<p>Yeah, she definitely did abuse her rights as a teacher, but based on the writing itself, it was bold and it exposed the many flaws of the college. Which is not neccisarily a good thing, but it give you a sense of realism to college and the people that go there and will inevitably be there. But yes, it did cross some lines.</p>
<p>"Xiggi: would you have a problem with a conservative prof doing a blog skewering the ultra-liberal leanings of his colleagues and students?</p>
<p>People do not seem to dispute the accuracy of the characterizations of SMU. Don’t shoot the messenger!"</p>
<p>SBMom, I would have the same exact problem with a conservative prof doing the same thing. </p>
<p>There is, however, a couple of differences here. She brought the political discussion to the forefront of her blog and used the discussion as additional evidence of what is wrong at SMU. The students are not derided because of their political values but because who they SEEM to be. Does she expect young Ashley to leave her Louis Vuitton bag at home and carry her books in a GLAD bag? Do students become a lesser persons because their families are wealthy and enjoy spoiling their children? The same students whom Mrs. Liner enjoys criticizing -with extraordinary cruelty- may have been brought in families that do more for others in a week than this individual, who sees the world to her blue-colored glasses, could do in a lifetime. Does she realize that a good number of students who attend SMU have different aspirations and expectations than passing Mrs. Liner’s biased 75 question test? </p>
<p>And yes, in this case, I am happy to shoot the messenger. While there is nothing new -and necessarily true- about what she wrote, she did take the style of reporting to an unprecedented low for an educator.</p>
<p>Xiggi writes:
“Yeah, an anonymous blog goes a long way to hide her despicable image and gushing vitriol. What a lesson for her student: hate plagiarism but applaud spineless libel!..All I have to say is that I hope that the “Ashlees” depicted in this “worK” have fathers and mothers who will hound her for years, and slap lawsuits and injuctions onto every attempt to profit from her vile actions.”</p>
<p>I’m just not getting the reason for the venom, Xiggi. Yes, the professor expressed disdain for those students in her class whom she perceived as being shallow, materialistic and lacking in intellectual zeal. I didn’t see any personal references - no students named or personally identified in any way that would be recognizable, with the possible exception of a few she wrote positively about. Referring to generic “Ashleys” is hardly “libel.” What are you so upset about?</p>
<p>I have to agree with Xiggi. The forum she chose while working at the institution was just inappropriate. She ,in effect, established a dual relationship with her students and her peers. One one hand, teacher to her students, on the other hand, arch observer looking for something that would lend itself to a nice turn of phrase. With her peers, she was a colleague in one sense, a writer looking for material in another. With her students, there is that power differential that is always so troubling in dual relationships. In my view she breached a trust.</p>
<p>Had she told her students (informed consent) that she would like to make some anonymous observations in a blog about her teaching experiences and obtained their approval, no problem. But she didn’t.</p>
<p>Those students entered her class, entered the university at which she taught, with certain expectations of respect and consideration. She crossed a boundary when she published her thoughts. I would never trust such a person, personally.</p>
<p>She exhibits the same lack of control over her emotions, her frustrations, etc., for which she derides some of her students.</p>
<p>The life of an adjunct in higher education is in some ways a miserable one. No question about that. In some ways, it allows a degree of freedom that full time employment circumscribes. Every job has its ups and downs. By trivializing the faculty meeting she skipped for some refreshment with students, she sinks to the same level of many of those colleagues and supervisors she derides.</p>
<p>After reading the linked material (actually, her story had been big news in our higher ed newspapers), I just felt soiled and wished I hadn’t.</p>
<p>My final test of what she did - would it have been acceptable for it to have been my child described in some of her postings? No, not at all; therefore, to me, it would be unacceptable to treat anyone’s son/daughter as she did.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Bill</p>
<p>Why the venom? </p>
<p>While she does not name anyone in particular, she DOES describe everyone. In a way, every SMU student could identify himself or herself with the “Ashley” or “Justin”. </p>
<p>Kluge, how would you react upon receiving this little Christmas card:</p>
<p>"Dear Mr. Kluge Dad</p>
<p>Thanks for contacting me regarding Kluge DD. Now that the semester is over, suddenly you have time to inquire about “toots”? As I told your darling, “Sweetie. Our business has concluded. Your grade is chiseled in stone. I owe you nothing beyond the 14 weeks we spent together in my classroom. By next week I will have forgotten your name. By next month I will have forgotten your face.”</p>
<p>In concluding, just as I said to the other ten parents who wrote to protest a final grade, “To paraphrase the immortal Mr. T, I pity the fools who hire young idiots (like the one you raised) for jobs in the real world.”</p>
<p>Isn’t reading one small excerpt of the blog sufficient to see how wrong Mrs. Liner is to be in front of a classroom as an educator? How can anyone find the will and desire to teach a bunch of people who do not SEEM to deserve the slightest of respect? </p>
<p>"unlike the Ashleys who half-joke about being in college to ``earn an Mrs. degree,‘’
“No, she isn’t like them. Thank God.”
“She’s not like them at all. Their Prada handbags and their SUVs (brand new, all filled with gas charged to daddy’s plastic) and their size O derrieres kept warm with pastel Juicy Couture sweats that show just a hint of dorsal cleavage – she looked around at their perfect skin and their manicures and it seemed suddenly unfair.”
“I tried to tell her that she’s the one who’ll make it. That the rest of them don’t have a tenth of her ability.”
“For some of us, graduation means never having to talk to the Jesus-obsessed suitemates and slutty, bulimic roomies again.”</p>
<p>Mrs. Liner may be a good writer, and could even be a decent teacher, but when it comes to mere human qualities, to parapharase any SMU Mustang, she sucks big time. Forgive me for expecting a bit more from the individuals who are supposed to open minds and fill them with positive lessons. We are not perfect but we have the excuse of being young, naive and being more or less a “proceed” of our environment. Up to entering college, we have been modeled in the image of others, not really by our own individuality. </p>
<p>What is Mrs. “Hiding-in-the-darkness” excuse for being who she is?</p>
<p>Oh my, I also find Xiggi’s outrage seriously misplaced. First, the “phantom professor” was outed by a student writing for the college newspaper, who seemed to have it in for the prof. Perhaps she should have done a better job of concealing her identity, but should she really be castigated for having and expressing anonymous opinions about her students, their parents, and her colleagues? And they were anonymous, until someone decided, with malice, to “out” her. I’ve heard very similar stories from friends and relatives who are college professors, which is why I found the blog so amusing in the first place. </p>
<p>Xiggi, as far as your post #25, the professor didn’t send that message out as a Christmas card…it was anonymously posted satire. You could probably write something equally amusing about some of your professors on an anonymous blog, and there would be nothing wrong with that.</p>
<p>Driver, I thought that starting the Christmas card with "Dear Mr. Kluge Dad would be a pretty clear indication that I paraphrased the adjunct professor. Despite not seeing the satire in the original, I’d invite you to consider my version as a satire of the satire. Here’s the original text:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Driver, it is obvious that we have a different opinion on this subject. I do not expect others to agree with mine, and I respect that others would be more appreciative of the blog. I tend to disagree that the greatest attribute of a blog published on the web is the guarantee of absolute anonymity. The fact that one operates in relative obscurity does not reduce the impact of the damages. After all, Mrs. Liner did not merely write her words in a personal and private journal that was accidently discovered; she posted it and must have made great efforts to see it read by many.</p>
<p>If you find that her actions were acceptable or valuable, that is your prerogative. In return, it is my right to post my opinion about her, especially if I base my opinion on what she wrote. She posted her blog with the objective of causing reactions. </p>
<p>As far as the malice to “out her out”, I have to admit to find it amusing considering that her entire blog is nothing but an obnoxious tapestry of malicious comments. Unless you believe that the comments on the size of the “derrieres” and “cleavage” were expressions of veiled admiration. :)</p>
<p>Xiggi, do you honestly believe that the phantom professor is less sensitive to the best interests of her students than the average college prof? Because I find that to be idealistic beyond the point of naivete. This teacher actually cares about her students (to the point of lamenting their lack of survival skills) and rejoices at those who actually “get it” when it comes to academic pursuits. Your indignation that a college prof would actually acknowledge the existence of the Ashleys and Justins of the world – and disapprove of them – is sadly misplaced. Every college professor you will ever meet, like every other person you will ever meet, will have preferences about the people they interact with. Some people are anti-intellectual. Some only like “happy” people. It’s hardly surprising to find that a college professor is disdainful towards those college students whose only priority is to work the university system long enough to graduate, rather than actually trying to learn anything.<br>
The funny thing is, I cut and pasted the earlier blogs so I could print them out for my college and high school aged children - I think it will be educational as well as amusing for them to get a glimpse from the other side of the classroom. (I think their self esteem can handle it, even if they recognize a little Ashley or Justin in themselves - as they should.) Perhaps you should look at the blog as an educational opportunity for yourself and your friends as well. </p>
<p>—And I would never get that postcard - it’s not my job to protest my kid’s grades.</p>
<p>Xiggi, aside from your apparent opinion that all students are as wonderful as you, what’s wrong with what she wrote in the quote you posted? :)</p>
<p>Edit: Kluge, yeah, the idea of parents protesting their kids grades really sets it off. My brother-in-law teaches at Wesleyan, and he tells nearly identical stories at Thanksgiving, but the kids are named River and Moonbeam instead of Ashley and Justin. But they write better.</p>
<p>“Xiggi, aside from your apparent opinion that all students are as wonderful as you, what’s wrong with what she wrote in the quote you posted?”</p>
<p>Did I ever say that all students -including myself- are wonderful? </p>
<p>What’s wrong is that no student should be addressed as “toots” “sweetie” or “darling”, especially since the intent was to disparage. As I said, we are not perfect, but that does not mean that we do not deserve a modicum of respect, even from individuals who know how to spell the word but do not seem to understand its meaning.</p>
<p>Her blog speaks volume about what type of person she is. I read it in a certain way, and you in a different way. The issue of who shows misplaced naivete is equally subject to individual preferences.</p>
<p>Seeing the Christmas card as a mere grade issue shows how little you tried to understand my point. You know what they say about trees and forests.</p>
<p>
xiggi, you’re taking this way too personally. She didn’t address anyone as “toots sweetie or darling”. It was a fantasy conversation. That was supposed to remain anonymous. FYI, Walter Mitty wasn’t really a surgeon or a fighter pilot, either. :)</p>
<p>And I was being sincere in referring to you as probably a wonderful student, for the purpose of juxtaposing you with all of those who are far from it, but lack the humility to treat their teachers with the respect they deserve.</p>
<p>Could be! :)</p>
<p>Let’s switch to discussing what the authors of “Choosing the Right College.” say about SMU. I’m sure we’ll find more issues where we can agree in the 2005 book.</p>
<p>Meh … Everybody blogs these days and it looks like she was just writing what she felt. Maybe she should’ve made the entries private, but it was stupid of them to let her go. Just a case of hurt dogs barking. If you want the real story on colleges, check out the student blogs. Here’s one example from an actual SMU student:</p>
<p>“I was annoyed today with my English teacher who doesn’t listen to the females in the class as much as she does the males. As it happens, our group is pretty small (and meets in the morning) so few people want to talk. When the silence gets so awkward we can’t bear it anymore, the smart girls stop feeling bad about dominating the discussion and continue to do it anyway. The teacher inevitably gets annoyed, and gives the one frat rat that talks far more praise than he deserves…simply because her expectations for him are lower. Man, I hate that ****.” (Reprinted with permission)</p>
<p>I could show you some others, but I’m not sure they’d be fit for CC consumption. I almost went there … LOL</p>
<p>Xiggi, </p>
<p>You are taking her too literally. Hyperbole and satire are two effective ways writers make their points. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I believe that wealthy families who spoil their kids do indeed make them lesser people.</p>
<p>Maybe an “Ashley” or a “Justin” reads this blog and feels a little stung. </p>
<p>But if they actually gain insight into how other people see them? That could well be one of the most important things they’d learn in college.</p>
<p>Well, then consider my opinion as a hyberbolic literary device! </p>
<p>I hope she finds a career that is more in tune with her well-hidden qualities.</p>
<p>I think she has…it’s called script writer.</p>
<p>I am reminded of a similar pre-blog incident.</p>
<p>In roughly the early 1970’s, there was a hilarious fairly popular book called: “It Beats Working for a Living” by Profesor X. Professor X was identified only as a “tenured professor from a large midwestern university” as I recall. I managed to buy a copy at 1/2 Price Books. Professor X told in great detail about how little work he and his tenured colleagues could get by with, and had hilarious comments on various academic customs, meetings etc. The universities were livid and made many attempts to find out who he was. Fiinally they found him out. According to a curmudgeonly professor firend of mine (at a major state university), they then canned Professor X over a few dollars unaccounted for in a petty cash fund. My friend said that Professor X then became the head of the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. If I recall, Professor X was a history professor at Oklahoma State University.</p>
<p>She is a snide and deceitful woman. Whatever she observed, why did I feel icky after reading it? It is almost as though she enjoyed what she saw and one thing is for sure, she definitely took great pleasure in revealing it.</p>
<p>Are you an SMU student?
Icky was not the feeling I had…a bit sad in spots - for the students sometimes, for her other times - but icky? Nah.</p>
<p>The head of the departments statement:
People need to remember that words can hurt.
Those big bad words
this reminds me of comments by President Wright at Dartmouth. I, however, was raised to the melody of sticks and stones can break my bones but
.</p>
<p>The Daily Campus, the student newspaper, published an editorial in which it said that the Phantom Professor was superbly written, but called the author ornery and said that the blog was inappropriate and unprofessional.</p>
<p>This also reminds me of the officially sanctioned campus newspapers operating as mouthpieces for the politically sanctioned line at a number of schools with the occasional complaint about class size, poor food and funding; not excluding the school I will attend, it should be said that similar comments have been made by the Daily about the Review which is not even a blog.</p>
<p>Don’t ask; Don’t tell…it’s the newspeak.</p>