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Was this student justified in raising hell?

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  • Was this student justified in raising hell?

    I was reading TvTropes, under the Troper Tales section for Sadist Teacher when I stumbled upon this one.

    •This troper has a rare college example. About a year ago, I had taken a quarter of Math 98 (which, if I'm right, means that anybody who's ever passed 10th-grade math is better than me). Thanks to religious grade note taking, I was pulling a respectable B grade. Usually my schedule is such that I go to work in the early mornings before I go to my classes around noon. Now, on the day of the final, the exam started a half hour or so before the normal class time. I figured that was fine; I knew the material, the testing period was two hours long, and the test itself was the same length as the regular chapter tests. However, when I walked into the classroom, the teacher pulls me aside and says that I can't take the exam. "Why?" I ask, still calm at this point. He answers that because some people have taken the test and left already, I could have gotten answers from them on their way out the door. I explain to him that I had just gotten off work, I was still wearing my sawdust-covered uniform shirt and jacket, and had made a direct beeline from my workplace to the classroom and had spoken to nobody in the interim. He replies that I Should Have Arranged For Time Off From Work To Make It To The Test On Time!!! I'm still calm at this point, so I whip out my cell phone and offer to call my manager at work to confirm the time I left work, because he obviously thought I was wearing my dirty uniform shirt as a disguise while I quizzed everybody who left the classroom for exam answers. He refuses to hear of it. I ask, okay fine, if this test is shot, how can I make it up? He answers, I can't, because "how is it fair for me to give me extra work?" I was quiet for a moment, letting this sink in, before I ask, "So what you're telling me...is that you're making me fail this test, and therefore this course, over a matter of thirty minutes?" He answers, "'Fraid so", and walks back into the classroom.

    ◦At this point, I'm pretty pissed. So I take my phone and dial my work anyway. And I walk back into the classroom, where the teacher is just now sitting back at his desk. I go over to stand next to him while I ask for my manager on the phone. Naturally, he tries to interrupt, so I turn and tell him (quietly, so as not to disturb the other test-takers), "Would you excuse me, please? I'm trying to make a phone call". To that, he says that he's going to call campus security if I don't leave. "Okay", I tell him, before my manager comes on the line and I ask her to comfirm that I had gotten off the clock a half hour or so earlier. I hold out my phone for the teacher to take, but he's too busy trying to have me thrown out of the building to care. I hang up and pull a seat until the campus guard (really nice lady) shows up. He wants her to make me leave and I explain no, not until I get to take the exam that I paid $250+ to take. All three of us step outside to explain the situation. Alas, she says that the teacher's rules are the law in his classroom, so I agree to leave. I tell her (with the teacher still in earshot) that since I now have an extra hour's worth of free time, I'll go ahead and head home and write up letters of complaint for the math department head, the academic head, the chancellor and vice-chancellor of the campus, and the president of the university. And since the quarter was ending with a couple weeks until the next one, I now had the time to devote towards making this man's life a living hell. After about a total of five hours' worth of phone calls and more letters and emails than Andy wrote in The Shawshank Redemption, I finally got resolution in the form of a refund for that course and the expungement of the failing grade from my GPA. The teacher himself didn't get punished, but it was enough that he had to spend a good portion of his spring break and part of the next quarter dealing with my grievances.
    So basically, he showed up a half an hour late for the test (had to work), but still had 2 hours left of class time to take the test. However, this professor wouldn't let him take the test, even though he still had time. Professors reasoning was that he could get answers from those who had already finished the test. So as a result, this student raised hell and took it to the Dean. The professor didn't get punished, but the student got a refund and expungement from failing.

    What's interesting is some people replied saying that the professor was in the right and that the student shouldn't have been refunded, but I think he was justified (assuming this is exactly how it went). To me, it sounds like the professor was being a punitive douchebag. The student wasn't asking for anything other than to be allowed to take the test he paid money to take. He wasn't asking for another day, nor was he asking for any special treatment. He got screwed and was perfectly justified in giving them hell.

    Thoughts?

  • #2
    There are a couple of details that would make all of the difference: Did the student ask the teacher before-hand if that arrangement would be acceptable? And did the teacher have rules already in place regarding being late to class?

    If the answer to the first is "no" then it's mostly the student's fault the situation even existed. He was aware of the schedule enough to not worry about missing the time.

    If the answer to the second is "yes" then it's completely and entirely the student's fault.

    Sure, the teacher was a hardass, but the campus officer was completely correct: The teacher is the law so long as what they are doing is legal - fairness is irrelevant.

    That said, I don't blame the guy for fighting to get things settled the way they were. He had channels and he used those channels.

    ^-.-^
    Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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    • #3
      The teacher was in the right. If the student knew that his work would conflict with the exam then he should have made other arrangements beforehand.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Andara Bledin View Post
        There are a couple of details that would make all of the difference: Did the student ask the teacher before-hand if that arrangement would be acceptable? And did the teacher have rules already in place regarding being late to class?
        To answer the first question, no, it doesn't sound like he alerted the professor ahead of time. But even if he did, i doubt he would have been allowed to show up late.

        He replies that I Should Have Arranged For Time Off From Work To Make It To The Test On Time!!!

        That implies that he wouldn't have cared. Also, he tried getting the manager on the phone to prove that he was at work, but he wouldn't hear any of it and jumped to calling security. I don't know, but to me that sounds like he was being a douchebag.

        Sure, the teacher was a hardass, but the campus officer was completely correct: The teacher is the law so long as what they are doing is legal - fairness is irrelevant.
        True, he may have legally have the right to be a prick, but he was still being a prick and he could have easily allowed the student to take the test in the alloted time.

        That said, I don't blame the guy for fighting to get things settled the way they were. He had channels and he used those channels.
        Now this I definately agree with. I don't think it's sucky to want things resolved when you get screwed out of something. In this case, he didn't get to take the test and wanted his money back. I see nothing wrong with that and since he did pay for it, he should have some say.

        I guess what I'm saying is sometimes you have raise hell when institutions screw you over.

        Comment


        • #5
          If he didn't care enough to make special arrangements ahead of time, why should the teacher care enough to make a special concession for him? It is unfair to the students who are already there on time and in "test-zone" to have someone walk in and start chit-chatting with the teacher a half-hour into their test, or to be setting up scantrons, pencils and what-not.
          http://dragcave.net/user/radiocerk

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          • #6
            Interestingly enough he probably learned more important lessons that was on the exam, namely how to properly manage his time. It's not like this was a surprise exam. He had plenty of time to either arrange for another way to take the test or to be able to leave work early so he could be there on time. He chose to do neither.

            So while yes, the professor is a jerk, the blame does not lie exclusively on him. In the future, maybe the student will learn how to manage time conflicts like that before they become a problem.

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            • #7
              As I was first reading the story, I was really feeling for the guy. Then as I got about halfway through the end, I realized, "Whose fault is it that he didn't plan ahead for this?" I know I've heard it tons of times on CS, "Failure to plan on your part does not constitute as an emergency to me." It's not like you find out the time of your final a week before. Finals week is planned out months in advance.

              If he was only a couple minutes late, I'd feel bad for him. But with the attitude of, "I'll go to work and just show up late." is stupid and even downright disrespectful to the teacher and the rest of the class. They all made an effort to be there at the correct time. For him to just expect to be able to show up later than everyone else and get special treatment is BS.
              Violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn't solve anything is merely wishful thinking at its worst. - Starship Troopers

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Rageaholic View Post
                I guess what I'm saying is sometimes you have raise hell when institutions screw you over.
                Except most of the screwing came from the student making assumptions that were obviously mistaken.

                ^-.-^
                Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

                Comment


                • #9
                  Now, on the day of the final, the exam started a half hour or so before the normal class time.


                  This phrase alone makes me lean towards the student, however if the teacher let people know ahead of time that it was starting early then he loses my support.

                  Also I know for a lot of exams they will not let anyone leave until 30 minutes have passed and will not let anyone in after 30 minutes for exactly this reason, so basically it'll come down to exactly when he showed up and how much notice about the exam time was given.

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                  • #10
                    If it's anything like my school, the exam schedule is posted on the school's website the first day of the semester and final times are on the syllabuses.
                    Violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn't solve anything is merely wishful thinking at its worst. - Starship Troopers

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I am sorry the only douche-bag here is the student. Every class I attended in college had a policy that if you were not on time for the final dont bother coming. Most teachers will work with you if you have a scheduling issue.

                      Hell I showed up for a final after just getting out of the hospital for a severe burn to my hand because the teacher said there was no make up for the test... when he saw me he was like... um... you can take it another day. I told him he said there was no make up.. and he informed me that he had that policy for the oh I have a tummy ache crowd that wasn't ready. He would make exceptions for honest emergencies.

                      So personally I think the student is suffering from I am a special snow flake syndrome.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by gremcint View Post
                        however if the teacher let people know ahead of time that it was starting early then he loses my support.
                        The final being either an hour earlier or an hour later than the normal class time is standard procedure. Or, at least, at my college it is. And, like Greenday said, the exam schedules are always posted on the class syllabus and the school website. So, yeah, the student would have had ample time to make arrangements with his work so he could get to the final exam on time.

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                        • #13
                          I'm with the prof on this on. Most of the exams I have taken, had the policy of if, you aren't there by the designated start time, then you forfeit the right to take the exam. I've even seen Profs lock the door, to prevent students from getting in after the start time. If the class was that important to them, then they needed to find a way to make other arrangements.. either get off work early, or arrange something with the Prof.
                          “The problem with socialism is that you eventually,
                          run out of other people’s money.” – Margaret Thatcher

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Greenday View Post
                            If he was only a couple minutes late, I'd feel bad for him. But with the attitude of, "I'll go to work and just show up late." is stupid and even downright disrespectful to the teacher and the rest of the class. They all made an effort to be there at the correct time. For him to just expect to be able to show up later than everyone else and get special treatment is BS.
                            But here's the thing. He did show up for the test. He may have been late, but it's not as he had no time to finish it. Whether he was late or not, the teacher was still going to be there for that alloted time.

                            You may say he should be more responsible, and idealy, he should. But I don't see why this means the professor has to not let him take the test. (the cheating arguement is a bit of a stretch). To me it sounds like this professor wanted to punish him simply for being late. And when you're paying them money, it's not much to ask for a little flexibility, especially when the flexibility is asking nothing of the professor other than to do his job.

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                            • #15
                              Its certainly the student's reponsibility. The prof probably could have handled it a little better, but the student was definately in total twatwaffle territory. Ironically, if the prof had handled it a little better I bet the guy wouldn't have got a refund. >.>

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