Only a Week Late!

Collegiate education is a two-way process. Yes, I get up in front of my classes and I lecture, but the students also have responsibilities. These include (but are not limited to) submitting their assignments on time.

I make this clear on the first day of class. And the course syllabus document explicitly states that assignments submitted late without good cause and absence of negligence will be penalized, and that such penalty can extend clear down to a grade of "Zero" for the assignment. Good cause and absence of negligence includes informing the Professor (that's me!) of the situation as soon as practicable. The greater the tardiness, the greater the penalty!

And it always works out that several students submit tardy assignments each semester. And at least one of them is a real whiner, and uses the line to the effect that he or she was "only a week late." Sure enough, yesterday I got the "only a week late" whine from a student who didn't like the low grade his assignment received.

I have developed a script, which I copy and post in my reply e-mails. I now share it with you. Readers in the education profession are, of course, welcome to borrow it:




Philip W. Warner filed his petition to the New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal just 7 days late. His petition was dismissed for lateness.

In 2000, Kenneth Bernard Rouse filed his habeas corpus petition in Federal District Court just one day after the deadline expired. The petition was dismissed for lateness, and Rouse's death penalty stood (though the cretin is still alive as of this writing).

The Village of Lynbrook filed a motion for summary judgment just one day late in the New York Supreme Court. The motion was dismissed for lateness.

Joanne Austin filed her petition with the U. S. Tax Court just one day late. It was dismissed as untimely.

Christine Lamanna filed her petition with the New York State Division of Tax Appeals just one day after the extended deadline. It was dismissed as untimely.

The protest of "Mama's Restaurant" (name changed to avoid embarrassing the taxpayer) was postmarked one day beyond the deadline. The Illinois Department of Revenue, Office of Administrative Hearings dismissed the protest as untimely.

A certain Indiana business (whose identity is confidential under Indiana law) remitted its employee withholding taxes to the Indiana Department of State Revenue just one day late. The lateness penalty was imposed.

And over in England, Commerce Connections, Ltd. was just one day late in remitting its Value Added Tax to Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs. The default surcharge was imposed. And Geoffrey John Clarke's VAT was electronically submitted a mere 1 hour and 42 minutes past the midnight deadline, and he also had to pay the default surcharge to HMRC.

So don't come whining to me that your assignment was submitted only one day late -- Let alone a week late. If you submit your assignment late, then it will be penalized! End of discussion!!