"Maybe I didn't need to jump, but I won't know that until much later. My concern was that there will be no window allowed for people to actually make an informed decision," [UW-Madison Anthropology Professor Sharon] Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson said the redefinition of the term "emergency" in the bill would allow for the firing of anyone who walks out, holds a strike or calls in sick.
"I find the clauses so depressing and threatening that I decided that it's impossible to determine, it's just too tense for me, and I know of no other way to protect myself for sure... The discourse that is developing that is trying to divide people against each other is truly disheartening...."
February 24, 2011
UW professor retires after only 21 years to "protect" herself from "depressing and threatening" clauses in Gov. Walker's bill.
The Daily Cardinal reports:
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"The discourse that is developing that is trying to divide people against each other is truly disheartening...."
Who woke this fool up? This has been the left's primary mission for 50 years.
Brain drain.
Good lord, my 12 year old daughter has more starch than that!
-XC
wv= "blessim" as in: "Blessim, she's just a tenured prof, be nice, they ain't no better than you'd expect."
Good ...bye.
Amazing. And here I thought Jeremy's story about brainless homunculi playing pool was just so much snark. Who knew they also "taught" at UW?
One down, how many to go?
Hearing people like this guy decry "trying to divide people" drives me batty. Has he not seen the "Walker=Hitler" signs in the protests? Does he not understand, in the slightest, why ordinary, private sector workers may think it inappropriate that their taxes pay for Wisconsin teachers to have tenure, civil service protections, AND union collective bargaining? As Marshal notes, the left has been trying to divide this country for decades.
Barnacle drop.
Now who wants to tell her that her
golden pension is not an iron rice bowl?
Is she saying she must resign to vest her pension at a higher figure under the "average of the last two years salary" clause. That is the clause used as a pay off among educators by friends jumping them ino a made up job title paying a doubled salary for their final year before they "resign". It is a custom that everyone expects to do. So looting the pensions is what drives most educator's career plan, and those pension benefits are what are bankrupting most states.
(the other kev)
It's just no fun when the peasants finally decide to revolt.
Spoiled brat.
How about the financial details of her retirement?
I bet she won't miss out on lunch.
According to ratemyprofessors.com, you will have to read her statements with a fake british accent to really capture the flavor.
That said, the changes will make it easier for other Universities to poach the top professors. Simple market dynamics.
Wish I could retire after "only 21 years". Wonderful state pension she's got there.
D.R.A.M.A. Q.U.E.E.N.
Oh my, she may have to live under the same rules nearly everyone else lives under?!?
The horror! The horror!
At least she has a nice pension to fall back on.
One suspects she probably has a substantial TIAA CREF annuity as well--at any rate did not the anthropologists say recently that their field was not reall science? I think I read that somewhere
Good riddance--she makes a slot for the thousands of anthro PhDs who cant find jobs outside of fast food places.
That said, the changes will make it easier for other Universities to poach the top professors. Simple market dynamics.
Bullshit.
The anthropology field is PC fluff.
And, I'll bet that there are 20 applicants, equally qualified, for every job opening.
The notion that teaching at the college level is that demanding is... BS.
After all, this moron did it for 21 years. That means, you can give the job to job about anybody who's sentient and conscious.
Brain drain. No, I think that it's called chronic wasting disease. It's something that affects the brain. Whitetail deer seems to contract it often. That's why it's never a good idea to eat road kill. You never know.
I hope a smart teacher will take her place.
Only in academia will find such fragile, sheltered people.
No, I think that it's called chronic wasting disease. It's something that affects the brain.
Reading right wing blogs everyday will do that to a person.
@SHOUTINGthomas
Your mama.
I wasn't saying that Sharon Hutchinson is a top professor who is being recruited away. I am saying that reducing faculty compensation makes it easier for other Universities to recruit away top faculty. Learn to read or put down the bottle.
(The Crypto Jew)
Only in academia will find such fragile, sheltered people.
OH Sofa, I’ve been meaning to tell you, your Avatar gives me the “vapours” please change it! It is a celebration of Death and Violence and other non-other regarding “icky” things.
She is staying true to her field of study IMO. An anthropology prof knows that one must protect oneself from the other tribes.
(The Crypto Jew)
Reading right wing blogs everyday will do that to a person.
Certainly you, Jeremy and Ritmo would be proof of that statement….And still you stay, are you under some Federal/State mandate?
I wasn't saying that Sharon Hutchinson is a top professor who is being recruited away. I am saying that reducing faculty compensation makes it easier for other Universities to recruit away top faculty. Learn to read or put down the bottle.
Look, it doesn't take a genius to be a college professor. I've taught at the college level. [Take aim and fire your snark.]
You name the teaching position and there are 20 people capable and ready to serve.
Even law professors are interchangeable. Teaching the law doesn't take a genius.
Mastery of the subject matter, a willingness to work hard, and the ability to make a good presentation have very little to do with genius. Anybody with a sound intellect and the willingness to work hard can do the job.
Credentialism is bullshit.
Excuse me Miss...
You know what's depressing?
Seeing Democrats spend the shit out of money they don't have...and that money mainly going into the pockets of their asshole friends...and the media only decries spending CUTS, not spending increases...
That's pretty depressing. Especially considering we know how problems like this end.
Now run away, go retire on the backs of the taxpayers.
allow for the firing of anyone who walks out, holds a strike or calls in sick.
Gee. It'd be like working in the private sector.
Most of us who pay for her benefits don't have such an option BECAUSE WE CAN"T AFFORD IT FOR OURSELVES!
I think this professor's line of thinking is the most heartening thing to come out of this in a while:
They're leaving.
under the "average of the last two years salary" clause.
For the WRS, it's the last three years of salary, and I agree it's high time that was changed so people don't pad their salaries for 3 years and then jump ship.
Sharon Hutchinson teaches a wide variety of graduate and undergraduate courses, including courses on the History of Anthropological Theory, Classics in Ethnography, Anthropology and Human Rights, International Humanitarian Interventions in Anthropological Perspective, Kinship and Social Organization, the Anthropology of Religion, Economic Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology and Africa: An Introductory Survey.
Maybe she should have attended the "teach-in".
Fucking hilarious - from ratemyprofessor.com:
I'm pretty sure that the only person that would praise this prof. here is Sharon herself. Her pretentious attitude and agonizingly fake British accent, along with her disorganized, opinionated lectures make this the worst class/professor I have had since coming to the UW. I am hoping that her time as a paid instructor is close to its end.
Now that's what I call Hope and Change!
These are the people expected to defend the values of the Enlightenment from the Jihad?
Sheeesh. I'm converting to Islam.
No doubt she'll have a better pension than 90% of Americans. The idea that someone can "retire" in this circumstance tells you exactly what the problem is. The fact that she finds this "depressing and threatening" indicates she may not be acquainted with the human condition quite as well as most people who work.
buh bye
I never got the whole lets have our hands near our face bit when posing for a public photograph.
The discourse that is developing that is trying to divide the tax payers against the tax receivers is truly disheartening.
Now we see the violence inherent in the system!
Whatever happened to the courage of one's convictions? She doesn't have any of either, obviously.
She's in a position to influence the next generation's world view far more than most of us, but she decides to sell out at peak pension instead.
The only loss to the rest of us is the financial burden of carrying this loser for the rest of her life. Feh.
LOL @ SGT
...and nothing of value was lost.
Give her a break, reality is depressing.
The UW professors are unionized too? I thought it was just the primary school teachers. Is everyone that is involved in education unionized in Wisconsin? Administrators, assistants, etcetera?
I hope a smart teacher will take her place
Oh, I'm sure she's smart. But being an effective teacher requires other traits. Like fortitude and leadership.
@DaveW
UW Madison faculty are not unionized. There are many provisions in the budget repair bill unrelated to the unions.
Some anthropology is really cool. Bill Bass is internationally known for his work in forensic anthropology.
the financial burden of carrying this loser for the rest of her life.
Probably not. By necessity, new laws will be made retroactive. And the means-testing will be... mean.
One benefit may be a few less left wing graduates as Anthropology departments are Marxist recruitment centers.
""The discourse that is developing that is trying to divide people against each other is truly disheartening. But I'm hopeful and I'm sure the Wisconsin spirit of community, of empathy, of sanity will resurface."
"Shut up and pay, taxpayers!"
What the fuck has happened to our culture? How out-of-touch have we become? I'm not talking about most of us, here, commenting, who seem to have an understanding of the human struggle in most of the world that isn't within the luxurious borders of the United States.
Do she even have the slightest understanding of how the rest of the world works?
Now that she's retired, maybe she can take a trip to the Congo or to Bangladesh to see how their pension plans are being threatened, too.
"Sheeesh. I'm converting to Islam."
Do you not fear death at the hands of Christian jihadis, heathen?
The commenters here should salute this professor for selflessly doing her bit to remedy the unemployment/underemployment of PhDs in the humanities. By quitting she has opened a spot for someone new.
There will be rejoicing somewhere in the halls of academe today. No doubt, many unemployed PhDs are hoping that other tenured place-holders will share this lady's "depressing and threatening" feelings, to the point of getting so lost in the "discourse that is developing" -- gotta love those academic turns of phrase! -- that they just up and quit.
Out with the old, in with the new, will be the new call to arms. Faster, please, as Glenn R would say.
Hutchinson could learn a lot about distress from talking with Lindsay Lohan.
"Do [sic} she even have the slightest understanding of how the rest of the world works? "
And her, an Anthropology professor.
Local school district laid off thirty teachers today due to expected lower state aid. Thanks to the union the principals have no say in who they keep. My daughter just got the axe. Of course her fellow teachers will blame Walker instead of the union that caused our state to go broke.
UW Madison faculty are not unionized. There are many provisions in the budget repair bill unrelated to the unions.
Thank you TriangleMan.
Well. There are a lot of policies adopted by government that are bothersome to me too, but I never retired or quit over them.
Of course, I never had a cushy low-work high-pay gold-plated benefit job with a 20 year retirement plan that allowed me to quit and go pout while still latched onto the taxpayer's teat. Be a lot easier to act that way with that as the outcome.
These people really need a dose of reality.
TriangleMan,
After reading her ratings, I would guess she has been counseled several times by her chair about her lousy evals and fears the future of merit as a basis of retention.
Mary,
I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter. The union is killing their young.
Get the smart people out, and the dumb people in! Unsurprisingly, Walker's supporters, dwindling as they are, support a college dropout who was caught cheating. Perfect conservative icon. A dumb lying ideologue.
"depressing and threatening"
Why quit? She could have just gotten a doctors note for those obvious medical symptoms.
And, I'll bet that there are 20 applicants, equally qualified, for every job opening.
Actually, more like 2-300. Anthro grad programs pump out WAY more PhDs than can be employed in academia. I'm a product of anthro -- archaeology -- and I mostly stayed away from my department as much as I could because they were totally full of PC BS and 95% liberal whackjobs.
"Maybe I didn't need to jump, but I won't know that until much later. My concern was that there will be no window allowed for people to actually make an informed decision."
I'm guessing that the "window" is the one you jump out of?
You know, if the lefty media would actually be reporting facts instead of the fearmongering from the unions, I don't think teachers would be all that worried. If this poor woman regrets her jump, she can blame the scare tactics from the left.
I am a bit chagrined by the doomsaying coming from friends who are teachers. They don't seem to understand that the bill is designed to save their jobs and their benefits. They keep telling me that they will lose EVERYTHING! Well, yeah, if we don't get our finances under control, they will.
Sad.
Garage--so will eating road kill--look up kuru
It's nice to see garage in a complete meltdown. You'd think people who get their jollies insulting people would be able to take it better.
It's our fault. I'm so ashamed. I didn't do everything I could to make the world more congenial for poorly performing, self-absorbed, job-for-life college professors.
Garage--so will eating road kill--look up kuru
What's so funny is Walker actually believes what he says. He thinks he has the support needed behind him, [yesterday saying the polling backs him]. He was probably watching Fox news where they flipped the poll numbers. He got punked twice in one day. What an epic moron.
Garage,
"Get the smart people out..."
That's clearly not what's happening in Hutchinson's case.
Althouse,
Hey, where's the "lameness" tag? Or maybe it should be a "Blazing Saddles" tag???
My first guess was Sociology, but Anthropology was my second.
She doesn't sound like too great a loss. However, take her ratemyprofessor ratings with a grain of salt; those numbers are primarily going to be generated by people who have a motivation to seek out a form of redress, my gut feeling is that on average they will trend low.
Of course her fellow teachers will blame Walker instead of the union that caused our state to go broke.
I am very sorry your daughter lost her job, and that she couldn't keep it over any lousier teachers who had longevity.
Unions did not cause the state to go broke, however: Free-spending politicians on both side of the aisle did.
Get the smart people out, and the dumb people in!
What we have in government and education, even without unions to a large degree, is a system that makes it next to impossible to get anybody out. This is why unmotivated slackers seek out employment in government.
With civil service rules, unions, patronage, etc the lazy and dumb flourish. My sister has worked in state government for years. Her method of dealing with the under-performers and incompetent was to get them promoted or transferred to a different department. Firing them was next to impossible.
Pinto: What are you majoring in?
Brunella: Primitive cultures!
(Aside, do you know who the actress Eliza Roberts is married to?)
Actually, unions contributed mightily to the bankruptcies at GM & Chrysler and have contributed mightily to the insolvent balance sheets in many govt entities. There is no escaping that. It is an indisputable fact.
Screen door ... slam ... get out!
now.
She's using alot of suicide language. UW should keep an eye on her. Seriously. There's something more here.
Does she have any family that can check in on her?
Imagine what would happen if teaching positions paid according to hard work, attendance and results, like most jobs.
Would education be better or worse?
Would it also cost more or less?
Would students be getting a better deal or not?
Would great teachers be paid well or not?
Would this woman have gotten paid all these years, and the rest of her life or not?
Here a good if a bit pessimistic editorial regarding the Wisconsin affair and the greater issue of fiscal insolvency.
After a week of immersion in this sordid affair, I'm imaging a large party at a posh restaurant who are just finishing a lavish meal including several bottles of fine wine. The check has arrived and now several at the table are claiming "I can't pay for that" as others gaze into their empty wallets. Others sit quietly waiting for someone to step forward and volunteer to take care of it. As the "conservation" continues, one bold individual complains the he "hasn't had his desert yet! That's not fair". Surprisingly this gains traction with the group and eventually they turn to the diner at the next table, grab him by the collar and exclaim "hey this rich bastard can pay for it. He can afford it. We can all clearly see how unfair it is that he's selfishly enjoyed his five course meal without sharing his riches with us". another at the large table chimes in saying "Yes, that would be the intelligent and enlightened approach". Someone else mumbles "Hitler".....and so it goes
Buh bye. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Good riddens to bad trash.
I'm still trying to get my brain wrapped around the fact that she feels "depressed" and "threatened" because the law might - just MIGHT - allow her to be fired if she saunters off and stops doing her job.
"I know of no other way to protect myself"
For most of us, "protecting ourselves" from firing starts with showing up and doing the job. (Nor does it stop there.) For her, doing the job is supposed to be optional, at her whim, and being fired shouldn't be a possibility.
It's not news that government jobs are extremely hard to lose, and that government employees tend to have quite a sense of entitlement about their jobs, raises, and benefits... but sometimes one of them will say something that just makes it hit you between the eyes. "OMG... if I walk out, I might get fired???" Sheesh.
She must have a real, real sweet pension to be able to stop working after only 21 years.
Too bad there is such an intense shortage of Anthro PhD's to replace her...
AJL -- there is plenty of blame to spread around.
I took a look at the UM Human Resources page. Looks like a defined benefit retirement except for some confusing exceptions.
University of Kentucky put every Faculty and Staff person on a 403B ten years ago. We put in 5% and UK puts in 10%. WKU and a couple others are still on Kentucky Teachers retirement.
Defined Benefit is great until the money runs out. I don't plan to sit around in an Income Tax state and find out. I'll be in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee as soon as i retire.
Mary sorry to hear about your daughter. I bet she was a real teacher who cared about her students. I hope she can get a job at a private or charter school where merit is the only consideration.
Many of the youngest and most dedicated teachers will be fired as will happen in my home state of New York. There is a bill being entered into the Senate to get rid of LIFO (last in first out in the firing of teachers). There are eight simple and defined reasons such as being convicted of a crime or being suspended and being unable to teach because of inappropriate sexual conduct. The union is fighting it tooth and nail and it will not pass because Shelly Silver the speaker is the tool of these unions. The corrupt and ineffective teachers will remain because they have tenure and the young idealistic energetic ones will be fired.
That is what the union gets you.
I see all the time in the ILA which dominated my neighborhood for most of my life. The old timers who can't work anymore badge in and get paid. The young guys with families who actually do the work are scratching to get paid and running all over the tri-state area to shape for a job.
That is what the union gets you.
This incompetent weepy cat lady douchenozzle as a professor.
That is what the union gets you.
I hope your daughter can get a job that is worthy of her talents.
Walker actually believes what he says. He thinks he has the support needed behind him, [yesterday saying the polling backs him]
You can provide no evidence the polling doesn't support him.
Idiot.
You hang around here a lot mister Garage Mahal, and it doesn't seem to have affected your intelligence.
So what will happen to the young still motivated teachers who get pushed out?
They will get jobs at private schools or at un-unionized public schools (if there is such a thing) where they will prosper and create great learning environments.
And what will happen to the schools they got pushed out of? They will educate the future union members who will man the DMV and stand around the pot holes leaning on shovels waiting for lunch, and they will educate the criminals robbing there homes while they do.
Thanks for your kind comments everyone. She is a fabulous teacher. Beat out 400 other applicants when she got the job, and has been well liked by her Principal, co-workers and her student's parents. Its the district's loss as well as hers.
And Madison Man - yes, free spending politicians on both sides of the aisle. Bought and paid for with the Union $$$
Some people can't take it and need another line of work. She is obviously a wimp and should try piece work.
Trey
You can provide no evidence the polling doesn't support him.
Sure I could. But you are a complete waste of time.
Garbage- caught "cheating" Tell us about your icon St. Fat Teddy and his own cheating on tests and wife. I suppose today's libs take heart in fact Teddy Kennedy also ran and hid when he left Mary Jo to slowly suffocate. He showed his sensitive later when naming his mutt Splash.
Liberal friend who greatly admires Obama, lost her Fl. gummint job today which entailed trying to find jobs for the handicapped. Funny how the layers of big shot administrators continue to be a necessity though. Or there has been money to build magnificent temples for school administrators, such as in Broward county, Fl. Or the school big shots here in Palm Beach held fast and would not let Supt. Art Johnson escape possible future prosecution for cover-ups of crimi nal acts by those under him. Poor guy busted his butt for ten years and resigned in lieu of firing and received a mere $400,000+ golden parachute, including health insurance for self and spouse into 2014. And you wonder where the tax dollars go.
"What the fuck has happened to our culture? How out-of-touch have we become? I'm not talking about most of us, here, commenting, who seem to have an understanding of the human struggle in most of the world that isn't within the luxurious borders of the United States."
Yes, it's amazing to hear her talk, but isn't it just the clash of social perspectives? The old Randian moochers vs. producers yin and yang thing? Can you have one without the other? Mom wants to give money to charity, but dad says we can't afford it? Someone has to be the tough guy. Someone has to be the over-the-top marshmallow and someone the bastard.
Fen, since you are picking up the suicide vibe, I nominate you to reach out. Seriously, it would open our vistas if you were to report back. Probably emailing would be best at this time.
Garbage- caught "cheating" Tell us about your icon
Bzzzzt. I stopped right there.
Sure I could. But you are a complete waste of time.
Why are you here, again?
Mom wants to give money to charity,
At least Mom is being selfless, as opposed to our lilly-livered UW Prof.
I see it on Facebook periodically when a friend will talk about the "ass backwards" country were live in or those who talk about the Mideast protests in terms of "I wish we could establish a secular state here in Missouri!" without a hint of irony or sarcasm.
I mean, how can one compare "the oppression" of Missouri with living in Tunisia?
Astounding, really.
E.M. Davis said...
I see it on Facebook periodically when a friend will talk about the "ass backwards" country were live in or those who talk about the Mideast protests in terms of "I wish we could establish a secular state here in Missouri!" without a hint of irony or sarcasm.
Facebook has, for me, recently become entirely intolerable. So many friends and colleagues copy and paste the same ridiculous posts without even bothering to fact-check them. It has become the online networking site for the most obnoxious people to force their political views down others' throats. Oh, and then when some brave soul dares to point out the misinformation contained in the post, s/he is totally berated (and sometimes blocked and defriended). Ugh.
One reason why union membership is so low in the private sector is that conscientious workers get tired of having to cover for the slugs.
Mayhap, the good professor is worried about the same thing happening in the public sector.
I don't understand the disapproval. Except for the fact that she CAN retire with 21 years, it makes perfect sense to me. That she can retire is the fault of the state or U, not hers.
If she stays, there is some possibility, however slight, that she could be fired for something and lose her pension.
This way, the pension is locked in. She could go out and get all Charlie Manson and they still could not touch her pension, I think.
She can also go to another school, get another job, and repeat the process so that she winds up with two pensions.
I've known a lot of military people who collect 3 retirement checks. 1 for 10 years in the military. A second for 20-25 years with another job after they get out of the military at age 37-38 and Social Security.
The problem is the pension system and its rules. Not someone taking advantage of the rules.
John Henry
I've known a lot of military people who collect 3 retirement checks. 1 for 10 years in the military. A second for 20-25 years with another job after they get out of the military at age 37-38 and Social Security.
This. This is a problem. I work with people who are drawing their military pension after 20 years. Then they get a federal job, because federal employment favors ex-military. They work there for 15-20 years and get a nice pension on retirement. Then they "retire" and come back to work for the University, drawing two pensions plus social security, plus a paycheck.
Meanwhile, a young person is out of a good job because Mr. or Mrs. Oldie thinks they are irreplaceable. (Insert standard Chas. deGaulle quote)
E.M., I was thinking more along the line of extremes. The professor is in a very sheltered position, and of course convinced of her righteousness. But from a psychological standpoint, she's very fragile, I think. According to the one review above, she's disorganized and ineffectual as a lecturer.
Oh, well, the union pedulum has swung to far one way, and will now swing back.
Love your avatar. Consider this new 'New England Primer'...read the first review. Sounds intriguing. I found it looking for a picture of my favorite rhyme from the old Primer: Xerxes died and so must I.
amazon 'new england primer'
"The problem is the pension system and its rules. Not someone taking advantage of the rules.
John Henry"
The people who prevent fixing the problem are the problem. So let's not start pretending people who think any change to the system is fascism or Nazism returned are just following the rules.
"It's just too tense for me>"
Now she's past tense.
Good.
"Funny, I seem to remember that they did. I seem to remember that I was speaking about our involvement in WWII-E (meaning the European portion of the war). Our war with Japan was 100% legitimate.
John Henry "
Your views here are wishful thinking. Hitler declared war on us, and not because we were lend-leasing. He wanted the Japanese to attack the Soviets from the rear and naively believed once Japan entered a shooting war with Europeans they would coordinate their plans according to Germany's priorities.
He was unconcerned with America for two reasons, one of which is the same reason you think we should have been unconcerned with him: an ocean lay between us. This obstacle proved surmountable for both America and Japan.
One less anthopology professor = the world is a slightly better place.
Maybe she can convince all her friends in the sociology and women's studies departments to follow her. Now that would be change that everyone can use!
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