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No, you wanted to relieve your boredom in the bathroom. |
Posted on 12/16/2002 3:32:40 PM PST by CedarDave
Thursday, December 12, 2002
Berthold Urged Nude Calendar
By Olivier Uyttebrouck Journal Staff Writer
Richard Berthold's peculiar sense of humor struck again this fall when he suggested the University of New Mexico history department publish a nude calendar featuring a female professor.
Berthold named the young assistant professor in an e-mail he sent to about 30 faculty members of UNM's history department, he and other faculty members said this week.
The e-mail prompted 13 professors to write letters of complaint to the department's chairwoman.
Berthold sent the e-mail in September, a year after he made his now-infamous Sept. 11 remark, "Anyone who can bomb the Pentagon gets my vote." Berthold made the comment in two undergraduate history classes. He later apologized.
He is retiring from UNM this semester after 30 years of teaching.
"I suggested, half tongue-in-cheek — not learning after 30 years how humorless most academics are — that we do one of those cheesecake/beefcake calenders that New England townships and fire departments are publishing right and left," he said in an interview this week.
Other faculty members said they found the e-mail troubling because Berthold named the young professor he wanted to see featured in the calendar.
Berthold said he considered the woman a good friend.
"I named her specifically because I thought she would be amused," he said.
The assistant professor declined comment.
Some of Berthold's colleagues said this week that they were not amused.
"Many people in the department saw this as part of a pattern of behavior," history professor David Farber said of the e-mail. "I think in his own mind he thought it was humorous. It was just typical of the kind of remarks he makes without thought about how other people will perceive them."
History professor Melissa Bokovoy said the timing of the e-mail was unfortunate because the young assistant professor faced a "mid-probationary review" — a step required in achieving tenure, which gives a professor certain job protections.
As part of the review process, other professors in the department can observe the candidate in the classroom. Faculty members later vote on whether the candidate can continue working toward tenure.
The process is nerve-racking under any circumstances, Bokovoy said, but even more so "if there is a faculty member in your classroom who has imagined you naked."
Bokovoy said she and others complained to Jane Slaughter, chair of UNM's history department.
"Basically, it was just very immature and juvenile," Bokovoy said of the e-mail. "I've been in the department for 11 years now, and I still don't know what makes him do the things he does."
Slaughter said she got 13 letters from faculty members complaining about the e-mail. But no official sexual harassment charges were filed against Berthold, she said.
Provost Brian Foster said his office received several complaints about the e-mails. But UNM cut short its investigation when Berthold announced his retirement.
Berthold said the ruckus over the e-mail helped convince him to retire before his mouth gets him in trouble again.
"I feel like there's somebody looking over my shoulder all the time," he said. "And the longer I stay there, it's just a matter of time before I say or do something really serious."
Berthold said he plans to finish writing a book on the battle of Marathon — a Greek victory over Persia in 490 B.C. — and will try his hand at fiction. He has even talked with the owner of Kelly's Brew Pub about lecturing at the Central Avenue restaurant, where he often met casually with students, he said.
Copyright 2002 Albuquerque Journal
Of course if he had been a conservative professor (an oxymoron), he would have been subject to immediate demonstrations by protesters. See also these stories previously posted:
Professor Who Joked About 9/11 to Retire
UNM Professor To Retire Over Sept. 11 Comment
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No, you wanted to relieve your boredom in the bathroom. |
And having worked in industry all my life, if I did the exact same thing; I would be fired - no questions asked. No benefits, loss of medical and pension, walked to the door and told not to come back. Yet, this 'teacher' gets to keep his job, and retire with full benefits. What a wonderful and enlightened world the academics must have.
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