I am nos here at the end of day three. I am thanking my lucky stars that I did substantial reading ahead of time. The daily page total ranges from 200 to around 50 plus additional research. We have turned in one paper, a reaction paper. These are times for us to lay out our reactions to the class material within particular parameters. Last night we wrote about Science the environment and politics. What could have been a very lively discussion today was happily limited by the end of class.
Although the students in class come from a wide variety of backgrounds we seem to have at least some similar ideas on the role of science in public policy. Our two professors are very interesting. One Dr Quinn is the wildlife biologist/ Ecologist. He is also in his last year at the university making him somewhat more prone to speaking whats on his mind and being generally a bit more colorful. Dr Lawrence is the anthropologist side of the class. we have read a book titled Mukat's People. They are a tribe that is from the area surrounding palm springs. The book is more of a historical reconstruction about what life was like before the presence of Europeans. The book is very useful in studying hunter/gatherer society but does feel a bit outdated owning to the fact that it was published in the 1950s. The most exciting part of the otherwise very dry factual book is all the edibles it talks about. That is by far most students favorite part.

Other class room activities include one paper this weekend of semi-substantial length and another due at the end of the next week that is a collaborative research and presentation deal. SO I have been researching all manner of articles on Community Gardens (my groups topic of choice) and how they affect community identity. I was surprised ti find out how many city sponsored gardens there are in the US. total one document said that there are over 10,000 community gardens. LA and other impoverished urban areas are using the gardens as a was to revitalize communities and reduce crime. It appears to be working to some degree.

Other then snippets of data I haven't read anything top to bottom. That's tonight's project after I go to the gym.
I am sad to report that the weather here has been beautiful, a touch warm in the afternoons but over cast in the mornings and cool in the evenings. Other than that I am getting used to feeding myself again. I have a tendency to go a bit crazy on grocery's and not realize I can't quite eat it all. I guess I'll get better with time. But Mom will be glad to hear that I am not starving (I don't think Ms. Wu would allow that) I get protein and vegies along with plenty of cereal. It looks like I won't be heading back to the Fresno area until October some time. Nathan, Richard, and myself will be jetting off to South Dakota for a wedding next weekend. Than real school starts.

Wish me luck as I continue to toil on my homework.