Penultimate Semester Wrapup

I've finished two of my required three finals and am now basically sitting around, waiting for everything to be done so that I can go home. It's a bit unnerving to think that this is the next-to-last one of these that I'll ever write (in my undergraduate career, at least).

CS 450 - Operating Systems

I have very mixed feelings about this class. While I expected the worst back in August, it really didn't turn out to be all that hard. We spent a lot of time covering things such as virtual memory very extensively, that I'm not sure could have been the best use of the time allotted us. But there were other sessions that were genuinely fascinating (often when Dr. Abzug would get off on some tangent, such as his sub-lecture on the workings of the Aegis missile system).

Dr. Abzug himself, possibly the most dreaded professor in the entire JMU CS department, was not nearly as bad as people made him out to be. His early-semester ritual of making appointments to meet each student was actually a nice touch, and he was a fairly personable guy when he remembered my name (which was, admittedly, not often). I can at least say that neither this class nor this professor were my worst of the semester.

CIS 320 - Telecommunications and Networking

For most people, this class is basically a joke. Basic telecom and networking concepts like IP and mobile phone technology are covered in laughable banality, and gross generalizations and bad analogies abound. The textbook reflects this, as most of the information could probably be found with google searches like "tcp/ip basics" or "routing vs. switching."

For most people, this class is basically a joke. For a CS major who has taken CS 460 and CS 461, and who keeps up with current events in telecom and networking, and who has a clue what is meant by a routing table or who has played with VoIP, this class is hell. Trying to glean the 10-15% of the course material I didn't really know all that well (mostly business major-directed) was impossible. I award this class no points, and may God have mercy on its soul.

CS 474 - Database Design or Something Like That

I'd played with MySQL a bit before this class, and had an inkling as to what it meant to normalize a database, and this class built on that. I picked up some more SQL, got some Oracle experience (and some Access experience: ugh), and learned how to formally normalize a database. Not horrible, not great. The professor, Dr. Mata-Toledo, was excellent, and made it worthwhile to go to class. I'd have taken CS 475 with him next semester if my schedule wasn't already so full.

SMAD 356 - Telecom Policy and Regulation

I saved this class for last because I was hoping I'd be inspired somewhere along the line about how exactly to sing its praises. I wasn't, and will instead repeat what I wrote on the class evaluation:

One of the top five classes I've taken at JMU, and Dr. Holman is one of the top three professors in my life.

No joke. This class rocked.

December 10, 2003 - 04:48 PM

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