I took Transportation and Land Use planning with Randy. Don't get me wrong. I adore Randy as a person. He's a cool guy. I'd shoot the breeze with him anyday. But as a teacher, he seems to phone it in. Randy. Your job is to inspire and empower; not fuel the running jokes that you use other people's presentations and offer your "critique". The good news is, at least the syllabus for this class was ready by the start of the quarter. (That isn't always the case with his other courses.) One day, the students gave a PhD student who presented a standing ovation. This is because in contrast to Randy's talk, this student's talk was informative, which made it exceptional. Another time, Randy was gone, so the department chair, Brian, came to talk, and it seriously appeared that Brian was doing triage. "What haven't you guys talked about yet?" he asked.

As for the actual course, there is a midterm, a research paper, a brief group presentation (five minutes or less, with eight other people), and a brief final exam. This is one of the many courses in the urban planning program which is ripe for assignments which give MA candidates skills they need as practitioners, like better presentation skills, which Randy scarcely mentioned until the very end. "So you guys need to start looking up from the podium when you talk," he said.