Fall 2010... for now.

CS 1112 Introduction to Computing Using MATLAB
Fall, spring. 4 credits. Corequisite: MATH 1110, 1910, or equivalent. Assumes student is comfortable with mathematics (at level of one semester of calculus) but has no prior programming experience.
Programming and problem solving using MATLAB. Emphasizes the systematic development of algorithms and programs. Topics include iteration, functions, arrays, and MATLAB graphics. Assignments are designed to build an appreciation for complexity, dimension, fuzzy data, inexact arithmetic, randomness, simulation, and the role of approximation.

ENGRG 1050 Engineering Seminar
Fall. 1 credit. Prerequisite: freshman standing. S–U grades only.
First-year engineering students meet in groups of 18 to 20 students weekly with their faculty advisors. Discussions may include the engineering curriculum and student programs, what engineers do, the character of engineering careers, active research areas in the college and in engineering in general, and study and examination skills useful for engineering students. Groups may visit campus academic, engineering, and research facilities.

GERST 1109 From Fairy Tales to the Uncanny: Exploring the Romantic Consciousness
3 credits.
As didactic texts that present explicit—and implicit—moral lessons, fairy tales shape cultural identity by questioning as well as affirming dominant cultural values. This seminar uses selections from the Brothers Grimm to analyze characteristic features of the genre and examine its evolution to the present day. Our investigation will focus on how the transformation of oral folk tales into literary texts in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries sparked an interest in androids, the paranormal, and the pathological and spurred German Romantics to experiment with new forms of fiction that established the matrix for popular genres like horror, mystery, fantasy, and sci-fi. The emphasis of the course is on improving writing skills.

MATH 2930 Differential Equations for Engineers (MQR)
Fall, spring, summer. 4 credits. Prerequisite: MATH 1920. Taking MATH 2930 and 2940 simultaneously is not recommended.
Introduction to ordinary and partial differential equations. Topics include: first-order equations (separable, linear, homogeneous, exact); mathematical modeling (e.g., population growth, terminal velocity); qualitative methods (slope fields, phase plots, equilibria, and stability); numerical methods; second-order equations (method of undetermined coefficients, application to oscillations and resonance, boundary-value problems and eigenvalues); Fourier series; linear partial differential equations (heat flow, waves, the Laplace equation); and linear systems of ordinary differential equations.

PE 1416 Swedish Massage And More
1 credit.
Swedish massage will be the common denominator as we explore multiple techniques to release stress and tightness in our bodies. We will have a bit of a sampler, with emphasis on understanding mechanisms of stress and how to interrupt patterns of movement that might be problematic over time. We will dabble in aromatherapy, The Trager Approach ®, reflexology, and massage with movement, to name a few. No prereq required.

PHYS 2214 Physics III: Oscillations, Waves, and Quantum Physics (PBS)
Fall, spring, summer (six-week session). 4 credits. Prerequisites: PHYS 2213 and MATH 1920, 2220, 2240 or 2130. (See list of overlapping physics courses.) Students may benefit from prior exposure to differential equations (at level of MATH 2930). Students lacking this background should co-register for MATH 2930. Students with strong performance in PHYS 2208 and who have taken vector calculus are also encouraged to enroll. Fall, R. Thorne; spring, staff; summer, D. Briota.
For majors in engineering (including biological, biomedical, and biomolecular engineering), computer science, physics, earth and atmospheric science, and other physical and biological sciences who wish to understand the oscillation, wave, and quantum phenomena behind much of modern technology and scientific/medical instrumentation. Covers physics of oscillations and wave phenomena, including driven oscillations and resonance, mechanical waves, sound waves, electromagnetic waves, reflection and transmission of waves, standing waves, beats, Doppler effect, polarization, interference, diffraction, transport of momentum and energy, wave properties of particles, and introduction to quantum physics. With applications to phenomena and measurement technologies in engineering, the physical sciences, and biological sciences.

Is blogging old-fashioned now?

Juggling... I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I can't even throw one ball properly. It is supposed to go in a steep arch to your other hand. Even that is a challenge. Darn.

One of my few Asian guy friends officially introduced me to Starcraft yesterday. Finally! Except, I was pretty pathetic and didn't know what to click. Apparently he has played for years, but maybe if he were South Korean, his APM would be higher. I'm kidding.

On the new iTunes, when you right-click on a song, the top option is to Play/Pause. I have always gotten used to it being Get Info. I think it's awfully mean that they changed it. It keeps tricking me.

I feel like Nino Rota is one of those people who has done a lot to influence our life's memories. In this case, the audio ones. He has written so much for film scores. All his pieces sound familiar to me. Maybe it's his style. You'd expect some famous old movie to have music like that. I think the one we can probably recognize by name is "Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet."

One of my friends (who unfortunately deleted her blog this year on May 27 so I cannot sneakily give you a link to it) made me a CD. The 19th song was interesting, by U2. It is called "Walk On." After looking carefully at the lyrics, I think this is the song that most accurately describes me, right now.

And love is not the easy thing

The only baggage you can bring...

And love is not the easy thing...

The only baggage you can bring

Is all that you can't leave behind

And if the darkness is to keep us apart

And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off

And if your glass heart should crack

And for a second you turn back

Oh no, be strong

Walk on, walk on

What you got they can’t steal it

No they can’t even feel it

Walk on, walk on...

Stay safe tonight

You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been

A place that has to be believed to be seen

You could have flown away

A singing bird in an open cage

Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

And I know it aches

And your heart it breaks

And you can only take so much

Walk on, walk on

Home... hard to know what it is if you’ve never had one

Home... I can’t say where it is but I know I'm going home

That's where the hurt is

Leave it behind

You've got to leave it behind

...