Posted on 07/19/2002 12:06:27 PM PDT by LowOiL
Governor candidate loses teaching job
Montgomery- The Libertarian Party candidate for governor, John Sophocleus, is losing his job as a part-time economics instructor at Auburn University.
Sophocieus said Thursday he has been told he would not be offered a contract to teach in the fall semester. University spokeswoman Janet McCoy said the fact that Sophocleus is running for governor had nothing to do with the decision not to rehire him for the fall semester.
Sophocleus faces incumbent Democrat Don Siegelman and Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Riley in the Nov. 5 general election for governor.
A former employee of Ford Motor Co., Sophocleus has been teaching part-time at Auburn for the past 10 years at a salary of about $12,000 a year. He taught two courses in micro-econmics during the past semester.
Sophocleus said he is considering taking legal action against the university and would not say if he thought politics was involved.
"What they did will have to speak for itself," Sophocleus said. He said his supervisors at Auburn never told him not to run for governor or to tone down political rhetoric.
"I've never been asked not to be political," he said.
But he said it's not unusual for Libertarian candidates to face similar obstacles in a mostly two-party state like Alabama.
"One of the biggest complaints that stop people from running is fear of retribution at their work-place. For whatever it's worth, that's certainly the perception of folks that they are discouraged from running," Sophocleus said.
I haven't any opinion on the above piece. Just thought I would share it.
You might want to invest in a keyboard sniffer sniffer...
At $12,000 a year after ten years, he ought to know a lot about micro-economics!
In the late 80s, when I went back for my doctorate in economics, I was offered an opportunity to teach three courses per semester. Total compensation offered: $10,500. I estimated the time it would take to prepare for the course sessions, teach them, and deal with papers, tests, and so forth, got a figure of thirty hours per week, and decided against it.
Of course, it helped that I was already gainfully employed at a much higher salary. Imagine the poor schmuck who has to get by on teaching fees of that order -- and pay graduate-school tuition, into the bargain.
For an in-depth look at this abuse of teachers at the college level, I highly recommend Charles Sykes's book Profscam. In its ability to get your blood boiling although not in its style, it's the academic equivalent of Ann Coulter's Slander.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit the Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com
I don't have to imagine it, I took a look at getting a Ph.D awhile back and decided I'd rather be uneducated and smart than well-educated and stupid - or at least, foolish. College professors, as an economic class, are an embarassment to Marxism.
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