A good bit of the Graduating Seniors I know have bitter memories of their time here at Cal. (Post inspired by Randy, but I've already worked out our point of disagreement.)

These Seniors have tended to be like my next door neighbor: dead sick of the endless controversies, the 'hatred of Jews' thing, Administration's coldness towards students, the lack of housing/parking/food, and

I don't think this is a healthy place to be more than a few years. Not just the school, but the city of Berkeley itself. It's an angry and bitter town, full of people pissed off at society for a whole host of real or imagined ills. It's a city where no one is really surprised to see "kill Jews" scrawled on posters all over town.

Good points! But they're also why I feel this is the Best University To Go To, Period!

Berkeley is an odd melding: you get extensive experience in both the Real World and in the Angry World, the two hardest things to train for in life. This is in contrast to cushy schools like Stanfurd, which always treat In Loco Parentis with a wink and a nod before sending you to bed with ice cream. Cal will not mother you. Cal is more like a faintly resentful but fair stepfather: not a lot of love there, but you'll be helped to become an Adult. After all, it's in the best interests of both of you.

I'm dependent on my parents for two more years of funding. But after that, I'm ready for the real world. I've lived in the apartment, I pay the bills, I balance my own checkbook. Living an easy life in the dorms for four years was never an option, and that's good for me.

Same with the Angry World, which is Berkeley to a T. It's all about the experience, on both sides. Protests against Israel? No one cares... but the Protesters learn something. Thanks to Berkeley, I get material for a daily blog. Rory has a reason to go on AM radio. Snehal makes the NY Times. None of us are truly affecting the real world; Berkeley doesn't have that power. But we're learning how to do it out in the bigger world. Maybe Rory will go on to work for Governor Simon. Maybe I'll get a job with the New Republic. Maybe Snehal will blow himself up in an Israeli cafe. In all three, we didn't learn these respective trades from taking Poli Sci 137 at stupid Stanfurd. It's all about the culture at Berkeley.

Is the Angry World a maddening, humiliating experience? Damn straight. But it's also valuable. And no one is forcing you to get involved with it. Don't want to do the Angry World? Then don't. It's so easy to not get involved in politics on this campus. Stay away from Sproul around noon. Don't read much of the Daily Cal. Get your Engineering degree and graduate secure in the knowledge you've gotten a great education.

There are plenty of reasons to leave Cal miffed at the people and the Administrators. Lord knows there's plenty of failures on all sides. There's also plenty of reasons, like Randy has, to not give the Administration any cash just because you're alumni now. But when you speak of Cal, don't complain of the whipping you got. It was the best possible thing that could've happened to you.

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