graduation night - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: May 13, 2005

graduation night

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Anne Wallace
" So, I thought, why not a new emblem for USM? Why not the rose, that same rose that graces the entrance to our campus? Not an eagle, not a Starbucks medallion (don't get me started!), but a rose—multifoliate, various, sweet, sharp, demanding, enduring. It is the very image of learning, isn't it? Cultivate it and it grows sleek, sophisticated; let it run and the life of the thing will not be denied, it asserts itself and grows and blooms past expectation. Either way, it's a lovely thing."

A rose as the emblem of USM is a suggestion worthy of consideration. All we have now is a thorn.

Date: May 13, 2005

Anne, cherie,

So moving, so lovely. Please do not stop writing to us. Please be happy beyond words in your new home. May there be many more roses ahead.

Thank you for dissuading me from re-entering the academic fray. I would rather drink champagne and read Mrs. Gaskell than write the dissertation so long and so difficult.

Bonne chance, brave one.

M. de G.

Date: May 13, 2005

For all of us who employ USM graduates tonight is a special night. Of course, the ROF'S take no responsibilty for their abilities learned at USM. I am accountable for what I do every day in the courtroom. The PROF'S blame everyting on SFT. I look at the PROFS for poorly prepared employees.

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Anne Wallace
" When I closed my office door tonight, I knew that when I opened it the next morning I'd start packing. As happy as I am about where I'm going, tears came into my eyes: the last time, the last full day of work. As I walked to my car I saw graduates, their friends and families, hurrying toward the Coliseum. Now I have no great love of the ceremony itself. For one thing, doctors and masters should be hooded in a separate ceremony; for another, the Coliseum is not the most elegant of venues, the speakers are usually dreadful (though I fondly remember one pithy gentleman whose cheerful talk lasted two and one-half minutes), and it's either hot or cold. But again, I thought, the last time—my friends, my colleagues will go on without me. So by the time I got to the 27th Ave. liquor store (I was headed there anyway, really), I was pretty sad. And then I thought, well, it's my graduation too, isn't it? And I bought a bottle of one of my favorite wines, the Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc, rather than the much more "modest" stuff I usually drink. When I got home, I poured a bit, and went out to look at my rosebush, which I haven't had time to tend all week. Elizabeth Sims, bless her memory, gave me this, my one and only rosebush. And although roses are delicate, this one seems to thrive on my semi-neglect, mere watering and occasional spraying for bugs and blight. This spring, though, it's gone quite wild. There were nearly a hundred blossoms on it, clustered in bunches of five and ten, weighing the branches down, scenting the air halfway down the driveway. As I drank my wine I stripped the old blossoms, the ones that were ready to let go of their stems, to make way for the new buds crowding toward the air. Elizabeth was in my thoughts, and USM, and the old letting go to make way for the new, and this rosebush, tougher than its reputation, sweet with scent and promise. So, I thought, why not a new emblem for USM? Why not the rose, that same rose that graces the entrance to our campus? Not an eagle, not a Starbucks medallion (don't get me started!), but a rose—multifoliate, various, sweet, sharp, demanding, enduring. It is the very image of learning, isn't it? Cultivate it and it grows sleek, sophisticated; let it run and the life of the thing will not be denied, it asserts itself and grows and blooms past expectation. Either way, it's a lovely thing. Soon I'll be packing my house too. The buyers are the parents of a new USM student, who've bought the house for him to live in when he comes here this summer. I confess that at first I rather blanched at the thought of a (possibly rough) student my quiet house. But now I see the fitness: the teacher gives way to the student, the old bloom to the new. As Sherlock Holmes said, "we have much to learn from the rose." So I did, tonight. Happy graduation day, my friends. NO QUARTER—and more roses. Anne Wallace "

boo hoo, poor you. you lead such a difficult life.

Date: May 13, 2005

My gawd, there's a whole covey of them. Maybe they could help me grade essays this pm. On second thought. . .

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: phantom
"My gawd, there's a whole covey of them. Maybe they could help me grade essays this pm. On second thought. . . "

how is that, grade and type at the same time? multi-tasking, just the way we like'em.

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: JoJo
"For all of us who employ USM graduates tonight is a special night. Of course, the ROF'S take no responsibilty for their abilities learned at USM. I am accountable for what I do every day in the courtroom. The PROF'S blame everyting on SFT. I look at the PROFS for poorly prepared employees."

Get over it JoJo. So a prof. hurt your feelings when they educated you that opinions don't matter if you have no evidence or rational for the belief. So you blindly attack all professors? That isn't very logical for someone working in a courtroom, unless you are sweeping the floor.

Show us where you got the idea, "The PROF"S blame everything on SFT"?

Date: May 13, 2005

Boo hoo: if you knew what a great teacher and person Dr. Wallace is you would be so ashamed of yourself you would not post on this board again. She is entitled to respect even from ignorant people like you.

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: disgusted student
"Boo hoo: if you knew what a great teacher and person Dr. Wallace is you would be so ashamed of yourself you would not post on this board again. She is entitled to respect even from ignorant people like you. "

I second that emotion.

Best of fortune to you, Dr. Wallace.

Date: May 13, 2005

And Dr. Wallace, who is a wonderful and dedicated teacher is leaving to be chair at a good school which is delighted to have her, and will pay her a lot more money.

Haven't you guys noticed yet that all the people who are leaving are going to BETTER schools? And you persist in thinking the profs are the losers??

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: disgusted student
"Boo hoo: if you knew what a great teacher and person Dr. Wallace is you would be so ashamed of yourself you would not post on this board again. She is entitled to respect even from ignorant people like you. "

np

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: disgusted student
"Boo hoo: if you knew what a great teacher and person Dr. Wallace is you would be so ashamed of yourself you would not post on this board again. She is entitled to respect even from ignorant people like you. "

Oh, i know her, and havnt called into question her skill or personal attributes. But the whining that's got to stop. Leaving was her decision; and, at least she can (to that I submit).

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: boo hoo
"boo hoo, poor you. you lead such a difficult life."

boo hoo, just what is it that Professor Wallace has said or done that irritates you?

Date: May 13, 2005

Dr Wallace,

Your post brought tears to my eyes. Yes, its sad to leave your friends and your home, and yet very exciting to move forward in your journey.

I hope that you will carry with you good memories of USM, and there have to be some. But on the same token, never forget what has happened there. And when you stop to smell the roses along the path of life, remember the joy and saddness you felt today.

God speed Dr. Wallace. Come back to the board for a visit and a cup of coffee with friends.

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Muted trumpet
"boo hoo, just what is it that Professor Wallace has said or done that irritates you? "

I'm sorry, you read me wrong. I'm not irritated - it take much more than that, but let it go. The whole rose thing, just. . .ugh.

Date: May 13, 2005

Most of the faculty and staff at USM lead a difficult life these days. That's why they're leaving in droves. If Dr. Thames' contract is renewed, you will see an exodus you won't believe.

It looks like there are a few trolls and a few casual visitors here tonight who have all missed a year's worth of discussion, debate, explanation, sadness, and all that has gone on here. Casual visitors, please do some research on older threads before you jump to conclusions. Trolls, why not start your own board? It's free, it's fun, and you won't be bothered with us any longer!

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: boo hoo
"Oh, i know her . . . But the whining that's got to stop."

Anne Wallace's post contained no whining. It was largely about wine and roses and memories.

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: LVN
"Most of the faculty and staff at USM lead a difficult life these days. That's why they're leaving in droves. If Dr. Thames' contract is renewed, you will see an exodus you won't believe. It looks like there are a few trolls and a few casual visitors here tonight who have all missed a year's worth of discussion, debate, explanation, sadness, and all that has gone on here. Casual visitors, please do some research on older threads before you jump to conclusions. Trolls, why not start your own board? It's free, it's fun, and you won't be bothered with us any longer! "

ok, sorry, we'll be going now (troll army of hunched over, dejected, slimy trolls turn and leave - headed back to their 'cave of intellectual inferiority').

See you later (troll King, Malouk, blows out ceremonial war candle). Good night.

Date: May 13, 2005

Prof. Wallace--

Thanks for the eloquent expression of grief. Even for a dumb, insensitive guy like me, it is obvious that you still love the place, although you are fortunate to be leaving.

Godspeed.

Date: May 13, 2005

That was great!

Date: May 13, 2005

Godspeed, Anne! Enjoy your new life in NC, and take all of your good memories of USM and the 'burg with you...they are just as valid (if not more) than the mess that has been made over the past few years.

Truth (blissfully ignoring the mean-spirited and ill-informed trolls tonight)

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: LVN
"It looks like there are a few trolls and a few casual visitors here tonight who have all missed a year's worth of discussion, debate, explanation, sadness, and all that has gone on here. Casual visitors, please do some research on older threads before you jump to conclusions."

A good place for new viewers to start would be the thread initiated by USM Sympathizer. The thread is called "Please read these postings FIRST." I just kicked it up to the top of the board.

Date: May 13, 2005

OOPS! You guys are fast on the keyboard tonight -- I was laughing at the Troll King. Really funny.

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: troll army
" ok, sorry, we'll be going now (troll army of hunched over, dejected, slimy trolls turn and leave - headed back to their 'cave of intellectual inferiority'). See you later (troll King, Malouk, blows out ceremonial war candle). Good night."

troll army - Judging from your post, you do have potential. Maybe you consider a career in writing. You might want to give the English department some serious thought.

Date: May 13, 2005

Boo hoo: I pity you if you don't know the difference between whinning and honest communication. Were you so impoverished as a child that no one talked to you about sentiment?

Date: May 13, 2005

Is Malouk the name of a restaurant?
(Private joke. If it's who I suspect, they'll get it.)

Date: May 13, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: disgusted student
"Boo hoo: I pity you if you don't know the difference between whinning and honest communication. Were you so impoverished as a child that no one talked to you about sentiment?"

do you have a nose piercing? blue hair? hang out at java werks?

no quarter - please.

Date: May 13, 2005

Sorry he can't reply. He went out to smoke a joint before starting Chapter 672 of Das Kapital.

Date: May 13, 2005

God Speed! Anne Wallace, and Long Life! May your roses root deep and blossom bright in some fitter soil . . .