Californian Webcomic Folks?

[DJMayhem]

I specifically left California because the education system was going downhill. Well, at least the public schools. I lost faith in the UC system when UCLA let in a bunch of kids who failed math. And I don't mean D's, I mean actual F's. And then when Berkeley let in people who had a combined score of 800.

...

Wayy too true. We have the biggest school system in terms of population, but one of the lowest scoring states. Now the Bush Administration wants to cut some of our funding. Whoopee. However, I'm still staying in state in order to pursue a film degree.

[The Neko]

Wayy too true. We have the biggest school system in terms of population, but one of the lowest scoring states. Now the Bush Administration wants to cut some of our funding. Whoopee. However, I'm still staying in state in order to pursue a film degree.

Well, USC is still considered the top school for film... however getting into the film department is rumored to involve nepotism to a disgusting degree, much like the legacy system of the Ivy Leagues. You can study film just about anywhere, really. Theory gets you to the director's chair, while learning production (at a place such as Emerson, which would be the best for production only) will get you a behind-the-scenes role. Northwestern and many other eastern schools are very good for film as well.

[Chibiartstudios]

There are 4 reasons I could justifiably leave California.

1) Cost of living. Oh dear god! Try and find a decent place in San Diego! Yeesh! You need like 5 people and 2 full time jobs to do it! And it's only getting worse. Don't event think about BUYING a home in anyplace other than places like Barstow (a little town in the middle of jack squat)

2) Education. There are 3 problems with education. First, teachers now fear kids and their parents and their parents (lawsuits are a bitch to deal with) and as a result the jackasses have free reign in some schools. Second the teachers unions are corrupt as hell. They are getting billions more than last year and they are blabering on a bout a "cut" when its really "not getting as much of an increase as the year before last". Something is rotten here and I suspect if we force open the books we'll have one hell of an "Ah hah!" moment. Californian schools ARE NOT underfunded. Yet I constantly talk to teachers that have to dip into personal savings to buy books. Something aint right here. Lastlly in some areas NONE of the kids speak english. And thus the school can't beat the requirements. I believe 30 something schools didn't pass the Gov. requirements and alot where for this reason. Which leads me to the third reason...

3) Illegal immigrants. Dear god this problem has gotten bad and only this past couple years did it come up. I think that the now dethroned gov. Davis trying to give illegals drivers licences caused some sort of dam to break. But regardless, it's not the people themselves that are the problem it's everything else. Nowadays you never see an english speaking gardener or construction worker (I looked!) and these are the kind of jobs I'd be taking too (low skilled, low pay), more and more low level jobs require you to speak spanish making it harder for me to find work, and gang crime in places like LA has gone WAY up due to the fact that gangs like the MS 13 are almost completely made up of illegal immigrants. The fact that LA has some insane policy that doesn't let you check peoples immigration status, ever, isn't helping. On top of it all the millions of mexican economic refugees are not a benifit to the economy despite popular belief. California alone looses 9 billion each year after the taxes they contribute and now we are starting to have hospitals close because of all the ununsured skiping on the bill. It's a mess around here, especially in LA.

4) The squirrels in the Berkley area WANT MY SOUL!

I'm still staying here though. I'm stubborn that way. That... And my parent's will stop paying for college and stuff if I do move out. But mostly stubbornness!

[Radewagon]

illegal aliens? jesus fuck! I haven't heard rhetoric like that for a while. I unno about you, but if you really want that sweet landscaping job, nothing is stopping you. But if you're like me, and i'm sure you're not too different, it's not the sweet landscaping job that you're looking for. And i'm not saying that you're entirely wrong either. But it's more a socio-economic issue than it is an "illegal alien" problem. Just don't like the rheotoric, i guess.
also, i'm confused about the whole UC admitting policy problem. I don't see any harm in admitting people with low scores. As someone who went to berkeley for my undergrad, I noticed that High school performance was in no way a garauntee of sucess in college. In fact, I noticed stupid coming from more of the high achievers than i did the students who knew how to goof off in high school. The only problem i ever had with their admit policies was when minority admission dropped drastically about a year ago. Also, that time that only 2 black students were admitted into boalt law. That was B.S.

[The Neko]

The problem with illegal immigration is mostly the fact that they are holding down jobs, but not paying taxes. However, the downside is that they don't get any employee benefits. Also, they usually don't speak any English at all, which becomes frustrating when they are working the counters at most businesses, which one would THINK requires some knowledge of the English language.

San Diego has lots of housing problems. The standard cost of living is in a 2 bedroom apartment, with 2 roommates with full time jobs that pays over $25 an hour. This also doesn't cover food expenditure and any luxury items.

Chibi got it PERFECTLY in his first point in #2. The kids get away with anything and everything. Some teachers can't even give them bad grades for poor performance anymore, because the parents will threaten to sue the school and get them fired.

A lot of the money isn't going to teacher salary, and instead goes into administration, which is really a ripoff to the education system and the taxpayers. Private schools tend to pay teachers the most. At my college, the highest percentage of spending is for teacher salary, everything else is far smaller.

At the moment, the current governor is the one saving grace. I was surprised, really, but he's doing a damn good job.

[Jen_Babcock]

I wouldn't mind if UCLA Berkeley let in students whose scores and gpa were maybe slightly below average. For instance, the average sat score for ucla admits each year is roughly 1350. I wouldn't mind if someone with a 1200 or even a 1100 got in. Percentile wise, they still did well above the national average. Similarily, the average weighted GPA at UCLA is something ridiculous lke 4.4... I wouldn't mind if the average weighted GPA was something closer to a 3.9-4.0. The problem with admitting students w/ below 1000 or something who gets Fs is that it lowers the standards of the school, and thus endangers the prestige of the university. You're not even supposed to be getting into UCLA with a GPA that's below 3.0- that's been the rule for a long time now. Moreover, I don't see why the two highest ranking UCs are taking in the students with the lowest grads/sat scores. If anything, why not send them to the campuses that NEED students? UCLA, Berkeley, UCSD, UCSB in particular have no problems getting applicants.

The issue of brining more diversity into the schools is a tricky one. I personally don't think we should grossly lower our standards to make a campus more diverse. Obviously though, something like this needs to be looked at on a case by case basis. If a student has a way below average SAT or GPA, but had managed to overcome overwhelming obstacles in the process (perhaps coming from a family that was below-poverty level)- then perhaps they could make it at "x" school. That said, I think it is far more important to look at the socio-economic background and academic history of an applicant than their race when considering an applicant for admission. I have a friend who is mexican, but who lived an upper middle class life. She grew up speaking English, got sent to an elite private high school in Santa Monica, and was given hours of private tutoring and SAT courses. Her GPA and SAT score weren't that competitve for USC, but she still got in. Meanwhile, I had another asian friend who came here from Korea when he was 13, didn't speak a word of english, had to help with his family business, struggled to get by financially and academically, and ended up getting around the same GPA and SAT scores as my other friend. Unfortunately he didn't have the advantage, because asians aren't considered a minority in the undergraduate university system. As a result, he didn't get into a lot of the tougher colleges he applied for.

Anyway, as for the problem with illegal immigrants- while it'd be nice if people came to the US legitimately, I don't see a huge problem if they're contributing to the work force and taking the jobs that many citizens don't want anyway.

[Crazy Chris]

What is the true cuase of our nations job problems?

a) Foreigners are taking all the work.

b) The financial government can't do a damn thing right.

[Pockybot]

3)Nowadays you never see an english speaking gardener or construction worker (I looked!) and these are the kind of jobs I'd be taking too (low skilled, low pay), more and more low level jobs require you to speak spanish making it harder for me to find work, and gang crime in places like LA has gone WAY up due to the fact that gangs like the MS 13 are almost completely made up of illegal immigrants. The fact that LA has some insane policy that doesn't let you check peoples immigration status, ever, isn't helping. On top of it all the millions of mexican economic refugees are not a benifit to the economy despite popular belief. California alone looses 9 billion each year after the taxes they contribute and now we are starting to have hospitals close because of all the ununsured skiping on the bill. It's a mess around here, especially in LA.

I was just in Los Angeles, the only gang I saw were me and my friends.
I was throwing all kinds of signs, rolling up on punks with my tech-9 water gun, and drinking old E.

Personally I blame all the problems on the blacks and jews. The Jews run the banking systems, and use the blacks to traffic in drugs, thus making money for the Zionist Occupied Goverment. I think the gays are somehow a part of the problem too.

See how ridiculous I just sounded? Trust me, if you were living in Mexico, youd wanna be coming up here too.

As for the education system, the truth is higher learning is not seen as very cool among a lot of so called 'urban youth' demographics...just the way it is.

[-Fanny pack]

See how ridiculous I just sounded? Trust me, if you were living in Mexico, youd wanna be coming up here too.

You didn't sound rediculous when you were talking about the Jews. In fact, you didn't give us enough credit. We run far more than just the banks...

[Kensou X]

Here's an anomaly: A born and mostly raised San Franciscan who's not a liberal. I'm pretty right of the middle which in open minded San Franciscan terms means I'm a right-wing, bible thumping wacco. 'Course, I haven't read a bible or gone to church since I was in elementary school but hey, if "know it all San Franciscans" tell me it's true then who am I to argue?





......ok, I'm done.






Wasn't there a meet coming up or something?

[Crazy Chris]

You're problem isn't pure Fransisco based. Anywhere in this country, if you don't pick a side, people will just assume you're on the opposite side of whatever they are.

[Chibiartstudios]

illegal aliens? jesus fuck! I haven't heard rhetoric like that for a while. I unno about you, but if you really want that sweet landscaping job, nothing is stopping you. But if you're like me, and i'm sure you're not too different, it's not the sweet landscaping job that you're looking for. And i'm not saying that you're entirely wrong either. But it's more a socio-economic issue than it is an "illegal alien" problem. Just don't like the rheotoric, i guess.

Eh? Define rhetoric. I know my views on this topic are shared by some, shal we say, assholes? But I was sure as hell trying to be honest and I feel the facts back me up.

Don't get me wrong. If every illegal immigrant, or hell, every immigrant where to fall off the face of the planet this country would have MORE than it's share of problems. Illegal immigrants aren't evil, stupid (quite the opposite actually), or any other stereotype I could name. However illegal immigration is one of the bigger problems out there at the moment and the reason I get so mad about it is because of the fact that there are so many lies, propaganda and mismanagement over the whole thing. If I hear someone call someone debating the issue "racist" or "anti immigrant" I'm going to gag. It's a serios issue with serious consequences that warrent discussion. You are not a racist for wanting a solution found.

And don't get me started on the "jobs americans wont do" BS. I'd gladly pull crops for a living considering the fact that in other parts of the country crop pulling pays well more than what I make now (stupid minimum wage job...). I just require a living wage and an environment thats safe. Something I can't get in the agraculture industry of CA. The studies that have come out on it have acctually shown that even in heavily saturated areas (fishing for example has 40% of the workforce being illegal) there is still a majority of positions taken by americans. If you go to other states you find American's doing the work. So we don't NEED the labor. Again, the opposite is actually true, here in California we loose 9 billion dollars in services after the taxes that they contribute. It's not a race thing. It's an accounting thing, a law enforcement thing, and most importantly a homeland security thing.

OK, I'll stop ranting now. I think I've derailed this poor thread enough.

[The Neko]

Here's an anomaly: A born and mostly raised San Franciscan who's not a liberal. I'm pretty right of the middle which in open minded San Franciscan terms means I'm a right-wing, bible thumping wacco. 'Course, I haven't read a bible or gone to church since I was in elementary school but hey, if "know it all San Franciscans" tell me it's true then who am I to argue?

I have the same problem at this school. It's almost venomously liberal, and since I'm moderate, I get to be devil's advocate most of the time. I also like to point out the inconsistencies in the professed beliefs on both sides, so that also probably doesn't help my case.

[-Fanny pack]

I have the same problem at this school. It's almost venomously liberal, and since I'm moderate, I get to be devil's advocate most of the time. I also like to point out the inconsistencies in the professed beliefs on both sides, so that also probably doesn't help my case.

Same here. It definitely doesn't help that, what with me going to a Jewish school, my classmates feel the need to relate everything to the Holocaust. Grr.

[DJMayhem]

Wayy too true. We have the biggest school system in terms of population, but one of the lowest scoring states. Now the Bush Administration wants to cut some of our funding. Whoopee. However, I'm still staying in state in order to pursue a film degree.

Well, USC is still considered the top school for film... however getting into the film department is rumored to involve nepotism to a disgusting degree, much like the legacy system of the Ivy Leagues. You can study film just about anywhere, really. Theory gets you to the director's chair, while learning production (at a place such as Emerson, which would be the best for production only) will get you a behind-the-scenes role. Northwestern and many other eastern schools are very good for film as well.

I've been looking into NYU, but I know one of the USC Film professors. Anyways, I'm probably going to a community college to get my GE credits out of the way and to build a portfolio if I want to attend a art school.

I was just in Los Angeles, the only gang I saw were me and my friends.
I was throwing all kinds of signs, rolling up on punks with my tech-9 water gun, and drinking old E.

It's more of a suburb problem. Where I live, I haven't seen any drive bys, but I've seen fights break out wayy too many times.

LA may be the home of smog and immigrants, but I love it thanks to the diversity. Nothing beats Sunset Blvd. on a Friday night, and you're just itching to go see a concert. The Whiskey A Go-Go offers great prices. Oh, and I can't forget Little Tokyo. My god, I love that place for anime. I've gotten plenty of Japan-only CDs there with my friends, and there's a sushi place there that's killer.

[Chibiartstudios]

I LOVE Little Tokyo. Chinatown too. Though be very careful in the resturaunts as I once went through what I thought was a buffet with some friends only to find out at the end that we where ordering a la cart. Damn good food though.

[Jen_Babcock]

The smog here has actually improved quite a bit since the 80s. West LA and Santa Monica have relatively clean air.

That said, Pasadena still gets hit with major smog problems.

[Kensou X]

Here's an anomaly: A born and mostly raised San Franciscan who's not a liberal. I'm pretty right of the middle which in open minded San Franciscan terms means I'm a right-wing, bible thumping wacco. 'Course, I haven't read a bible or gone to church since I was in elementary school but hey, if "know it all San Franciscans" tell me it's true then who am I to argue?

I have the same problem at this school. It's almost venomously liberal, and since I'm moderate, I get to be devil's advocate most of the time. I also like to point out the inconsistencies in the professed beliefs on both sides, so that also probably doesn't help my case.

Yeah. I would imagine that you'd be seen with a looming cloud of indecisivness over you're head, but that's like saying "Hey! _______ country has got their system perfectly down pact and.....perfect!" (I dare you fill in the blank)

[Terotrous]

Yeah. I would imagine that you'd be seen with a looming cloud of indecisivness over you're head, but that's like saying "Hey! __No__ country has got their system perfectly down pact and perfect!" (I dare you fill in the blank)

That was the only word I could think of that made sense.

[The Neko]

Damn Terotrous beat me to it.