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I hear it's the most "political" campus or something. What do people mean exactly when they say that?

Also, for any of you who've ever been there or seen it: is it close or separated somewhat from the city? Does it seem like a very peaceful, nice place to be in?

Shinova wrote:I hear it's the most "political" campus or something. What do people mean exactly when they say that?

Also, for any of you who've ever been there or seen it: is it close or separated somewhat from the city? Does it seem like a very peaceful, nice place to be in?

I believe it is a cess pool for liberalism. I don't know if it is a nice place, most likely though. A lot of colleges have that stereotypical "college movie" feel to them, eh?

Everything that I have heard about Berkely is that its a nice town and that it tends to lean liberal, but most people resent the crowd of colledge people who give them a bad name.

It's decent. There are some weirdos and ultra-liberals. But honestly, there has not been anything really big. Oh yeah, the prices suck. Ya gotta go outta Berkeley to hit a Best Buy or Target. The majority of students are fairly average, it's just that the ultra-issue oriented are so loud. And there are lots of people passing out fliers damn near everyday. You can just ignore them, and don't make eye contact.

--I went to university there. It is a really nice campus sitting along the Berkeley hills (where the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab resides) and boardered on three sides by Berkeley city. My biggest problem was that you couldn't get EtOH products within a mile of the campus. Unfortunately, the "liberal movement" has been hijacked by anti biotech. people and various other idiots. However, that is only a small part of Berkeley's political nature. There are daily protests on one part of the campus or anthorer to free Tibet, save the whales, etc. In fact, I was tempted once to protest the incesant protests. All this aside, there are very good advanced classes there (the basics classes suck) and there are excellent research opporatunities to get real lab experience.

Berkley is cool, and the BART is real close to the campus so you could go all over the Bay Area easily.

From what I had read about Berkley elsewhere, I was tempted to write a satirical article about the Berkley Safe Speech Movement of the 2010's, in which one particularly ultra-left student guild attempted to enforce their brand of Political Correctness by - among other things - public humiliation of students who log into porn sites from any campus computers, as well as an attempt to ban any science fiction novels that are deemed guilty of "metaphorical racism" in their depiction of aliens. Naturally, the guild was voted out the following year. The members bitterly attributed their defeat to "fascist bourgeouis student complacency". I'm not ruling out an actual corruption subplot which ends with the arrest and imprisonment of certain members.

How plausible is this scenario?

Rathark wrote:From what I had read about Berkley elsewhere, I was tempted to write a satirical article about the Berkley Safe Speech Movement of the 2010's, in which one particularly ultra-left student guild attempted to enforce their brand of Political Correctness by - among other things - public humiliation of students who log into porn sites from any campus computers, as well as an attempt to ban any science fiction novels that are deemed guilty of "metaphorical racism" in their depiction of aliens. Naturally, the guild was voted out the following year. The members bitterly attributed their defeat to "fascist bourgeouis student complacency". I'm not ruling out an actual corruption subplot which ends with the arrest and imprisonment of certain members.

How plausible is this scenario?

Unfortunately, it is not too far-fetched. Could make an interesting article.

Berkeley the city is both expensive and dilapitaded in many ways. There are lots of homeless people. There are lots of people who are trying to recreate hippie days, which is funny because most of them were not even born until the late 70's.

Most of the seriously stupid liberal types are not in any of the science related majors.

As mentioned before, BART is near campus, so you can take it across the Bay to San Francisco if you want.

Living here is EXPENSIVE! Bewarned, if the housing is cheap, then its likely in a bad neighborhood.

There are some good places to eat in Berkeley.

King Cosmos wrote:I believe it is a cess pool for liberalism....

That sounds pretty accurate. So long as you don't mind 100 percent bombardment of liberal indoctrination during your stay, it's not a bad place.

Oh, just thought I would add, that Berkeley has a much cooler climate than the South Bay. You are not too far from the water.

I heard that in a poll, only one percent of UC Berkely professors considered themselves "conservative". I also heard that the city of Berkely tried to ban certain types of coffee (Only organic coffee, coffee grown in shade, and coffe that was brought at a "fair price" could be sold). Basically, I hear that Berkeley is a very PC and liberal place. I'm not going there...

that the city of Berkely tried to ban certain types of coffee

That measure was voted down. It was brought up by the city council and not the regular voters.

Berkeley is liberal but probably not as liberal as people who live outside the area would believe.

Shinova wrote:I hear it's the most "political" campus or something. What do people mean exactly when they say that?

Also, for any of you who've ever been there or seen it: is it close or separated somewhat from the city? Does it seem like a very peaceful, nice place to be in?

Basically, Berkeley is the scene of innumerable protests run or organized by the students, faculty, and just people who wander the streets as transients. I am ALWAYS having to dispatch reporters there to cover random protests about random things. There was even a protest of all OTHER protests on campus, once!

In terms of the city, the city has pretty much grown up around the campus. There are lots of quiet areas to escape to, but for the most part it is a busy place. You can't really forget that you are in a city, when you're there. There's always something going on, and there's always a store open on Telegraph if you need to get something. It's a very busy, intense campus. Sometimes it is overly-idealized, as one of the best public institutions on the West Coast, but for the most part it's a very good school.

It's a rotting, gangrenous pit of socialism. It's full of self-rightous assholes who think protesting everything they don't like will create a utopia. If you're conservative, be prepared to not voice an opinion for 4 years.

Having been here for more than 2 years, there are a bunch of assholes. The majority of people here are not, but they are silent. Therefore, the minority are the really loud vocal type of self-righteous asshole that makes me want to use the Mighty Baseball Bat of Mighty Righteousness.

If you voice a non liberal opinion the vocal assholes will jump down your throat. Stupid gits.

I've been there once. Not a lot of parking space near the campus.

I've been there once. Not a lot of parking space near the campus.

UC Berkeley is not a commuter school. Thats for sure.

Driving in Berkeley sucks anyway, especially at night. Far too many of the streets are poorly light. Plus Ive noticed people have a tendancy to not use crosswalks and dress in dark clothing.

TrailerParkJawa wrote:

I've been there once. Not a lot of parking space near the campus.

UC Berkeley is not a commuter school. Thats for sure.

Driving in Berkeley sucks anyway, especially at night. Far too many of the streets are poorly light. Plus Ive noticed people have a tendancy to not use crosswalks and dress in dark clothing.

That's true! They do wear dark clothing there. And every now and then you'll see someone sleeping IN the street, rather than on the sidewalk. Then everyone has to drive around him until he regains consciousness.

That's true! They do wear dark clothing there. And every now and then you'll see someone sleeping IN the street, rather than on the sidewalk. Then everyone has to drive around him until he regains consciousness.

When I first got to San Jose State in 1992, there was a problem with homeless people on campus and in the parking garages. My first week there I saw a guy sniffing a bag of glue in the stairwell of the 10th street garage. He puked on himself while I was watching. That sucked.

But by 94 most of them were gone. By 96 when I graduated I dont remember seeing any.

TrailerParkJawa wrote:

That's true! They do wear dark clothing there. And every now and then you'll see someone sleeping IN the street, rather than on the sidewalk. Then everyone has to drive around him until he regains consciousness.

When I first got to San Jose State in 1992, there was a problem with homeless people on campus and in the parking garages. My first week there I saw a guy sniffing a bag of glue in the stairwell of the 10th street garage. He puked on himself while I was watching. That sucked.

But by 94 most of them were gone. By 96 when I graduated I dont remember seeing any.

You just get used to it, and you stop noticing them.

You just get used to it, and you stop noticing them.

No, I dont think it was that. We actually had names for many of them. There was a lot of effort in the 90's put into cleaning up downtown. By the time I graduated there werent any sleeping in the stairwells or on the benches.

I think the university police made a concerted effort to push them out.