@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
	public SeparateChainingHashST(int M)
	{
		this.M = M;
		N = 0;
		
		// create array of lists
		st = (SequentialSearchST<Key, Value>[]) new SequentialSearchST[M];
		
		// intialize each list
		for (int i = 0; i < M; i++)
			st[i] = new SequentialSearchST<Key, Value>();

	}