Mike, Mike, Mike

If the we're looking for a reason why Far-Right Folk don't exactly outnumber liberals on university campuses, we could have a like at Dr. Adams' latest effort on TownHall.com for a hint.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/ma20050707.shtml

He's just gotten his latest eval back, he tells us, and he's shocked, shocked, he tells us, to find that he got some negative comments, "for the first time ever."

Adams claims that among "those was the criticism that during the last year I did not take part in the “ongoing life” of my department. " He then deduces that this means he didn't go to parties held at his fellow professers' houses.

He cites one specific party, spitefully held on September 11 -- no doubt an eee-eee-eevil party at which liberals mocked the heroic dead, though Adams charitably refrains from saying so.

He does say this:

Last September 11, I was invited to such a party at the home of my supervisor – the same one who wrote my annual evaluation. When I told her I was unable to attend the party due to a conflict with an NRA banquet, my supervisor called it a “fascist pig” banquet.

I'm wondering why Adams won't attend the parties his colleqgues throw. Considering that he has, over the past year, been telling us non-stop how he has been harassing his peers, could it be he's afraid to attend these parties?

Or could it simply be that he's a pathetic twit, who, if he goes to parties, ends up saying asshat things that reveal him as the giant loser he is? (I'm betting on Option B!)

Interesting that his peers continue to invite him to parties, BTW.

Nevertheless, not taking part in the "ongoing life of the department" probably has nothing to do with these parties, depsite Adams' fantasies.

It is much more likely to mean that he does not talk to his peers in the hallway, does not attend faculty meetings, is not available outside office hours, does not mentor new faculty members, does not volunteer to serve as club sponsers, does not design new courses, does not, in other words, step up and do the 110 things that have to be done to keep a department going. This is the problem with having conservatives on campus. They're all Very Important Folk, you see. They have Real Work to do. Not like the rest of us. So they can't be bothered to step up to the plate and do any of the actual work of running the place -- especially since the actual work of running the place often doesn't translate into any more actual money in the pay check, or at least not directly. (It does indirectly, in the form of better evals, and not getting fired, and having a better university in the long run, but you know conservatives, they don't seem to be able to think in long-term, nuanced ways like this.)

Anyway, I suspect Mike is too busy pissing and moaning about how picked upon he is, as a poor victimized conservative, how everyone hates him, and how he's the only one bold and brave enough to take a stand about evil feminists and vaginas on campus and queer guys running wild and how guns are better than condoms and blah blah blah.

And, by the way, even if it is the party thing -- so what? Going to parties is, frankly, ALSO part of the job.

Ask any lawyer if you don't get that, Dr. Adams.

Ask any real estate agent. Ask any politician, any reporter, any teacher, anyone at all who knows anything about actually working in the actual world.

And your paragraphs here?

Or imagine that alcohol is served at departmental parties (they usually are), making a professor unable to attend for religious reasons. Would he not prevail in a suit charging religious discrimination if his absence was later recorded in his performance evaluation? You should immediately consult your attorneys on this one, President Broad.

Similarly, some professors might not want to attend parties at the homes of other professors who are cohabitating outside of marriage, or involved in homosexual relationships. They may have young children they do not want exposed to such lifestyles at an early age. Perhaps they should not have to spend money for a baby sitter just to keep from getting a negative performance evaluation.

Find a quarter and buy a clue.

No one's making you drink. Other folks drinking is none of your concern. Teach at a religious school if you're that touchy. Yes, you should have to spend money on a baby-sitter to attend a party that's part of your job. (I paid daycare expenses every day for three years, so cry me a river, dude.)

And finally: you know what? Pay attention to this review, bud.

Someone's trying to tell you something.