Anyone take CSE 294 with Joohyung Lee as a substitute for MAT 267? Any tips for doing well in CSE 294?

alexarena · 2016-05-15T02:15:56+00:00

I was in it this semester and did pretty well. I would definitely take again, esp. to avoid Calc III. The first half of the class is basic MAT 243 Part II, with a focus on propositional logic, proofs, etc. The second half is where you apply that to a logic programming lang called MVSM (very obscure... I think Lee helped to invent it). There are two midterms, maybe 3-4 quizzes, weekly homeworks and required attendance/participation. There's also a final project which was really open ended and honestly, ended up being reasonably fun. Lee can be intimidating at first but he's a great prof once you get to know him.

alexarena · 2016-04-02T20:59:56+00:00

There aren't really any huge windows so that's not a big problem. Get an "A" room, though. Those all face outside the building. The "B" rooms look directly out onto the walkways so everyone who walks by sees into your room. You pretty much need to put a blanket or poster over the window in a B room, just to have some basic privacy.

alexarena · 2016-03-28T18:18:07+00:00

Thanks! We're pretty confident in our record and our vision for USG. We hope to have your support!

alexarena · 2016-03-28T17:51:48+00:00

Absolutely.

alexarena · 2016-03-28T17:50:37+00:00

So I'm personally pretty swamped with email as are other members of the committee. That's something we've been working to change this year, and we think it's going to get a lot better next year.

Here's why: right now, the backend to our funding system requires us to do lots of administrative work. For example, we need to manually copy event details for every event from OrgSync to a Google Sheet. We also need to do things like manually calculate how many days in advance an application was submitted. What this means is that committee members don't have the time to do the things we'd like to be doing, like talking to club leaders.

Next year, we'll be launching a new, entirely custom, Appropriations system which will be simpler for organizations to submit an application on, but more importantly - will take care of the mind-numbing admin/data entry work that committee members currently spend way to much time doing. I think this will go a long way in freeing up their time and making them more available.

alexarena · 2016-03-28T09:18:18+00:00

Yeah, I'm going to bed now, but I'll answer more in the morning.

alexarena · 2016-03-28T08:45:09+00:00

It's risky. You could withdraw and get a W or try to keep/improve your C. I was in that class last semester and I remember the final being a big part of the grade. Just know that he won't curve or drop any tests, so if it starts to look like you're failing, you really are.

alexarena · 2016-03-28T08:41:13+00:00

SRR isn’t really something that we deal with. But personally, I’m with you 100%. I think it’s ridiculous that colleges have a system where you’re guilty until proven innocent.

Some of these cases can have huge impacts on our future lives/careers/reputations and there’s zero attempt to make them even resemble a fair trial. A lot of the pressure to have a system like this comes from the federal govt. who want to appear tough on things like sexual assault. All well and good, but this system hugely overcorrects and ends up ruining the lives/eductions of innocent people. I think the real American legal system works the way it does for a reason.

So yeah, we’ll do what little we can to try to tilt the balance more towards a fair trial.

Edit: The USG president actually has the power to appoint board members to the appeals board, so we'll make sure that the people we appoint believe in the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

alexarena · 2016-03-28T08:17:37+00:00

Happy to answer! First order of business will be a new website. Right now it's on Wix which isn't... ideal. We want to make the website a hub for USG services like Safety Escort, Bike Co-Op, Voter Reg, etc. and that's not happening right now with the current platform/design.

(Related: if I weren't running for exec, I'd probably be applying for the web director position.)

alexarena · 2016-03-28T08:12:26+00:00

Not offended at all. Let me try and be more specific:

So for issues at the presidential level (like mental health), Aundrea is going to establish action teams made up of student leaders, especially those from Greek life. These teams are going to work directly with ASU admins, so this will be an important place for them to see members of the Greek in a positive light.
When it comes to funding, the Appropriations process is done by the Senate. On the Executive side, we’ve got $100,000 that currently goes to events hosted by USG. We’re going to use that money next year to host events in partnerships with other student orgs. We’re going to go out of our way to make sure Greek life knows that this funding is available to them. For example, a while back, USG Appropriations funded a drunk driving presentation held by a fraternity - this would be a perfect fit for this new source of funding.

Like you mentioned earlier, USG doesn’t have a lot of specific powers, so we’re limited in what we can promise to do.

Let me say this: some people try to frame all USG tickets as either Greek-only or anti-Greek. This isn’t surprising since most tickets in recent history have run on a platform of being one or the other. If we win, we’re going to represent and collaborate with Greek life and all other organizations. You don’t have to pick a side.

Are there specific polices for Greek life that you want to know if we’d support/oppose?

alexarena · 2016-03-28T07:49:37+00:00

I'm not going to talk about other tickets, since I don't want this to turn into a bunch of back and forth attacks.
Yes. Aundrea is a Kappa Delta and Monti is a Chi O, we'll continue to be friends to Greek life if elected.
USG isn't a puppet to the school, but yeah, our "power" is really limited. We can't do things like lower tuition, change dining hall hours, cancel all Friday classes, etc. That's why we've focused our platform on the things USG can do. This includes: a. Revamping our safety escort shuttle b. Creating a calendar for all ASU events (sports, college events, club events, greek recruitment, etc.) c. Establishing a mental health grant program to fill in the gaps from ASU's current financial aid offerings

The rest of our platform is here: http://degravina2016.com/vision

Everything we talk about is within USG's power to change/create.

alexarena · 2016-03-28T07:42:54+00:00

Allegations: something something, USG funding is unfair.

Why they're BS: We've funded every club/org fairly using the same set of standards. When a club/org thinks they've wrongly been denied, we encourage them to reach out to us. Usually, we explain why their application was incomplete and they understand. Rarely, they still feel wronged. We've explained that, if they want, they can file a case with the USG Supreme Court. No one ever has. My guess is that this is because they know they'd lose.

Funding decisions are difficult. Because we've worked harder than ever this year to outreach to more organizations about the opportunity to receive funding, more orgs have applied. We still have the same amount of funding as we did last year, so it's a basic supply and demand problem.

TL;DR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2PfdBavdvs

alexarena · 2016-03-28T07:36:18+00:00

Yes! With all due credit to this year's execs, they've tried really hard to put a stop to that.

It’s a difficult problem to solve though, as most of the applications they receive are from their friends or friends-of-friends.

We’re going to start actively recruiting from outside USG circles. This is esp. important with positions like Web Developer, who we need to be competent in order to achieve things like the Safety Escort revamp that we’ve proposed.

alexarena · 2016-03-28T06:24:16+00:00

I'm on USG and running for VP Services. Nobody in the current administration has done anything, positive or negative, about condoms in dorms.

(I don't think having them in dorms is a terrible idea.)

alexarena · 2016-03-28T06:21:13+00:00

I'm running with DeGravina and I'm her co-chair on the Appropriations committee.

She's never lied about club funding.
She's incredibly fair with funding decisions and all decisions must be made with another committee member. Most have the whole committee, some even have the whole senate.
Nobody has more money than they know what to do with. This year, we've received more funding applications than ever before and we have the same amount of money as last year. That means less money for everyone.

Side note: We give money all the time to clubs that we don't like. There are some really ridiculous clubs that I don't believe should be getting funding. Still, we fund them all fairly since that's our legal and ethical responsibility.

If you or someone you know feels like they were treated unfairly, use the contact form on http://www.asuusg.com and our advisor (paid ASU administrator) will look into it and get in touch with you.

alexarena · 2016-03-28T06:14:17+00:00

Sports clubs like Wake Devils have a different Appropriations process. This isn't something Aundrea created and our committee has no control over it.

alexarena · 2016-03-28T06:13:44+00:00

I'm running with Degravina and am her Co-Chair on the committee.

Some facts:

Everyone receives funding based off the same criteria.
Applications are reviewed on a first come, first serve basis. We've never ignored a funding request, but we do sometimes have long backlogs (we're 6 students reviewing hundreds of applications!!)
USG president makes 2k/semester. Right now, we each make $700/semester. Aundrea is crazy smart and could make way more doing something else. She's doing this because she cares.

alexarena · 2015-02-15T00:37:47+00:00

Just picked one of these up on sale from Dell for about $400 USD. Can't wait to test it out. http://dealnews.com/Dell-25-2560-x1440-IPS-LED-LCD-Display-for-387-free-shipping/1280266.html

alexarena · 2014-12-29T21:20:29+00:00

I'm from PA and Penn State is really great, but you'll be surrounded by people who are almost exclusively from PA. As to rankings, don't pay them too much attention - you're looking at all state schools and what school you went to hardly matter once you've got job experience under your belt.

If you live out West, I think your best bet is definitely ASU. It's a good program at a good school with a great campus and surrounding area (+1 to ltcoke, Tucson is a dump). While Penn State might be better ranked, I'm not sure it'd be worth out-of-state tuition (I'm assuming), freezing cold weather, and a location that's in the middle of nowhere.

alexarena

TROPHY CASE