OT: reality check for Karen C.

Y'know Karen, your experience clearly has to do with having attended a religious college. I've been in classrooms with professors cursing - and they certainly weren't disciplined. In grad school one of the guys would regularly ask if we were "f***ing idiots" . It was a shock, and we actually coplained to the grad program admin - but, believe me - not much happened.

Calling someone a dipshit is pretty mild, IME.

Ellice

On 9/3/08 5:28 PM, " snipped-for-privacy@mindspring.com" wrote:

Exactly. We did have an incident that as serious research types we found more important. A chaired prof, who edits a couple of journals for pergamon press, had a test come out. Generally a 500 undergrad/grad level specialty engineering course. As a bunch of use were going through it as a reference we noted some familiarity about a couple of chapters. Grad student group gets together (over Chinese food of course) and we figure out that the text has been lifted from articles by 2 different other profs - at other unis. So, we tell the "senior" getting ready to finish that term guy whose advisor is the dept chair that he has to say something. This is BAD. And the articles are most barely cited at all - in the general thanks section. These are 2 entire chapters. So, we talk with the plagiarized guys - one of whom is internationally famous - and pretty nice about it. Albert talks to the dept chair. And after much ado - and really only because if we could figure it out - then others would - they finally agreed to him having the next edition contain a revision citation (still not appropriate). I mean, this is a serious academic infraction, not only is it plagiarized, but lifted from a journal you edit - without permission, etc. And into a book that is making money, not just some obscure research to get out into the world. Said chaired professor did get spoken with - but the scuttlebutt from other tenured (respectable guys) was it was well swept under, wink and a nod. But, we thought we'd done something. Reality check indeed.

ellice

"ellice" wrote

I had one prof who regularly wrote "This is sh*t" over large portions of tests and papers, and threw papers on the floor and walked over them to indicate their value. He would announce at random that this person or that row of the classroom were destined for failure. He did not get a stern talking to, or even a finger wagging.

A group of us one gave a very thorough and very poor evaluation of an instructor who was verbally abusive (and not even creative about it)--he was named Teacher of the Year. (of course, we weren't batting our eyelashes, a tactic which perpetuates the constant fight for women in academia and elsewhere against the allegation that one has slept one's way to the job, the scholarship, the grad program etc.)

Dawne

I think they have to have social contacts to check but it's something like the marks for skating, top and bottom removed and only the middle of particular interest. Anything untoward will then stand out and cause further checks.

The married in aunt I referred to loved both David and I but as a Welsh woman, when asked about me, she regarded me as a foreigner and being English the person asking the question took it very seriously lol Thus it really proves how silly asking questions is.

Aaah feet of clay lol

Well that sort of white board, I meant the virtual type of whiteboards, get in the game girl ! You're out of date. Come to think of it, am I (the old senior) ahead of you younger folk ?????

You're ahead of the technology my college can afford for poor old Arts and Sciences, anyway. The Business School has them, though.

Elizabeth

Do you think this is game, set and match ? Lol

Yes, I do want to deny that I was referring to you as a habitual liar. If I want to accuse someone directly, I name names.

I happened to be referring to a specific salesperson who went around promising the moon and then I had to soothe the customers when they found out he had promised something we couldn't possibly deliver.

You're sure you wouldn't like to also take offense at the "habitual groper" part?

The good news is, at least your misquotes are sorta close to what I actually said, as opposed to the whackjob in the other group, where I said "I hope your son is OK" which she rehashed as "how can you make jokes about such a tragedy?"

I think Ellice hit the nail on the head. It was a religious college and fairly pricey, so I'm sure they figured profanity/verbal abuse was both a violation of what they were teaching and likely to get the wealthier families to remove their children, costing the school not only the current tuition but the future six-figure donations.

I think the worst thing that was ever said to a student was "I'm disappointed in you" ... followed by "I'm here Tuesday and Thursday afternoons if you want tutoring".

Even as a freshman, before I had a reputation for taking no nonsense from anyone, the profs spoke to me as they would want their own children spoken to.

But you'll continue to imply that I have a pechant for profanity.

I see.

Elizabeth

I'm with Mark on that, can't stand that sort of thing, but fortunately I will not be interviewing anymore lol

The way some people speak to their children, that may or may not be a comfort. Dawne

"Jangchub" wrote

Vic, you were pretty literally an angel to that woman; a few words of kindness can do so much for someone who is overwhelmed. I try to say something to parents went they look at the end of their rope; since I can remember when my kids were small, I know what it is to be in the grocery store because you are out of milk and short of money and have a kid start screaming.

Dawne

Just cuirious - is it really dipshit over there? Here it`s dipstick. Of course we also have deep shit.

Pat