It's Not Just Politics

this has got to be one of the most efficient displays of unscholarliness ever witnessed in the Land Of The Long White Cloud when an international student at the University Of Auckland (hail, my alma mater!) asked her professor, Paul Buchanan, for an extension on an academic requirement when her father passed away. paul was suddenly in the unemployment line, and good riddance. (darnit, i was a Hoadley student, too, hah!) To quote Red, "You Dumbass!!" this is what got you fired because you couldn't just say No, could you!

Subject: RE: Extension

Date: Wed, 30 May 2007 19:24:20

From: Paul Buchanan

To: Student

Dear xxxx:

I say this reluctantly but not so subtly: you are not suitable for a graduate degree. It does not matter if your father died or if you have a medical certificate.

I have been too nice and given you too high marks all along (at C+). I do not anticipate that you will do better in the final exercise. You are already a day late.

The extension is meaningless because you have not attended the last few classes and are the worse performer in the class.

Of course by a far stretch, You will have the obiturary of your father, but even if available and the student health people might have believed you, I do not.

You are close to failing in any event, so these sort of excuses-culturally driven and preying on some sort of Western liberal guilt-are simply lame.

Prove that your father died and your were distraught and unable to complete assignments-in spite of your abysmal record to date as an underperforming and underquallifed student- and perhaps you might qualify for an extension to get a C-.

But as it stands, you will flunk since your are already a day+ late, and your track record is poor.

By the way-are you a Hoadley student? That would explain a lot of things.
In a word: NO-I do not accept your extensuon request.

PGB

Paul G Buchanan

Director, New Zealand Centre for Latin American Studies (NZCLAS)

uhm, that's EX-director to you! :D