Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Zzzzzz

Tonight, while chatting with some friends, I asked whether anybody else saw the story in the newspaper this morning about the snoring professor. Two people hooted. Not only had they read it, one had the newspaper with her and showed it to the others.

"At our university we aren't even allowed to sit down when we're proctoring exams," said one, enviously.

Another said, "But that isn't the first time it has happened. It happened at X university and they hushed it up because it was too embarrassing for the university. The professor was snoring so loudly during the listening part of the English exam that nobody could hear the tape."

"This guy in this story got a stern oral warning," I said, reading the newspaper, and our friend told us the best part of her story.

"The professor at X university was suspended for a month, with pay," she said, and we stared at her. She added, for clarity, "He was not allowed into a classroom for a month."

We gasped. "WITH PAY?"

"With pay," she said.

Not only did they hush up the story, they rewarded the professor!

Yet ANOTHER perk of tenured professors. We part-timers NEVER get suspended. (Of course we don't have to proctor exams, either, but still.)

If the professor in the newspaper story had heard of the earlier, hushed up snoring incident, he must have been VERY disappointed with his 'stern oral warning.' Maybe he just didn't snore loudly enough.

3 comments:

Artistic Soul said...

WOW! If I ever fell asleep during a class, exam or not, I have a strong suspicion that I'd be fired on the spot.

Anonymous said...

If being rewarded for bad behavior was more common, I might be a rich man now. Alas, when I fall asleep, people give sigh of relief and hope my nap lasts longer than my awake time.

Angeline Rose Larimer said...

The injustice of it all! I once got yelled at for yawning in the back row. "If you're too tired to attend my class, miss, you're welcome to go home and sleep it off." This is when my coffee habit began. I ceased to be sleepy, and discovered a new problem...needing to use the restroom mid-lecture.
College is so hard.
I'm glad tenured profs are getting a little leniency. ;)