Re: copyright and student notes taken in class...

On Sat, Oct 02, 1999, John R. Allison <allisonj[_at_]mail.utexas.edu> wrote:
>
> On 10/1/99, Barbara Ruhmann <brruhmann[_at_]ucdavis.edu> wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, 30 Sep 1999, C.E. Petit <cepetit[_at_]usa.net> asserted:
> > >
> > > Third, I fail to see any remedy other than injunction available
> > > to the professors. Many professors do not teach, or carry only
> > > a minimal teaching load.
> >
> > As a matter of fact, many professors have teaching assistants who
> > actually conduct the classes. Are they assumed to be using the
> > professor's words, or only his benevolent guidance, and they are
> > using their own words or variances thereof?
>
> Both of the above responses certainly do no reflect accurately my 27
> years on the faculty of a pretty good research-oriented university.
>
> Everyone I know does teach, some only at the graduate level but many
> at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. As for whether the
> teaching load is "minimal," I don't know what that really means. It
> is of course correct that professors at research-oriented universities
> do not teach as many classes as those at schools whose mission is
> almost purely teaching. Also, we don't allow teaching assistants to
> teach. Some lower division undergraduate courses are staffed by Ph.D.
> students, however.
>
> Perhaps my experience is colored by the fact that I am in a professional
> school where high-quality teaching is emphasized quite strongly (in
> addition to research). My experience does indicate, however, that the
> same is pretty much true in the liberal arts. The sciences, economics,
> and mathematics at my university do seem to use a much higher proportion
> of Ph.D. students to teach lower-division undergraduate classes. And
> there are problems with this, especially in mathematics.
>
> One other thing: I know that the chairman of the university's
> Intellectual Property Committee, who also is an extremely productive
> researcher and the holder of an endowed chair, teaches a lower-division
> undergraduate science course of 400 students. And he does the teaching.

This awakens old memories. When I went to law school at the "old" Georgetown Law Center at 506 E street, Real Property 1 was the gate keeper course for second semester 1L. The course was taught by professor John Stetson. Since Real Property 1 dealt with the rule in Shelly's case and other arcane pre-19th century topics, course content did not change much from year to year. Am earlier student, a Major Braun, had taken such a great set of notes that they were sold at Lerner's book store across the street from the Law Center. (There was no Georgetown book store for law books at the time). No one, the school, Professor Stetson, or the students seemed to mind. However Professor Stetson did want students to read the cases, and often grilled students on trivial details of the case omitted by Braun just to assure himself that the student reciting had read the case. After one particularly painfull recitation he observed "Well, Mr. X, it is plain to me that you have more Braun than brains"

Jim Brennan
<brennandot[_at_]prodigy.net> Received on Mon Oct 04 1999 - 14:52:40 GMT