[david_shaw]

> I wonder if perhaps the professor is trying to scare people into dropping the class?

This seems likely.

It also appears that the professor is making somewhat of a political statement about the University, the (lack of) teaching assistants, and the shortage of funds available to him. I attended a University of California school several years ago, and there were a plethora of similar issues regarding class sizes, funding, etc.

It's sad, because actions like canceling four of seven planned sections¹ only hurt the students' education.

1: This originally stated that lectures were canceled, but I was mistaken. Thanks to codergirl for correcting me.

[codergirl]

They're cancelling four of seven sections, not lectures, due to lack of demand.

All the lectures are still there.