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jonesey
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« on: July 13, 2009, 12:02:40 PM » |
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Just another political appointment or a disaster in the making? With Mr. Gonzales' record under Bush II, should universities be placing him in a teaching position like the one he starts at Texas Tech this fall? Full story. On August 1, Alberto Gonzales will start working at Texas Tech University, where he will teach a seminar in political science while helping the university (and Angelo State University) recruit and retain first generation college students. In announcing the appointment last week, Texas Tech officials praised his "experience" and "expertise," noting the important legal jobs he held in Austin and Washington working for George W. Bush.
In most cases, landing a former U.S. attorney general would be a coup for a university, and law schools would be lining up with job offers. But the ties between Gonzales and Bush -- and the role Gonzales played in decisions that critics view as unconstitutionally eroding civil liberties -- mean that this appointment isn't escaping notice, even at the generally conservative Lubbock campus. Criticism has come both from those offended by the Gonzales record and those disturbed by the idea that -- at a time of tight budgets -- the chancellor of the university (Kent Hance, a politician turned educator, who was once a Democrat but became a Republican during the Reagan administration) would find $100,000 to create a job for Gonzales. |
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Jonesey, I know you're a being of sensitivity and refinement. |
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inthelab
Where beloved molecules abide
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 4,241
Who knew?
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« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2009, 12:42:13 PM » |
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... With Mr. Gonzales' record under Bush II, should universities be placing him in a teaching position like the one he starts at Texas Tech this fall?
IMO, no. But Texas Tech didn't ask me (too bad). $100K for the putative felon. The agony. |
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inthelab, I love you for that.
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sibyl
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« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2009, 04:18:20 PM » |
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I am guessing (a).
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"I do not pretend to set people right, but I do see that they are often wrong." -- Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
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lost_angeleno
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« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2009, 05:20:47 PM » |
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Look, Tech is wired in top to bottom to the "old boy" network in Texas, and political appointments are just the way bidness (sic) is done in the Lonely Star State. No big surprise, no big thing.
Give them a vote of thanks for taking Bertie out of the media (and the civilized world (have you seen Lubbock?)) for us.
They're doin' a heckofa job.
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Abigail, I'm sure if there's someone out there, looking down on us from someplace else in the universe, they're wise enough to stay away from us.
--Grissom
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mountainguy
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« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2009, 06:23:49 PM » |
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While I think $100K is entirely too much for such a position (especially if it was influenced by political connections), Gonzales has to make a living somehow. My understanding is that no law firms in the United States would touch him with a 10-foot pole. I'd much rather he have a position like this than another one in law or politics.
Just sayin'.
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jonesey
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« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2009, 06:32:36 PM » |
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While I think $100K is entirely too much for such a position (especially if it was influenced by political connections), Gonzales has to make a living somehow. My understanding is that no law firms in the United States would touch him with a 10-foot pole. I'd much rather he have a position like this than another one in law or politics.
Just sayin'.
Texas always needs a good public defender. It'd probably do him good. Besides, wasn't he a judge? Doesn't that entitle him to some sort of ridiculous pension? |
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Jonesey, I know you're a being of sensitivity and refinement. |
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southerntransplant
Generally overcaffeinated
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 6,851
Am I on YOUR curriculum committee too?
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« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2009, 09:28:11 PM » |
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Criticism has come both from those offended by the Gonzales record and those disturbed by the idea that -- at a time of tight budgets -- the chancellor of the university (Kent Hance, a politician turned educator, who was once a Democrat but became a Republican during the Reagan administration) would find $100,000 to create a job for Gonzales. IS EVERY CHANCELLOR IN TEXAS A GODFORSAKEN FORMER POLITICAN OR GOVERNOR SOCKPUPPET? |
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"Interestingly, many fans find that Seger looks increasingly more like the cereal brand character Captain Crunch as he ages." - Wikipedia entry on Bob Seger.
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fiona
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« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2009, 09:35:12 PM » |
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And besides all that, the assumption seems to be that anyone can teach a seminar.
Or teach at all, without any background in teaching.
I've seen many a superstar politician and his/her ilk founder as a classroom/seminar teacher, because they don't know how to organize, can't deal with paperwork at all, and resent young people.
He will suffer. But so, alas, will Texas Tech students.
The Fiona
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The Fiona or perhaps La Fiona
Professor of Thread Killing, Fiork University
The Right Reverend Fiona, PhD, Bishop of the Fora
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darkmatter
Member
Posts: 173
I snark therefore I am.
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« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2009, 09:45:22 PM » |
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I've seen many a superstar politician and his/her ilk founder as a classroom/seminar teacher, because they don't know how to organize, can't deal with paperwork at all, and resent young people.
Hey! I'm a superstar politician! |
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fiona
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« Reply #9 on: July 13, 2009, 10:01:05 PM » |
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I've seen many a superstar politician and his/her ilk founder as a classroom/seminar teacher, because they don't know how to organize, can't deal with paperwork at all, and resent young people.
Hey! I'm a superstar politician!Since when? Does that mean you hike the Appalachian Trail? The Fiona |
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The Fiona or perhaps La Fiona
Professor of Thread Killing, Fiork University
The Right Reverend Fiona, PhD, Bishop of the Fora
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daniel_von_flanagan
<redacted>
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 8,978
Works all day. Posts all night. Needs sleep.
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« Reply #10 on: July 13, 2009, 10:26:22 PM » |
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While I think $100K is entirely too much for such a position (especially if it was influenced by political connections), Gonzales has to make a living somehow. He should be making license plates for a living. - DvF |
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The U.S. Education Department is establishing a new national research center to study colleges' ability to successfully educate the country's growing numbers of academically underprepared administrators.
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darkmatter
Member
Posts: 173
I snark therefore I am.
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« Reply #11 on: July 13, 2009, 11:39:01 PM » |
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I've seen many a superstar politician and his/her ilk founder as a classroom/seminar teacher, because they don't know how to organize, can't deal with paperwork at all, and resent young people.
Hey! I'm a superstar politician!Since when? Does that mean you hike the Appalachian Trail? The Fiona Care to tango? |
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fiona
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« Reply #12 on: July 14, 2009, 12:27:35 AM » |
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I've seen many a superstar politician and his/her ilk founder as a classroom/seminar teacher, because they don't know how to organize, can't deal with paperwork at all, and resent young people.
Hey! I'm a superstar politician!Since when? Does that mean you hike the Appalachian Trail? The Fiona "Last Tango in Lubbock"? It, um, lacks some euphony. The Fiona |
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The Fiona or perhaps La Fiona
Professor of Thread Killing, Fiork University
The Right Reverend Fiona, PhD, Bishop of the Fora
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darkmatter
Member
Posts: 173
I snark therefore I am.
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« Reply #13 on: July 14, 2009, 01:17:05 AM » |
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I've seen many a superstar politician and his/her ilk founder as a classroom/seminar teacher, because they don't know how to organize, can't deal with paperwork at all, and resent young people.
Hey! I'm a superstar politician!Since when? Does that mean you hike the Appalachian Trail? The Fiona "Last Tango in Lubbock"? It, um, lacks some euphony. The Fiona I was thinking about Buenos Aires. |
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renji
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« Reply #14 on: July 14, 2009, 02:14:42 AM » |
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While I think $100K is entirely too much for such a position (especially if it was influenced by political connections), Gonzales has to make a living somehow.
I do not mind this. College campuses should be places where a wide array of ideas can be aired and debated. Plus, $100K isn't very much for a former AG. I make much more than that and I'm not forced to live in Lubbock. Most politicians, left and right, seem to end up on a college campus somewhere after they are put out to pasture. I like this idea. I wish some controversial figure or disgraced politician (R or D) would land on my campus. On my campus, there is almost no diversity of political thought. I think 100% of faculty and students voted for Obama. The only really debate on campus was between the I love Obama wing of the students and faculty and the I love Obama more wing. It was a little boring. |
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