Governor Perdue to the Rescue

The governor of Georgia has stepped in and told the legislators to quit fearmongering about massive budget cuts and 35% tuition. Thank goodness. Maybe we will get some soundness in this debate.

The issue of faculty members on facebook has come up again at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/03/02/facebook

Again, why I don't want students on my facebook page, but this story goes deeper into issues of privacy, professionalism, and public speech of faculty members. I have two blogs to publish my own thoughts and sometimes they are not "politically correct," and some of my colleagues and students wouldn't like, but there's a line you don't cross on the Internet. That line is talking about your students in a public forum. In my book, you don't talk to students about other students or about colleagues, no matter how much they might try to bait you into it ("Professor X is not fair because ....."). And you also don't talk about students where other people can see it.

On the other hand, there is way, way too much sensitivity about everything nowadays. Toughen up, people. Life's going to get rough before it gets easier, and it doesn't pay to be so thin-skinned.

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