Income Statements and Balance Sheets...

This week in Finance, we learned about the importance of having a balance sheet and an income statement in business. Business owners/companies need to be able to reconcile statements and have an idea of their financial standing. This is where the balance sheet and the income statements come in. The balance sheet helps a company to keep an accounting of its assets, while the income statement helps a company to have an understanding of how they are doing financially. So not only did we discuss this in our discussion board this week, but we also had to create a balance sheet and income statement for the listed corporation in the problem we did. It is somewhat tedious, but just think if all companies left everything to chance and never kept an accounting of how money was spent and how much money was actually coming in compared to how much money was going out; many businesses would be bankrupt.

Next week, we are supposed to be getting started on creating and tracking portfolios. If it's anything like the financial plan that we did for our other finance class, I look forward to being challenged and learning more about tracking financial progress through investments--both long-and-short term.

Our continuing discussion on labels...

So we're all still discussing the effects that labels have on women, but some of the male students brought up a good counterpoint: when we talk about degrading labels, that should include the degrading labels that we can give to men, as well. Of course, this is a feminism class and the primary focus will be on women's issues, but that doesn't mean that men's perspectives shouldn't be discussed and considered--particularly as we continue to make advancement in this 21st century.

Also, as students who will soon be entering the workforce after graduation, we will encounter interpersonal and professional relationships on a daily basis (if we are not already doing so, as some of us have already entered the workplace while going to school); this course will help in improving male-female relationships in and out of the workplace. If we learn now how to treat each other with respect and understanding and equality, then we will not hurl hurtful, disrespectful labels at each other and always treat each other as equal partners in the workplace.

Labels....

This week in feminism, we're learning about labels and how we objectify each other with said labels. One of the things we talked about was the language that men use to refer to women and how it's no different from the other abusive epithets that are hurled at others. Words such as "chick", "doll", "breezie", and other less-than-endearing terms are internalized by women on a constant basis. We face many slights from men and from society at large, even among other women. When we look at popular culture, it's always the supersexy woman who gets the guy, usually with a dress tight enough to make her eyes pop out of her head if she took one deep breath. The smart woman is usually seen as a "nerd" or "homely" or "dowdy"--as if society doesn't recognize smart, beautiful women. If a woman happens to be endowed physically, some men feel that they can talk to her in a sexually suggestive manner, perhaps even crowding her space or groping her. They may even conclude that she's a certain "type" of woman who deserves the type of treatment that they dish out. It is getting very interesting, I must say.

Feminist Theories....

This is the class that I've switched to, and the responses to the discussion board question this week have been pretty interesting. Many people's ideas about what feminism means to them are as vast and as varied as Berkeley's student body itself. For some, like me, it means being independent and doing things for yourself instead of waiting for others--particularly men--to do things for you. For some, it means equal rights for both sexes in terms of pay scale, jobs, careers, and many other factors. I really like this class so far, and I'm going to put all of my effort into it.

This week's Access project was a little more challenging, but I figured it out and was able to submit it before the deadline. What made it even more challenging to figure out was the fact that I had a cold; and if you've ever attempted schoolwork while you're sick, you know that the things that would otherwise make sense may as well be in Morse code. But I re-read the information and retraced my steps until finally, the finished project looked like the one in the textbook. Access will really help me in the future--not only in the workplace, but also at home, helping to organize my DVDs, CDs, and books. I could also use Excel alongside to help me, as well. But Access could definitely help us out in the workplace as far as keeping customer records and files straight and determining which of our activities members enjoy more, as well as which activities we might consider replacing with newer activities as members are invited to make suggestions.

It's just as I thought....

I ended up having to swap classes this term. For some reason, the camera was not compatible to the Windows Vista operating system that came installed on my computer. So I'm going to email Logitech and see exactly which webcam is compatible with my computer's OS. In the meantime, my grade would've suffered while I waited to see what webcam I could replace with the one I have now, so I sent an email to Advisementonline and sort of pleaded with them to swap classes. Yesterday, I got a voicemail stating that I had been switched and that they'd made an exception in my case, as switches were to be done at the end of last week (I know now). I am very grateful that they were able to do that for me, and I plan to email them and tell them so.

At least I have the Microsoft Office software that I need now for my classes, as I would've had to do the train thing again otherwise (going to Berkeley's Newark campus and doing my assignments there). I don't mind, but if I don't have to, then it's easier on me than to try and figure out everyone's schedule so that there's someone available to pick up my niece from the library and get her to any other afterschool activities while I'm doing classwork. In fact, having a laptop--my OWN laptop--works out in so many other ways. I don't have to work around everyone else's schedule and wait until that person is finished using the computer.

Speaking of Microsoft Office, I got a 4 out of 4 on my Access project (go, me!!!). Now that I know how to get data files for our assignments, I'll be doing that with other Microsoft Office applications using other publications that I have. Practice makes nearly perfect, and we often want to put our best foot forward in business.

Just turned in my first Access project....

From what I previewed before I submitted it for grading, it looks exactly like the proofs our professor posted for our review. I'm actually pretty excited; I just found another use for Access in my everyday life, with regard to categorization. The other really exciting thing I learned how to do is unzip files and them save them. This is what we have to do with the student files that we need for our Access course. It was somewhat frustrating initially, but now that I know how to do it, I should have few to no problems on my next project. But just to be on the safe side, I'm going to get an early start on the next project.

With regard to my Oral Communication class, I may either have to swap classes or take an on-campus Oral communication course. I've been having such trouble trying to download the software we needed to install to set up my webcam. I just e-mailed Advisement this evening; I'm just going to wait and see what's said before I decide my next course of action. I just don't want to be viewed as someone who doesn't take her responsibilities seriously. Another thought that I probably hadn't considered as viable is calling the customer service number for the product that I purchased. I know Logitech more than likely has an 800 number, and maybe one of their technicians can help me.

My finance classes seem to be off to a good start, though. The chapters for one of my books are brief, but chock full of information. And when I apply myself, I can really benefit from the information. So I'm just gonna study, study, study and do well. As we pointed out in Statistics last term: the probability of Student A getting good grades for her work is directly proportionate to how much time and effort she puts into her studies.

Oral Communication....

I'm thinking that I may have to switch to another course, as the webcam that I purchased for this course is not compatible with Windows Vista; I'm going to try it on another computer, though, and see if that works. I don't want to fail the course because of a technical issue. It's a shame, too, because I was looking forward to seeing some of the faces behind the posts to Blackboard. But I'm not going to give it up just yet. I will find a way around this. I'm not one for giving in easily.

I also bought a Flash drive for saving my Access files. As I may have mentioned earlier (or maybe not), it holds so much more than a regular floppy disk, and you can store backup files in the event of a power failure or computer crash. With online courses, you're tempted to just store the files on your computer's hard drive. This is dangerous thinking; for instance, if you're working on a project for one of your classes and you only save it to your hard drive, what happens to your information if you have technical difficulties (computer crash because of viruses, power failure, etc.)? You have to consider every possible scenario when it comes to online learning. It is a convenience, but these are things that anyone considering online learning do well to plan ahead for.

I just got my first book in the mail today....

It's my book for English 111 (Oral Communication). So what I plan to do tonight before I put head to pillow is to log in to Blackboard and read over the notes for the first week's lesson plan so that I can start out ahead of the curve. I still have to download the software to my computer in order to be able to videotape my discussions and/or replies to other students' discussions, which I also intend to do tonight. However, if I don't do it tonight, I plan to do it first thing tomorrow morning when I wake up. I did pretty good in the last quarter, and I want to keep it going in that direction. No more D's and F's for this kid.

Also, I just purchased the USB flash drive that I need for CIS 203 today. I hear that this can store a large amount of files, which would be really helpful to me. I tried storing a PowerPoint file onto a floppy disk, and I had to delete other files after I saved them to the computer's hard drive before I could save the PowerPoint files, because they're huge; and then there's the animation and ClipArt that goes with the PowerPoint presentations.

And lastly (but certainly just as important), congratulations to Vanessa Gomez, fellow Berkeley student and blogger. She just started an internship, and I wish her all the best in her endeavors. If you're reading this, Vanessa, know that you've been an inspiration to me since I first started blogging for Berkeley. You're one of the inevitable success stories that will come out of Berkeley, and that the fact that you're only in your early 20's and so motivated to succeed is an inspiration to any and everyone.

New quarter begins Monday....

If you haven't already, fellow students, purchase your books ahead of time. Don't wait until the first day of classes to purchase your books because you'll need them to study the course material that's posted for the week. And it's always a good idea to log in and print out each syllabus for each course that you are enrolled in; that way, you can stay current with the readings and class notes that are posted to Blackboard each week. And I certainly hope everyone is enrolled in classes at this time, particularly those of you who are taking courses online. If you haven't, your late enrollment will be an expensive one; now you will be assessed a $100 late fee if you do not register for your classes by a certain time. Besides, why wait until the last minute when it only takes a few minutes to register online?

So I just read the guidelines for my English 111 class (Oral Communication). We actually have to install/download software that will allow us to interact with our fellow students via Webcam. It's going to be pretty interesting; I'll finally have an opportunity to see my fellow classmates face to face instead of seeing them in "class" via discussion board. I'll admit that I'm a little nervous, though, because this is the first online class where I'll have to do this. But I'm pretty confident that I'll do well and keep up with the assignments and whatever else is required of me as a student. I'm taking two finance class at once, which will be an interesting experience in and of itself; I just hope I manage to keep the two straight. I am also taking CIS 203, which deals with advanced database systems (we will be using Access 2007 for this course).