Journal Entries
Today's letter to my calculus teacher
Posted Nov 17, 1999
Notes on establishing a paper trail: here you are.
>Ali,
>
>I did receive your email and I will give you a thoughtful reply when I have
>the time to think before I speak. I'll try to get back to you on these
>ethical questions by Tuesday.
>
>Ann
The situation has complicated itself. I know I'm only impugning on your already too-tight schedule, but, at the risk of waxing Star-Warsian, you're fast becoming my only hope.
I had hypothetical class with the hypothetical teacher today, who essentially told the whole class about our arrangement without naming names. He then said that, in order to be fair, he would put a 10-point extra credit question on our final (the quiz I missed was worth 10 points), so that people like me who 'missed a quiz' would have an opportunity to make it up. This arrangement supercedes the one he and I previously made that I told you about: he no longer has any intention of weighting my final worth my missed points
He is, in short, treating me as he would anyone who had skipped class. Once again, I spoke to him about this. Once again, he said he had no memory of any conversation I might have had with him concerning my absence. More than simply calling me a liar, he has managed a situation where *everyone else in the class* either gets to make up a quiz they really had skipped or acquire extra credit points. I would be ecstatic if only I'd skipped.
Instead I am enraged. I hope it's justly. When I spoke to him after class today I told him there surely must be some rule that he's breaking, and he laughed and told me I could go to the dean if I felt that way about it. If by Thursday he hasn't changed his mind, then I certainly will go to whatever dean handles these matters.
There is no longer any question in my mind that he's doing something wrong. Unfortunately he's a part of the math department and I couldn't decently ask you to speak on my behalf against your own fellow. Fortunately I have lots of other evidence, including all my other teachers whom I did tell and who do remember. What would mean everything to me is that, if push comes to shove, you would be willing to forward these emails to whomever is looking in to the matter.
It should never come to that, but, on the other hand, it should never have come this far at all. I'm very grateful to you for listening to my concerns at a time like this; I know you've been terrifically busy lately and I'm certainly not helping matters at all. With regard to the mathematical portion of my last letter - I figured it out today, the connection between the two equations of the cross product... ironically, due to a demonstration from this other instructor.
Ali
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Latest reply: Nov 17, 1999
Piss off famous people
Posted Nov 15, 1999
This week I pissed off Steven Brust by forcing my point, the poor fellow. If I were him, I would have handled me with the same ginger care due to raving potential stalkers everywhere. My shame is not in being blown off, but understanding why I was blown off. Foolish pride!
To that end: I'm building a Temple Of A Thousand Doors vis-a-vis Ende's _Neverending Story_, or at least I will after some meditations on logistics. Or at least I was going to until I found someone had already half-way built it. I've only to tamper with the interface a bit.
But I do wonder if the Guide will be requiring articles on Taliesin, arithmetic operators and set logic, or perhaps neuroleptics? I think I have found a use for all the papers I've written for other people.
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Latest reply: Nov 15, 1999
Ysgall
Researcher U101394
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