So much to do, so little time

Wife and I have been so busy with prepping for our overseas move that I almost neglected to notice this spate of lower-than-usual air temperatures that has hit Long Island, drenching it with more than its usual share of rainfall.  Does it have anything to do with global warming?

As mentioned previously, we are staying with my wife's sister pending our departure in less than two weeks.  Their gracious availment of their home to us is eternally appreciated; they will, of course, be welcomed in our abode at such time as they come to visit Israel (which they have intimated may be relatively soon).  Various friends and relatives have been inviting us to dinner for one last rendezvous before we become geographically attenuated.  I will likely continue to work on one case I am now litigating, although I will no longer be the lead attorney for the party.

Meanwhile, I am spending most of my time at our temporary home, doing all kinds of paperwork, making and receiving all kinds of phone calls, and trying to get our load down to three suitcases each for me and my wife (total of 6 for those who cannot count).  Now is not the time or place for me to spill my guts about the various complications; we are focusing on looking forward.  My wife's new employer is very understanding of our situation, and has agreed that my wife will not officially start until four to six weeks after our arrival, provided that she comes in, unofficially, on a few occasions in order to (A) get her paperwork processed; and (B) attends a few seminars and workshops.  Inasmuch as they are giving her many perquisites not currently found in her present situation, my wife is quite happy with the deal.

And her "current" situation has all but totally wound down.  She stopped seeing new patients in March, has worked down her patient inventory to just a handful (who are in the process of being transferred to the newby physician in her department), and is assisting with some research projects.  Tomorrow is her last day on the job (though she will come in next week for a farewell luncheon); she will be taking the remainder as vacation days (which will give her an income stream during the first two months we are in Israel).  She now needs to think about when she will turn on her pension payments; she can start in as little as 3 years and change, or else delay it and receive bigger monthly payouts.  We'll see how we are managing and she'll make the decision.

I have just turned in my grades for the semester.  Nothing happened this semester that didn't happen in prior semesters; I had the usual gamut of students.  These included some jocks who were academically clueless, and one who is anything but clueless.  One uberleftist who had the good sense to not start up with me (though her grade would still have been in the A range even if she had).  I caught one student submitting a plagiarized term paper (and a poorly-written one at that).  But all in all, the average student was above average for me this semester.  I expect to some of them succeed in the future (one has already gotten a merit-based scholarship to a prestigious program).

But I am very, very busy.  It is very grating and tedious.  Sometimes I just need to take a break and write a blog post.

Oh, well, back to the grind -- After I grab a little belated lunch.

You Know Who You Are

 

[Note:  Identifying information has been omitted/altered.  Much as you may deserve it, I do not now purpose to embarrass you any further.]

Not all learning is accomplished through the formal education process.

It is axiomatic that students are expected to read and understand the Syllabus document of the course, handed out on the first day of the semester.   Some of my colleagues do not go into the detail that I do when they prepare their course syllabi, but the fact that my Syllabus is in fact so detailed should be a very strong indication that I mean business.  You are expected to read -- and heed -- the information in the Syllabus (and in any other course handouts distributed by the professor).  For my part, I am expected to deliver on the representations I make in the Syllabus.

And it is no less axiomatic that you, as a student, are obligated to conform to the College Policy on Academic Integrity.  The Policy is printed at length in the College Bulletin; the fact that my course Syllabus gives the URL link to the Policy makes your failure to adhere to it all the less excusable.

In addition to the foregoing, my course Syllabus explicitly and plainly states (and I quote):

"Students who turn in a plagiarized Term Paper are subject to a failing grade of "F" for the semester."

That is why your final grade was "F."  You submitted a plagiarized Term Paper.  I have some very damning well nigh incontrovertible evidence that the Term Paper you submitted originated at one of those term paper mill websites.

So now, you come to me with all of your sob stories about how you had to deal with some pressures from various sources, how you had a family emergency that required you to go back to your country, and how you will now need to retake a course, even though you marched in your gown and mortarboard at the graduation ceremony a few days ago.

But you made a decision to submit a plagiarized work, and I caught you.  Understand that you have insulted my intelligence.  Understand that, notwithstanding the anonymity of the process, I now need to impose the promised sanction upon you or else I will be a smacked toochas with no credibility in future semesters.  And understand that you, and you alone, placed me into a situation where I am now compelled to take this action against you.

In addition to your failing grade, I can now pursue disciplinary charges against you.  I'll forgo that option, however, because it would only consume my time and yours and that of the College Judicial Officer; time that could be better spent by me in my scholarly research or my law practice, and better spent by you studying for the course you will need to retake.

I have made my decision.  You have the right to appeal it to the Assistant Department Chair in the first instance, and from thence to the Scholastic Standards Committee, but, as I have said, the documentary evidence against you is overwhelming.  [And if you elect to play the race card, I am prepared to demonstrate that the penalty I am now imposing upon you is identical to the penalty I imposed upon a student a year ago, in a similar incident where the student was of my own ethnic background.  I am quite evenhanded about these things.].

And so, you have nobody but yourself to blame for your current predicament.

Flushing all Discipline down the Toilet

Now, some officials and parents are getting all upset because some students at Bronx's In-Tech Academy have apparently been tasked to latrine-cleaning as a punishment for misbehavior. See here, here and here.

[I have, with unusual and atypical self-restraint, resisted the temptation to insinuate some excretory pun into the title of this posting, but I cannot prevent you, dear reader, from thinking of any and grinning.].

I really, really, do not see what the problem is. The students misbehaved, so they were compelled to clean toilets as a punishment. So what?!?!?

The kids involved have misbehaved in school. This, while in no way commendable, is, within limits, normal.

The misbehaving kids were given some practical negative feedback (known in my day as "punishment" or "discipline") for their misbehavior. This, once upon a time, was normal, but all of the liberal sob sisters hung up on the rights of the poor misguided and deprived children have made it increasingly difficult for school teachers or administrators to mete out any meaningful punishment without being subjected to punishment themselves.

What is happening is that the perpetuators are being cast as victims. And the school administrators who tried to discipline them (who are the good guys/gals in this scenario) are now being vilified as wrongdoers.

And so, whatever disciplinary regime the school administrators have tried, against all odds, to maintain in their school, is now being flushed down the toilet!