The Bildungsroman of JMPP: The Sequel

I am so screwed

My Marketing final exam is in 12 hours.

I've been awake for over 24 hours, and thus must spend most of the remaining time sleeping.

I still know NEXT TO NOTHING about "Marketing" as it was taught in this class, despite having studied for this exam for approximately 20 hours over the past 5 days.  I wasn't a very good student in this class, but I did attend almost all of the lectures and discussions and read about half the textbook (yeah I should have read more, but I wasn't getting anything out of it except a cure for insomnia).  I have not been able to find an effective way to study and learn this material.

What's really frustrating is I don't know if starting earlier or studying more would have even helped me here.  I have prepared literally hundreds of little flashcards of definitions and assorted "facts", but neither the professor nor the textbook provided any sort of coherent framework to organize this information around.  I'm not having any luck inventing my own framework either because... well... I think most of it is BS and I don't see how all the BS fits together.  I really, really suck at memorizing large amounts of apparently unrelated, irrelevant information.

The exam is rumored to be quite difficult.  IIRC, he said that it will be around 20 short answer questions.  So, although I think I might have achieved a recognition-level knowledge on some of the material, there will be no multiple choice strategy games for me.

The final exam is worth 25% of the grade.  So it is quite possible that I will get such a low score on this exam that I will only get a C in the class.  Which is awful because so far, other than this class, I have a 4.0 graduate school GPA.

:(

(Note: I'm not asking for advice, suggestions, or other help -- it's too late for that now -- I'm just whining.)

Update: Also, I totally *knew* 6+ weeks ago that I should withdraw from this class since I was leaving the MBA program anyway, but I let my husband talk me out of it against my better judgment because the credits would still count as elective credits for my MS Accounting and he didn't want the time and money already invested this semester to be wasted.  So now it's 150+ wasted hours of my life later and while I'll probably manage to pass the class and get those 3 elective credits it'll be at the cost of a fucked GPA.

So, I am sticking to my guns the next time we have a marital debate over sunk vs. marginal costs. :)

(Note: I'm not blaming Hubby for my decision, it was my call and I made the wrong decision.  I'm just articulating my realization that one cannot let oneself be swayed by faulty economic reasoning, even if it's coming from one's spouse.)

Update II: Well, some good news: My afternoon study group canceled.  This is good news because I've realized that my original idea to get together and quiz each other with flash cards wasn't a very good one and right now my time will be better spent organizing my notes into some sort of attempt at a big picture (and sleeping). 

My first four approaches to studying this material were completely unsuccessful but I have high hopes for my new tack!  I see a B in my future!

Update III: Long-time readers of my previous blog will recall that near the end of every school term I have a period of procrastination leading up to one of these "AIEE THIS SUCKS I'M GOING TO FAIL EVERYTHING I HATE LIFE ARGH" panic attacks followed a week later by, "Oh!  I did much better than I expected, how nice," when grades are posted.  So newer readers should not fret too much on my behalf despite all the dire-sounding whining above.

Heh

Hubby is sitting next to me drinking beer and playing World of Warcraft while I study.

He just caught a boat out from the Forgotten Coast, and was tipsily singing to himself, "Riding on a boat... riding on a boat... don't know where I'm going... riding on a boat..."  Then, alarmed, "Isle of Dread?!  This doesn't sound like a three-hour tour."

Frustrated blogger

I have over a dozen long, thoughtful, substantial posts that I am itching to write and can't because I REALLY MUST STUDY FOR MY MARKETING FINAL RIGHT NOW.

List of coming attractions (will be added to as brain itches):

• Analysis/endorsement of LP presidential nomination candidates
• My thoughts on this year's LP platform fight
• Cyber-bullying and suicide
• Comments/forums moderation and social norms on the internet
• Business idea for Indians
• Bad people & the poker community
• Bad people & Las Vegas
• How to recognize and avoid bad people (did you know that ~4% of people are sociopaths?!)
• Neghitting the neghitters and other defenses against stupid dating tricks
• Burning fat and building muscle while keeping a nice round butt
• The aforementioned mostly-written post about UNLV's MBA program (will not be posted until after my grades are!)
• Update on Hubby's experiments with manipulating the World of Warcraft markets
• What to eat
• Review of 4-Hour Workweek
• Caffeine sensitivity
• Online matchmaking & my goal to get at least one smart single female blogger happily married off
• Las Vegas economy / real estate market
• Why accounting
• What to rename my blog (I'm married, settled in Las Vegas for the foreseeable future, decided on an education/career path, about to turn 30, etc... "bildungsroman" no longer seems to be an accurate descriptor)
• Which Sex and the City characters I identify with most and why (OK, so we're moving out of the realm of "thoughtful"/"substantial" now...)
• Idea for a potential innovation for grading students' eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil papers (you can't swing a dead cat in the professoblogosphere without hitting a post complaining about typical college students' atrocious writing skills)
• Oxytocin and casual sex
• Review of Crossing the Tracks for Love

I will be done with my most pressing deadlines on Thursday so expect the good stuff to start flowing sometime next week.  (That is, assuming that I still feel like writing once it's no longer a form of procrastination! :) )

Bob Barr?

When I heard this morning that he'd announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party nomination my initial reaction was one of WTF?! and anger, because the last time I'd read anything about Bob Barr he was very clearly NOT a libertarian.

However I've done a little more reading today and it appears that he's recently reversed his previous positions on medical marijuana and the Patriot Act, as well as done work with the ACLU.

So what do y'all think of this?  Is he really a libertarian now, or is he just a conservative who can't get along inside the Republican Party?

Also, how much of a shot does he have at winning the nomination, given that the convention is in just a couple of weeks?  I haven't really been following the LP nomination process since after last year's LP Nevada convention (when I stirred up shit with my "Two whackjobs, a convicted felon, and George Phillies" post).  I understand that George Phillies and Steve Kubby are still in the race and the "two whackjobs" have dropped out but I don't know anything about any of the other candidates running.  I used to check Hammer of Truth for all the hot Libertarian Party gossip but that site has been down and under construction for years now! :(

Ron Paul campaign's guerilla convention tactics

Los Angeles Times Blogs: Ron Paul's forces quietly plot GOP convention revolt against McCain, via Drudge.

I am delighted to read about this.  There's no chance of them changing the nominee, of course, but Ron Paul delegates (now disproportionately higher than their original votes because of their clever tactics at state and county conventions) could be the swing votes on deciding platform planks (voting with the conservatives on economic issues and the moderates on social issues) and thus nudge the Republican Party platform in an overall more libertarian direction.

Does anyone still remember when the Republican Party at least gave lip service to small government?  How did we go from Ronald Reagan's (unfulfilled) campaign promise to abolish the Department of Education to George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind Act in just one generation?

Henderson Art Fest

I went this afternoon with Sarah -- she posted a few photos on her blog.  It was pretty nice -- much bigger than the Green Valley Art Walk and although there were several of the same artists there, there were some better artists as well.  If it wasn't so hot out we would have probably spent more time looking at art.

The food court was small and not very appetizing, though -- I snacked on teriyaki beef on a stick and one of Sarah's yucky onion rings -- so we ended up having lunch at a Mexican restaurant instead. 

I didn't end up making it to the San Gennaro Feast this weekend.  Hubby and I were planning to go after I got home from the Art Fest, but he hurt his foot and didn't feel up to walking around on it.  Oh well, they'll have another one in six months.

Most of the next 46 hours will be spent in panicked studying for my Marketing final exam. :(

Little-known value in Las Vegas: Bill's Gambling Hall & Saloon

If you are looking for an inexpensive room in Las Vegas but don't want to stay off-Strip or in a total dump, check out Bill's Gambling Hall & Saloon.  Although the casino part is kind of dumpy, I'm told the rooms are nice (my mother has stayed there) and the location can't be beat -- it's at the intersection Flamingo & Las Vegas Blvd., which is the same mid-Strip corner as Caesars Palace, Bellagio, and Bally's.

Read the reviews on Trip Advisor for more information.

No movie this weekend :(

Speed Racer got 35% (it still sounds pretty, though) and What Happens in Vegas (which didn't interest me to begin with) got 28%. :(

Which is too bad, because we totally could have gone and seen either of those at 3 AM.

Battlestar Galactica 408: Faith open thread (COMMENTS CONTAIN SPOILERS)

What did you think of tonight's episode?  Please discuss in the comments!

Talking cats: possibly the most amazing thing I have ever seen on YouTube

A little early for Caturday but I had to share this immediately.

First, the original.  Make sure you watch this one first:

Then, the translation:

This one is also good:

Terrence "Not Johnny" Chan

0508080019.jpg, originally uploaded by Jacqueline1776.

And his new friend, a Johnny "Not Terrence" Chan bobble-head doll.

Terrence and I had a nice chat over coffee and tea tonight, although it was kind of difficult to come up with topics to talk about that we hadn't already read on each others' blogs!

Is it over for Hillary Clinton?

After yesterday's primary results, lots of people are claiming it's over for Hillary Clinton.  Drudge has even declared Obama to be "The Nominee".  But Hillary hasn't quit yet.  So, I've been wondering, is she just delusional, or does she still have a chance?  I don't trust the media's analysis so I decided to try to figure it out for myself.

Assuming that the fine folks at Wikipedia have their numbers straight, here is the current delegate allocation:

A candidate needs 2024.5 delegate votes to win the nomination.

Hilary Clinton: 1,427.5 pledged delegates + 269.5 estimated superdelegates = 1,697 total delegates

Barak Obama: 1,589.5 pledged delegates + 255 estimated superdelegates = 1,844.5 total delegates

1697 + 1844.5 = 3541.5 delegates spoken for

4048 total delegate votes - 3541.5 = 506.5 delegates as yet unclaimed

Primaries remaining: West Virginia (28 pledged delegates), Kentucky (51), Oregon (52), Puerto Rico (55), Montana (16), South Dakota (15).

28 + 51 + 52 + 55 + 16 + 15 = 217 pledged delegates to be assigned via primaries

506.5 - 217 = 289.5 superdelegate votes as yet unclaimed

If the most recent polls are predictive of how the remaining states will vote, and if the delegate votes are being allocated proportionally (which they sort of are), here is how we can expect the candidates' delegate totals to change over the remaining of the primaries:

May 13: West Virginia: "The latest opinion polling shows Sen. Hillary Clinton holding a 56% to 27% lead over Sen. Barack Obama, with 17% undecided, as of May 4, 2008."  If the undecideds vote proportionally to the decideds, the final vote should be 67% Clinton, 33% Obama.  So, +19 delegates for Clinton, bringing her total to 1716, +9 delegates for Obama, bringing his total to 1853.5.

May 20: Kentucky: "According to a recent poll from Survey USA conducted from April 26-28, Clinton leads Obama 56% to 31% in Kentucky with 13% undecided."  If the undecideds vote proportionally, the final vote should be 64% Clinton, 36% Obama.  So, +33 delegates for Clinton, bringing her total to 1749, +18 delegates for Obama, bringing his total to 1871.5.

May 20: Oregon: SurveyUSA's April 28–April 30, 2008 poll has Clinton 44% Obama 50% Other 2% Undecided 4%.  If the undecideds and "other" are ultimately divided proportionally, the final vote should be 47% Clinton, 53% Obama.  So, +24 delegates for Clinton, bringing her total to 1773, +28 delegates for Obama, bringing his total to 1899.5.

June 1: Puerto Rico: "In a poll conducted from March 31-April 5, 2008, Clinton leads Obama by 13%, holding 50% to his 37%, with 13% undecided and a margin of error of ± 4.4%."  If the undecideds vote proportionally, the final vote should be 57% Clinton, 43% Obama.  So, +32 delegates for Clinton, bringing her total to 1805, +23 delegates for Obama, bringing his total to 1922.5.

June 3: Montana: Unfortunately, it appears that the most recent poll was taken back in December 17-December 19, 2007, with "Clinton 29%, Edwards 19%, Obama 17%".  If the votes are split proportional to how Clinton and Obama were doing then, the final vote should be 63% Clinton, 37% Obama.  So, +10 delegates for Clinton, bringing her total to 1815, +6 delegates for Obama, bringing his total to 1928.5.

June 3: South Dakota: A poll dated April 3, 2008 has Obama 46%, Clinton 34%, Undecided 10%, No One 6%, Other 4%.  If the votes are split proportionally, the final vote should be 42% Clinton, 58% Obama.  So, +6 delegates for Clinton, brining her total to 1821, +9 delegates for Obama, bringing his total to 1937.5.

No more primaries.  Clinton will now have 45% of the 4048 delegate votes and Obama will have 48%.  That doesn't seem like a huge difference.

1821 + 1937.5 = 3758.5 delegates are now spoken for.

4048 - 3758.5 = 289.5 unclaimed delegates remain (the unclaimed superdelegates I also calculated above).

Clinton will need 2024.5 - 1821 = 203.5 of the remaining 289.5 superdelegates to win, or 70%.

Obama will need 2024.5 - 1937.5 = 87 of the remaining 295.5 superdelegates to win, or 30%.

Hmm, it seems unlikely that she can do that. 

However, these calculations make some important assumptions that might very well not be true:

• The latest polls accurately predict how people will vote in the primaries
• The pledged delegates will be allocated proportional to the primary vote percentages (they are actually allocated by district, so it's possible to lose the state primary but win more delegates)
• The undecided/"other" voters will be divided proportionally based on how the candidates are currently polling
• No currently spoken-for superdelegates change their minds
• Michigan and Florida will not be counted

All of those assumptions could easily be wrong enough to significantly affect the outcome (at least one almost certainly is, although I don't know which one(s)).

So, unfortunately (I am not a Hillary fan), I think although it currently seems unlikely that she will win, it is not yet impossible.  She is ahead in the polls for most of the remaining states' primaries and who knows what those superdelegates will do?  Plus, if they decide to seat Michigan and Florida after all or have a do-over, Clinton won both those states (Obama wasn't on the ballot in Michigan) and that could tip the balance in her favor even if their delegates only count for half.

If I were Hillary Clinton, I wouldn't quit now either.  I think it's going all the way to the convention.

FUCK I HATE PEOPLE PLAGIARIZERS

So, I finished my marketing project slides and have begun work on finishing the accounting project (an analysis of The Gap's financial reports).

It turns out that one of my accounting project group members -- yup, you guessed it -- plagiarized her contribution to our paper!

The other group member and I initially were suspicious because of the three pages she sent us, the third page was written in the first person plural and thus was obviously taken from the company's annual report.  However, the plagiarizer wrote in her original email, "The financial information is in draft form right now," so we decided to give her the benefit of the doubt that perhaps this part was just her research notes and she planned to rewrite and properly cite the information.

So, my reply to her email included the question, "Is what you sent us so far a draft that you wrote or is it notes copied from somewhere else or what?"

She replied, "the first 2 pages i wrote and the bottom is info i found."

OK, so far, so good.  She was not claiming to have written the part that she very obviously hadn't written.  Since I had the much more pressing marketing project to deal with and the accounting project isn't due until the 15th, I put off doing anything else with it for a week.

Well, I just started working on the accounting project again, and since I still don't trust her, I started plugging phrases into Google.  It turns out that the entire two pages she claims to have written herself are ripped off from Hoover's:

The Gap Company Description: She copied this paragraph word-for-word with only the following minor changes:

• replaced "ubiquitous" with "ever-present"
• deleted the reference to poplin
• updated 3,100 to 3,150
• deleted the word "iconic"
• deleted the word "budgeteer"
• deleted the fragment "each also has its own online incarnation"

So of the 112 words in the paragraph, she changed only 13 of them.  This does not count as adequate paraphrasing.

Industry Overview: Clothing Stores: She copied the "Industry Overview" and "Competitive Landscape" paragraphs word-for-word with NO changes.

Industry Forecast: She copied the opening sentence of the "Industry Forecast" section word-for-word with NO changes.

I'm not sure where she got her "Comparison to Industry & Market" and "Top Competitors" tables from, but the weird formatting strongly suggests that they were not created by her in Word (it's a Word document) but were copy/pasted off a website as well.

She does cite the source she ripped off, "Hoover's Handbook of World Business 2008", at the end of her document, but in no way does changing only 13 out of 286 words (thus copying 95% of the source word-for-word) count as "writing" something.

I am so fucking pissed.  Because *I* would have gotten an F on the project too (the professor has emphasized that plagiarism would not be tolerated) if I'd believed her and turned in the paper with her section left as is.  This woman is not some stupid little freshman who doesn't know better, she's on her last 12 credits of her MBA.  She fucking knows better and she decided to take the risk anyway and fuck the rest of us over because she's too fucking lazy to ethically research and write two fucking pages.

I AM TURNING THE BITCH IN.  I'm certain that my other group member will support me on this and we will just complete the project by ourselves.

Update: What really fucking sucks is the plagiarizer is the one who picked The Gap as our paper topic.  I don't want to write a paper analyzing the fucking Gap.  I don't even shop there.  I'd rather do Amazon.  But the non-plagiarizer and I already have 1/3 to 1/2 a paper about The Gap so it'll take us less time to finish the stupid thing than to start on a new company.

Update II: I heard back from the professor: "Thank you very much for telling me this.  You did the right thing in breaking away into a separate group.  There is nothing further that you need to do."  Dude, what are you doing up at 4am?

End-of-semester death march update (blogging will be light for a week)

Tonight: Work on the slides for the marketing plan presentation and try to finish the accounting project. 

The accounting project isn't actually due until the 15th, but I want to get it done early so we have the opportunity to get feedback from the professor and fix any issues before the deadline.  I'm not worried about it because it's very straightforward and I did so well on the exams that I only need to get 71% on the project to get an A in the class (but my project groupmates probably need higher scores so I can't just half-ass it).

Tomorrow: Rehearse marketing presentation with my group, finish accounting project if it isn't done yet.

Thursday: Presentation, followed by dinner with the former coworkers who are attending the presentation (the marketing plan is for their company).  Begin studying for Marketing final exam.

Friday-Tuesday: Study for the Marketing final, pretty much full time.  I am really stressed about this exam because I have no idea what my grade in the class is going into the exam -- the only intermediate feedback was two short case analysis papers (25%) which I half-assed and only averaged 85.5% on.  The rest of the grade is the marketing plan and presentation (30%) -- I think our group is doing well on but who knows how he's going to grade it? -- and class participation (20%) -- again, I think I've participated far more than the average student but it's so arbitrary and I have no idea if he uses relative or absolute standards to measure this.  The final is worth 25% of the grade and is rumored to be very tough.  I didn't get much out of his lectures so I'm going to have to study by self-teaching myself out of the textbook and that will be very time-consuming.  Ugh.  I'm really freaked out about this. :(

Tuesday night: Take Marketing final.  Drink heavily afterwards.

I'd also like to fit in pigging out at the San Gennaro Feast, see a movie with my husband, say hi to Terrence while he's in town (someone gave me the most ridiculous thing and I must regift it to him), and maybe go to the ArtFest in Henderson.  I've been neglecting my local friendships so hopefully I can interest them in going with me to at least one of those activities.

I will have a lot of rested XP waiting for me in World of Warcraft next week. :)

Delightful tidbits about my school

Apparently the men's bathrooms in the business school building are a hot gay cruising spot.  Awesome.