Adjunct Quits Bc Over Rice

ADJUNCT QUITS BC OVER RICE
http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/05/15/qt

 

Why is the above posted in this forum and not in off-topic discussions? Smells political as I am not quite sure how an adjunct's personal thoughts and decisions regarding Dr. Rice relate to distance learning .

 

Reasonable question...no political agenda...we have quite a few people either teaching or exploring teaching as adjuncts.

 

A major sacrifice on his part -- the best I can tell from the BC catalog, he was only teaching one class.

 

He is an adjunct. It is a part time job. His quitting is not a relevant political/social statement.

 

I'm a fan of Steve Almond's writing, and I own his first short story collection, "My Life in Heavy Metal".

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Steve%20Almond&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/104-4635576-3300743
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/books/bookreviews/index.html?query=ALMOND,%20STEVE&field=per&match=exact

Almond's fairly well known among Gen X fiction readers so this may make a small splash. Or a barely detectable ripple - his feelings about Bush were already quite public. He certainly doesn't need the BC paycheck.

I, too, detest the Administration, but the name recognition that Dr. Rice brings to her alma mater - the University of Denver - is a part of what prompted me to enroll there. No publicity is bad publicity.

 

Adjuncts don't quit; they just don't get hired back to teach another course.

 

Re: Re: Adjunct Quits Bc Over Rice

Not in this case - his resignation letter is published in the Boston Globe's op-ed section:

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/05/12/condoleezza_rice_at_boston_college_i_quit/?p1=MEWell_Pos5

 

Re: Re: Re: Adjunct Quits Bc Over Rice

His adjunct "professorship" is temporary position, so his resignation is a big yawn of sorts: "I am writing to resign my post as an adjunct professor of English at Boston College."

Dave

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Adjunct Quits Bc Over Rice

A temporary position that lasted five years.

Almond was an adjunct in the same sense that Spike Lee is an adjunct at NYU, and Quentin Tarantino was at USC - a big name brought in to lend the writing program a bit more prestige.

http://www.stevenalmond.com/

His students will miss him...till he takes up a new post elsewhere in Boston.

Topically, I can recommend one of his short stories, "How to Love a Republican" - scroll to the bottom for an excerpt: http://www.stevenalmond.com/?page=mlihm&n=3&f=2

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Adjunct Quits Bc Over Rice

I am a member of the UC Santa Cruz Friends of the University Library. His resignation is about as significant as me writing to the local paper and telling that I'm resigning my position as a member of the Friends of the UCSC Library because the mascot is the Banana Slug. In sum, his action is meaningless and probably ridiculous.

Best wishes,

Dave

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Adjunct Quits Bc Over Rice

Dave, it appears Steve would agree. There are much bigger slugs to fry:

"I appreciate those who have read my open letter to The Boston Globe and responded.

But listen: the issue here is public officials who mislead the public--not my decision to stop teaching at BC. Rather than writing me, I'd advise you to write to politicians and media outlets, demanding to know why the members of the current administration--including Secretary Rice--keep lying to American citizens about their policy decisions. It is the duty of a mature democracy to hold those in power accountable."

All the best.

 

I was wondering when someone would post excerpts and links to the adjunct's rather political writings. Still quite an off-topic subject. With that, I adore the many caveats some write such as "...detest the Administration, but..." or "As much as I dislike...". Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where the characters have the guilt ridden feeling when discussing a sensitive issue by proclaiming "Not that there's anything wrong with that!". The mere fact that an adjunct resigned ostenstibly to make a political statement is not worthy to note in this forum aside from a political agenda -- unless possibly that adjunct is of such a rank it would be astonishing. Of course, there is a reason why Headlines still are written about how Alec Baldwin is going to move out of the US if Bush is elected. Somewhere along the line actors and essayists are worthy of political note. Hmmmmm.

 

Smile. Guilt might not be the proper word. I find it rather fun when one provides the caveat that they don't support X, BUT... It's as if one is ashamed that they must say what follows BUT. Not that there is anything wrong with that!

 

I think it's interesting that many are saying it's not a big deal. To some extent, it is a big deal if enough people think it is - whether it's justified in some absolute sense or not. What's the saying, "right you are if you think you are."?

A guy quits in Boston and it makes national news, and distance learners are debating it from all points across the globe. It's a fairly big deal, by definition.

And yes, I detest this Administration, and I have absolutely no guilt about it, nor do I feel any need to qualify it. I also don't feel the need to say "I told you so" (oops, I guess I did). Back in the election all of the liberals were ranting about what we had in George Bush. It looks like Bush gave us exactly what we said he would; he has been true to his track record. We can file his presidency right next to the Arbusto file. At least now it seems a huge percentage of conservatives have walked towards the light. It's a good feeling. The earth is round after all. Whew.