---------------------------------------- Note  12   jessica/a 
               *** A Story by Dr. Graper ***
 
        10/1/80   5:13 pm     lynch / ocbi
* graper / users / uofdel  9/26/80  9:39 pm *
Dear Jessica:
        Well, U.P. is kinda ok.  I mean, every day somebody
falls out a window or is stabbed to death or mutilated or
something but besides that, it's ok.  
        Everybody up there seems to be from rich parents,
went undergrad to Harvahd, Yale, Vassar, London School of
Economics, etc. etc. etc.  Really alienating, most of them
being absolute snots who you simply cannot stand for more
than about 30 - 45 seconds at a time.  There are a 18 new MA
candidates, 60 grad students in all at the school counting
PhD candidates so you get to know everyone else in class
rather well.  
        Classes are about 7 - 9 people which is kind of 
nice.  The readings are incredible (both in quality and
quantity) and while I enjoy most of the readings, 300+
pages per week is kind of a bitch.  I spent about $200 on
books for the semester, a good deal more than usual.  Oh, 
well, you probably know this already, but the transition
is kind of strange where the prof says in class he wants
 
---------------------------------------- Response 1 of 1
               *** A Story by Dr. Graper ***
 
        10/1/80   5:13 pm     lynch / ocbi
* graper / users / uofdel  9/26/80  9:47 pm *
such and such read for the next class and you look up the
required reading, expecting it to be a little 20 page ditty
and it turns out he wants the entirety of Veblen's 
"The Theory of the Leisure Class" read within a week. 
        Attrition was rather high in the beginning, and now
the class is down to a very small size with all sorts of
people in it.  Besides the white upper-class snots there are
a couple germans, a french girl, a 30 year old guy from
Nigeria (whose English is unintelligible), an Israeli guy,
a Taiwanese girl, a Greek fellow and some other folks from
some European country or other.  Just like being on the
Enterprise, what with all these mixed races and stuff.
        Well, you remember grad school and what I'm seeing
is probably a lot like what you went through so you 
can probably understand what's going on.  I should be out
in about 5 - 7 years, I'm told.  I should be used to it
by then.
 
                Your Friend, Dave Graper