Stock, Malcom  

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Dr. (and I use that term loosely) Stock was the absolute worst professor I have ever had or heard of anyone talking about. His tests are totally subjective and his grading scale is skewed to the mood that he is in. I earned a 90% in his class and he gave me a flat B. He says that "not everyone can get an A" because then it would seem to his colleagues that his class was too easy. ALSO, he marks people tardy when they are late for class like my teachers did in Junior High. By the first day he has a grade tattooed on you and no matter what, his favorites will stay his favorites and you can't do anything about it. He's a horrible teacher, and he doens't even speak well himself. All he does throughout the entire class was give anecdotes of stupid a$$ stories about his life and stupid a$$ jokes that made no sense at all. If he had JUST covered the material, we would have been outta there in 15 mintues instead of two hours. He's a horrible professor and is absolutely smearing Cal Poly's reputation while still being employed here. DO NOT TAKE THIS TEACHER. Unless you are willing to accept his subjective grading and testing methods, are looking to have an especially aggrivating class, and want to endure a time wrap back to the junior high where teachers give you NO respect or independence, stay away from this decrepit old man posing as an adequate professor.

The only regret that I have from my first year at Cal Poly is taking Dr. Stock's class. He is ignorant, boring and at times flat out rude. I hated every second of the class. The first day he picks about 5 favorites and everyone else is labelled a "bad speaker". On the day of the final he actually told a student that he was "retarded" and a "horrible speaker". All he talks about are his favorite students, the sports that he was in, UCLA and people he knows. Whoever told this man he should be a teacher is an idiot. He made Speech a horrible experience for me and I envy those students that actually looked forward to going to their speech class. If it's between taking this class with Dr. Stock and not taking it at all...DON'T TAKE IT!

He made the class feel comfortable. He didnt offer very much in ways to improve your speaking and his tests were a joke. But made speech pretty painless.

Dr. Stock is the greatest teacher on this campus. Yes I am only a freshman but I know that if I ever had trouble in any other class he would always be there to help me. feel welcome He makes every single student feel welcome. He knows every single students name and would drop anything to help you. He grades very fairly and expects improvement but that should be expected in college. Speech is a large fear for most people but Dr. Stock makes the atmosphere extremely comfortable. I did not place a grade on this because it does not matter what grade I got. Dr. Stock is more than just the average college professor he goes above and beyond the call of duty to help any college student succeed. I recommend this class to anyone and know that it will be the best class you will take on this campus.

Dr. Stock knows his subject and presents it well. He will critizie you ruthlessly, so if you cannot stand to be embarrased in front of the class don't take Dr. Stock. If you want to become a better public speaker, take this class and don't mind the insults, it'll only make you stronger.

I'm not sure where people are getting most of these things. Dr. Stock was a very friendly, well spoken teacher. He knew the material and presesnted it well, even though the lectures had very little to do with the class. The tests and papers were a joke, but the main focus for this class are the speeches so I think that that is how it should be. He explained how to do each type of speech and even did one himself the class before each one. This class was not difficult. If you actually take an hour and go over each speech you should have no problem. And this calling people names? I have no clue what that is about. He does joke around and tell a lot of stories, but that is what made this class fun. And on the day of the final speech, right before we left, he talked about each student, in front of the class and said how they improved over the quarter. He's a nice old man and does his job well. Ignore all off the bad reviews, and take his class.

I was so nervous after reading Dr. Stock's evaluations! It sounded as if this man was a horrible teacher with no heart. Well let me tell you.....not only is he one of the funniest teacher's I have ever had, but one that cared for each of his students and wanted to make them the best speakers they could be. He has a very unusual grading scale (a 85 is a C where a 70 is a fail), but if you try hard in the class you'll do well. The tests are tough (I think I got a C on each one, but they were insignificant towards our final grade). Take this class, I actually looked forward to going to it, which never happens to me ever, and you'll need to like it, cause you really can't miss a day. Be an outgoing speaker and take the criticism he gives you. Our entire class became friends and we through a speech party on the night of our final. Dr. Stock is one of my favorite teachers at Poly.

This comment goes for all postive entries students made on Stock: BULLSHIT! Dr. Stock is a horrible teacher. He's full of shit, arrogant, doesn't show compassion, and has obscure ideas like 85% is a C. He tried to describe to the class why he did that, went through one ear and out the other. I was between a percent to get a grade, if you get even .01 away from the grade you want, don't expect him to give you the better grade. My class was 2 hrs a day for 2 days a week, total waste of time. We had 4 speeches during the quarter, took the whole 2 hours. 2 Tests, took 1 hour of the 2 hour day. He let us out early maybe once or twice. All the rest of the time? WASTED! Bullshit! Take your pick. Yes we did some little speaking like we talked about certain issues, but that took at most 20 minutes of our time each day (and we didn't even talk every day either). The rest is us hearing his bullshit stories or telling us shit that we were supposed to read in the book. Why does he assign reading assignments if he's just going to tell us what it says in lecture? Then you think, oh well then I can just go to class when I have a speech. WRONG! He marks off attendance, and you can lose 15 points if you miss 5 days (You have a possible 100 points to earn in the class), and thanks to his wacko grading, that means you automatically drop to a C, considering you get 100% on everything else. Granted you get an extra credit point if you show up every day w/o tardy (which I did), its still bullshit. My friend in the class got sick and had to go to the hospital, missed 2 days, lost points. Even with a note. What an asshole. Then he has the nerve to tell us "If you plan to miss 2 days of class (considering they're 2 hours each), you shouldn't even plan to take this class the whole quarter". I still don't understand this, 15 percent of our grade is participation, and we obviously need to be there for participation, but the rest of that class is a total waste of time. Nothing is important in that class. He reinforces what you already know at best. For the first 6 weeks I read the book, and every lecture just reiterated what I read, so I stopped reading. Good things about this class: the other students. For my section (26? idk the 7-9 TR one), my classmates were great! We get to know each other a little better each day, and like everyone else says you get a sort of wierd bond with them. You can meet some real interesting or funny people. That's about the only good thing, all bad things originate from the professor. And as for everyone who wrote "I'm such a better public speaker because of Stock", go to hell. Yeah, I spoke better in that class after 4 weeks too, not because Stock taught me something, its because I was more comfortable around who I was talking to. The more time you spend in a class like that, the more comfortable you become with the other students, so talking to them gets easier. That's the only reason you become a better speaker in that class. Period. And the only way you get a better grade is when you learn what Stock emphasizes mostly, like eye contact, and little or no reliance on notes. I didn't learn shit in that class, not because I didn't try, I worked my ass off to get an A. I didn't have a bad attitude, I always said "good evening" or greeted him, and I didn't lose my temper. I'm not some jackoff who fucked around this class, I'm a hard worker. Although I haven't taken any other SCOM101 courses and I can't put his class into context with others, I'm pretty sure that I've been left out, had to work harder for a grade that I didn't get, and got screwed. Is it possible to get in A in Stock? Of course. I was close, but not close enough. Just be careful. This is not an easy A class, he has his favorites, and although no one had a grudge with him during class, I'm sure if someone gave him a bad attitude he would flunk his/her ass quick. You have to be patient, show up to every class, and prepare your speeches ahead of time (although SOME people did it 3 hours before it was due and got 15/15 on some :P). Good luck to his future students, you, will, need it.

I don't recommend Dr. Stock. I got a C in the class when I thought I got a B. So i went to his office hours and he said I had an 81.7% but he curved it down to a C. To me thats unfair. I got B's on 3 of the speeches and a D on the fourth when i was sick. I asked him what I did wrong and he said he wasn't sure. I got screwed and I think Dr. Stock is very stubborn and picks his favorites in class. Worst teacher I've had at cal poly.

Dr. Stock is a really nice guy, however he should not be teaching. I got a strong B in the class but ended up with a C because of the "curve". He definately forms assumptions about you in the beginning (and is not hesitant to share them with the class - good or bad) and he has favorites. In terms of grading, he simply gives you a number for your speech - totally subjective. There is no feedback as to why you got the grade you did (not good especially because he has favorites). I got a C on one speech and approached him about it, asking him why I got the grade I did and his response was "I don't know - its just a feeling when you give the speech - I write down the grade and thats it". Very frustrating. I had the highest grade in the class on the first test, and the second highest on the second test and still ended up with a C in the class. Assignments are reasonable, Stock is well intended, however the grading is so messed up that I would definately avoid the class unless you do not care about your grade.

i do not recomend this class to any student who wants to get a good grade in the class-unless you are a slut and wear skimpy clothes to class(he loves those!) i got A's on every speech but one(which i got a B on) and i got a B in his class because of his stupid curve. he also decides what grade you get in the class like the first day, if he likes you, you get an A, if not, you get a lower grade-simple as that. when i asked him how to improve any of my speeches he says, "how am i supposed to know, i don't remember what you did", even if i approached him the very next day. his tets are impossible and the highest grades on his tests are no higher than 55%. he is a nice guy, but a lousy teacher, i didn't learn one single thing! i don't recomend him!!!!

Dr. Stock was a very nice man. He graded the speeches very fairly in my case, however I did hear complaints from other people and their grades. The tests seemed easy, but in fact most people didn't do well due to the trick type questions and answer choices. This class was pretty laid back and interesting because the speech topics were usually fun. Dr. Stock helps out and gives great feedback, but sometimes makes students feel bad, even if he was just kidding. We got out early most of the time, and Dr Stock does a good job of mixing up the class so it isnt the same thing day after day. Not too much hw either. I recommend taking this class with Dr. Stock. Just make sure he likes you from the beginning of the quarter on.

This class is a laugh riot. He once asked a attractive female student, and I quote, "Talk about what it would be like to make love to Osama Bin Laden" I have never laughed so hard or for so long in my life. If you are one of his favorites (I was for some reason), you will get an A. a Dirty dirty old man. Can't help but laugh.

If you are not a good public speaker DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!!! Stock is all about people who can naturally speak in public or have had some training. If you are not one of these people you will not get a good grade. He favors those who do well and points out the faults of those who dont. If you take the class at night, dont expect to get out early from a two hour class. He will keep you the entire time even if all he does is tell stories. This guy loves to hear himself talk! If you're late to his class by even a minute he marks you down, and if you're late twice he takes off points from your grade. Its really childish and ridiculous. His test, though they should be fairly easy as the material is not that difficult to grasp, are tricky and hard to do well on. His grading policy is extremely biased and makes no sense. Percentage wise I had a B (about 82 percent) but received an C+ according to his method. This is because the cut off for a B is around 85 or 86% though it varies from quarter to quarter. I really didn't learn much from this class. Stock is a poor teacher all around. About the only thing I got out of this class was a lower selfesteem, a lower GPA, and a bigger fear of public speaking. And all this from a 102 class!! I highly advise that you do not take this class unless you're a good speaker already, are willing to kiss his ass, and dont mind arrogant male egos.

To all who wish to take speech with hopes of gaining knowledge and skill in their oratory abilities this is NOT the guy to take! I got a C while earning 84% of the total possible points prior to the curve. This is due to the fact that he does not understand how to properly apply a grading curve. Dr. Stock will not listen to anyone who questions his methods and only the suck-ups did well.

DO NOT take this teacher. Unless he is your only shot at getting the damn intro to speech class. Whatever. I read Polyratings before I enrolled and saw that not many people liked him, but I took his class anyway because I had no other options. Not a good plan. I should have waited until next quarter. No wonder he had open spots in his classes. He is terrible. He is a harsh grader and esentially wants perfect speeches from everyone; regardless of whether they are natural speakers or have a fear of public speaking, he wants them all to be perfect. Even when people in class did fantastic speches, he would find something to say to criticize them in front of the class like "you touched your face" or "you relied too much on notes." I think he just got off on humiliating people in front of the class. Not that it matters because I don't know any of these people, nor do I care what they think of my public speaking abilities, and besides he did it to everyone--no one was spared. But I think teachers should try to be a little nicer and not make it their goal to make people feel badly about themselves. So do yourself a favor and take anyone but Stock. Unless you don't care and just need to pass so you can get your GE's out of the way. But I'm warning you, this guy is a dick.

If you take Dr. Stock's class, you will improve at public speaking. I hated this guy for about the first six weeks of the quarter, until I realized that--holy shit--I was actually getting much better at public speaking. Who knew? He makes you speak pretty much every day--at the front of the class (which scared me for most of the qurter but now I don't really mind). There are 5 graded speeches and countless smaller ones that aren't graded. The final is a speech, which is pretty cool because that's one less test you have to take during finals week. There are only 2 tests all quarter and each is worth only 5% of your grade. The main thing is the speeches. They count for a combined 65% of your grade. The grading is a little harsh because he grades on actual performance rather than effort, but the fact that he makes you a better speaker translates into better grades for you late in the quarter. Oh, and he only talks shit for the first half of the quarter. He likes to give people a hard time and tell them what was bad about their speeches, but it's all in good fun. I think he just likes intimidating people. I don't know. But he gets much nicer. So go ahead and take his class. You may like him and you may not. But if you try, you will become a better speaker.

first, the negatives. he does take attendance every day, and even marks tardies (just like the 7th grade) which count against your "quality participation" part of the grade (which is 15% of your overall). His curve sucks, just because you have over 80% does not mean you will get a B. And he does jolkingly talk trash (he once told me "your speech suck-eth"). And he can be kinda arrogant sometimes. positives. he talkes trash, which actually makes him more personable instead of a fukin' robot that most teachers are. his two midterms combined are only 10% of your grade. if you participate in class discussions, and show up on time everyday its easy to get that 15% quality participation. hot freshman chicks in the class. he's a really cool guy, and he will turn you into a better speaker.

You really won't become a better speaker in this class because of Dr. Stock. What happens is he makes everyone go up in front of the class each session to talk about something... whether its the assigned speech or favorite TV ad. Because you talk a lot, you become comfortable with the class and your audience and some you become more relaxed. As the quarter progresses, you find out more about you classmates and so class is much more enjoyable and appear more confident. But you never improved your speaking abilities, you just get more confident with this single audience. Anyone who improved decided to take the steps themselves... not with any help or motivation from Stock. Don't bother buying the book either, reading it gets you an insignificantly higher grade on the test which does nothing in the long run. His curve is lame 100-90 A, 89-86 B, and like 85-75 C, and down it goes. You really have to go to class every session because of his attendance policy and can't be late either. In the end, while other speech classes prepared 6-8 min long speeches and wrote reports and made overheads, we had no homework and our class became a cool little circle of friends. If you truly want to improve in speaking, take someone else, or else just live with what you get. PS:: Girls, wear low cut shirts and skirts on speech day.. guaranteed higher grade, I promise!

Dr. Stock was a man I wont soon forget. Overall, I thought he was a good teacher. He knew his subject and he knew it well. Unfortunately, I did not become a better speaker in his class. As the person below me stated, you get very familiar with your class and you all become one big funky class that bonds and become your friends so its easy to talk naturally. I personally thought his grading was a little harsh on some people but fair on others. He told one student in my class that she was "nasely" when she talked. That's a little harsh...bottom line...if you can take critism and take it well, then Dr. Stock is for you. Don't bother reading either. I got a better score on my second midterm when I hadn't read A SINGLE PAGE than I did on the first midterm when I read. I like the 5 speeches for 65% of your grade aspect. I am an actor so public speaking comes easily for me..I think thats why I did so well. True statement...he has his favorites and those favorites get good grades. Pick fun topics, and make it interesting...MAKE THE AUDIENCE LAUGH!!!!!! And you shall be nothing short of successful in Dr. Stock's class.

What a bastard. I earned 85.75% of the total points and ended up with a C. I thought it was a mistake. No, you have to get 86% to get a B and this dipshit doesn't round up for the remaining 1/4 of one percent. Nice. When you study your ass off in real classes and get only A's and B's (for once) and then your whole GPA gets fucked up because some asshole has a weird grading scale, it really sucks. Yeah, my speeches improved but these last couple guys were exactly right--it's because you become more comfortable speaking to that group. It had ZERO to do with the teacher. He should not take credit for something so obvious. Yes, he marks off for absences and tardies--not only that but he scolds you if you are late. Did someone before me mention 7th grade?? I missed class once like the 2nd week and he made such a big deal out of it. For God's sake, he's a college professor (sort of). He needs to get over it. Anyways, do not read the book. Don't even buy the book. I didn't and I did fine on the "tests." Not good enough to earn his idea of a B. Bottom Line: This guy just sucks. You shouldn't take his class.

I LOVED THIS CLASS!! I met some truly awesome people, most of them are good friends now. Anyway, Stock is an OK professor, I personally didn't learn much about public speaking, because I love public speaking and do it all the time. One thing for sure: you WILL get over your "performance anxiety" in this class. Mostly because you become friends with everyone. Some of the assignments he had were a little fuzzy and many of us didn't get it until it was time to speak. There were 5 speeches, all adding up to 65% of your grade, and just about every day we'd go up and do a 45 second to a 1 minute rant or spiel on whatever. It was fun. Your final is a speech so that was cool. You have 2 tests and 2 five page papers, or essays, as he likes to call them. I didn't write one of them, and he gave me an opportunity to write it and email it to him after the final. How awesome is that? So he really cares. I didn't really care about his crazy attendance policy because I only missed one day (which happened to be one of the most absences in our class. We were running a 99% attendance rate or something.) This guy will piss you off, guaranteed, but you learn to deal with it. Definitely a good first quarter transition class.

Okay, you gotta start by saying you will NEVER have a teacher quite like Dr. Stock. This man will get you to speak better, i guarentee it. His grading system is a little bootsie though. I had to work my ass off for an 86%, which is the lowest you can get for a B. I started off the quarter so nervous and scared to speak, and ended a pretty good speaker. This was not without a few 'you suck, that was horrible..etc' comments form Stock. However this two hour class was pretty fun and flew by in what seemed like 30 minutes. I would definately recommend Stock if you want to learn to speak well, and want to laugh your ass of at his awkward humor!

What a bunch of pussies. ----- This class is trial by fire. I'd say Stock does make you a better orator, but it's learning by intimidation (he has no problems throwing out failing grades like candy). Most of what has been written on here before is true; He has favorites, grading is wack, he has a superiority complex, a lack of ethics, etc. What it comes down to is he's subjective. "He made me cry." You speak once a day in a half minute, in front of the class format. You get used to having an audience (no, not necessarilly just the one in front of you). Afterwards he may critique. Some kids caught more shit than others, lets just say I was a target. When speeches come around you'll def. get feedback. Usually some bad, always some good. The mockery gets no worse than "You read you speech." If you can't take this sort of harsh criticism I'd get out of the class. Mommy... Hell, I don't even like the guy, but get over it. If you decide to take the class. Accept the grading policy and don't bitch about it later. Come late or miss class and die. First speech grades are lowest. Put time into each speech rehearsing. If you read your speech you fail. I went in to each speech having memorized my outline and paced the class and did fine. Do that if you have to. If you know the class is subjective, and since when is a speech class not, try to make a good impression. Evidence the fact you've put time into your speech; Know that shit, make some props, dress up. Perhaps the best advice is to make your speech funny. Would I recomend this prof... No, because others are better. If you take a positive grade into this class you can do well. So do that.

Professor Stock is an interesting Professor. It's true that he is completely gender biased and he will notice the girls that are scantily clad. He made a comment about a student's "cute little navel" in our final session. He expects you to know what he's talking about and his tests are ridiculous. Although you can fail every test and still get an "A" in the class. I decided to stop studying for them all together, they are out of 5 points (each of your speeches is 15 points) and when I did take the time to study I would get 3.6 or 3.4 but when I didn't I got a 4.6. And he had two written assignments, they are 5 page essays which are a pain in the ass for a speech class. However if you know what you are talking about you'll be fine. When he asks you to write on an index card 3 subjects you know a lot about for your impromptu sppech, don't limit yourself to subjects such as "how to throw a softball" or "how to play the guitar" make sure you are broad and can explore the subject and come up with something good later.

Dr. Stock is not a good teacher. First of all, he doesn't teach. He just reads old speechs of his own, past students', or other examples that he finds. One thing that is important to note: He never explains what he is looking for. In addition, he is very straight forward with everyone. This could be a good thing, but it could also be a bad thing. If you aren't very good at speeches, he will rip right into your flesh in front of the entire class. He reviews everyone's speeches at the end, and several times he just flat out said: " 'So and So', your speech just sucked." And he'll move right on to the next person. Half of his "constructive criticism" was, "You did horrible on your speech. There were no good qualities to it." If you take him, I suggest giving speeches about sports. Even though he's a really old guy, he still thinks he's the world's best super jock. Class was entertaining, listening to his funny old man's stories, but when it came to grades, Stock hangs you out to dry. I recommend not taking his classes.