Beware: evil course descriptions

So my schedule has changed a bit in the last two weeks or so. Some classes have gone away (animal health behavior and welfare, spanish) while others just won't leave me alone (chemistry?). And while I'm sure that's all interesting to someone out there, it's not what I feel like discussing just now.

Course descriptions, wonderful, useful, necessary things. Beautiful, helpful paragraphs and charts which tell you all about what you'll be doing next semester, or at least enough to figure out if you want that class or not. 3 hours lecture, 2 hours tutorial, or 4 hours lecture, or the ever popular 3 hours lecture, 3 hours lab.

Which brings me to my actual topic. One of the classes I'm taking, one of the interesting ones, is supposed to have 3 hours of lecture and 3 of lab each week. Either someone wrote something down wrong, or the lecturers are just a bit confused about what a lab is.

See, we have three hours each week in this class (so far) in a big boring lecture theater, listening to people read off their powerpoint slides. Directly off them. Then we are supposed to have three hours doing interesting stuff in a lab. You know, looking at slides, digging around in dead animals, playing with the slide making machine, whatever.

Instead we have our lab in a histology lab room. With easily over 100 seats. Comfy seats. soft seats. Ergonomically correct seats. warmth. low lights. Swimmy tables.

But we don't do lab stuff!

We get extra lectures! i timed it today- we spent a bit less than 40 minutes looking at slides and 2 hours getting lectured. One of them by a man who lisps like the big wig in Monty Python's Life of Brian.

so be careful when you pick classes- you might end up trying not to fall asleep while counting how often the lecturing lab guy says "um".

j.