I'm not exactly an outsider, I teach in the psychology department at a community college, but I am a fairly new instructor and have only subscribed to this list for a few months. My reaction to this banter about Sylvester is to consider dropping the list. My purpose in subscribing was to learn from experienced teachers. Scanning all the irrelevant posts is time consuming and irritating. Many of the posts seem to be of a more personal nature which probably is interesting for those who have been on the list for a long time, but newcomers may be alienated. I would appreciate a little more focus on teaching issues.
Judy Wilson Associate Faculty MiraCosta College One Barnard Drive Oceanside, CA 92056 760-757-2121 x 1227 -----Original Message----- From: Gary Klatsky [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2004 5:12 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: RE: New Address -----Original Message----- From: Paul Smith [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] I wonder what an outsider would think about our reactions to Sylvester. Specifically, I'm relieved that we did not as a group continue to believe that he was a serious person in our field raising important psychological issues, but rather recognized this drivel for what it is, and knew to be suspicious of his claim to be in our field ---- Those of us with history on the list have learned the lesson that Paul described. What concerns me is the impression Sylvester makes on new teachers. Imagine being a new psychology instructor and coming to this list and your first impression is Sylvester's drivel. Who we are and what our backgrounds are has been irrelevant to me as long as the discussions relate to the teaching of psychology and the post reflects knowledge of the topic. The group has tolerated is propensity towards anti-Semitic comments, his comments that my students would be embarrassed to make and his complete lack of respect for this group. What bothers me is that we recently had a discussion of plagiarism and the consequences for students who are caught plagiarizing. How would we deal with a student who behaved like Sylvester. Imagine a student writing a paper based on personal experiences working in a psychiatric hospital and you learned that he/she never had that experience. Gary J. Klatsky, Ph. D. Director, Human Computer Interaction M.A. Program Department of Psychology [EMAIL PROTECTED] Oswego State University (SUNY) http://www.oswego.edu/~klatsky 7060 State Hwy 104W Voice: (315) 312-3474 Oswego, NY 13126 Fax: (315) 312-6330 -----Original Message----- From: Paul Smith [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] I wonder what an outsider would think about our reactions to Sylvester. Specifically, I'm relieved that we did not as a group continue to believe that he was a serious person in our field raising important psychological issues, but rather recognized this drivel for what it is, and knew to be suspicious of his claim to be in our field. In other words, we could have really embarrassed ourselves the way that the editors of Social Texts did when they accepted the Sokal paper/hoax. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
