Another lesson from the article:

If you don't make an effort to stay on topic and to teach the course content directly, students think you're a freak.

Never Seen A Train Wreck Before? = A president who goes by the rule of "Fear me for I have the power to destroy you."

David Johnson wrote:

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This story, from the University of Texas' Daily Texan Online gives a great example of why you don't ignore threats like taking a high-powered rifle up on the dome. A very popular professor at one time, this has turned into a nightmare.

Former UT Professor jailed for allegedly taking shots at Dean and Department Chair's
Homes

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This just backs up what Warren Paving people told us, it's the professors that we need to fear.

The article pointed out that the professor had suffered a stroke. The continued deterioration in his condition may mean that he has continued to have them. This is something I know a lot about from family situations. The person you knew can just not be there anymore.

For people to make generalizations about faculty based on one deranged person is unfair and stupid. There are scary people in every walk of life.

Seeker wrote:

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Bidness Man wrote:



This just backs up what Warren Paving people told us, it's the professors that we need to fear.


While I don't agree with what was said here, it is a perfect example of how you can take a statement or story out of context and spin it to mean whatever you wish.

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Seeker, this story about shots being fired at professors homes and the outcry about the Toy McLaughlin incident is NOT just "spin" People were very upset about McLaughlin's comments and to say that people are taking the story out of context is unacceptable. WHAT if McLaughlin had gone up on the dome with a rifle? To have someone like McLaughlin in his position as a representative of the foundation is reason for asking for his resignation.

folks--mclaughlin has a letter of apology printed in the HA today. page 5A, upper right hand corner.

Looks like an ad -- 1/12th page, text bordered inside black box.  Well-worded, sincere-sounding, excuse-laden but clearly missing these key words:

"Therefore, I am resigning from my position as Foundation President."

Without a resignation I am afraid that I cannot take an apology seriously. I am still concerned about his threat. It is too easy to say "I'm sorry" and not back it up with action.

I should have mentioned that many faculty took the insulting statements about the faculty more seriously than the shooting threat.  I believe that was the major issue for the majority of the faculty. 

Seeker wrote:

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disgusted student wrote: Without a resignation I am afraid that I cannot take an apology seriously. I am still concerned about his threat. It is too easy to say "I'm sorry" and not back it up with action. The bottom line is that this board seem McLaughlin as an ally of Thames. Nothing short of him going away forever and never being associated with Southern Miss again will do. Is that what I am hearing here, if not correct me because that is the conclusion I am making.

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No Seeker, you are not hearing that from "the Board."

There is no "Board."

You are hearing that from a few individuals expressing your opinions through the medium of "the Board." Not everyone agrees with those opinions whether they express them or not. Your "conclusion" is really a generalization based on only a few opinions expressed.

Please do not take opinions expressed on the Board and assume everyone on the Board agrees, nor that the opinions expressed are either AAUP polocy. All you can derive from those opinion are what the individuals who express them mean to say.

Maybe AustinEagle can explain why La Ciudad de los Palos attracts almost as many wackos as Waco...

<FAIR USE>

The doctors tore his poor brain down,
But not a snitch of illness could be found.
Most folks couldn't figure just-a why he did it
And them that could would not admit it,
There's still a lot of Eagle Scouts around.
There was a rumor about a tumor
Nestled at the base of his brain.
He was sitting up there with his .36 Magnum
Laughing wildly as he bagged 'em.
Who are we to say the boy's in
Who are we to say the boy's in
Who are we to say the boy's insane ?

- Richard "Kinky" Friedman
  "The Ballad of Charles Joseph Whitman"

</FAIR USE>

SCM,

Thanks very much for taking the time to do this; it is much appreciated.

I wonder if the full text will be (or has been) posted on EagleTalk.

 

stinky cheese man wrote:

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paragraph 1--he acknowledges his message board response and how it has been interpreted as an attack on the faculty. he says "this is emphatically not the case" and then apologizes for any misunderstanding that might have occurred. paragraph 2--he says he is not critical of the "hundreds of you that work so hard to educate our students and promote the welfare" of USM. he is sorry that his words might have made people think that he diminished the value of our work. paragraph 3--this is a tough one to paraphrase because it's long, and i don't want to do an injustice to what he says. i think he feels that his comments were taken out of context, and he tries to provide the context in which he was making his comments. paragraph 4--he takes ownership for his words-- "the words are mine"-- and he apologizes for "any hurt they might have caused." paragraph 5--he hopes the audience will accept his apology. he appreciates the faculty's labor. he respects the faculty's professionalism. and he is going to support the faculty in "every way possible" to make USM a better university. i hope i have done mr. mclaughlin's apology justice. if not, it is my fault, not his. any misspellings or grammatical errors are mine not his.

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This is an accurate summary.  Keep in mind my comments above about the size, format, and appearance.  Reporter confirms on the FS thread that it is a paid ad and that there was a separate letter to the FS.

Once again, I must object to the form of an apology and instruct, gently I hope, those who write such missives.

An apology should be just that -- an apology. It should not be an explanation or a justification. It is a recanting, not a recounting. Also, an apology that says anything at all on the order of "any misunderstanding that may have occurred" or "any hurt they might have caused" is a silly attempt to apologize while placing the blame for the error at least shared with, if not squarely on the shoulders of, the recipient of the apology. Also, language about "my remarks being taken out of context" in whatever form it takes is an attempt to side-step responsibility for the remarks themselves. Mr. McLaughlin appears to be saying that while "the words are [his]," the fault is with those who took his remarks out of context.

This letter isn't an apology, it is a dance. And we all know the activity to which dancing is often a prelude. This isn't a "mea culpa." It is a "mea culpa -- but it's your fault." That is unacceptable and should not be accepted by the faculty senate.

Mr. McLaughlin's apology should take this form: "I was wrong. I should never have said what I said. I ask the forgiveness of the faculty, the students and the community." PERIOD.

One final aside -- Mr. Manners is particularly offended by the phrase "I'm sorry." While this phrase has come to be accepted in the vernacular, it is really not a proper way to apologize. An apology should honor the recipient of the apology and their right to extend forgiveness to the offending party. "I'm sorry" is about the apologizer. The form should be "Please forgive me" which is about the recipient and honors the right of the recipient to extend (or deny) forgiveness.

This was no apology by any form of appropriate courtesy.

Thus endeth the lesson.