Professor Bishop's Reviews From Students Very Mixed, Edited Post-Shooting
Amy Bishop, the professor that killed three of University of Alabama-Huntsville biology faculty members and wounded three others after being denied tenure, had very mixed reviews on her teaching abilities, according to the Web site ratemyprofessor.com.
While no students doubted her knowledge of the subject matter, a significant number of them accused Bishop of being an incompetent educator, unable to relate the subject matter to her students in a way that they could understand. In addition, several made references to political comments Bishop made, including one who said "she is a socalist but she only talks about it after class." Another student wrote that Bishop, " She's a liberal from 'Hahvahd' and let's you know exactly how she feels about particular subjects." The later user's comment had mysteriously been removed from Bishop's profile on www.ratemyprofessors.com/ by Saturday morning, the day after the shooting, after being referenced on multiple web sites and blogs.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:50 AM
Comments
1
Obviously, this calls for federal legislation to prevent recurrence of this tragedy. I propose abolishing all tenure.
Posted by: Dr. Horrible at February 13, 2010 10:58 AM (Dj4BX)
2
In many major universities, excellence in teaching is actually a negative when it comes to tenure. It indicates a lack of dedication to research. (And no, I am not kidding.) UAH still puts significant emphasis on teaching as well as publication. I suspect we will find that there is a lot more to this story, including the puff pieces about here excellence in research.
Posted by: Tregonsee at February 13, 2010 10:59 AM (g9QSj)
3
I wonder how long it will take the MSM (at the behest of the White House) to bury this story?
Will it drop off the face of the Earth overnight just like the murder of graduate student Annie Le did last fall?
In the latter, it has pretty much been established that the suspect did not have an on-going affair with the victim and the police will not say what his motive was.
He was, responsible for the care of mice and other animals used in testing in the laboratory. However, not one journalist has looked into whether or not he had ties to PETA or any other racial "animal rights" group? Perhaps they are afraid of what they will find.
Likewise, I'm pretty sure there is more to this most recent shooting than just being denied "tenure". I am equally sure, that unless a tie to some radical right wing organization pops up out of nowhere, we will never know what her true motives (or background) is.
As the post states, her "history" is already being "sanitized" for the good of the State!
Will it drop off the face of the Earth overnight just like the murder of graduate student Annie Le did last fall?
In the latter, it has pretty much been established that the suspect did not have an on-going affair with the victim and the police will not say what his motive was.
He was, responsible for the care of mice and other animals used in testing in the laboratory. However, not one journalist has looked into whether or not he had ties to PETA or any other racial "animal rights" group? Perhaps they are afraid of what they will find.
Likewise, I'm pretty sure there is more to this most recent shooting than just being denied "tenure". I am equally sure, that unless a tie to some radical right wing organization pops up out of nowhere, we will never know what her true motives (or background) is.
As the post states, her "history" is already being "sanitized" for the good of the State!
Posted by: George J at February 13, 2010 12:35 PM (0rhF2)
Posted by: George J at February 13, 2010 12:37 PM (0rhF2)
5
Shouldn't the headline read "Socialist-leaning prof goes on shooting rampage"? If some otherwise obscure teacher who had attended a tea party shot anybody, his or her politics would certainly be the lede.
Posted by: zhombre at February 13, 2010 12:57 PM (FBJBT)
6
That it would... that it would...
And it would all be blamed on the "hate speech" of talk radio (ie Rush Limbaugh)
And it would all be blamed on the "hate speech" of talk radio (ie Rush Limbaugh)
Posted by: George J at February 13, 2010 02:04 PM (0rhF2)
7
You forgot to mention that many of the other members of the department, including those who were murdered, had worse student evaluation comments than the killer did. Look at the RateMyProfessors page for the department as a whole. It doesn't sound like that department had very many good teachers at all.
Posted by: Charles at February 13, 2010 02:08 PM (qcGqM)
8
Now breaking that she shot her brother dead in 1986, but was not charged, and the records have disappeared. Just goes to prove that guns don't kill people, Ivy Leaguers kill people.
Posted by: Tregonsee at February 13, 2010 06:11 PM (g9QSj)
9
This is a tragedy. There has to be more to this story. It's rumored that she was denied tenure. Could it be that she had "anger management" issues that escalated in a situation beyond her control? She has 4 children. I feel for the kids.
Posted by: marion at February 14, 2010 05:49 AM (acJ52)
10
Ratemyprofessor.com is useless. Sample sizes tend to be small and are dominated by students who are pissed off and want some small measure of revenge. In addition, I heard a UAH student say on Headline News (sorry, it was on by accident) that this prof taught a prereq and it was almost impossible to avoid her. Since students have no choice but to take her class, you're going to get more negative reviews. I'm not defending the prof, just trying to discourage the use of low quality sources.
Posted by: Jeff at February 14, 2010 09:14 AM (nYK6e)
11
"In many major universities, excellence in teaching is actually a negative when it comes to tenure. It indicates a lack of dedication to research. (And no, I am not kidding.)"
I have no trouble believing this. Author Isaac Asimov was a professor at Boston University School of Medicine, and was probably the best lecturer the school had. His students frequently burst into applause at the end of his lectures. But he freely admitted that he was, at best, a mediocre researcher. The department head eventually fired him. Asimov simply got an agent and began speaking professionally for five-figure sums. Meanwhile, the students at BUSM got professors who were excellent researchers and terrible teachers.
I have no trouble believing this. Author Isaac Asimov was a professor at Boston University School of Medicine, and was probably the best lecturer the school had. His students frequently burst into applause at the end of his lectures. But he freely admitted that he was, at best, a mediocre researcher. The department head eventually fired him. Asimov simply got an agent and began speaking professionally for five-figure sums. Meanwhile, the students at BUSM got professors who were excellent researchers and terrible teachers.
Posted by: Sundog at February 14, 2010 11:07 AM (sHdW0)
12
This is a tragedy. There has to be more to this story. It's rumored that she was denied tenure. Could it be that she had "anger management" issues that escalated in a situation beyond her control?
It seems that way. She shot and killed her brother when she was 19. It sppears to have been an intentional killing, one which was covered up with the help of now Congressman Delahunt.
It seems that way. She shot and killed her brother when she was 19. It sppears to have been an intentional killing, one which was covered up with the help of now Congressman Delahunt.
Posted by: flenser at February 14, 2010 12:06 PM (+VMEA)
13
I was a tenured Associate Professor at a large land grant university in Raleigh, NC. Quote from the Dean of Engineering "We're never going to be a top ten university on the strength of our undergraduate program."
Q.E.D.
I quit shortly thereafter.
Q.E.D.
I quit shortly thereafter.
Posted by: Locomotive Breath at February 14, 2010 07:46 PM (/bbO4)
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