178

Jason
Posted on March 14, 2018 by David M Willis

178 thoughts on “Jason”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “With friends like this chap here, who needs enemies?”

    1. Ana Chronistic

      Pemblebrook and Thingley, BFFs FOREVAR

      1. C.T Phipps

        I feel like Walky meeting English men and women who aren’t posh would be a fascinating experience–assuming he survives.

      2. ellernock

        Pemblebrook and Thingley sounds like a really pretentious leather goods brand. I’m into it.

        1. HeySo

          Seconded. =O

      3. Abel Undercity

        Pemblebrook and Thingley, solving crimes together whether they like it or not. The new series coming this autumn to BBC 4.

        1. GeorgeV

          One’s a fired maths tutor.
          The other’s a failing maths student.

          Together, they fight crime!

        2. Kryss LaBryn

          “Dammit, Pemblebrook, these clues just don’t add up!”

          “How many times do I have to tell you, Thingley? Find the common denominator!”

          –I regret nothing. 😀

        3. HeySo

          The fact that this isn’t actually a show majorly disappoints me.

        4. Goshii

          “Pemblebrook and Thingley, we are transferring you to a new division, so you can get to the root of this crime spree.” – Mr. e; Chief Inspector.

    2. Walky_Talky

      Walky’s making the right move. If someone is talking about trying to stab someone, make sure you become their friend.

      1. SgtWadeyWilson

        That avatar may work a little too well…

      2. HeySo

        Caption: “I know it always worked to get me friends!“

        1. HeySo

          *me friends.
          Stupid formatting.

    3. Deanatay

      With buddies like Walky, who needs friends?

  2. JetstreamGW

    And honestly, Jason, you’re jumping the gun if you think you’re getting fired just ‘cuz Penny said so.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Well, he did get an e-mail about a trial and he needed to get the affected student to mount a defense–which, again, he shouldn’t mount a defense because he’s guilty.

      I mean, no situation where he keeps his job doesn’t make him a liar and hypocrite.

      1. Achallenger

        Please stop mounting the defense

        1. C.T Phipps

          I am imagining the Riddler, Joker, and Catwoman as the jury.

          Jason: Here is the affected student!

          Riddler: Sucker! The riddle was if there WAS an affected student, you’re guilty!

          Jason: THAT’S NOT A RIDDLE! That’s a trick!

          *is eaten by sharks with no bat repellent to save him*

          Sal: Huh. That was more fun than I expected.

        2. Clif

          When do we get to the part where he mounts the defense? Focus!

        3. darkgloomie

          That only happens on Slipshine I’m afraid

        4. HeySo

          Willis is doing BatmanxWalkyverse slash featuring courtroom sexcapades now?
          ..y’know, that actually isn’t at all surprising. I think the only thing that’d be surprising is if they don’t all transform into robots partway through.

        5. David DeLaney

          … “I’m Batman!”

          –Dave, you KNOW it’d be his only line

        6. Danni

          what happens when the defense mounts you?

        7. Clif

          That only happens in Soviet Russia.

        8. thejeff

          Also on Slipshine.

      2. Mr D

        I’d point out that, uhhhh…..
        Penny accused him without proof? She actually didn’t know he and Sal banged? And apparently Sal hasn’t fingered him? Like, at all? Nobody in the faculty knows who or how got banged, other than Jason.

        IF Jason was moral, He’d come forward and testify. But does need to? Did Sal talk? because Penny didn’t actually do this out of morality, she just wanted to see Jason suffer and hit the nail in the head by accident.

        Side point: Would Sal get expelled? I mean, as far as I understood what happened, their tryst was pretty much a spontaneous hatefuck, but she expected to get good grades out of it.

        Under these circumstances, it cannot be said to be either A) TA offered to sleep with student to raise student’s grade or B) Student tries to seduce TA to get better grades. Penny got fired for just sleeping with Joe tho, and we don’t know if Joe got in trouble for sleeping with her.

        I’m trying to see things from every possible angle and not knowing much about how American Higher Education works is really kicking my derriere.

        1. Mr D

          TL;DR:
          Jason SHOULD get fired for sleeping with Sal, but is that feasible if she doesn’t point it out to the faculty?
          And would she get in trouble for confessing to sleeping with a TA?

        2. Barf Ninjason

          TL;DR-ier: Sal hasn’t fingered Jason

        3. Deanatay

          All this talk of mounting and fingering is getting to me.

        4. Jon S.

          I haven’t read the Slipshine, so I don’t know if Sal fingered Jason or not.

      3. Stellar

        Depends on the accusation. If the affected student chosen was Mike and both truthfully say they did not sleep together…

        …and, if Jason neither feels guilty about nor regrets sleeping with Sal he is not a hypocrite. Just a rule-breaker. Same goes for Sal. How someone else feels about those rules and Jason breaking them wouldn’t come into it.

      4. JetstreamGW

        Well, I mean… The defense is easy.

        “There is no affected student. Penny is lying.”

        Why would he tell the truth? That seems incredibly stupid.

  3. Zaidyer

    A friendship for the ages, this one

    1. C.T Phipps

      Friends…with benefits. Come on, this is all a setup for the big kiss.

  4. AnvilPro

    Oh heck yeah, time for a funny friendship montage where Jason teaches Walky to do a math and Walky teaches Jason to do a cool

    1. Delicious Taffy

      And then Walky teaches Jason to do a sex?

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Look, I really wanna know if Jason wore a rubber with Sal, or if we can expect a surprise later.

        1. Kat

          He didn’t, but Sal is “on stuff” so we’re probably gonna skip that storyline lol (I imagine it’s not one Willis wants to do anyways).

      2. Doctor_Who

        Perform a sex. Walky is an ARTIST.

        1. C.T Phipps

          “It doesn’t count as cheating if it’s a dude, right?” – Walky logic.

        2. Some1

          Walky: Dorothy, I have to tell you something. I cheated on you.

          Dorothy: With who?

          Walky: Jason.

          Dorothy: Shit, now I have to be angry yet supportive at the same time.

        3. Dark

          Let’s be honest…

          She’d probably want him to do it again while she watched.

        4. Clif

          You’re confusing Dorothy with Amber.

        5. Brotato

          Danny kinda did, too, so…

        6. Deanatay

          Nope, doesn’t work. There’s no free pizza.

  5. tim gueguen

    “Faz wants to be your friend. Especially if you know some ladies who are looking for male companionship.”

  6. Jupero

    Aggressive Friendlessness is my new occupation.

  7. Some1

    The question is, does Jason not have any friends because he’s a jerk, or is he a jerk because he doesn’t have any friends?

    1. Inahc

      making friends in a different country takes a fair bit of effort, and somehow I doubt .. Jason ever put in that effort.

      although, of the options you suggested, why not both? 🙂 it’s a vicious cycle, I expect.

      …

      nah, I think he’d be like this even with friends. maybe a bit milder.

    2. TemporalShrew

      I feel like those two things tend to feed into each other, like an antisocial Ouroboros.

      1. SgtWadeyWilson

        I dunno what this is about, but your version of me sounds pretty awesome.

    3. Rukdug

      Hmm. A good question. And a good point.

    4. dralou

      I’ve known jerks who had friends, and friendless sweethearts, so I don’t think that the both are related. I particularly remember a massive jerk whose friends would always find excuses for his awful behaviour, while I’m somewhat certain he would have thrown them under a bus if he ever felt it would be of use for him.

      1. thejeff

        Probably more to do with being reserved and not outgoing. Plus quite possibly only having been in the country a couple of months.

  8. Passchendaele

    FRIEND: GAINED (whether Jason wants him or not. :P)

    1. Stephen Bierce

      Walky is Jason’s Fluffmodeus.

    2. Inahc

      NAKAMA!!1!

      1. Kamino Neko

        Ohana!

        1. Needfuldoer

          Oye como va?

        2. Deanatay

          Peligro!

    3. Khyrin

      I’d say it’d be more like Wilde Life’s Not-Friend designation.

  9. C.T Phipps

    Jason: Listen, Walky, it’s not that I don’t want to be your friend but I think you’re stupid and lower class.

    1. No Name

      Wait until he finds out Mrs. Walkerton’s friends with the dean.

      1. C.T Phipps

        “This lout is your godson!?”

        *stare*

        “Dammit.”

  10. Doctor_Who

    I’m okay with the bow-tie (they are cool after all), but dude needs to stop wearing vests that are the same color as his pants. Makes it look like he’s in a sleeveless jumpsuit.

    The Dazzler look doesn’t suit him.

    1. Liquid Len

      But does he need a fez (but not s Faz)?

  11. Mad_Academic

    Okay really? Jason has no friends?

    1. C.T Phipps

      Well, he went to Penny to talk about his insecurity about being a bad teacher. Which means he thought PENNY was his friend.

      1. Doctor_Who

        I’d make a comparison to Cyclonus going to Whirl for advice, but their whole thing had actually gotten kinda heartwarming last we saw.

        Penny is a worse friend than Whirl. That’s like being a worse snowboarder than Stephen Hawking (may he rest in peace).

        1. C.T Phipps

          What, he’s dead? *checks* Shit.

        2. Doctor_Who

          Shit indeed. May he forever snowboard the cosmos.

        3. Inahc

          🙁

          tbh I’m pretty impressed that he held on so long with .. whatever disease it was.

        4. Brotato

          ALS. It gradually paralyzes you.

        5. Kamino Neko

          He got 40-50 more years than expected, so, yeah, he did good.

        6. Agemegos

          Miracle of socialised medicine.

        7. Needfuldoer

          It seems kind of fitting that he left us on Pi Day though, doesn’t it.

      2. Mad_Academic

        Okay, but I would also do that with a colleague (which Penny is), so I really fail to see the point here. I find it really odd that Jason literally has no friends. I mean, I can go down the rabbit hole of Perspective, but I’d rather not. This comic already dismisses the idea that there are functional adults.

        1. BBCC

          He might have some in England, but not in America where he can watch cartoons and eat cereal with them.

        2. Jaime

          I actually don’t see it as that strange. Academia is a demanding profession (I teach college English) and often doesn’t leave a lot of time for a personal life. If you’re lucky you have colleagues who can also be friends, but that isn’t always the case. I also know from personal experience that even if you have great colleagues, becoming personal friends with your colleagues can get weird. I don’t really have a single colleague I would call a “friend” (although I am “friendly” with many of them) and I have little to no time outside of my work schedule for meeting people and building friendships. (I am full-time and, at a guess, I would say that my total workload, including out-of-class duties like meetings and grading and professional development, is about 60-70 hours/week.) If I didn’t have a partner and family who lives near me I’d be a hermit.

          IMHO, it’s even worse in grad school because there is the added pressure of grades and competition between students for status and the few jobs out there. I think I had maybe ONE friend at my school when I was a grad student. I went to a school where grad students weren’t TAs (we got farmed out as Adjunct faculty, but at least we got paid adjunct wages). However, I understand that competition for TA positions can be fierce, something else that doesn’t easily lead to building friendships. Jason may also be experiencing some “culture shock” as an Englishman in a small U.S. town.

        3. Mad_Academic

          Okay, granted, but, are you American? I feel this differs from nation to nation.

        4. Jaime

          Yes, I am. I also teach at a very large urban college that’s significantly different from the college in DoA.

          I don’t know if you’re a U.S.ian, but in this country right now we’re really having a crisis in higher education. At the same time that tuition is skyrocketing, schools are trying to eliminate tenure and things like sabbatical and release time. Meanwhile, professor salaries are under attack as being “too high” and colleges are increasingly getting rid of full-timers and replacing them with adjuncts (part-time faculty) who get paid a lot less and often don’t get benefits. Acceleration is the latest trend in U.S. higher ed – getting students out as fast as possible. But meanwhile we’re still supposed to somehow keep improving student retention and average GPA while maintaining academic standards and the reputations of our schools. It’s kind of like being Sisyphus. 🙁

          I’m better off than many because I have an extremely powerful union and teach at a relatively decent school. However, I have a 4/5 load and about 30 students/class, and most of the classes I teach are Intro. to Composition. (Translation: MANY MANY HOURS of grading student essays) We have a wonderfully diverse student body, but that translates into many students whose English proficiency may be lacking or who have not been in school or written an academic essay in many years, which is an additional challenge and time sink. My colleagues and I are all suffering “workload creep” due to an administration that is constantly asking us to fulfill additional learning criteria and institutional initiatives. I am pre-tenure; my department has high publication and service standards for tenure, which means even more work.

          Wow, that got ranty, didn’t it? *sorry* You can probably figure out my current stress level… I have been to two national academic conferences since the beginning of 2018. The worst thing is that pretty much every single person in English who is teaching/wants to teach has said that I am LUCKY. UGH.

        5. Khno

          I’m (or I was until I burned out and went unable to work anymore) exactly in the same situation as you. Got a hard time explaining that, no, I’m not especially lucky to have (had) not time for family, nor even to do the dishes, nor even sometimes to eat or to sleep and get stuck 24/24 thinking about work with the perpetual menace of being fired because I said what I think in lieu of what people what to hear – hell no, because I said yes, whereas I should just nod.
          All my support to you pal, hope you can keep the pace and get tenured.

        6. Jaime

          Thanks, Khno! My department has a good record of only very rarely denying tenure. However, I had a nasty scare this fall semester. My Chair told me that I wasn’t making “good progress” towards tenure and I almost didn’t get renewed for the next school year. (HOORAY for unions – I ran, not walked, to my union rep and they helped me appeal that decision.) But yeah, now I’m in the middle of burning myself out by trying to do ALL THE THINGS to make sure I’m meeting this kind-of-arbitrary goalposts. If/when I make tenure, I expect I will probably slip into a near-comatose state for a while – at least until I start worrying about promotion. 🙁

        7. Eldritch Gentleman

          Excuse me for this offtopic question but… you say that the tuition costs go up while the schools cut costs by attacking teachers’ salaries And by replacing them with cheaper labor… so… where the hell does all that cash go O_o

        8. thejeff

          More admin overhead.

          Also a lot of the public state universities used to get a lot more direct support from the states. That’s been lost in budget cuts over the last few decades.

        9. Eldritch Gentleman

          How did it go… “The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy”

        10. Agemegos

          Admin costs, facilities, salaries for star coaching staff, making up for reduced government subsidies, and (in the numerous private for-profit colleges in the USA) profit for the owners.

          A friend and former colleague of mine got a job at the University of Texas (Austin). They had a Nobel laureate on the staff as a full professor. The head coach was paid forty times as much as the Nobel laureate.

        11. Jaime

          What everyone else has said. 😉

          Don’t get me wrong – I make a LOT more than an adjunct professor. When I did the adjunct thing in graduate school, there were semesters when I taught as many hours per week as I do now. My pay for that equal number of teaching hours was a fraction of my pay now. The previous Chancellor of my university system made over $650,000/year. He received a bonus equal to one year’s salary after his 5th year in the position. He also had his $18,000 yearly rent paid by the school. The school also provided him with a private car and a driver. The president of my school makes close to $150,000/year (more than the highest possible salary level for a tenured full professor) and has a close-to-unlimited expense account.

          And we are a PUBLIC university. The pay gap at private universities is even higher. Also, we are not in any way a sports university, so we don’t have the massive disconnect between athletic and academic funding as noted by Agemegos.

          Increasingly higher ed. in the U.S. is being run on the business model. Even not-for-profit schools (like mine) are starting to function like for-profit schools. *SIGH*

        12. Liquid Len

          It’s a corporate mentality that has been creeping in to higher education for some time now. (I work in the corporate world in consumer goods, so I see analogous things here).

  12. Keulen

    As long as you stab someone in self defense, even that doesn’t get you kicked out of college apparently.

  13. BBCC

    Well, until your program advisor finds out you banged a student and tosses you out anyways, Jason.

    1. C.T Phipps

      It wasn’t a problem for Ruthless. Indiana U is a shitty shitty universe in the Walkyverse.

      1. BBCC

        Yes, but unless Jason’s dad is gonna fly across the ocean to pay Jason’s way out of this one, I don’t think that’ll work.

        …
        Please don’t, Willis, Jason doesn’t deserve that.

        1. thejeff

          If Jason’s dad is anything like his dad in the Walkyverse, you’re right. Jason doesn’t deserve that.
          Much like Ruth didn’t deserve Clint showing up to pull strings.

      2. Jabberwocky

        Ruth had family with pull.

        1. C.T Phipps

          Mind you, I think this isn’t motivated by a desire for justice but just to look like they did something.

      3. thejeff

        Well, Ruth wasn’t going to get kicked out, no matter what. Would have lost her RA job without Clint’s intervention, but there’s nothing wrong with one student banging another, so no reason for her to be kicked out.

        Much like Jason could lose his TA position, but not get kicked out. Nothing in the rules about grad students boffing undergrads in general.

        1. BBCC

          According to Jason, it is against his program rules and he’d be tossed out if he knew (which might be because his program requires a TA component).

          I guess he could have meant the TA program, but that’s not how I initially read it.

        2. thejeff

          But he just said he’d still be enrolled. I’d originally assumed they were tied together, but apparently not.

        3. BBCC

          Yeah, I guess he meant he’d be kicked out of the TA program.

  14. Stephen Bierce

    *plays Big Audio Dynamite’s “E=MC2” on the hacked P.A. Speakers in honor of Stephen Hawking*

  15. C.T Phipps

    In serious terms, I think Jason has an extraordinarily bad judgement about people’s thoughts regarding him. Penny said this outright but we can’t trust her judgement on that. However, he went to her to talk about being a bad teacher and completely misread that Sal doesn’t secretly Tsundere (hot and cold in Japanese basically) for him–no, she actively hates him. Given he treats people like crap and lords over them–it’s no wonder no one likes him.

    1. Goki

      You really don’t like Jason do you?

      1. C.T Phipps

        I love to hate him like Mike, unlike Blaine or Toedad.

        1. Goki

          I can see and understand that.

          I feel the same way with Sal ironically, but also Mike, Joe, Mary, Faz and Leslie (she is such a good teacher, but her taste in women is horrible…).

          Then there are characters I just hate… like Blaine and Toedad, though I also hate Roz, Penny, Ryan, and Malaya. With the people I love to hate, they either have some redeeming quality or righteous justice falls upon them and their reaction is hilarious, but with the ones I hate, I just feel they are terrible people.

          Nice thing about this series and one f the reasons I lve reading it is Willis makes these kind of characters, ones that have good points and one with flaws, so minor, some major, and you can see how awful people can get with this series.

          Anyway, thanks for answering. ^_^! May you love of hating make you strong.

  16. newllend(henryvolt)

    God damn you Willis for making me empathize with Jason.

  17. Jabberwocky

    Was Jason ever established as having a middle name? Jason Pemblebrook Chesterfield fits him a little too well.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Jason Sex Pistols Chesterfield.

      “My mother compromised with my father on it.”

      1. Khno

        I’d prefer Jason Test Dept Chesterfield

  18. Hari

    Walky is like a puppy who wants to be everyone’s friend.

    1. SgtWadeyWilson

      Correction: Walk is like a puppy, he is willing to be your friend to get what he wants. Also, he’ll eat way too much without supervision.

      …okay, so Walky’s only doing the friends-for-ulterior-motives thing with Jason, but still.

      1. spriteless

        Huh. I guess Walky and Sal have that in common.

  19. DailyBrad

    Walky’s kind of a big person, in his way.

  20. Beef

    *Looks at tags*
    Willis you liar

  21. ZerglingOne

    RIP Stephen Hawking.

    You will be missed.

  22. fishamaphone

    Pemblebrook Humperdinck.

    1. cbwroses

      And the Dread Pirate Thingley?
      (I hear Humperdinck and all I can think is Thd Princess Bride)

      1. Daibhid C

        I envy you. All I can think is this:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch_Fz2Np-Z4

        1. cbwroses

          Yeah, given the circumstances, I can see why you’d prefer option one to option two.
          Maybe it would help if you think of how other characters could fit into the Princess Bride.
          Like Dorothy makes sense as Buttercup for Walky, but doesn’t for Jason.
          Unless Jason somehow convinced her that being with a stuff shirt like him would help with her political aspirations.

        2. Ed Rhodes

          I love the fact that he named himself after an actual composer from the 18th Century!

        3. cbwroses

          For a quick second, I was wondering when I made another comment. Damn avatar roulette…

  23. cbwroses

    You know, if they genuinely tried to be friends, it could be a good thing for them. Walky could get Jason to relax more while Jason could help Walky be more serious. They could binge walk Dr. Who together.
    Even just the attempt might be good for them, even if it failed. Actively trying to empathize with one another.

    Of course, that would make things really awkward between them and Sal. She seems to actively hate Jason right now and is barely tolerating Walky half the time.

  24. abacuswizard

    Hey Willis, you forgot to tag Pemblebrook in this one.

  25. Danni

    jasal

    1. Koms

      Javid

      1. Danni

        javert

        1. Reltzik

          Jalky.

        2. Koms

          Jaywalker

        3. adjudicus

          Jay-z

        4. Liquid Len

          May the Thingley be with you

  26. Mr. Random

    …Is Jason the new Billie?

    1. Brotato

      More accurately, the new Ruth, except without the violence and alcoholism. Depression remains to be seen. Also, no homosexual relationships yet.

      1. Some1

        Do you think he’ll have the abusive parental figure?

  27. Ainara

    “I think I’d have to try to stab somebody” Haha yeaaaaaaah about that…

  28. Koms

    Stab ’em with your phone.

  29. Bagge

    Panel 6: We have replaced Jason’s Walky with a Joyce. Let see if he notice the difference.

    1. BenRG

      You realise that Joyce would be screaming if you implied in her hearing that she and Walky were in any way alike?

      1. Bagge

        I can see her point. There is obviously no similarity between Walky in this strip and Joyce here.

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/02-this-is-the-way-that-we-love/bargain/

        1. Bagge

          Or, for that matter, Becky in this strip
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/04-the-do-list/broccoli/

        2. BenRG

          It is a classic human attribute that we don’t always really have as much self-awareness as we need.

  30. smashman42

    All Walky’s stupid names for Jason make me wonder what names he’d come up with for Jason if he was some other nationality. (I figure he’s doing this cause of Jason’s reaction rather than a thing against the British)

    Specifically curious about Australian cause that’s me, (so what, Skippy, Steve Irwin, Croc Dundee?) but what about, say, German? Something Hogan’s Heroes ish or would he go straight to Nazi stuff? Would Scottish be all Braveheart & Nessie jokes? Japanese get Jason named after famous anime characters? (like now how he has the sads, he’s totally Shinji)

    1. Bagge

      Well, the thing is that Jason is not only British, he’s personal style and branding is conforming to a very English stereotype. If Jason behaved the same but came from Australia I still think Walky would go with the same English nick names (and, you know, Belgian in the case of Tintin).

      But if he came from Australia and conformed to an Australian stereotype I would go with… Bruce.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyVX3uJpqxc

    2. Agemegos

      Skippy? “Skippy” is an American nickname. No-one here is ever called “Skippy”.

      1. monkyvirus

        And you think there’s an English person called “Pemblebrook” ? :p

        BTW I assume they meant Skippy like the kangaroo

  31. BenRG

    Bless Walky for at least trying to make Jason feel better!

  32. Paradox

    “Get in the classroom Shinji.”

    “Teach me the math, Shinji.”

    1. Reltzik

      “Mustn’t divide by zero! Mustn’t divide by zero! Mustn’t divide by-”

      “Haven’t you been paying attention? Pretty much all of derivative calculus is about using tricks to divide by zero.”

      “….. NO WONDER MORTAL MINDS CANNOT COMPREHEND IT!”

      “….” *sigh*

  33. Ray Radlein

    Stabbing someone might not work either, Jason. Just ask Amber

    1. Eldritch Gentleman

      “If violence is not the solution then you have clearly not used enough of it”

      1. Clif

        I think it worked rather well. Let’s ask Ryan.

  34. Stellar

    “And I Might Be Aggressively Okay With That” is now the title of my autobiography.

  35. Eldritch Gentleman

    Yeah I think he might be maturing towards the whole “Stabbing someone” idea.

  36. JessWitt

    They can team up and solve crimes in some buddy cop movie.

    Reginald and Pemblebrook: Bosom Bobbies.

    1. Clif

      Bosom Bobbies. Stolen for future use.

  37. foducool

    aggressively okay with not having friends or aggressively okay with having to stab someone?

    1. Clif

      Yes.

  38. Minder

    The mention of him continuing to be enrolled pings me in a positive way as I hope that means he isn’t going to actually leave IU if he’s fired from the TA position. We don’t know why he took it in the first place. Reasons for being a TA vary wildly, and while many students in Jason’s position might be in their program out of financial need and dependence on the ‘wage’ (if you can call it that) to scrape by during school simply to afford to continue their degree, I get the sense this may not be the case here.

    I mean, it IS Jason. Shitty job or not, some TA jobs are sought-after or a badge of honor, and even if that’s a far cry from true at IU’s math program Jason still strikes me as EXACTLY the type of stuffy grad student who’d apply for a teaching position as a matter of professionalism because he wants experience and to do things by the book. And losing the job on its own would matter to him–we can see that he does care deeply about being a good teacher, as laughable a lost cause as that is, and having absolute proof of his inability to meet his own standards is kind of existentially devastating. But that may not mean he’s actually unable to remain at the school without it.

    And I do hope he stays on. Jason is a character I genuinely like and pity and feel for, and also a character who has no goddamn business being in any position to grade others and lead a class of college students when the reality is he’s just a slightly-older version of the kids he’s teaching. And his frustration with that reality, the dichotomy of how difficult it is actually doing his job versus the idealized image of himself being competent and having his shit together, leads him to do stupid things.

    Like telling students they suck at math and are hopeless, since he assumes blindly that he is a good teacher (because he has an undergraduate degree that says he’s ready to be a teaching assistant and he is one, he follows the rules, and he wants to be a good teacher) and therefore the failure is on the part of the student and not him. Like forgetting he IS a teacher half the time with a fucking obligation to be objective and professional, say, when an attractive girl around his own age comes up at the end of class to ask him for tutoring because she looks to him for that help as the guy who grades her quizzes. Because Jason may believe he cares about being a good TA but what he doesn’t have the maturity to recognize in himself is that he’s only a few years older and probably doesn’t feel like a different person than he was as an undergrad. So he still acts like he did as an undergrad.

  39. Carla

    I can’t read the word Chums without thinking of 30 Rock “We’re like Russ and Rebecca on Chums” “I’ll be here always, while the rains fall in Wales”

  40. John Smith

    It’s interesting that absolutely nobody in the comments has attributed any responsibility to Sal in the whole thing.

    Jason might be a bad teacher, and he certainly shouldn’t have had sex with somebody he had any kind of power over – but Sal propositioned HIM. She literally complained about not having sex, then said “you’ll do” and jumped him.

    Why does he get crucified for this, and she’s getting a pass?

    1. Agemegos

      Because the issue is abuse of power, and she didn’t have any.

      1. John Smith

        Is accepting an advance abuse of power? He didn’t change her grade – seemed surprised when she asked about it, even. He didn’t pressure her to sleep with him.

        You’re not allowed to screw your own students, because of the conflict of interest it creates. You’re ALSO not allowed to proposition your TAs for marks!

        1. John Smith

          And bloody hell, nobody is ever going to be able to take what I say in the spirit I mean it with Joe leering over here!

        2. Agemegos

          No. The point is not whether he actually abused power but whether he had it. Out of an abundance of caution, the rules forbid teachers from fucking their pupils because the teachers have a degree of power over pupils that may be (and in many case has been) exploited to coerce a defective consent. Students are assumed not to have any power over their teachers, and therefore there is no reason to presume or especially fear coercion by the student in such as case.

          Now, Sal was attempting to bribe Jason with sex. But that’s an academic offence, not a sex offence, and considered less serious.

      2. thejeff

        Though to be fair, she does deserve some criticism. She was essentially trying to bribe him with sex, which isn’t exactly kosher.
        Not as bad as him taking her up on it, but basically an attempt to cheat.

        1. Agemegos

          Right. If that were the matter before the university’s authorities, and if they were honest (instead of being, as shown in previous strips, indolent and corrupt), Sal would be facing a reprimand for attempted bribery and Jason would be in the clear because he recused himself from grading her work.

          But they haven’t heard about that. They are just dealing with a complaint that Jason has boffed a student and are taking advantage of the fact that in an employment matter he has none of hte useful rights of the accused in a criminal matter.

        2. thejeff

          Well, if that were the matter before the university’s authorities, Sal would reprimanded for attempted bribery and Jason would be fired for sex with a student. Because that’s still a firing offense whether she was trying to get a better grade or not or whether he followed through or not.

          And he has none of the rights of the accused in a criminal matter because it’s not a criminal matter. He gets a tribunal, which is more than most employees get before being fired.

  41. hof1991

    This whole arc takes me back to when I was applying to grad school and considering where to go. I ended up in Library Science, which was great. Because I have a BA in History, I gave strong consideration to academic libraries and archival work. Even was an archival intern for a year at the state archives. But the archival program was reserved for those with a MA in History and I wasn’t willing to spend another couple years to start being an adult. So I switched to public libraries. Not always an easy path, but I don’t envy academics in any way.

    Public libraries have moved to new roles in the community – I run a film series that includes foreign films, supervise a makerspace, am overseeing a construction project basically annually, recently installed a 235 kW solar array, am booking a concert series. In my spare time, I have published professionally, but because I felt like it, not to save my job.

    The last three decades in academics have been a story of cuts and decreased options, even in academic libraries. US is eating its seed corn and crippling the next generation. And doing so with its eyes open. Its a feature, not a bug.

    Enough depression. I have to go back and plant a tree.

  42. Dana

    As Tahani said on The Good Place, “mates” is British for friends.

  43. Opus the Poet

    “Aggressively OK” with being alone in a foreign country and unemployed?

    1. Cmd1095

      with not having friends

  44. Tealjoy

    Shut that down before he could even try it hahaha

  45. SpoonyViking

    Huh, apparently my comments from yesterday are still awaiting moderation.

    Anyway, to all those people who thought Jason had to drop everything immediately to teach a student – worse, a disrespectful student who’s shown exactly no inclination to actually study -, I wish you all long careers as actual teachers.

  46. nightshade

    you know the thing that’s bothered me since sal and him hooked up in the first place is sal assumed in the beginning that that him offer to tutor her meant that he wanted sex like she’s been there before

    I wonder if there’s things that happened at that supposed Christian school well find out eventually …….

    1. C.T Phipps

      I get the impression she’d just picked up on an expansive attraction to her from Jason.

    2. thejeff

      Well, there was apparently a interesting game of Apples to Apples.

    3. Reltzik

      That, or Jason was pretty damn open in an inappropriate way about his sexual attraction to her from the moment he first saw her.

  47. David DeLaney

    Hm. Jason gets to be expressive with just mouth shape. Subtle yet effective!

    –Dave, and he has the stiff upper lip handicap to work with

Leave a Reply to dralou Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.