I like his stories. And if he sticks around without getting banned, maybe we can create a stickied "Rambozo and Loren High Five Each Other Forever" thread.
i'd heard so much about rambozo, but to be honest, i'm not all that impressed. no offense intended to bandetta/rambozo, but i have the wisdom to act radically different in person than i do on the internet.
I've been getting alot of emails about this situation, and there seem to be two schools of thought:
#1. I am a blameless victim of a monolithic and bigoted school administration
#2. I am a combative asshole who got what was coming to him
Neither one is accurate. My discussion with Lacy was the straw that broke the camel's back, and the allegations that there were several professors with whom I had been reported for arguing with in the past are absolutely true.
Those arguments were not religious, but over grades. I was told going into college by my folks that haggling for grades never hurts, and I shouldn't shy away from that kind of discussion with professors. I guess I argued a little too long in a few cases because I apparently pissed off those professors in the process. I attended a meeting with the associate dean about it, chose for myself to apologize to each of the instructors, and put it behind me.
The thing is, you don't get a clean slate after something like that. It follows you around. With this latest incident, I guess they had finally decided that they had a good enough reason to suspend me. That's what they did.
So why do I think discrimination was involved?
Cassandra, the associate Dean, had a big long talk with me after the arguments over grades with professors that I pushed too hard in. She gave me a spiel about how she was like me once, but as a baptist learned to have a more humble outlook on life. I nodded and smiled, which is not to say that I didn't listen. When I left her office that day I did so on very friendly terms with her, and what I took away from the discussion was that I could apparently be abrasive without realizing it, and that one catches more flies with honey than vinegar.
I did my best to put her advice into practice, and a month went by without incident. Then the Leprechaun discussion occurred. I was dismayed. I had done my best to go the gentle route with the discussion but I hadn't anticipated Lacy's fragility. I found myself once again in front of Cassandra but this time Dean Engeldinger as well. Put on the spot, I panicked, and insisted that the punishment was out of porportion to the crime (which I feel it was) when all they wanted to hear from me was frantic grovelling. Cassandram formerly chummy with me, had suddenly transformed into a vindictive, shouting banshee. I physically recoiled, and left the meeting in a frightened stupor.
Afterwards the first thing that occurred to me was that I knew one of the people who had overheard the discussion. I asked him about it and he confirmed that Lacy had overreacted. Fool that I was, I assumed this was my ticket to vindication. I take him back to the offices with me and attempt to present him as a witness. This was when Cassandra, now madly in anger with me, comes out of her office and confronts us. I explain that I'd like to present a witness to the Dean, and she explodes. Perhaps due to a combination of learning that I had been on the secular side of the argument as well as figuring I had ignored her advice, Cassandra went wild on me. After the tirade, she told me the only way I was presenting a witness would be to leave, make an appointment, and then return. So I called her machine and made an appointment in the message and asked how long I had to wait before coming back. This sent her back into a rage. She called out for other teachers to "come witness this behavior!" Which was about when I realized that I wasn't going to win this with reason.
It was because of this incident, officially, that I was expelled. I feel that Cassandra's attitude towards me led her to misrepresent my behavior in the hallway to the Dean, who I then appealed to. It was during this appeal that I explained my prior interactions with Cassandra, and how I felt as though it may have motivated her to push for my expulsion. This is when he told me very flatly that atheists are not a protected class of people.
My jaw dropped. The idea that any sort of bias was involved in this had been more of a vague suspicion before, but in my mind this confirmed it. Here was the Dean of the school, telling me in plain terms that I did not deserve the same protections as religious persons because I myself lacked religous belief. In retrospect, he may have just been uninformed regarding civil rights laws.
That's what I'd like to add to the Mercury's account of events, and it's what I intend to tell to my interviewers over the next few days. Was I already on thin ice? Absolutely. Did I deserve a suspension for the discussion? Absolutely not. Was my expulsion justified, or did it result from differences between Cassandra and myself?
Even if I resume my education at the Art Institute, they'll still be looking for a "last straw". It could be anything, and I'd probably never see it coming. For that reason I'm thinking that transferring my credits to a different art school would be a better course of action.
Seriously if you're looking to turn over a new leaf I would leave it behind. I associate people with their avatars pretty strongly. I use them even more than the name to figure out who's making the post.
RandomEngy on
Profile -> Signature Settings -> Hide signatures always. Then you don't have to read this worthless text anymore.
I've been getting alot of emails about this situation, and there seem to be two schools of thought:
#1. I am a blameless victim of a monolithic and bigoted school administration
#2. I am a combative asshole who got what was coming to him
Kind of both, really. I mean, I know you, and I'm pretty sure you'd have still gotten carried away with this chick, changed man or not. Hell, I remember you leaving rant-bombs on my LJ last time I booted you, I know you get wound up. Doesn't matter though, the school had no place booting you over it. They're not a forum, so sue the pants off them :P
'fraid you'll have to put up with the knowledge that I'm feeling insufferably smug about the whole thing though, because I damn well told you you'd get in trouble for real one day . Still, you seem happy to get some activism done as a result, and I can certainly support that, so meh.
That's about the size of it. The article made me out to be blameless, which is why many have been rightfully skeptical of it. I wasn't, but I also didn't deserve expulsion by any stretch of the imagination.
Still, you seem happy to get some activism done as a result, and I can certainly support that, so meh.
I wish you'd been there. The way he looked at me when he told me that I basically didn't deserve the same protections as religious people would make you want to punch his teeth out.
I'm not even going after huge cash prizes, I just want to stick it to the Dean and Associate Dean because of how they handled this and the things they said to me behind closed doors. I can't let it go.
Rambozo I think I still have my submission to your,"Uncle Rambozo's stories illustrated" lying around here somewhere.
Please tell me one of you guys has the one from his mantus story, depicting him discovering the "starship trooper situation." I think that picture made me laugh for ten minutes straight.
You know, some dude started explaining about energy levels and stuff to me in a pub once. He then went on about wicca and how he can do white magic. I smiled and nodded and said "oh really" and drank my pint and later I left and never thought about it again until now. Congratulations dude, you are officially the only person on the internet who is more of a tool than me.
That's about the size of it. The article made me out to be blameless, which is why many have been rightfully skeptical of it. I wasn't, but I also didn't deserve expulsion by any stretch of the imagination.
Still, you seem happy to get some activism done as a result, and I can certainly support that, so meh.
I wish you'd been there. The way he looked at me when he told me that I basically didn't deserve the same protections as religious people would make you want to punch his teeth out.
I'm not even going after huge cash prizes, I just want to stick it to the Dean and Associate Dean because of how they handled this and the things they said to me behind closed doors. I can't let it go.
You should have mailed them a copy of your Atheist Manifesto.
You know, I'm a somewhat religious guy, and if some fruitbat started talking about how quantum theory meant that there were leprachauns on different energy planes, I'd be compelled to express the way quantum mechanics and brane theory work to the best of my ability, too. I'm sure Rambozo pushed it a bit far - he's fuckin' Rambozo, it's what he does - but I honestly don't think he's a raging douchebag for it.
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You know, I'm a somewhat religious guy, and if some fruitbat started talking about how quantum theory meant that there were leprachauns on different energy planes, I'd be compelled to express the way quantum mechanics and brane theory work to the best of my ability, too. I'm sure Rambozo pushed it a bit far - he's fuckin' Rambozo, it's what he does - but I honestly don't think he's a raging douchebag for it.
I'm sympathetic to it as well, and I've had rather withering exchanges with many different flavors of wacky and relgious.
On the other hand, you'd probably limit yourself depending on your situation and environment. A clearly for-profit votech-style art school with administrators who already don't like you isn't the best place to make your stand.
You should have mailed them a copy of your Atheist Manifesto.
Like you never did anything like that when you were 17.
Imagine it: You're young, angry at everything, and you've just come off reading a stack of Ayn Rand, Richard Dawkins, and Friederich Nietszche. You think you've got it all figured out, and you're going to put it into words.
You should have mailed them a copy of your Atheist Manifesto.
Like you never did anything like that when you were 17.
Imagine it: You're young, angry at everything, and you've just come off reading a stack of Ayn Rand, Richard Dawkins, and Friederich Nietszche. You think you've got it all figured out, and you're going to put it into words.
Oh, I've been there. I was restrained enough to keep those words to myself, though.
I argued it with my parents a ton and with my friends. Just not to complete strangers.
You should have mailed them a copy of your Atheist Manifesto.
Like you never did anything like that when you were 17.
Imagine it: You're young, angry at everything, and you've just come off reading a stack of Ayn Rand, Richard Dawkins, and Friederich Nietszche. You think you've got it all figured out, and you're going to put it into words.
Posts
The monkey is animated. It distracts me from reading by yelling at my peripheral vision.
Made an AIDS joke to a gay forumer during a flame war.
Apparently AIDS is not the comedy gold here that it is on 4chan. :oops:
Yes because every apology I make is a clever ploy to trick people into not seeing me for the vile scum that I am.
I may have fooled the others, but you're too sharp for me!
Bandetta should get that dancing grey simian avatar.
edit- yay redundant post.
- John Stuart Mill
#1. I am a blameless victim of a monolithic and bigoted school administration
#2. I am a combative asshole who got what was coming to him
Neither one is accurate. My discussion with Lacy was the straw that broke the camel's back, and the allegations that there were several professors with whom I had been reported for arguing with in the past are absolutely true.
Those arguments were not religious, but over grades. I was told going into college by my folks that haggling for grades never hurts, and I shouldn't shy away from that kind of discussion with professors. I guess I argued a little too long in a few cases because I apparently pissed off those professors in the process. I attended a meeting with the associate dean about it, chose for myself to apologize to each of the instructors, and put it behind me.
The thing is, you don't get a clean slate after something like that. It follows you around. With this latest incident, I guess they had finally decided that they had a good enough reason to suspend me. That's what they did.
So why do I think discrimination was involved?
Cassandra, the associate Dean, had a big long talk with me after the arguments over grades with professors that I pushed too hard in. She gave me a spiel about how she was like me once, but as a baptist learned to have a more humble outlook on life. I nodded and smiled, which is not to say that I didn't listen. When I left her office that day I did so on very friendly terms with her, and what I took away from the discussion was that I could apparently be abrasive without realizing it, and that one catches more flies with honey than vinegar.
I did my best to put her advice into practice, and a month went by without incident. Then the Leprechaun discussion occurred. I was dismayed. I had done my best to go the gentle route with the discussion but I hadn't anticipated Lacy's fragility. I found myself once again in front of Cassandra but this time Dean Engeldinger as well. Put on the spot, I panicked, and insisted that the punishment was out of porportion to the crime (which I feel it was) when all they wanted to hear from me was frantic grovelling. Cassandram formerly chummy with me, had suddenly transformed into a vindictive, shouting banshee. I physically recoiled, and left the meeting in a frightened stupor.
Afterwards the first thing that occurred to me was that I knew one of the people who had overheard the discussion. I asked him about it and he confirmed that Lacy had overreacted. Fool that I was, I assumed this was my ticket to vindication. I take him back to the offices with me and attempt to present him as a witness. This was when Cassandra, now madly in anger with me, comes out of her office and confronts us. I explain that I'd like to present a witness to the Dean, and she explodes. Perhaps due to a combination of learning that I had been on the secular side of the argument as well as figuring I had ignored her advice, Cassandra went wild on me. After the tirade, she told me the only way I was presenting a witness would be to leave, make an appointment, and then return. So I called her machine and made an appointment in the message and asked how long I had to wait before coming back. This sent her back into a rage. She called out for other teachers to "come witness this behavior!" Which was about when I realized that I wasn't going to win this with reason.
It was because of this incident, officially, that I was expelled. I feel that Cassandra's attitude towards me led her to misrepresent my behavior in the hallway to the Dean, who I then appealed to. It was during this appeal that I explained my prior interactions with Cassandra, and how I felt as though it may have motivated her to push for my expulsion. This is when he told me very flatly that atheists are not a protected class of people.
My jaw dropped. The idea that any sort of bias was involved in this had been more of a vague suspicion before, but in my mind this confirmed it. Here was the Dean of the school, telling me in plain terms that I did not deserve the same protections as religious persons because I myself lacked religous belief. In retrospect, he may have just been uninformed regarding civil rights laws.
That's what I'd like to add to the Mercury's account of events, and it's what I intend to tell to my interviewers over the next few days. Was I already on thin ice? Absolutely. Did I deserve a suspension for the discussion? Absolutely not. Was my expulsion justified, or did it result from differences between Cassandra and myself?
Even if I resume my education at the Art Institute, they'll still be looking for a "last straw". It could be anything, and I'd probably never see it coming. For that reason I'm thinking that transferring my credits to a different art school would be a better course of action.
Pretty sure it is; I remember I used to think it was weird that the monkey moved up and down.
- John Stuart Mill
does it fling poo?
cause flinging poo is hilarious.
but only when monkeys do it.
Sounds like another Strange and Embarassing Moment!
I don't know how I'm going to tell him that I have to let him go....we've been through so much together.
I guess I could get an animated avatar of like Murray or something.
My only consolation is that the one I found is suspended.
Oh, the homonymity.
The plot thickens.
Kind of both, really. I mean, I know you, and I'm pretty sure you'd have still gotten carried away with this chick, changed man or not. Hell, I remember you leaving rant-bombs on my LJ last time I booted you, I know you get wound up. Doesn't matter though, the school had no place booting you over it. They're not a forum, so sue the pants off them :P
'fraid you'll have to put up with the knowledge that I'm feeling insufferably smug about the whole thing though, because I damn well told you you'd get in trouble for real one day
That's about the size of it. The article made me out to be blameless, which is why many have been rightfully skeptical of it. I wasn't, but I also didn't deserve expulsion by any stretch of the imagination.
I wish you'd been there. The way he looked at me when he told me that I basically didn't deserve the same protections as religious people would make you want to punch his teeth out.
I'm not even going after huge cash prizes, I just want to stick it to the Dean and Associate Dean because of how they handled this and the things they said to me behind closed doors. I can't let it go.
Ain't that the fucken icing on the cake.
On the black screen
^^^ Welcome to the next ten pages of identical replies.
Ain't that the fucken icing on the cake.
Please tell me one of you guys has the one from his mantus story, depicting him discovering the "starship trooper situation." I think that picture made me laugh for ten minutes straight.
That, and the one for the canoe story.
Oh lord...the memories...
\o/
Called it.
If your next associate dean is named "Tiresias," listen closely.
Ain't that the fucken..
Wait, this isn't the WoW General Forums... I'll stop now.
On the other hand, you'd probably limit yourself depending on your situation and environment. A clearly for-profit votech-style art school with administrators who already don't like you isn't the best place to make your stand.
Like you never did anything like that when you were 17.
Imagine it: You're young, angry at everything, and you've just come off reading a stack of Ayn Rand, Richard Dawkins, and Friederich Nietszche. You think you've got it all figured out, and you're going to put it into words.
Oh, I've been there. I was restrained enough to keep those words to myself, though.
I argued it with my parents a ton and with my friends. Just not to complete strangers.
On that note, I suppose I'll keep my blueprints for an automobile that burns mormons for fuel under wraps as well...
I like the South Park episode about Mormons.
Because it's an accurate portrayal of their beliefs.