I’m about to hop in my car to drive to Greensboro, North Carolina, to give a speech at UNCG. Hopefully, some of my readers can make it out to UNCG by 7:30 p.m. My speech will be in the Azalea Room in the Elliott University Center. I think that’s the same place a porn star gave a speech on safe sodomy back in 2004. I plan to give my speech on safe Russian roulette. I’m only kidding.
But before I leave for my trip to UNC-Gomorrah, I want to share my latest bit of correspondence with the administration here at UNC-Webmasters (hereafter, UNCW). It should provide some insight into this interesting question: Which is the biggest problem in our universities today, a) Administrative Intolerance, or b) Administrative Incompetence?
Chancellor (DePaolo):
I am deeply disappointed in the university's response (concerning my request for the posting of an announcement of Frank Turek’s speech on “Faith and Atheism” at UNCW). Dana did, in fact, indicate that a death in (the editor’s) family resulted in the failure to post the request I submitted on March 18th. That does not explain, however, the university's failure to recognize the request I submitted on March 12th. Nor does it explain the numerous postings between the dates of March 12th and March 24th.
If there are other factors - including but not necessarily limited to family deaths - I would like to know what those other factors were. I would also like to know how family deaths affect some postings but not others.
Mike Adams
(The Chancellor had someone else respond for her).
Chancellor DePaolo:
I received a letter from Dana this morning indicating that the editor’s office did not receive my request for posting, which was submitted on March 12th. I have re-checked my records. That message was, in fact, successfully sent at exactly 11:37 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. I think it is time to move on to another issue.
In a previous correspondence you referenced the Faculty Senate President’s decision to decline to post information about the Turek lecture on the Faculty Senate mailing list. You were correct to mention that I understood his rationale for declining to post that information; namely, that it was not “faculty senate business.” However, since that correspondence I have discovered that the following was circulated on the Faculty Senate mailing list: “Resolved, the UNCW faculty declares its support for a three-year academic celebration of the bicentennial of the birth of one of history’s greatest scientists, Charles Darwin, and the sesquicentennial of the publication of his monumental, paradigm-changing book, The Origin of Species.”
It would appear to me that the university has opened up a public forum on the issue of evolution with a “celebration” of Darwin. I plan to invite Dr. Frank Turek back to UNC-Wilmington next semester in order to offer a critique of Darwin. I will again ask the Faculty Senate leadership to circulate an announcement of the details of his lecture.
Given that we are “celebrating” Darwin, should we not be “celebrating” a diversity of perspectives on the magnitude of Darwin’s contributions. In other words, can we agree that we have opened up a public forum and that a Turek lecture can be reasonably viewed as a part of “faculty senate business”?
(Before the chancellor could respond, her assistant accidentally sent Dr. Adams an email that was intended for Dr. DePaolo).
Chancellor DePaolo:
I think the message below – sent to me by your special assistant - was actually intended for you: “It seems to me that his issue is with the faculty senate...not you...just as his issue with @uncw is with Caroline, Dana or me...not you.”
Mike Adams
My trip to UNCG comes at a really good time. It will give the university at day or so to learn how to use the email system. They can find lost emails and even learn how to send emails to one another. Then, when I get back, maybe we can talk about the numerous posting requests sent to the Women’s Resource Center on behalf of Life Line Pregnancy Center over a period of six years. I’m sure that most of those requests were innocently lost or sent to people attending funerals.
In the meantime, log on to Frank Turek’s blog (www.CrossExamined.org) to see what he thought about his trip to UNC-Web Experts (hereafter, UNCW). I’ll be back with another installment faster than you can say “safe sodomy.”