Editor,
I am writing in response to President Gordon's statement in the Sept. 26 edition of the Daily Lobo, regarding the "principles" the University will use in deciding how to discipline Professor Berthold.
President Gordon states that the UNM faculty has adopted as its own the policy that professors take care "not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter, which has no relation to their subject." Besides the fact that teaching plain old dogma is not only academically dishonest, but also boring to boot, the president forgets that the University has specifically and repeatedly asked the faculty to discuss the terrorist attacks with our classes.
During the week of the attacks, several e-mails from the upper administration went out on the ALLFAC e-mail list, which, as the name implies, reaches the entire UNM faculty. The e-mails urged faculty members to discuss the attacks and the ensuing crisis with our students in any way we wished, to take time to "check on" our students, to allay their fears and see if they were all right.
Although I felt uncomfortable that I am unqualified for, that the University had asked me to assume the role of therapist, I complied. I searched for a way to broach the subject with my 300 students in Greek Mythology, so using humor as I always do, I asked them "How you doin'?" as in the infamous beer commercials. This produced many responses of "how you doin?" as well as a great deal of laughter and a general cathartic feeling - which is very Greek.
My point is that if the administration is going to ask professors to play therapist with our students, then they should expect some of us to be less than expert at the process.
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When they pointedly ask us, in essence, "to introduce into (our) teaching controversial matter," they should not be surprised that a notorious peacenik-gadfly like Professor Berthold used his same old `60s hippie routine to make a stupid and ill-timed joke.
Perhaps he does not deserve to be hired as a clinical psychiatrist, nor will he be headlining on Comedy Central any time soon, but Professor Berthold surely does not merit dismissal.
You know, the ancient Athenians didn't think Socrates was very funny, either.
Monica Cyrino
UNM Professor and Foreign Languages and Literature Department Chairwoman
