Re: Devastating News

    Replying to several...

Christophe wrote:
<<Are all

student-run classes treated like expensible material like that?>>

    In a word, yes.  There have been problems with student-run classes in the
past.  One example is a class that somehow got started on the TV show Party
of Five, which, for the benefit of those who don't watch or don't have access
to American TV, was essentially a teen soap opera about five kids whose
parents are killed, or something, and rather than having them live with a
relative, they decide to let them live in the house on their own.  What
happened in the class was that the "students" would gather every week and use
a university television to watch the show; that was it.  Some professor just
signed off on it.  There have been other classes like this.  There have also,
however, been really excellent classes which have suffered because of the
poor ones--I figure that I most likely fall into this category.  I didn't
want the class to fail, and so I needed a professor who was willing to work
with me.  Unfortunately, it appears this professor was not up to the task,
even though she previously indicated that she was.

Roger wrote:
<<She had better have a Really Good Excuse-- detained by the Feds, kidnapped,

murdered, death in the family that required a trip to China/Patagonia etc...>>

    Unless, of course, something like this really happened.  ;)  We'll see.

<<Personally, if the class has already been announced and scheduled, I'd at

least start it, permission or no, on an informal basis, with the hope that

matters can be straightened out fairly soon.>>

    This is the problem.  The class never was announced (except by me,
informally), and so no one knows that it was supposed to have existed.
Another big problem is getting a room, since one of our buildings (a really
big one) is being retrofitted for earthquakes, and every class, student-run
or otherwise, is hard-pressed for space (I'm taking a history class right now
that has 44 people in it a room with 28 chairs.  If you happen to show up
after the seats are filled, we have to wander around the building and
interupt other classes to see if we can borrow a chair, or else sit on the
floor).

Imperative wrote:
<<>Still, taking issue with your professors may not be wise if you want

>their custom in future...
And Roger replied:

Yes and no.  David may not be the only student whom she is treating so

shabbily, and a complaint in the right quarters might be in order. I would

think that her Dept. might be interested in knowing where she is and why she

isn't keeping up with official duties.>>

    I can understand both positions.  What I think I'm going to do is let it
pass.  I'll be sure to have a talk with the professor herself, but it won't
go beyond that.  When I try to get the class up and running again next
semester, I'm going to go to the linguistics department (which is probably
where I should have gone in the first place).  That department is smaller,
and I know everyone, so this kind of thing couldn't happen again.  (At least,
so I hope.)

Roger:
<<Or, is there, for ex. a _student_

organization that oversees the student-run classes?>>

    The answer is no, and it has to do with the ideology behind the program.
There is a student who does processes all the paperwork and updates the
webpage, but other than that, the program is really designed to give the
student instructor freedom and experience what it's like to teach a class.
For this reason, they make sure that there's no "governing body" of any kind,
student or otherwise.  Unfortunately, things like this can happen because of
that.  Nevertheless, there's no way you can ever get the people of Berkeley
to agree to give up some freedom in exchange for accountability and security.
    Anyway, I'm sure I'll have much more success next semester.  Besides,
I'll have even more time to prepare.

-David

"Zi hiwejnat zodZaraDatsi pat Zi mirejsat dZaCajani sUlo."
"The future's uncertain and the end is always near."
                --Jim Morrison

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