instead we returned to camp with shiny green helmets (recieving them might have been the high point of the day). The next day we received a lecture from Larry Goldstein who talked to us about stem cell research and its benefits. Tomorrow we get to go to Torrey Pines to walk around and check out rocks so I'll have more to talk about then.

Larry Goldstein Research

PH.D Larry Goldstein has been a passionate specialist in the field of stem cell research for a good amount of time now. He had done many independent studies during his years as a student in Harvard from 1984 until 1993, discovering many things such as an important motor protein called kinesin, which existed in many different forms in the cell. Recently, he was deemed the leader of the Stem Cell Research Program in 2006 for his notable accomplishments.

Prof. Larry Goldstein & other stuff

Hello everyone,
so yeah the weekend was fun, but i think it added to my exhaustion like hard core, but it's ok, i mean i went to Knotts, the beach and had a jell-o fight!!! so that was pretty cool. i mean all of that in 2 days woah, and today we went to go see the shaker table shake but we didn't but thats ok. Today i learned how to do some of the basic stuff with poi, and its a work out plus it's also very difficult; it took me an hour to get the butterfly, haha but i eventually did with the help pf Mike, one of the RA's [[thanks, Mike!]] yeah it was fun, and then Sarah, my roomie, gave me some cake. i look forward to the movie tomorrow, oh and the salsa dancing on wednesday. But i'm really looking forward for the dance :D totally!!!
Now for the real stuff....Larry Goldstein. He is a very significant character in stem cell research. He actually started off in UCSD in '76 and then the University of Washington and then off to MIT. He has made some advancements in the field of Alzheimers and pursues to further enhance in this field. I am totally looking forward to his lecture :)
okayy bye.

oh and hi familia, estoy bien ;)

Larry Goldstein

tomorrow, our discovery lecture is on stem cell research and will be presented by Larry Goldstein.
just as a background, Dr. Goldstein went to UCSD for his undergrad in 1976.
after that, he went on to get his Ph.D at the University of Washington at Seattle in 1980.
He was then a teacher at MIT and Harvard before returning to his alma mater in 1993.

Dr. Goldstein has been one of the forefront leaders in the fight for stem sell research.
he played a crucial role in passing Prop 71, which has allowed for massive amounts for money to study stem cell research.
he also helped get a grant for UCSD to train 16 scientists to become the next generation of stem cell researchers.

the thing that most amazes me about Dr. Goldstein is his determenation.
there is a lot of controversy surrounding stem cells, and to take the first step and put himself into the public eye to try to get this new science of the ground is remarkable.

Lawrence Goldstein

Lawrence Goldstein is going to be presenting to us tomorrow and works in the field of stem cell research. Although not supported by the government because they see his use of stem cells "unethical" he has pursued this field of science anyway. A quick example of his work is that some people with Alzheimer's who take too much amyloid precursor protein might "interfere with the movement of important biochemicals inside the cell". His lecture tomorrow should shine some light on a topic i know little about.

Larry Goldstein

Larry Goldstein, our second guest lecturer, is a PhD, who has gone far in the field of stem cell research. He helped write a proposition that created a $3 Billion program for stem cell research. I would like to learn about why Larry Goldstein is pro stem cell research, so I too can make a personal decision.

Larry Goldstein

Tomorrow we are having our 2nd Discovery Lecture. The lecture will be given by Lawrence Goldstein. Goldstein is known for researching the highly ethically questionable topic of stem cell research. One of his main goals is to learn enough about it so that a there could be a cure of stem cell research. I myself am really interested to see how people will react to him when they see him. I wonder what kind of questions people will ask him since stem cell research is still being debated on whether it is ethical or not.

Monday

The field trip today was interesting and a little disappointing. The different structures and methods they use at the Englekirk center to simulate earthquakes were interesting. The energy they generate to simulate the earthquakes was impressive. I also found the blast simulator interesting because they create blasts without explosives by using aluminum plates that slam into a structural element, such as a column. It was disappointing that we did not actually get to see the 3-story parking structure tested on the shake table. It was cool that we get to keep the green hardhats, which reminded me of turtles.

Lawrence S.B. Goldstein

It seems that Professor Larry Goldstein, Ph.D. is an intelligent person who is doing excellent work in his study of stem cells for use in researches. It seems he is putting the embryonic stem cells to good use although the ethical implication still remains murky. He seems dedicated in the search for knowledge and treatment for diseases such as Alzheimer and cancer when the current Administration is busy funding two wars. I wish him the best of luck with his endeavor into medicine.

Lawrence S. B. Goldstein

From what I have read Goldstein has done a lot to help promote stem cell research. This really helps in  his research for one day curing Alzheimer's. His research has helped promote the use of stem cells as a possible solution to curing things like Alzheimer's. His devotion to the cause is very inspiring because of how much emphasis he has on stem cell research. Even going as far as helping write up the proposal for more funding in stem cell research. Goldstein's research is very promising. 

Goldstein

Yeah, so this Goldstein fellow has done quite a bit of research in stem cell programs. He helped draft or helped get the 2005 stem cell law passed. He has done a lot in the field of Alzheimer's disease. Good job for him. Sounds like hes a pretty busy guy.

The End.

Larry Goldstein

Larry Goldstein has made many contributions to stem cell research. He is helping to discover a cure to Alzheimer's and has helped attain funding for further stem cell research. I am looking forward to hearing Professor Goldstein's presentation tommorow.

Well, off the subject of Professor Goldstein, today we went to the Shaker Table. Then we had demonstration is Geophysics with Kevin, our professor, I forgot his last name. Anyways, thats all.

COSMOS first week

COSMOS!!!!!!!!!!
the first week was awesome
the classes are really hard and much harder than i expected
but im doing good for rite now
the kids here are really nice and super friendly
they are here to have an awesome time and make tons of friends, so that makes the transition to college life a lot easier
the food is good
but the biggest surprise is how well everyone has taken my allergies into account
i feel like everyone (and i mean EVERYONE, even the kids) goes out of their way to make special arrangements for me
just that everyone tries to do that make the WORLD of a difference, which makes me unbelieveably better

Lawrence S. B. Goldstein's Research

Professor Goldstein's achievements in the field of medicine has been impressive. There may only be so many people as innovative as he is. His discovery of the kinesins in the possible cause of Alzheimer's is quite shocking and may provide a possible answer to how to cure Alzheimer's disease. He also found a possible cure for curing cancer, which would be a major breakthrough. His contribution to the medical field and the world is astonishing.

Cosmos Student.

Well the last couple of days have been really fun. Yesterday we went to Knotts and it was fun. We rode Ghostrider and everytime we rode on it, it was even more intense than before. The only thing that bummed me out was waiting for The white water rapids ride. But everything else was cool. So yeah, the first weekend of cosmos was fun.

Larry Goldstein

Dr. Larry Goldstein has been a part of the UC San Diego Medical Center since 1993. He is the Director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program, and he has contributed vast efforts to the proposal in California in 2005 supporting human embryonic stem cell research. A project he has recently worked on involved the use of stem cells to find a cure for Alzheimer's Disease. He discovered, through the research of stem cells, that people with Alzheimer's produce too much of the protein amyloid precursor protein, which can interfere with the flow of biochemicals in the brain. This can cause great damahe to the brain, resulting in loss of memory. I am very impressed with the nature of Dr. Goldstein's work, and I hope that he continues his research to one day find a cure for alzheimer's.

Larry Goldstein

Prof. Larry Goldstein is an outstanding man in his research as a professor who is currently working on stem cell research to help those in need, including those with disease, basic biological process, and organ regeneration. Goldstein is so dedicated to his research that he helped write the California proposition that created a $3 billion funding organization in 2005 to support human stem cell research in the state. When Goldstein first worked on his research, he did it through his own labs, and then later learned that this research could help with alzheimer's disease. Most of the work he does with stem cells now relates to him find a cure to alzheimer's disease, and he has been gettin a lot of funding for his research.

The Weekend

Firsts week is over and what a slow moving weekend. The weekend was fun at Knott's and the beach. What a great jello fight, even though it was more like soup with chunks than jello; but hey, beggars cant be choosers. The ability to sleep in till 10 and 11:30 was great. Another slow week and then it'll be half over. Good Times.

The Weekend

The weekend was very fun. On Saturday, we went to Knott's Berry Farm. The ride to Knott's was on the long side. We waited an hour and fifteen minutes for the rapids ride, and it was not worth the long wait. The bumper cars were pretty fun because my suite went together on the ride. Today, we went to the beach, which was packed with people with bright giant umbrellas. I walked along the beach with some friends, and we found lots of shells and ten clams. We also hit a volleyball around. After dinner, we had the jello fight, which was intense. I was by the green jello, which was squishy and somewhat grainy. I enjoyed the weekend.

Lawrence Goldstein and the week so far

Lawrence Goldstein seems to be a very headstrong and determined scientist. With the multitude of research he has done, from finding the cause of Alzheimer’s to studying embryonic stem cells. His perserverence to research is exemplified when he continued to pursue his research on Alzheimer's, which could potentially debase the disprove the current belief on the cause of Alzheimer’s. I look forward to his lecture on Tuesday, in hopes that he might discuss the various aspects of his research.

On another note, my week so far at COSMOS has been fun. I went to many of the activities hosted each night by the staff, and met many new people. I look forward to the rest of the month!

Weekend is over already

Well Knott's was fun and we got to go on almost every single ride and the beach was cool too. I will never forget that jello fight no matter how short it was. Well the weekend is over and now we got to go back to 6 hour classes :/ but hopefully we can start going to the Price Center for lunch from now on. Of course our cluster is the farthest away from Cafe Ventanas (the place we eat at) so the walk is kind of annoying.

Beach/Jelly Fight Day

Today was deemed the day the COSMOS posse were to be taken to the beach for about 3 hours to perform recreational activities. As we arrived, we realized there was quite a number of people already settled in their individual spaces, leaving us with a mere region within a border of cones. As a volleyball was administered, we played along with it for a good amount of time; getting into the water followed. Our group spent the majority of the time in the water, either riding the waves, or playing with the volleyball. After getting dried off, I walked with a small group of friends along the beach playing "Truth or Dare" to pass the time until 4:00 p.m. Upon arrival back the UCSD campus, we ate dinner and eventually walked over the the other field near Thurgood Marshall. The Jelly Fight was quite intense, and the end result of complete and utter filth on both the students/RA's, and the field itself;however, the experience as a whole was still satisfactory and definately memorable.

Knotts Berry Farm

After completing the day at Knotts Berry Farm with my friends, i realized that the whole experience was quite exhilarating. The rides that we went on were : Xcellerator, Boomerang, Ghostrider, and the log ride. At a later period of the day, I even won a stuffed animal after hitting every single mole at the Whack-A-Mole booth; It was a particularly great accomplishment personally because i had never won at any booth game before, especiall,y at a cost of 2 dollars. Overall, the highlight of the day was just being with my friends and getting to know them better and just having a great time for 7 hours.

Lawrence Goldstein

I have researched a lot about a scientist named Lawrence Goldstein.  He is interested in understanding  the molecular mechanisms of intracellular movement in neurons and the role of transport failure in neurodegenerative diseases.  He has been passionate about his promise of research with human embryonic stem cells.  His laboratory is interested in understanding the logic and molecular mechanisms of the neuronal transport systems.  Past work has revealed that intracellular movement in neurons is generated by motor proteins.  I am looking forward to the lecture.

What A Day

Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I went to Knott's Berry Farm. From all the stories, I thought that it would have been similar to a place called Bonfante Gardens in the Bay Area, with little kid rides, which just some rides that may entertain the older crowd. But when I got there, I was amazed to see the huge rollercoasters, and then I knew that this would be more like Great America in the bay, but it was better. Even though I may have not been able to go on all the rides that I wanted to go on, I went on at least the top rollercoasters in my list. It was a thrill and I just had plain fun hanging out with people, meeting new people, and tricking them at certain points of the trip. Overall it was worth it, and the day kept on going when we ended up ninjaing our suite mates with the hammers we won and the light sabers that we bought from Knott's. Haha, they didn't even wake up for a long time. Overall, the day was great, and hopefully there will be more weekends to come that are like this one.

Cluster 4 Week 1

The first week of COSMOS has had its highs and lows. It has brought my body back to a school functioning body, with a longer school day. Yet, even past the long lectures that tempt me to fall alseep, the information has been pretty helpful, and is interesting to a certain point. After all the lectures we have a chance to use the computer lab, which helps lighten the day, and then we start labs for our cluster. The lab has been pretty fun, and it was a good way to release energy that week, and keep me awake throughout the whole day. We had our math lessons, and they were fairly easy, since I have already done all the math, but I did learn how to use excel, which I have never really fully understood to use. Overall, week 1 at Cosmos in Cluster 4 has been great, and it was a great way to start somewhat finish the week when we won Comsos Olympics.

Day...Not sure-Lost Track

Greetings again to all of you! :)
CLUSTER FOUR IS WHAT? DYNAMITE!!! woohoo. can't believe we won COSMOLYPICS!!!! that was fun, but wow what a shocker, haha. can't wait to go and eat and have fun with you guys! :]
The pudding finally completely is out of my nose, pretty gross haha. Anywho, so far class has been interesting, and i look forward to some more awesome lectures, I'm sure it will get more interesting as we progress in our classes. hopefully haha, but i really appreciate our instructor's hard work.
the bonfire was fun...somewhat short but nonetheless it was fun. i met some more people and laughed A LOT. haha i loved it. i want to play kickball today, but am afraid that it might me too competitive, i can't wait for Saturday--Knotts and then the baile ;]
if my familia is reading this- ¡HOLA! los extraño <3 style="font-family: arial;">ok bye

Almost friday!

Hi everyone. It is Thursday night, and i am completely worn out. There are so many activities and events planned, I barely have time to think. It has been very exhilirating. I played soccer on Monday night and it was amazing. I also went on a run in the morning down by the beach with a group of people, and it was beautiful out by the water. All week long my cluster has been doing intensive math problems which I don't really care for, but building a bridge was fun. I am looking forward to going to Knott's Berry Farm this weekend!

Lawrence S.B. Goldstein

The stem cell research sounds very interesting, even as a possible field I may want to go into. It is interesting how he is able to search for cures in intense diseases, such as Alzheimer's and cancer. I am glad I was able to understand the information because of the way it was presented- without too many technical terms. I guess the ethical problem of destroying embryos really depends on whether embryos are considered to be alive or not (whether they can feel). I would support Dr. Goldstein in allowing the use of stem cells for scientific research because it helps us advance and will hopefully lead to important discoveries or inventions, such as curing many diseases. Thus, it would later on be beneficial. I would also promote proper usage of stem cells. During the I would like to know more about his procedures for conducting such experiments and why exactly he decided to go into this field. Stem cells can be used to study many things, even organ regeneration. So this may help patients who have gone through surgery. I am looking forward to the Discovery lecture on Tuesday.

Cosmos day 4

This is my 4th day at Cosmos and I am having a really great time.  I have met many new people and have made friends.  I am learning a lot from the lectures and labs and have a big research paper due today.  This program seems great and I am looking forward to the weekend.

Lawrence Goldstein

I admire Dr. Goldstein greatly for his work in embryonic stem cell research. He helped write the California proposition that created a $3 billion funding organization in 2005 to support human stem cell research in the state. It's very exciting that his studies may help find the cause and then the cure of Alzheimer's disease. i was not aware that researching stem cells might lead to other discoveries such as curing long-term diseases. As an independent researcher, he revolutionized the area of stem cell research. We can only hope that others can build upon the foundation he has constructed.

Larry Goldstein

Larry Goldstein is working on stem cell research to study the cause of Alzheimer's disease. I find it interesting that stem cells can be turned into other cells, and for this research brain cells. His research on Alzheimer's disease sounds really interesting as well as his past research using fruit flies and tracking the movement of the chromosomes. I am looking forward to the lecture to learn more about his research.

Larry Goldstein

After reading Larry Goldsteins bio, I got the impression he is a philanthropist kind of a guy. His bio talks about how he is working for the benefit of science and society. I found out that he is doing research on neurodegernerative diseases and doing research about transforming stem cells into brain cells. I learned more about the cause of altzheimers but the vocabulary was a little too complex for me so I'd like to hear Goldstein explain it in person. I'm looking forward to hearing what Goldstein has to offer in his lecture on tuesday.

Comments on Larry Goldstein

After reading his bibliography, it inspired me to want to know more of his research and stem cells. I learned about the Alzheimer's disease and the person with that disease have excess amount of a certain protein. From this articles, it is said that Howard Hughes Medical Institute and California program supported his laboratory. He transforms human embryonic cells to compare and analyze the cells with new genes and cells without genes. 

Although I learned a lot of materials about the Alzheimer's disease, the article was too complex for me to understand. I hope to understand more about his research and his future plans.

July 10, 2008

I have loved the first couple days at COSMOS. I had heard a lot about it from my friends who attended in previous years. We have had a lot of fun activities and games. The long hikes to class aren't too bad either. They help burn off all the calories from all the food. Also, the food is way better than I thought. I am used to eating. Cosmolympics was really fun. I still can't believe we won...GO CLUSTER 4! oh yeah...The RAs plan out exciting activities and I can't wait for the weekend. I got the essay done on time. Although it was only 2-3 pages, I didn't feel as if we had enough time during the day. One and a half hours each day was not enough, especially because I didn't bring my own laptop. I totally regret not bringing it, because getting a computer is harder than I expected. Plus, my parents just brought me a new one. The only reason I didn't bring it is because I thought security would be a problem. Next time, I'll bring it for sure. Learning about earthquakes has been exciting, most of the time at least. The physics problem on the second day of cosmos scared everyone. Today's math was really easy though. Plus, I learned some new concepts on excel that I can use for other projects too.

Discovery Lectures/Day 5

Goldstein is a very inspirational person who is dedicated to stem cell research. The most interesting thing that I found out about our discovery lecturer is that his research contributes a lot to the Alzheimer's disease. For instance, he is finding out the causes of Alzheimer. I think that finding out about the causes for Alzheimer is a step up to finding a cure, and that Goldstein might even be able to do just that.
Other than an amazing lecturer the COSMOS un-olympics was fun :)
GOOD JOB TO EVERYBODY !

Fouth day at COSMOS

Today is the fourth day of COSMOS. I stayed up late last night writing a report due today (procrastination, haha). So far, I have been having a lot of fun so far, as far as activities go. The food here is decent fare, just the run-of-the-mill campus food. Fortunantly, two of the stations make new food everyday, so there is no need to keep eating the same food everyday.

Fun, Facts, and Application of Trigonometry to Static Engineering Truss Diagrams

Cosmos is fun so far, although it was boring in the beginning. The truss problems were challenging, but they were also fun, because I have never applied trigonometry to real life problems before. It got even better, when we used the calculations we made to make actual bridges, which were then tested. Can't wait for COSMOlympics!

:]

This week has been going really slow but it's getting a lot better than the first day. The bonfire yesterday was fun and I'm looking forward to going to Knott's and the beach on the weekend. I still can't wake up in the morning and I'm so tired every day. Today is the cosmolympics and hopefully, it'll be fun.

The first few days

The first few days of COSMOS have been filled with a lot of information. Learning about plate tectonics has been interesting, but some of the structural engineering has been confusing. Yesterday was fun because we built the trusses and broke them. Our truss didn't break where we thought it would, but that was because of a connection failure. I finished my research paper on subduction zones, and I am going to continue researching the San Andreas fault.
Our suite has lots of fun together at meals and at recreation times, such as when we made paper airplanes.

July 10, 2008

To: Whoever reads this message.

The first few days in the COSMOS program has been great. The food has plenty of variations on a daily basis although the dinner is at an earlier time than usual. The Cluster 4-Earthquakes in Action had some boring lectures in the beginning but I presume it would probably get a lot better soon after the introductory material. The activities have also been exciting and I met some new people here in this program.
Cheers.

Henry K.

A few notes from Adam

Hey Cluster 4, I've got a few things now that you've all started posting:

• If you are going to use your name to sign your posts, go ahead and just use your first name and last initial. You can change your displayed name by clicking on the Blogger Dashboard up at the top of the page (when you are logged in), then clicking the Edit Profile link. There is an option there to change your display name. Don't worry, we'll still know who you are. :)
  
• This is your blog, so if you want to change the layout or color scheme, let me know and I can help you with it. Decide amongst yourselves what you want it to look like, then go ahead and meet me in my office and we can work on it. Blogger has a number of ready-made templates, and although we can't get too complicated, if you have some html skill you might be able to turn it into something great!
• If any of your classmates/roommates/friends haven't received their invites, please send them my way. Thanks!

Cluster 4 is off to a shakey start... (not really :] bad pun)

My first day at COSMOS wasn't exactly the best. The first lecture was kind of boring and I was having a hard time staying awake. (although that might be because I was in New York last week). Lunch was nice though. Since out classroom is so far we just had pizza in our classroom. The second 3 hours wasn't quite as bad as the first. The topic caught my interest a bit more. I still think that 3 hours is a long time to be sitting in a classroom though. Then we hiked back and had dinner. After dinner I had SO MUCH FUN playing mafia during rec time. Of course, I was the innocent citizen that everyone voted out of COSMOS :[.

So, Day two. I really enjoyed the discovery lecture. I think the speaker did a really good job with the presentation and incorporating real life examples. We went back to our clusters, read an article and TRIED to present it to the class :]. After lunch we were reviewing trig and started to learn about forces in trusses... or something like that. It was A LOT of confusing math.

I'd have to say COSMOS is a lot more work than I expected. I feel SO busy all the time. Its still A LOT of fun though.

I thought lectures were going to be the worst thing, but all of a sudden we get all this homework! 2-3 page essay on the second day of camp! To top it all off we got this homework that requires us to find every single force on a bridge.... However, it has been fun and I'm glad I'm here and the food is ok, but it is a real rush during lunch. Having free sodas and icee's for every meal is pretty cool though.

Cosmos required blog

Yes this is the most original thing you've ever seen. This is where we should talk about the lectures and the ridiculously long hours of school, in the summer none the less but if you are actually reading this its because you're either Michelle, our teacher fellow, or you really don't know what to do.

First Day at COSMOS

So today was the first day of Cosmos, and it was pretty interesting. I did not get much sleep last night, so I've been really tired all day. The people in my suite are really nice, and the food isn't terrible. The lectures today were cool but really long, and I got pretty restless. I am excited to play soccer tonight and go to a beach bonfire on wednesday.

Day 2

Today was not the best day, but it has only been the first real day we have had of COSMOS. The full experience probably hasn't really set in yet. The lectures made me feel tired even though I did not really feel like I was very productive. :)

First Day of COSMOS

Today was the first day for lectures and I did not like how it was three hours long each class. It almost made me asleep. We took notes throughout the lecture. It was interesting to learn new materials. I'm looking forward to interacting with more people and doing projects.

First Day of COSMOS

So today was the first day of COSMOS. I have been really tired today because I did not get much sleep last night. Move in day was easy and carefree. My suite-mates, myself, and my RA don't have any problems with each other. "Its better on top". Hopefully tonight I will have a better night sleeping. I don't see why not considering I have been completely drained all day. See ya.

Day One

Greetings!

So first day, it's been a long day with a lot of information to process, and it's not over yet. There are a great deal of people, like A LOT! Kids with yellow lanyards everywhere! Uh, i slept good, kinds chilly so i'm going to close the window tonight, my roomie, Sarah, is awesome. I also found out that i need to wake up earlier for the showers. the lecture was amazing, so animated and it kept focused. i truly enjoyed the passion my professors had during their powerpoints. i am looking forward many more NOTES!
okay if you're seeing this familia....iloveyou!
dile a mi mamá que la quiero.
oh and make sure my letter gets mailed, patti!
ok bye!

:)

Yesterday up to today was better than I thought it would be. Yesterday was mainly filled with orientation of the rules and a lot of planned events that were meant to be ice breakers. We played games like looking for other animals of your kind and sining songs with specific words. Sleeping in the dorms was very comfortable and pretty fun too. Cafe Ventanas has been great so far. I've eaten there twice and the food's been great. The class today was very interesting. Of course, there's no way to stop a volcano but we learned of various ways people mitigate the destruction a volcano can cause. The only think I truly hated was the long walk here :(

Welcome to the Cluster 4 blog!

Hello students, parents, and guests, and welcome to the official blog for UCSD COSMOS Cluster 4: Earthquakes in Action. The intent for this site is for the students to use it as an online journal to keep the world up to date with everything they are learning and doing here at COSMOS. Parents, check back often to see what your students are saying! Each student in the cluster will post to this specific blog; if you would like to check out the other clusters, we have links to them on the right side of the page.

Students, you aren't expected to post every single day, but we'd like you to try to post at least twice a week. The posts themselves don't have to be too long and detailed, but you should try to write at least a paragraph. You can also post pictures if you'd like to. Please keep in mind that these blogs will be monitored by staff and you are expected to uphold the COSMOS standards as outlined in your student handbook.

If you need any help posting, Blogger's help site is here or you can come ask Adam in the COSMOS Office.

Have fun!