Brown, Peter  

Ugh, the reader for this class was over 600 pages long. And the syllabus was the exact one Brown used for the graduate-level class he taught at UCLA. Needless to say, this class wasn't much fun. That is ironic since the subject matter is fascinating and I had looked forward to this class. As an introductory class to land use and transportation, Brown did very little to introduce us to either subject, instead having us delve straight into more complicated issues. As one of the few students who actually attempted to read the material...I didn't even skim the material past page 300-something...Brown simply packed too much advanced material into a quarter-long introductory course. It's as simple as that. We did get a reprise from this class when Brown was out for a week, but it was bittersweet since he was out only because he had gotten chicken pox. Anyway, CRP finally got a real professor to teach transportation classes, so Brown shouldn't be teaching this class anymore. He should stick to CRP 215 and that's it.

This guy is such an arrogant jerk. Seriously, he may seem nice at first but just wait till he kicks you out of class for (supposidly) talking. The material is ok; he's not a horrible teacher, HOWEVER, you should really avoid taking him! He's a big narcasistic a-hole who will go out of his way to make sure you know he's smarter than you and make sure you feel really crappy about your writing and/or thinking skills. He has no compassion for students...

This class was okay, although Brown kept us for most of the 2.5 hours every time we met (too long!). He has a lot of firsthand real-world experience in Latin America, which is interesting to hear. The lectures were easy to follow, and there were some guest speakers, too. We were going to go on more than one field trip, but he got sick so it was cancelled. The one field trip we did go on was fun, though. There was a midterm and final paper, and both were reasonable. The test was a little confusing but the group project was straightforward...gorups of three researching a planning-related issue affecting "multiple publics." The group presentation sounds long at first, something around 15 minutes total, but split between three people it can be done. He will try to make this class sound really hard on the first day, but stick with it because that is just his way of getitng a smaller class to work with. Just be happy Bill doesn't teach CRP 215 anymore!

"Planning for and with Multiple Publics" is a potentially interesting and engaging topic, but the disorganized manner in which the course was taught only inspired boredom and mental lethargy in the student. Which is to say, the class was a total failure and waste of time. The course focused on a series of lectures by visiting members in the Planning profession. Unfortunately the guests were unorganized, uninteresting, and mostly insignificant in no way discussing multiple publics. For example Brown's coworker at SLOCOG gave us a presentation on his job, a set of tasks that in no way involved multiple publics at all. The only redeeming quality of CRP 215 was the final project which involved writing a analytical report on the services available to a subsection of the public. Brown's grading and criticisms of the reports due throughout the quarter illustrated what is required of professional writing. Were the course matter actually taught in the course, it could be both worthwhile and valuable.

What an extremely boring class. He offered little knowledge of the course description and he loves to grade hard. He enjoy conflicts with students, ex. the cheating episode in Fall 2003 Quater. He always has to be right and his closs is boring. I highly recommend you do not take any course with him.

Prof cried today.... What a weirdo hahahah get a grip of your life.