<p>“Cars and (Southern) California go hand-in-hand.”
Agreed. Idad, if S was not allowed to have a car, there is no way he would have gone to, or been happy at USC. [ He did have his own old car by the time he was a Sr in HS, and was loath to give up that freedom] But, he did try UChicago for a bit, sans car, and was fine transportation wise. That would never have been the case in LA.</p>
<p>Slowly (and hopefully surely) the LA area is adding mass transit. The Expo Line light rail from downtown LA to Culver City (route goes right past USC on, of course, Exposition!) should be completed sometime in 2010. They are busy as we speak, building the overhead crossing at La Cienega. When they will be the funding to take it all the way to Santa Monica and the beach, who knows.</p>
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When I was in law school in the 1970’s, I graded exams for an undergraduate business class on law for its professor. My son who is a senior at UCSB is currently an exam grader and TA for lower division courses in his major. But I think it’s a huge stretch to suggest that TA’s and graders “establish the curriculum.” (On the other hand, I do have not-so-fond memories of breakout sections with foreign-born TA’s with minimal English communications skills from when I was a UCB undergraduate, mostly in math and the sciences.) </p>
<p>As to:
this is likely true at some California colleges and universities, but not so much so as to most of the UC campuses. At Davis, Berkeley and Santa Barbara virtually all day-to-day travel for school, shopping and local entertainment is done by bike, skateboard or on foot, to my knowledge. Local public transportation by bus is available in all three communities, as is longer transit via subway or train. It is handy to have a car if the student gets an off-campus job, however, which is certainly a factor at those campuses which are near to larger urban areas where jobs are available. I’m not as familiar with the other UC campuses, but I suspect that the similarities outweigh the differences at most of the rest. Some other colleges, on the other hand, including the majority of CSU’s, community colleges and private universities, are more auto-dependent.</p>
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<p>Kluge, “establishing the curriculum” might have been a poor choice of words that leaves much to interpretation. Allow me to give an example … a class styled “Journey in World Literature” consists of lectures and sections. The lectures are conducted by a true superstar of the English Department and are mostly based on contemporary literature. The class has a Head TA (recent PHd) and three “regular” TAs (last year of PhD.) The Head TA, who is a Russian Lit major, assigns the three papers on … Russian Lit, and also grades them. There are no exams in this class. Accordingly, the ENTIRE focus of the class becomes … Russian Lit, although the description of the class in the catalog mentions … World Literature. In addtion, lectures are not mandatory but all sections are. Thus, how would we define the impact of the TAs on this class and its curriculum? </p>
<p>PS This did NOT happen at Berkeley :)</p>
<p>Xiggi, I imagine that sort of thing can (and does) happen anywhere. In my first year of law school we all had to take a year long course that was supposed to generally cover all facets of laws relating to real property. But our (renowned) Professor was obsessed with just one facet of real property law - the statutes which restricted what lenders could do when a mortgagor defaults. The students, recognizing that there was a whole lot of law they were learning nothing about, rebelled midway through the second semester and a temporary instructor was brought in to touch on the rest of the year’s worth of curriculum relating to real property.</p>
<p>Xiggi, once the doors are closed to the classroom…a professor can teach what he wants about a subject, no?</p>
<p>A friend of mine was offered a class to teach. And he looked at what the course was about and said…“My expertise is in this…not the whole subject”. And he was told he could teach what he wants once the door was closed.</p>
<p>This wasn’t UC Berkeley either. :)</p>
<p>The last class I took, which was about teaching :eek:, had three sections. The class I took had a slant to it. 
I asked the professor if the other two sections were using the same books and information.</p>
<p>She said, “No”.</p>
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<p>For some campuses, I’m sure this is true. Pepperdine without a car would be very isolating, I’d imagine. UCLA without a car wouldn’t be, since there are so many bus lines in the area. A car might make trips easier, but a student can manage quite well with just public transportation.</p>
<p>Re cars and So Cal campuses - in addition to being able to get around nearly any neighborhood in Southern Cal beyond the campus being attended, a car is a necessity for traveling back and forth to home for holidays in many cases. For example, had my D gone to UCSB, there would have been very few alternative ways of getting home for the holidays/weekends other than by car. Yes, there are trains, but they take a long time and are very expensive. Lots of kids bum rides from others, but I still would have sent her with a car to school.</p>
<p>I think it would be more awkward to not have a car in So Cal if you are FROM So Cal and are used to the freedom of having a car here. Does that make sense? When my son goes to ASU he will not have a car the first year, after that if he lives off campus we will let him take his car with him.</p>
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<p>All of DD friends at UCB has car but I still think that all day time activities in and arround UCB doesn’t require a car.
Most of them have cars because they had it in HS and don’t want to give up the additional freedom.</p>
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<p>Yes, but that was not my point! This was NOT about professors changing the focus of an advertised class. The professors gave the expected lectures. The issue is about the FOCUS of the class (read the directed research, the papers, the grades, etc.) and the role played by … TA’s. </p>
<p>And, yes, it could (and does) happen everywhere, and that is why I think so “highly” of the educational “model” that is built on TAs or GSI’s. Next thing we know, we will see K-12 using middle class students to teach elementary and high schoolers to teach the lower grades while the teachers do “research” in the faculty lounge. ;)</p>
<p>Xiggi, as best I can tell, TA’s are being utilized in exactly the same way now as they were when I was an undergraduate, 40 :eek: years ago. There are pros and cons to the practice, and anyone with firm opinions on the subject can utilize the information as they please. But I don’t think it’s any different now than it has been in the past, and I don’t think that it’s a deal breaker for most people.</p>
<p>Ok Xiggi… but my point is the professors are doing the same thing as the TAs. It’s not just the TAs changing the focus. I would bet the professors do this more.</p>
<p>And the TA thing never bothered me. I’m from the same generation as Kluge (I think he is older :)). Have things changed? Is access to a professor more difficult these days?</p>
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<p>True, but that’s true for any school in a town without a major airport. It’s not just a California (or southern California) issue. A friend who lives in SoCal sent his D1 to U of O. After a year of paying major bucks for flights from Eugene, he decided it would be cheaper to buy her a car and have her do the drive, sharing gas money with others looking to get back home for breaks and holidays.</p>
<p>Transportation (adding to the campuses kluge mentioned) -
For UCLA one doesn’t really ‘need’ a car. One can walk from the campus to the adjacent Westwood area for many stores, restaurants, theaters (including ones where premiers are held), etc. They can also ride the ‘Big Blue Bus’ to Santa Monica for I think 25 cents. Other city buses also stop on campus. There’s also a campus loop shuttle that goes to the nearby apartment areas although IMO it’s not as good as it should be since it doesn’t run late enough and doesn’t have enough stops. One hassle is getting to the train station which is in downtown LA quite a ways away. One can get there but it takes a while and some connections. </p>
<p>For UCSD one also doesn’t really ‘need’ a car. There’s shopping, restaurants/theaters, etc, within walking distance, and large mall fairly close by (short bus ride or easy bike ride or possible walking), and the campus has a pretty good campus shuttle that loops the nearby area of off-campus apartments so even they don’t need a car. City buses also stop on campus and one can ride them to various beaches (but a very nice beach is also within walking distance), shopping, downtown SD, etc. </p>
<p>Of course, many students will ‘want’ a car but it’s not ‘necessary’ at these two campuses since they won’t be stuck or isolated without one. If they need to go to an internship or regularly go home then a car would probably be handy but I think that would be true for almost anywhere except maybe NYC or within SF.</p>
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When I went to UCSD in the 1970s I used to hitchhike to my place in Leucadia (about 14 miles away). People commonly did it to Del Mar and La Jolla which are nearby. Even young women sometimes. Fond memories, but those days are gone for good now.</p>
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<p>Of course, I would not be able to tell if things have changed in the past forty years. On the surface, and based on your accounts, it seems that the practice is quite ancient --did not say prehistoric! On the other hand, the practice might have become more suspect in terms of dollars and sense when a four course trimester or semester costs more than $15,000.00. I also would add that we seem to have a system whereby the same person would be allowed to teach college students but not TO teach anyone in a public school setting.</p>
<p>Xiggi, college students are more independent. We don’t teach college students the same way we teach high school students. We don’t teach high school students the same way we teach students in the primary grades.</p>
<p>bovertine:</p>
<p>I think most of the University City area (the area where most off-campus students live and shop) was built since you went to UCSD. It must have felt a bit out in the boonies back then. Too bad you didn’t buy up some of that land back then (or did you?)!</p>
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<p>It does not matter. Working in a Nascar pitstop is different from working at the local mechanic shop. However, being successful at either job and worth the money requires training, aptitude, and dedication. I maintain that the TA model, especially as used in the large public master degree factories, is a convenience for the universities but a nuisance for the students who end up being shortchanged.</p>
<p>Why do you distinguish between the public schools and the private schools when discussing tas?</p>
<p>And maybe not Nascar…</p>
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