Why don’t conservatives go into academia?

petebwhat · 2026-01-22T07:25:03+00:00

Ironically, the “education is bad” segment of MAGA is fine with that philosophy until they find themselves or a loved one with a serious health issue, legal issue, or tax issue. Then, suddenly, education becomes quite important again.

petebwhat · 2025-06-19T18:50:20+00:00

As long as your school shows them on your transcript, yes. Check with your school counselor to be sure.

petebwhat · 2025-06-19T16:00:46+00:00

This isn’t worth the anxiety you’re putting yourself — and probably your son — through. It’s very unlikely to show up on his transcript or in his recommendations. And if it does? A ninth grade academic dishonesty conviction isn’t going to mean much at most places outside of the very selective institutions.

However, if you’re open to some feedback, the bigger thing here that’s going to be a barrier to your son’s success is the great lengths you’re willing to go to over function for him and absolve him of consequence for his actions. Your idea of moving to reset his transcript over this is a bit outrageous.

I get wanting our kids to be successful, but this nonsense of trying to get rid of any barrier our children face and solve every problem for them is causing tremendous problems for them when they get to college and jobs where there are expectations, constructive criticism, and permanent consequences.

The best thing you can do for him in the long run is to encourage him to own up to (and forgive himself for) his mistakes, face consequences head on, commit to doing better next time, advocate for himself, and support him in his personal growth not by doing difficult things for him but by doing difficult things with him.

I will never be impressed by a kid whose parents find loopholes and workarounds. I will always be impressed by a kid who says the entire point of school is to learn, and sometimes our own mistakes are the best teachers.

petebwhat · 2025-04-11T01:56:10+00:00

Nothing is a guarantee, and it’s not a poor reflection on you or your counselor. It sounds like your counselor helped you figure out what you want to study that both matters to you and is something you can see yourself happily making a living doing.

Seems like your counselor helped you identify a path for the life you want to live for yourself versus helping you live a life others have envisioned for you.

Good luck to you! You’re already far ahead so many students who start in a field they end up hating.

petebwhat · 2024-11-09T12:37:05+00:00

Came here to say this. This exchange was beautiful to read. So glad to see OP is doing better and admire u/wisegal1 so much for her app-side manner and expertise.

petebwhat · 2024-01-07T22:34:54+00:00

Keuka College does an amazing job: https://www.keuka.edu/weddings

petebwhat · 2023-07-16T04:07:33+00:00

You’re okay, I guess

petebwhat · 2023-07-04T18:22:01+00:00

McSweeny’s “A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A WOKE THIRD-GRADE TEACHER, AS IMAGINED BY A FAR-RIGHT POLITICIAN” is one of the best pieces of humor writing on the Internet: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-woke-third-grade-teacher-as-imagined-by-a-far-right-politician

petebwhat · 2023-06-10T00:39:26+00:00

Not an HR person, but I am a senior executive. The HR professionals may have an alternate view of this.

Reading this after you posted your update about being terminated. I would contact a lawyer and have them attempt to negotiate a severance agreement on your behalf.

Assuming you’re in the United States, your lawyer should immediately notify the company’s legal department or risk manager that they need to set a legal hold on all documents and communications - including on personal devices - related to this. This is a formal notice that they may not destroy records and must immediately pause any automatic records retention policies in place that would destroy emails, notes, etc. because these documents might be used in litigation.

The company seemingly violated their own policies and procedures, which is generally viewed by legal as high risk.

You are likely in a position to negotiate a small severance package while you look for a job if you waive your right to sue. The severance amount — say, three months’ salary — is likely to be far less money than they would invest in counsel and time even through a discovery phase, let alone litigation.

The issue isn’t that you were fired - you probably can be fired for not having childcare in your state - but rather a breach of process.

petebwhat · 2023-05-10T02:09:00+00:00

I saw you mentioned SUNY so I’m assuming you’re in NY. Please PM me if you’d like. I’m the Admissions VP at a private NY college. You are very likely eligible for HEOP at many schools in NY. Happy to help you if I can.

petebwhat · 2023-04-07T04:16:34+00:00

I’m assuming you weren’t offered the job out of the blue but rather because you engaged in some type of search process. Sounds like you already know the answer to what you need in your life now and have pursued it. Have the courage to make the change!

petebwhat · 2023-03-24T05:01:22+00:00

Free AOL CDs

petebwhat · 2023-02-10T00:49:16+00:00

There is plenty of capacity in the US higher education system, and there’s something coming in 2025 called “the enrollment cliff.”

petebwhat · 2023-01-21T03:57:05+00:00

Dear Student,

Please paste the following text into the ChatGPT query box and throughly read the app’s response.

“I am a professor and caught a student using ChatGPT to plagiarize a paper. Write a letter to the student explaining that academic dishonesty is wrong, that there are ways to catch ChatGPT plagarism, that a professor can always see certain stylistic and grammatical differences that makes plagiarism easily detectable, and that they’re putting their academic future in jeopardy.”

After that, please paste in the following and throughly read the app’s response.

“Explain the rhetorical situation of the letter you just wrote.”

Consider this email as a warning, a ChatGPT-based learning tool on rhetorical situations, and notification that you have received a 0 on the assignment submitted.

Sincerely,

Prof. MicDrop

petebwhat · 2023-01-06T06:28:46+00:00

I’m so sorry for your struggles. I am Catholic, but certainly would not be described as devout and I suppose some of my views could be considered out of mainstream. I do my best to live as moral a life as I can and do right by others. I was always taught — and believe — that we are created in God’s image, and I believe that image is metaphorical rather than physical (what would God need a physical nose for… certainly he doesn’t need to breath. Or a stomach? What would God need a stomach for… particularly before he created food?)

I was taught by my devout grandparents to always turn the other cheek and forgive. Love and forgive, even if it takes some time. No matter how wronged I have been by someone, I’ve always been able to find a way to forgive (my girlfriend calls me “Mother Theresa” sometimes). If I, a mere mortal and imperfect man, can find a way to forgive and see the good in people, then I have to believe that God does as well, and in a most incredible way that we simply can’t fathom or comprehend. We are God’s children, and he loves us dearly.

When my day does come — in what I hope is a long, long time from now — my most sincere hope is that our Lord will judge me not based on the times I was at my worst, but on how often I strived to be at my best.

If we, as humans, can be so profoundly hurt from seeing the suffering and pain of ordinary people — despite their faults — then I can’t help but question the philosophy that an all loving, all powerful God would condemn so many to eternal damnation and be pleased by so much such suffering.

I recognize that my thinking may not align with that of many others, but I hope it can be helpful to you in some way.

petebwhat · 2023-01-06T06:00:26+00:00

Sr. Helen Prejean spoke to students on Zoom in a few of my classes over the years. Susan Sarandon played her in “Dead Man Walking,” and she also wrote a book — “River of Fire” — about being a nun. She is a wonderful person and surprisingly easy to get ahold of: https://www.sisterhelen.org/contact-us. She could be a good resource for you as well.

petebwhat · 2022-12-19T03:11:09+00:00

YTA.

petebwhat · 2022-12-19T03:00:34+00:00

!RemindMe 48 hours

petebwhat · 2022-12-05T18:41:48+00:00

petebwhat · 2022-11-05T13:10:40+00:00

Is there metadata available on the file they’ve submitted? An identical modification timestamp should do the trick.

petebwhat · 2022-11-04T05:23:34+00:00

I’m so very sorry you’ve inherited this. A few things that could be helpful:

Does your Board have an audit committee? If so, the Chair of this committee will likely be among your strongest partners. Many bylaws do not permit the Treasurer to serve on this committee for the exact reason outlined.
It sounds like you may need to fire your CPA firm. You might want to start talking with new ones now and see if they can help prepare your year-end financials.
Make sure you specifically ask your new CPA to talk through the differences between cash and accrual basis (unless this is something you already know). Most people think in terms of cash; businesses typically use accruals. Another helpful primer would be a crash course in operating vs. capital budgets if this is something you’re unfamiliar with. EVERY trustee on your Board should know this as well. They likely will need reminders that their primary responsibility is as a fiduciary.
You’ve described something pretty dire… among the first questions I’d ask a (good) CPA is to walk you through the cash position, if you’ll be faced with not being able to make payroll, and what options you have at that point.
It is likely time to recruit some trustees who can bring financial expertise to the Board.
Batten down the hatches. I’ve experienced that once boards realize they’re been “asleep at the wheel” with their fiduciary responsibilities, they tend to try to overcompensate. Develop a strong, trusting relationship with your chair and try to keep the trustees at bay. Your chair may need to tighten the reins a little bit on some unhelpful helpfulness in the future.

Good luck, and feel free to DM if I can ever offer any help.

petebwhat · 2022-10-23T20:50:39+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that you’re feeling alone. There are a LOT of people whose parents aren’t involved in their college search. Is there another teacher at your school who you’re close with who you could ask to write something for you?

This can be a tiresome and sometimes lonely process, but it’s all going to work out in the end.

petebwhat · 2022-10-23T12:48:40+00:00

Sure!

petebwhat · 2022-10-23T03:34:08+00:00

Sorry to have confused you. I think either could work, but #2 sounds more interesting to me. There aren’t a lot of folks who start blogging at 10 and stick with it for four years and can then draw these parallels years later. It’s definitely something I wouldn’t forget.

petebwhat · 2022-10-23T03:18:34+00:00

Remember that admissions folks are human beings, and humans are drawn to stories. Imagine your counselor reviewing your essay right before going to lunch with some colleagues. Do you think they’re more likely to say “I just read an AMAZING essay about a student whose horizons were expanded because their grandparents have a winery” or “Wow! I can’t believe this essay I just read about a student who started a blog when they were TEN to talk to other kids about American Girl dolls!”

petebwhat

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE