Academics Are Really, Really Worried About Their Freedom

[DGuller]

While googling this same story to see whether it's legit and faithfully summarized, I ran across Gordon Klein and UCLA story.    

[viper37]

I recognize you feel uncomfortable with the comparison.  But tell me, what exactly differentiates O'Toole from Harris?

Okay, so I'm comparing Kamala Harris' positions from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Kamala_Harris

and Erin O'Toole's from https://erinotoole.ca/platform/

Harris supports greater gun control, O'Toole does not.

Harris would probably be very happy with the level of gun control we have now.  O'Toole wouldn't change the status quo.

O'Toole wants to reduce and simplify taxes.  Harris wants to cancel tax cuts for the wealthy and increase taxes on corporations.

Meaningless without an analysis of current rates in Canada vs the US. Canadian corporate rates are higher.  Does Harris want to raise them higher than Canada or the same as O'Toole has in mind? 

O'Toole wants to cut funding to public broadcasting with an eye to privatizing it - Harris has no similar policy and likely supports public broadcasting.

Again a meaningless comparison.  The US public broadcaster is not as well supported.  Would Harris be happy with the level of support the CBC gets as a percentage of the Federal budget? 

Harris has supported efforts to cut police funding, O'Toole does not.

Funny, I have read that the line that the Biden/Harris ticket wants to defund the police is a Fox lie - you can do better than that BB.

O'Toole opposes carbon taxes, Harris supports the Green New Deal - which includes carbon taxes.

You are right about that.  But I bet you the Conservatives come around to what was, after all, their idea originally. 

I could go on, but I think that gives you a pretty good idea...

Yep, I did get a good idea.  Not much difference.

Now let me add some things you left out.

Abortion rights - the same

Need to address racism - the same

Need to address climate change - the same

I could go on but I think you see where I am going 

if the comparisons are meaningless, why did you bring them in the first place?

Anyway, about corporate tax.  Yes, the Canadian rate is higher for large corporations.  But it's a tax rate on profit, and profit is determined by fiscal rules.  On this, the US fiscality is much more lenient than Canada's.  And also, when a corporation hides its profits through multiple shell companies or moves money from one place to another to reduce its tax bill, 40% of nothing is still less than 25% of something.

[Barrister]

While googling this same story to see whether it's legit and faithfully summarized, I ran across Gordon Klein and UCLA story.   

I googled that one.  I don't think the dude should be fired, but really why on earth would he be so snarky in his email?  He could have just said "no".

[Sheilbh]

While googling this same story to see whether it's legit and faithfully summarized, I ran across Gordon Klein and UCLA story.   

I googled that one.  I don't think the dude should be fired, but really why on earth would he be so snarky in his email?  He could have just said "no".

Yeah I think I agree. That entire tone doesn't strike me as appropriate from a teacher to students, or really in a workplace generally

[Threviel]

I reacted to that in China, apparently chinese "Niga", pronounced like a bad word in english, means "That" or something equally used. They say it all the time.

[grumbler]

While googling this same story to see whether it's legit and faithfully summarized, I ran across Gordon Klein and UCLA story.   

I googled that one.  I don't think the dude should be fired, but really why on earth would he be so snarky in his email?  He could have just said "no".

Yeah I think I agree. That entire tone doesn't strike me as appropriate from a teacher to students, or really in a workplace generally

I think that the exchange is a pretty clearly demonstration that this guy is not the kind of guy UCLA wants as an adjunct professor.  These are students and this is a teachable moment.  Klein uses it, instead, as a ridicule moment.  Keeping him on after behavior like this just opens UCLA to further and worse incidents of student ridicule, with UCLA unable to defend themselves by claiming that they didn't know what kind of person Klein was.

Adjuncts have no tenure and are on a semester-by-semester contract, so it is easy to get rid of him, as well as wise.

[viper37]

While googling this same story to see whether it's legit and faithfully summarized, I ran across Gordon Klein and UCLA story.   

I googled that one.  I don't think the dude should be fired, but really why on earth would he be so snarky in his email?  He could have just said "no".

Yeah I think I agree. That entire tone doesn't strike me as appropriate from a teacher to students, or really in a workplace generally

it actually is similar to a tone used by many teachers for frivolous requests.

[grumbler]

it actually is similar to a tone used by many teachers for frivolous requests.

Not by any good teachers, or teachers for an institution like UCLA.  I know I'd have been fired for such an email, whether from my full-time job or my adjunct one.

[Sheilbh]

it actually is similar to a tone used by many teachers for frivolous requests.

I've never had an email like that from a teacher when I was a student and - admittedly I'm a bolshy type - but I'd kick off something in that tone at work (unless I'd done something that really fucked things up).

[viper37]

it actually is similar to a tone used by many teachers for frivolous requests.

I've never had an email like that from a teacher when I was a student and - admittedly I'm a bolshy type - but I'd kick off something in that tone at work (unless I'd done something that really fucked things up).

I've had to deal with an architect that was talking like that.  Well, actually, the teacher was nicer.

In school, I've had a couple of teachers who responded to student requests in such tones, sometimes calling them stupid for asking questions in the first place.  But that's finance, they just want you to drop out before you go to work and commit suicide.

[chipwich]

It was an appropriate response to someone who was asking for exams to be canceled for students of a specific race.

[grumbler]

It was an appropriate response to someone who was asking for exams to be canceled for students of a specific race.

I doubt it, but that is immaterial since there was no such request.

[Barrister]

It was an appropriate response to someone who was asking for exams to be canceled for students of a specific race.

It's not clear to me that they were asking for exams to be cancelled, or merely delayed.  In any event the professor is the adult here and should respond accordingly.

[Eddie Teach]

In any event the professor is the adult here

So college professors should treat their students like children?

[Barrister]

In any event the professor is the adult here

So college professors should treat their students like children?

Google in loco parentis.