2/23 Catching Up

So I was recently introduced to the world of Facebook, and I've gotta say it's pretty addictive stuff. However, I still don't quite know what to do when someone "pokes" me?! I might be getting old here, but didn't poking someone used to be considered rude? How about just a "polite tap on the shoulder" on Facebook? That seems so much more pleasant!

But what really caught me off guard was what a large contingency of EWMBA students there are on Facebook. How do you guys manage to find time to work full time, go to classes, do homework, and play "Scrabulous" for hours on in?! And get this, there's even a "Fan Club" for Prof. Suneel Udpa on this thing. My hope is that someday the EWMBA Program Office will be "Hot" enough to warrant our very own fan club in cyberspace ;)

DEADLINE FOR EXCHANGE APPLICATION
Just a reminder that for all those who are interested in applying to go on the International Exchange program, the deadline for your application is next Monday, 2/25. You can either email or drop off your 1-2 page statement letter at the program office. Make sure to list your order of preferences, if you are applying for more than one school. A review of the International Exchange program can be found on our website, but please let me know if you have any additional questions:

http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/EWMBA/EWMBAexchange.html

BOOK SALE THROUGH SATURDAY
Anyone who is interested in adding to their libraries at home, we just want to let you know that the EWMBA book sale will be going on through this Saturday, so make sure to stop by the program office and take a look. This is your last chance as everything is going back to our vendor by next week! I've attached a copy of the book list and prices in this email.

Don't forget your checkbook as we cannot accept cash or any other form of payment... and that includes IOU's and/or candy bribes!

SATURDAY COHORT
We're back at Haas this week. And even better news, no signs of any other program/events going on this Saturday, so we should be all set in terms of parking options nearby.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
Rajiv Krishnamurthy, February 21

Adrian Ludwig, February 21

Ravichandran Ramachandran, February 21

Abhishek Shrivastava, February 21

Katie Kabler, February 22

Victoria Owens, February 22

Michael Yee, February 22

Vitaliy Kuznetsov, February 23

Edward Lievens, February 24

William Gerard, February 25

Rei Kasai, February 26

Rodrigo Palacios, February 26

Gordon Stewart, February 26

Saranya Babu, February 27

Shivanshu Upadhyay, February 27

DID YOU KNOW?
It's getting to be that time of the semester when midterms and/or final exam (for first year students) are starting to roll around the corner. If you need a quiet place to study, or if your group needs a meeting place, did you know that you can now start reserving your own classrooms here at Haas? Log in with your CalNet ID and passphrase at the URL below, and all rooms here at Haas are pretty much up for grabs at this point!

http://reserve.haas.berkeley.edu

That's it from me!
Siu Yung Wong

Assistant Director

Haas School of Business

Evening & Weekend MBA Program

(510) 643-0592

2/14 Catching up

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Unfortunately, when you are dealing with a newborn like my wife and I are these days, there is very little time for anything else other than changing and feeding the little one. So, we decided that the best present we can give to each other this year is... NAP TIME! Yup, a few hours free from the baby sounds mighty attractive right about now. The heck with flowers and chocolate, give me something that I can really enjoy!

In any case, hope everyone enjoys the day, and the long holiday weekend coming up! Speaking of which...

PRESIDENT'S DAY HOLIDAY
A reminder that classes will not be in session next Monday, 2/18/08 in observance of President's Day. All other offices on campus, including the Haas building, will be closed as well.

For first year evening students, however, you will have a makeup class next Tuesday, 2/19/08 in the Wells Fargo Room. And for those of you taking the Santa Clara shuttle, we have already ordered an additional shuttle for that night in anticipation of the increased number of students coming up for the makeup class.

BOOK SALE
Back by popular demand, we are having our "semi-annual" book sale at the EWMBA Program Office. If you've been eyeing one of the millions of textbooks that's been scattering about our office these past few weeks, now is your chance to purchase your copy. All books will be for sale starting next Wednesday - Saturday. Prices will be available when you stop by next week.

Make sure to bring your checkbook with you though, since we will not be able to accept cash or any other form of payment.

SATURDAY COHORT
We're back at Santa Clara this week, so it's another week where you don't have to worry about parking attendants and all that other good stuff. Hopefully everyone's got their classrooms figured out by now? I don't want to hear anybody asking us where "Pricing" is in the afternoon, OK?! ;)

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
Here are the birthday boys and girls for this week:

Priya Halasyam, February 14

Srikanth Jujare, February 15

Ava Malla, February 15

Chunyi Zhang, February 17

Stanley Chan, February 18

Maxim Chernikov, February 18

David Lee, February 18

Reiko Yoshida, February 18

Ilya Klets, February 19

Rudramahesh Rugge, February 19

DID YOU KNOW?
So, who's up for some free software? If you are, look no further than through our very own UC Berkeley campus. Did you know that there is a "Software Central" website that is available to all UC Berkeley students. All you need is your CalNet ID and passphrase, and you're in! While you won't be able to get Photoshop for free, there are plenty of other useful software on this site that you can download free of charge:

http://software-central.berkeley.edu/

That's it from me!
Siu Yung WongAssistant DirectorHaas School of BusinessEvening & Weekend MBA Program(510) 643-0592

2/7 Catching Up

Everything is just coming up roses these days. The weather is starting to come around. Everyone's got their schedule finalized now for the semester. And the Patriots are no longer perfect... HAHAHAHAHA! 18-1, 18-1!!!

BTW, "Gung Hay Fat Chow" to everyone celebrating the Lunar New Year today. For those of you who might not know, this is the Year of the "Rat". Those of you who are 24 (anyone in this program?), 36, or 48 (I think we've got a couple?), this is your year ;)

ADD/DROPS COMPLETED FOR SPRING 08
By this time, everyone should have had a chance to check out their final schedule for the semester. Remember to bring back any textbooks that you may have for classes that you are dropping.

Also, make sure to log into Bearfacts next week (don't do it right now since your final schedule was just uploaded to campus today) to make sure your schedule for this semester is accurate. If there are any discrepancies, please let us know ASAP!

TOWN HALL MEETING WITH ASSISTANT DEAN OF INSTRUCTION
Jay Stowsky, our new Assistant Dean of Instruction, will be taking some time out to meet with all EWMBA students during this coming week. If you have any questions or concerns about the program, or even better, if you have any glowing reviews about the EWMBA program staff ;)... please stop by and let Jay know.

BTW, food and drinks will be provided, so you shouldn't have any excuses! Dates and times for these town hall meetings are as follow:

Saturday, Feb 9th, 12-1pm, in Stanford classroom (Sun Microsystems)
Saturday, Feb 9th, 1-2pm, in Berkeley classroom (Sun Microsystems)
Monday, Feb 11th, 7:30-8:15pm, in Wells Fargo Room
Thursday, Feb 14th, 7:30-8:15pm, in Andersen Auditorium

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE INFORMATION SESSION
If you interested in the exchange program but missed out on the information sessions this week, please feel free to stop by and see this Saturday at Sun, or any time next week in the program office. The deadline for all applications to be submitted is: Monday, Feb 25th. So if you're interested, please let me know! Check out our website on the exchange program as well:

http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/EWMBA/EWMBAexchange.html

SATURDAY COHORT
So, we're back at Santa Clara this weekend. Please make sure to SIGN IN WITH YOUR PREFERRED FIRST NAME AND LAST NAME! That will really help us move the check-in line along this Saturday. Thanks!

Since this is our first meeting there for this semester, it would probably help if you guys know about the classroom assignments:

Core Classes
Morning (9-1pm):
EW204.31A, Operations, Su - Berkeley classroom
EW203.32A, Finance, Walden - Harvard classroom

Afternoon (2-6pm):
EW203.31A, Finance, Walden - Harvard classroom
EW204.32A, Operations, Su - Berkeley classroom

Elective Classes
Morning (9-12pm):
EW232.11, Money Markets & Financial Institutions, Perna - Princeton classroom
EW262.11, Brand Management, Upshaw - Heidelberg classroom
EW275.11, Business Law, Campbell - Columbia classroom
EW295A.11, Entrepreneurship, Morril & Gertz - Stanford classroom

Afternoon (1-4pm):
EW211.11, Game Theory, Oliveros - Princeton classroom
EW222.11, Financial Information Analysis - Heidelberg classroom
EW258A.11, International Business, Bahrami - Columbia classroom
EW269.11, Pricing, Azhar - Stanford classroom

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
The first birthday babies for the Year of the Rat:

Roy Kim, February 7
Venkatesh Nagapudi, February 7
Sharmila Ravula, February 7
Shelendra Sharma, February 7
Marisa Gallagher, February 9
Abhijit Tamhane, February 9
Lawrence Tomasiello, February 9
Larissa Wojciechowski, February 9
Robyn Im, February 11
Diana Liu, February 11
Ketan Shah, February 11
Douglas Rodwick, February 12
Hatinder Chawla, February 13
Nitin Garg, February 13

DID YOU KNOW?
Since this is the Year of the Rat (the first symbol of the Chinese zodiac), I thought it might be fun to share a Chinese legend about how that came to be, and also why cats hate rats (it's really a silly story):

According to one legend, in the sixth century B.C. the Jade Emperor invited all the animals in creation to a race, only twelve showed up: the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Lamb, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig, and according to their places in the race, the Jade Emperor had given them each a number starting with the Rat who was the winner of the race.
Many legends arose from the Race of the Chinese Zodiacs. One told of the reason why cats and rats shall always be enemies: He and the cat (at the time good friends) were poor swimmers, so they asked the ox if they could stay on top of his head to cross the river. Along the way he pushed the cat off of the ox's back. And the cat, incapable of swimming, lagged behind. The rat stayed on top of the ox's head until the ox was almost at the finish line. And as the ox was about to cross it, the rat jumped from the ox's head and became first place. And the cat and rat have been enemies ever since.

OK, that's more than enough from me this week!

Siu Yung Wong
Assistant Director
Haas School of Business
Evening & Weekend MBA Program
(510) 643-0592

1/31 Catching Up

Please forgive me for the following rant... but since this is Super Bowl weekend, I simply cannot pass up the opportunity to rally as many people as I can against these New England (Spygate!) Patriots this Sunday. Everything from their arrogant head coach (Bellicheat!) to their pretty boy quarterback ("Shady" Tom Brady) just rubs me the wrong way. They are fast becoming the Yankees of the NFL, and that's not a good thing!

I suppose there are still going to be the funny beer commercials, but if this game gets out of hand by the first quarter, I am going to turn on my Wii and take out my anger on the digital Patriots in Madden 08 ;)

ROUND 2 ADD/DROP FOR ELECTIVES
By now, everyone should have logged back into OLR to check on your status of their various waitlists you signed up for from last week. Remember that as spaces become available, we will continue to add you from this ranked waitlist on a daily basis.

Remember that if you are no longer interested in course that you are waitlisted for, please log back into OLR to drop yourself out of that waitlist. This will help us clear the waitlists much faster, and add only those who are still truly interested in that particular course.

Lastly, the deadline for Round 2 of Add/Drops will be this coming Monday, 2/4/08 at 11:59 pm. All waitlists will then be processed one final time the following day. This will then conclude all add/drops for the remainder of this semester.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE INFORMATION SESSIONS
If you're interested in participating in the International Exchange Program next Fall, we will be conducting information sessions next week. Here are the dates and times:

Wednesday, Feb 6th, 7:30 - 8:15pm in S489
Thursday, Feb 7th, 7:30 - 8:15pm in S489

There won't be any official sessions for Saturday, but I will be here this Saturday and next, so just stop by the program office on either day if you have any questions about the Exchange Program.

For those of you who want to read up more about the International Exchange Program for the time being, please check out our website:

http://haas.berkeley.edu/EWMBA/EWMBAexchange.html

SATURDAY COHORTS
So, we're here again this Saturday. Parking should be OK, but let's just hope it's not going to be raining too hard!

Also, FYI... lunch will be served at the Bank of America Forum, so go there instead.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Sanjay Krishnan, January 31
Eliane Setton, January 31
Michael McFerran, February 2
Jarlin Sung, February 2
Chandler Kneer, February 3
Benedict Chong, February 4
Laurent Devilbiss, February 4
Jeff Lipton, February 4
Isabel Ge, February 5

DID YOU KNOW?
There are always so many things going on here at Haas that it's hard to keep track of them all. But, did you know, Haas Media Services has a "Video Room" site that currently houses many of our speaker series/guest lectures that recently took place here at Haas? To view the library, go to this website:

http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/haas/video_room/

That's it from me!

Siu Yung Wong
Assistant Director
Haas School of BusinessEvening & Weekend MBA Program
(510) 643-0592

1/24 Catching Up

Alright, it's a brand new year and a brand new semester. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves over the holidays, because the Spring semester is coming right 'atcha! It's like my new baby at home, there's no stopping him, you can only hope to contain him!

There's not too much going on at the moment, but what is going on are pretty important. So, let me just dive right into the nitty gritty

ADD/DROP FOR ELECTIVES
Round 1 of add/drop is happening right now, so make sure to log into OLR to sign up for your waitlists. All waitlist requests for round 1 must be received by this coming Monday, 1/28/08 by 11:59pm.

http://web.haas.berkeley.edu/registrar/

If you are added into a waitlisted course, you can then stop by our program office to pick up your textbook(s) by next Tuesday, 1/29/08. Please also make sure to bring back any course material for courses that you want to drop. Drops will not be processed unless: 1) we receive an official email from you and; 2) we receive all course materials back from that class.

If we're unable to add you into a waitlisted course, you will be able to see your rank on that particular class' waitlist by Tuesday afternoon. We will continue to add from this ranked waitlist throughout the week, as spaces become available.

SATURDAY CLASSES
Classes will be here at Haas this Saturday, but we've got company. Don't worry, it won't be that bad though. 45 spaces in the Boalt lot has been reserved for the "Super Saturday" event with Admission and Career Services, but otherwise we're in the clear everywhere else.

With regards to other logistics:
1. We'll be distributing parking passes in front of the loading zone starting at 8:15 am.
2. Books will be distributed from the program office throughout the day.
3. Lunch will be served out of Jimmy Bean's cafe as usual, but please be advised to steer clear of other lunches that might be happening nearby. Thanks ;)

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
The Birthday boys and girls for this week are:

Allan Duckett, January 24
Albert Fong, January 25
Brynn Hadler, January 25
Xin Liao, January 25
Matthew McGinnis, January 25
Guillaume Brassard, January 26
Cheryl Gay, January 26
Sirisha Paturi, January 28
Arman Zand, January 28
Abhijeet Deore, January 29
Sharianne Louie, January 29
Jinqiang Wu, January 29
Veronika Belokhvostova, January 30
Jeffrey Dressler, January 30

DID YOU KNOW?
This is a tiny little thing, but might prove to be useful for some of you road warriors who have to check your Haas email through the web interface. Did you know that if you use the Internet Explorer browser to check your Haas email online (http://mail.haas.berkeley.edu/), you get access to "premium features" that you would not normally have if you use any other browser (e.g. Firefox, Safari, etc.) Looks like we might have to look more into this Microsoft monopoly business ;)....

See ya!
Siu Yung Wong
Assistant Director
Haas School of BusinessEvening & Weekend MBA Program
(510) 643-0592

***WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL - SPRING 2008***

Hello,

I hope everyone had a great winter break. There is a lot of information below about the Spring 08 semester, and information on summer courses as well.

Spring 08 Academic Calendarhttp://www.haas.berkeley.edu/EWMBA/SPR08CAL.html
NOTE: There are no classes on Monday, 1/21, due to the Martin Luther King holiday.

Spring 08 Saturday Location Schedulehttp://www.haas.berkeley.edu/EWMBA/SPR08SAT.htm

Updated Spring 08 Elective Class Schedulehttp://www.haas.berkeley.edu/EWMBA/SP08elec.pdf

NOTE:
For those interested in adding to the Mergers & Acquisitions course, the instructor has forwarded the following comment:
The M&A class is oversubscribed, and it is likely that there will be some backing and filling after the first class on January 24th. In order to qualify for enrollment, students must attend the first two classes and submit the first assignment due on February 4th on time to qualify for subsequent placement. No exceptions.

For those interested in adding to the Business Law class, please be aware that the first class will not take place until 2/2.

Changes in the Schedule Since Bidding
EW224A-1 Mgrl Acctg, EW264-1 Hi-Tech Mktg, and EW295I-1 Entrepreneurship Wkshp have been cancelled due to low enrollment.

There is a new 1 unit course, EW267-4 Marketing in Web 2.0. You can find out all the details about this course by clicking on the course number in the course information table that contains all the course descriptions (link below).

We’ve made some room swaps, so see the link below for the latest classroom assignments.
Classrooms and Course DescriptionsThis link takes you to the course information, including the latest classroom assignments and links to course descriptions (click on the course number):https://ssl.haas.berkeley.edu/groups/adaa/class_schedule/cgi-bin/CourseScheduleDisplay.pl?Show=1&Semester=Spring&Year=2008

Adding and Dropping ClassesThe following link outlines how and when to add and drop classes:http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/EWMBA/addrop.htm

NOTE:
You cannot log into the EWMBA Add/Drop Waitlists through the On-Line Registrar (OLR) until Round 1 begins at 9AM on 1/22.
ALL classes will have an on-line waitlist, including 1-unit courses, and you can see the availability when you log in.
If you did not change your OLR password during bidding, your password should still be at the default, which is the word “password”.
Full-Time MBA Classes
You can add a full-time class on a space-available basis. The only FTMBA classes you cannot take, regardless of space-availability, are MBA 294’s and courses that we also offer in our program in the same semester.
To add to a full-time class, attend the first class of whatever course you are interested in when the semester begins. If you are sure it’s something you want, let us know, and we’ll add you to our master list. Every Friday of Add/Drop, we check in with the full-time program about space availability. If there is room, we’ll add you. If not, then you can try again the following week.

You can view the FTMBA course offerings here: https://ssl.haas.berkeley.edu/groups/adaa/class_schedule/cgi-bin/CourseScheduleDisplay.pl?Show=3&Semester=Spring&Year=2008

Books & ReadersFor 2nd year students, we will be distributing your textbooks during the Mid-Program Academic Retreat. For 3rd years, you can pick up your textbooks during the first week of class. If a course has a reader, you can access it through Study.Net. Keep in mind that some courses do not have readers and some readers may not be ready, so do not worry if you do not see a reader yet. Instructions on how to get to Study.net through Catalyst and how to order a hard copy of your reader can be found here: http://catalyst.haas.berkeley.edu/html/help/StudyNet/StudyNet-EWMBA.pdf

Access to materials for classes you are trying to get into:
We will allow students who remain on a waitlist for more than a week to borrow books.
To get temporary access to Catalyst and Study.Net for courses you are trying to add, go to http://catalyst.haas.berkeley.edu/html/help/StudyNet/TempAccessEWMBA.htm. Temporary access to Catalyst and Study.Net will be available starting January 14th.

ParkingFor 2nd year students, we will be distributing your parking permits during the Mid-Program Academic Retreat. For 3rd years, we'll have one of our staff or student workers by the three minute loading zone outside Haas to distribute parking before class during that first week of class.

Billing
Please note that any course transactions that have occurred since bidding and that will occur during the Add/Drop period will not be reflected until the February bill (the one you’ll receive at the end of February).

Summer Courses (Trips & Classes)
The information below is for planning purposes only. Sign-ups for international trips will occur mid-late February, and sign-ups for summer classes will occur mid March.

Summer International Trips
Finland/Russia in June 2008 (6/7 - 6/21)
South Africa in August 2008 (dates TBA)

Summer Classes
1. Two identical sections of EW237 Designing Financial Models that Work with Tasker (1 unit)
· One section will have the following Saturday dates & times:
5/31 (9AM-1PM); 6/7 (9AM-1PM); 6/14 (9AM-1PM); 6/21 (11AM-1PM)
· The other section will have the following Saturday dates & times:
5/31 (2-6PM); 6/7 (2-6PM); 6/14 (2-6PM); 6/21 (2-4PM)
· Both sections will take place at Haas.

2. One section of EW295A Entrepreneurship with Charron (3 units)
· M/W (6-9:30PM) from 6/9 to 8/6 with no class the weeks of 6/30 and 7/7

3. One section of EW299E Competitive Strategy with La Blanc (3 units)
· Saturdays (10AM-5PM) from 5/31 to 8/2 with no class on 7/5 (There are one or two other dates in that block that he might not have class, but the schedule will be finalized closer to when enrollment happens.)
· All classes will take place at Haas.

See you soon,

Siu Yung Wong

Assistant Director

Haas School of BusinessEvening & Weekend MBA Program

(510) 643-0592