re: LSU professor fired for being a spiteful woman or female dog

A couple of comments I read from the Advocate were amusing to say the least.

I had numerous professors back in the 1970's who cursed from time to time. Nobody really cared. Then again, that was a time when folks weren't looking for a reason to become offended, and yes, they were top flight professors who could have taught on any faculty they chose.

College is supposed to be an environment for the free flow of information and ideas. You are exposed to a fairly wide diversity of thought.

Tenure is supposed to protect professors from reprisal for sharing information that may or may not be mainstream, or those who didn't vote for a certain person as governor. It allows for research that might yield results contrary to a current line of public thought. Tenure saved jobs when the concept of evolution was more controversial than it is now. If it had been around centuries back when some contended the world was not flat, more would have probably spoken out. No, it is not meant to be used as a catch-all for someone to sit on their arse and do nothing. However, the protections that tenure offers allows professors to teach more freely and expose their students to a larger world. Without it, you wind up in the same controversy that Louisiana College was mired in for years (and still is to some extent) in terms of canning professors who didn't find a way to include Jesus in their mathematics courses, or who were seen by other faculty having an alcoholic beverage at a public restaurant (yes, there was a policy at that school that faculty were required to report another faculty member if they witnessed such). So tenure does have its advantages. Are there some abuses from time to time - sure, but these are really in the minority in terms of frequency of occurrence. In order to maintain a healthy college environment, tenure for staff who have earned such is necessary. Does it make you fire-proof? No. However, it does grant you the right to due process.

Again, we don't know the whole story on this particular professor other than what was reported in the newspaper, but I would suspect that more will be forthcoming as time progresses. Moreover, the professor will probably land somewhere else in good time. Hopefully, whatever she needed to learn from this experience, she will take forward with her.

In all candor, after going through a divorce from a long-term marriage myself, I can certainly understand the meltdown and/or not being as attentive to one's behavior, and the rest of you who have been there can also relate. While the use of a few curse words may be considered by some as a violation of social convention, it certainly is not a moral issue. Just about every President to have served this country has cursed. One was even stupid enough to tape it. I have known of many of a minister who did so in private conversation, and even a couple who used one or two of the so-called curse words in their sermons - to make a point. Granted, we don't have the whole story and are simply operating on what was reported in the news article. I am sure as time goes along, more will come out. However, to be so puritanical to act like life is supposed to operate like the "Cleaver family" is in itself quite unrealistic and dysfunctional.