Uncategorized – Page 150 – Dan Dickinson: The Primary Vivid Weblog

Computer Science 430 (Information Discovery; Prof.
William Arms) – potentially an interesting class about searching and the methods used for indexing. Lecture can drag a bit, and section seems a little too elementary. Still, looking worthwhile – we’ll be learning Perl, at least. Workload is 4 problem sets (3 involving coding), a prelim, a final, and section participation.

Computer Science 472 (Artificial Intelligence; Prof. Bart Selman) – Taught by my advisor, this AI class looks like it will be interesting and not kill me. Seems rather high level thus far. Workload is problem sets, a prelim, and a final.

Government 111 (Introduction to American Government And Politics; Prof. Theodore Lowi) – taught by a raving and young-looking 70 year old, this class looks interesting on the surface, but I’m getting concerned that it’s just going to jump from topic to topic and not have much progression. Prof. Lowi has been teaching this since the 70’s. Workload is papers and prelims.

Hotel Administration 430 (Introduction to Wines; Banfi Vintners Professor of Wine Education and Management Stephen A. Mutkoski,Ph.D.) – this, unsurprisingly, looks like the highlight of the semester. While class are long (2 hours) and large (I would guess around 600 people), it only meets once a week and involves a lot of wine tasting, obviously.

Prof. Mutkoski is very funny and light-hearted, and definitely is into the subject (like Prof. Lowi, he’s been teaching this class for a while – since 1982). I already have my little black kit with my three glasses, so now I officially feel old. Workload is two prelims and a final, pass/fail only.

ORIE 480 (Information Technology, Dr. Mark Eisner) – a very
interesting subject matter, and a class that really should be offered from the CS department, or at least cross-listed. Downsides include a long lab, and the 8:40 M/W lecture times. Workload is a semester long project, prelims and final.