switch, otherwise, disp
more things i should've known and/or always forget:
switch is supposed to be better than a list of if, elseifs. i can think of some cases where i should've used this.
a very clear and not flashy 3 minute video explaining this:
http://blogs.mathworks.com/videos/2008/01/02/matlab-basics-switch-case-vs-if-...
otherwise is the default value of switch (also explained in video)
the video shows