Over the last couple of years UV layout in Maya has changed for the better. In this course we're going to be taking a look at some of those changes as we UV map an entire character
Here is a script you can drag to your shelf. It toggles Backface Culling on/off on selected geometry.
ToggleBackfaceGeometry;
And I've uploaded an icon for it as well if you'd care to use it. Put icon in "C:\Program Files\Alias\Maya6\extras\icons" or whatever your directory is.