Category Archives: Teaching

“You are in a space crew originally scheduled to rendezvous with a mother ship on the lighted surface of the moon. Mechanical difficulties, however, have forced your ship to crash-land at a spot some 200 miles from the rendezvous point. The rough landing damaged much of the equipment aboard. Since survival depends on reaching the mother ship, the most critical items available must be chosen for the 200 mile trip.”

–Foudation Coalition. Web. Adapted from Spencer Kagan. Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Juan Capistrano: Kagan Publishing, 1994.

“To what extent has your instructor
a) made the course interesting and useful?
b) shown care and thoughtfulness in the preparation of course material?
c) explained things clearly?
d) made useful comments on your papers?
f) been helpful in conferences or e-mail exchanges?
g) helped you address your individual writing problems?”

–Student Course Evaluation Form, College Writing Programs, UC Berkeley, Fall 2011

“On Friday, a group of University of California, Davis students, part of the Occupy Wall Street movement on campus, became the latest victims of alleged police brutality to be captured on video. The videos show the students seated on the ground as a UC Davis police officer brandishes a red canister of pepper spray, showing it off for the crowd before dousing the seated students in a heavy, thick mist.”

–Jason Cherkis. “UC Davis Police Pepper-Spray Seated Students in Occupy Dispute.” Huffington Post. Updated version: Nov. 20, 2011. URL

“Carolyn HILL,
There is no longer a threat at Haas Business School. Campus activities have returned to normal. Updates: berkeley.edu

Thank you,
UC Berkeley Police”

–Email received Nov. 15, 2011, at 4:09 p.m.

“In 2010, for instance, the state spent $6 billion on fewer than 30,000 guards and other prison-system employees. A prison guard who started his career at the age of 45 could retire after five years with a pension that very nearly equaled his former salary. The head parole psychiatrist for the California prison system was the state’s highest-paid public employee; in 2010 he’d made $838,706. The same fiscal year that the state spent $6 billion on prisons, it had invested just $4.7 billion in its higher education–that is, 33 campuses with 670,000 students. Over the past 30 years the state’s share of the budget for the University of California has fallen from 30 percent to 11 percent, and it is about to fall a lot more. In 1980 a Cal student paid $776 a year in tuition; in 2011 he pays $13,218. Everywhere you turn, the long-term future of the state is being sacrificed.”

–Michael Lewis. “California and Bust.” Vanity Fair November 2011: 176-183, 222-227. Quote on page 222.

“Despite the belief that most students attend college full time and on their parents’ dime, the study finds 45 percent of those at four-year colleges work more than 20 hours a week, as do 60 percent at community colleges. More than a quarter of community college students work more than 35 hours a week. More than half of those who leave school before getting a degree do so because of work responsibilities.”

–“Why Students Leave College.” AFT On Campus 31.1 (Sept/Oct 2011): 2