Regarding the legitimate complaints… Can anyone refresh my memory on the details of Jason and Sal’s relationship? Specifically, did he ever actually use his position to grant her favors like tweaking her grades?
justin8448
Jason never granted her any favors. And he even gave her homework to a different TA to grade to make sure he couldn’t grant her favors.
Also, Sal very clearly not only initiated their physical interaction, but actually jumped on top of Jason. In her mind, the “sex for favors” deal was implied and obvious, and she was angry that he didn’t follow through on what she assumed was his end of the bargain.
When Sal confronted Jason about this, they again had (angry) sex with both of them probably aware that favors would still not be forthcoming.
But Jason still got into trouble because it doesn’t matter if the sex was consensual (assuming that’s even possible given the power difference between them) and that he granted her no favors. It’s still ethically wrong and against the rules for him to have sex with Sal while he’s in her class.
He should have just… not had sex with her. And he’s aware of this. He considers what he did a mistake.
justin8448
*while she’s in his class (4th paragraph)
Freemage
Thanks, I found the relevant strips, too. While I agree that his conduct was wrong and deserving of a reprimand (hell, the fact that Sal ~assumed~ that “sex with TA = better grade” pretty much is the reason for not crossing that line), I’ll be honest, I don’t think he deserved to be fired. I suspect that Penny was correct when she said he was vulnerable to being fired largely because he was unpopular with his peer group.
And in a sense, the strip seems to agree with my assessment–he said that he could avoid being fired by appearing before a tribunal, with the student he’d been with, most likely to ensure no other ethical lines had been crossed. He simply wasn’t willing to drag Sal’s name into the scandal, and so accepted the worst-case judgement they could hit him with.
(I’ll note I also tended to see little issue with Ruth and Billie’s relationship, at least in this aspect, that a simple room reassignment couldn’t take care of; it was the drinking and, y’know, the near suicide-pact mentality that was the problem.)
thejeff
Or he was supposed to appear with the student so the student could deny that anything improper happened, which was how most of us understood it, I think.
And you’re kind of correct about the reason, but that reason is why you have hard and fast rules about no sex with students. Make that the rule and you don’t have to mess about with the murky questions of intent. Or of proving that grades had been changed (or other advantages given).
thejeff
It’s not entirely clear that he gave the homework to the other TA the first time, not until after Sal complained about it.
He could have, but he didn’t say it at the time. Not until after the fact when she improved.
At my school a blatant display like that would result in a ton of complaints before class even ended to the dept head and dean. Who might decide not to do anything about them. #academia
I figure it’ll happen again, probably the very next time Barry shows up. Maybe even a second time, today, from a person who doesn’t read this particular thread before posting. Maybe even RIGHT NOW! ? OooooooH!
Needfuldoer
Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don’t forget your booties ’cause it’s COO-OO-OOLLLD out there today!
Decidedly Orthogonal
Yup and I’m super thankful for those who taught me more about my fellow gingers. It was then and continues to be a great day of learning.
Lots of different combinations of hair color and skin color are possible. I recently custom-ordered a huge variety-pack of Lego minifig heads and hairs and it’s so much fun to mix and match.
Just to put it. When a person being of mixed race isn’t the reason, most examples of red hair in Africans is the result of being a particular type of albino. Namely, rufous albinism. It also means they’ll usually have blue eyes.
For anyone else, regardless of race, it’s basically a melanin mutation. You have three types of melanin. Eumelanin (black/brown), Pheomelanin (pink/red), and Neuromelanin (also black/brown).
Neuromelanin isn’t one you can easily see, since it’s found in your neurons and I imagine most people aren’t cracking open skulls to look at brain matter.
Eumelanin mostly effects eye, skin, and hair color. As an example, blonde hair is actually the result of someone’s hair having no black melanin and extremely small amounts of brown melanin.
Pheomelanin mostly effects the lips, nipples, and other such areas. People with very little Eumelanin but plenty of Pheomelanin is why most redheads have redhair, and the lack of Eumelanin is also why they tend to have pale skin.
These genetic mutations can arise in basically any population group. It’s just rarer in those of African descent.
One of the gift shops I work now had, as part of the wares, bow ties that have, hidden within, bottle opener keys. If Robin had one of these she wouldn’t need ANYBODY.
Ahhh, okay, I see what she’s doing. She wants to give Jason a lifeline, but she also knows that plenty of people could have reasonable issues with that, given what she only knows so much about, anyway.
So, by doing this, she isn’t overlooking someone else who is potentially more deserving, while also having a backup plan if Jason indeed does not work out. That’s… surprisingly savvy. Robin is a doofus, but she isn’t an idiot.
To be honest I feel really bad for Barry he probably deserves a better position with a professor who will utilize his talents, IU has a excellent poly sci program that Barry worked hard to get in and now he is with a proffesor who is probably not going to do any research or write papers which is one of the things thats critical for a TA. It helps devlop their skill set helps them with their disertation and helps to get ahead in the field and or get a job. Maybe Barry will get reassigned next semester to a new proffessor.
You seem to be conflating the person you TA for with your academic advisor.
Not every grad student is a TA. A TA is a job. It is much more likely to involve grading papers than doing research. There are RAs (Research assistants) but that is different from TAs (Teaching Assistants). Either way, the pay is crap but you can do it while pursuing the advanced degree.
Needfuldoer
Yeah, TAs are mostly there to grade the undergraduate students’ work.
Ari
The pay is crap BUT unlike a bartending job TA jobs often pay tuition and are also available to international students who are in the country on student visas and can’t take out federal loans. Which is why Jason needs this job even though it’s probably completely unrelated to his field of study.
UrsulaDavina
Im not comflating the idea of academic advisor with who you’re proffesor you TA with. I’ve been a TA at least at my insitution the TAs serve both as RAs and TA The proffesors I worked for did use me in research and grading papers, mostly organizing data. I suppose different institutions have different roles.
UrsulaDavina
*conflating one’s academic advisor with proffesor you TA with.
I mean, we don’t know that Robin won’t do any work. She’s got a very lax persona, but she wouldn’t have gotten as far as she did in politics if she didn’t work her ass off. She’s a Latina woman and the winning Republican contender. You don’t get that position by slacking, you get it by showing that you absolutely are the best candidate for the position, even when racists would love to see you fail. And senators read and interact with paperwork almost all day long, when they aren’t meeting with constituents, gathering supporters, etc… And she almost completely won the race, too, with Becky’s support.
Needfuldoer
If only it actually worked that way. She was in the House of Representatives; look at some of the clowns that have been elected to the House in the last couple cycles.
All she had to do was spout the right (abhorrent) lines, and she’d have Rs lining up to carry her down the street on their shoulders because she’s “one of the good ones” who “tells it like it really is” and “owns the libs”.
G127
There are certainly a lot of horrible people in the House. Too many racists and liars. But that doesn’t entail that they are lazy. There are a lot of people out there trying to make a career out of owning the libs. You do need to put in an effort to raise above the racist fray.
Nalim Skarro
Or you could just lie. A lot. Its been established fairly recently that it’s all too possible to lie your way into ejected office…
Now I’m picturing the entire oval office being flung off the White House via giant spring.
Psychie
I find it really interesting that people seem to think lying well enough to get elected to congress is easy. It takes a LOT of work to curate your image like that, a proper deception is far from easy, and the more scrutiny you have on you the more work it takes to properly maintain. Long cons performed on a single mark are hard, and while it isn’t quite the same as simply multiplying the effort by the number of marks- I mean voters, it’s still significantly more effort required than to con a single individual. Swaying public opinion and curating a public persona are NOT simple or easy tasks, no matter how shitty the persona is or how much you’re conforming to the current majority public opinion to make swaying it easier. Lazy people don’t get into positions of political power without being the puppet of someone being paid to do the work for them, and that takes like Kennedy money to afford.
UrsulaDavina
Robin may have worked hard initially. But after you get into the house it’s hard not to lose your seat due an incumbency advantage and gerrymandering. Robin had even stated she didn’t even bother voting in her own election.
I guess the question is, did Barry have other options?
Do all grad students get TA (or similar) positions? Or is there a large pool of grad students all fighting for a small number of open positions? (Since the semester has already started and Barry wasn’t already employed I assume it’s a case of more bodies than positions. In that case Barry is lucky to have any position, even if it involves working for Robin.)
151 thoughts on “Probationary”
Ana Chronistic
UNANIMOUS except for the animous
next strip: we see whose dream this is by who suddenly remembers they didn’t wear anything to class
Thag Simmons
My money’s on the green eyed blonde in the row behind Roz
Decidedly Orthogonal
We can only hope.
Needfuldoer
Yes please.
Tawdry Quirks
It’s clearly the guy who’s thirsting for Jason.
Theluxland
Don’t call me out like that
Freemage
Love that you have Asher’s Gravatar for that line.
Angel
let’s hope a student doesn’t leverage this
i don’t know if roz will have any legit complaints but i imagine robin wouldn’t listen to her
C.T. Phipps
I mean does Roz have any legitimate complaints?
I mean, aside from the obvious and important ones?
Freemage
Regarding the legitimate complaints… Can anyone refresh my memory on the details of Jason and Sal’s relationship? Specifically, did he ever actually use his position to grant her favors like tweaking her grades?
justin8448
Jason never granted her any favors. And he even gave her homework to a different TA to grade to make sure he couldn’t grant her favors.
Also, Sal very clearly not only initiated their physical interaction, but actually jumped on top of Jason. In her mind, the “sex for favors” deal was implied and obvious, and she was angry that he didn’t follow through on what she assumed was his end of the bargain.
When Sal confronted Jason about this, they again had (angry) sex with both of them probably aware that favors would still not be forthcoming.
But Jason still got into trouble because it doesn’t matter if the sex was consensual (assuming that’s even possible given the power difference between them) and that he granted her no favors. It’s still ethically wrong and against the rules for him to have sex with Sal while he’s in her class.
He should have just… not had sex with her. And he’s aware of this. He considers what he did a mistake.
justin8448
*while she’s in his class (4th paragraph)
Freemage
Thanks, I found the relevant strips, too. While I agree that his conduct was wrong and deserving of a reprimand (hell, the fact that Sal ~assumed~ that “sex with TA = better grade” pretty much is the reason for not crossing that line), I’ll be honest, I don’t think he deserved to be fired. I suspect that Penny was correct when she said he was vulnerable to being fired largely because he was unpopular with his peer group.
And in a sense, the strip seems to agree with my assessment–he said that he could avoid being fired by appearing before a tribunal, with the student he’d been with, most likely to ensure no other ethical lines had been crossed. He simply wasn’t willing to drag Sal’s name into the scandal, and so accepted the worst-case judgement they could hit him with.
(I’ll note I also tended to see little issue with Ruth and Billie’s relationship, at least in this aspect, that a simple room reassignment couldn’t take care of; it was the drinking and, y’know, the near suicide-pact mentality that was the problem.)
thejeff
Or he was supposed to appear with the student so the student could deny that anything improper happened, which was how most of us understood it, I think.
And you’re kind of correct about the reason, but that reason is why you have hard and fast rules about no sex with students. Make that the rule and you don’t have to mess about with the murky questions of intent. Or of proving that grades had been changed (or other advantages given).
thejeff
It’s not entirely clear that he gave the homework to the other TA the first time, not until after Sal complained about it.
He could have, but he didn’t say it at the time. Not until after the fact when she improved.
nicoleandmaggie
At my school a blatant display like that would result in a ton of complaints before class even ended to the dept head and dean. Who might decide not to do anything about them. #academia
Yumi
Barry has so many skills.
C.T. Phipps
Sadly, this is all foreshadowing Jason being crucified like the Second Eaton.
(Shortpacked reference)
Clif
Well that’s it. Barry has had his one line.
(Shortpacked reference).
Koname
It is very interesting to finally find out he can talk.
Suet
You don’t even wear ties, Barry!
Nah, I’m also here because how is he a redhead?! I know he’s fulfilling a certain trope, but HOW
Jo_cubstar
African redheads exist.
NGPZ
Yes, and I think this was established last comments section? Pika pika?
Yumi
Hopefully we can be done with it after this one. Doesn’t seem like this would feel good to Black redheads.
NGPZ
No kidding. ?
Taffy
I figure it’ll happen again, probably the very next time Barry shows up. Maybe even a second time, today, from a person who doesn’t read this particular thread before posting. Maybe even RIGHT NOW! ? OooooooH!
Needfuldoer
Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don’t forget your booties ’cause it’s COO-OO-OOLLLD out there today!
Decidedly Orthogonal
Yup and I’m super thankful for those who taught me more about my fellow gingers. It was then and continues to be a great day of learning.
Thag Simmons
Either he dyes it or he has a specific combination of genetic material passed down through his parents that causes him to have natural ginger hair
AbacusWizard
Lots of different combinations of hair color and skin color are possible. I recently custom-ordered a huge variety-pack of Lego minifig heads and hairs and it’s so much fun to mix and match.
Shogo
Just to put it. When a person being of mixed race isn’t the reason, most examples of red hair in Africans is the result of being a particular type of albino. Namely, rufous albinism. It also means they’ll usually have blue eyes.
For anyone else, regardless of race, it’s basically a melanin mutation. You have three types of melanin. Eumelanin (black/brown), Pheomelanin (pink/red), and Neuromelanin (also black/brown).
Neuromelanin isn’t one you can easily see, since it’s found in your neurons and I imagine most people aren’t cracking open skulls to look at brain matter.
Eumelanin mostly effects eye, skin, and hair color. As an example, blonde hair is actually the result of someone’s hair having no black melanin and extremely small amounts of brown melanin.
Pheomelanin mostly effects the lips, nipples, and other such areas. People with very little Eumelanin but plenty of Pheomelanin is why most redheads have redhair, and the lack of Eumelanin is also why they tend to have pale skin.
These genetic mutations can arise in basically any population group. It’s just rarer in those of African descent.
Taffy
Hehe. You said “nipples”.
This was actually very informative, thank you for sharing.
Roborat
Think you have the affect/effect error going here.
Fay
I mean, I think the obvious answer is that his hair is dyed based on how neon it is.
C.T. Phipps
Barry is already terrifying. Who knows what Sydney Yus-esque plans he has cooking.
MM
Oh, good, it’s not just me.
Thag Simmons
I assume “finally assert self as a memorable character” is on the list because he sure didn’t make an impression in Shortpacked!
Stephen Bierce
One of the gift shops I work now had, as part of the wares, bow ties that have, hidden within, bottle opener keys. If Robin had one of these she wouldn’t need ANYBODY.
Nathan
I like how both Jason AND Barry look like they’ve wandered into a nightmare and/or are having a stroke.
Thag Simmons
Yeah Robin does that to people
Decidedly Orthogonal
I thought it was her sister that made sex tapes. But if Robin’s giving ’em strokes, Barry and the coat rack might have a nice semester after all.
Mark
I got the impression that she just dragged them both in without a word of explanation.
DailyBrad
Ahhh, okay, I see what she’s doing. She wants to give Jason a lifeline, but she also knows that plenty of people could have reasonable issues with that, given what she only knows so much about, anyway.
So, by doing this, she isn’t overlooking someone else who is potentially more deserving, while also having a backup plan if Jason indeed does not work out. That’s… surprisingly savvy. Robin is a doofus, but she isn’t an idiot.
Caro
this this this this this
UrsulaDavina
To be honest I feel really bad for Barry he probably deserves a better position with a professor who will utilize his talents, IU has a excellent poly sci program that Barry worked hard to get in and now he is with a proffesor who is probably not going to do any research or write papers which is one of the things thats critical for a TA. It helps devlop their skill set helps them with their disertation and helps to get ahead in the field and or get a job. Maybe Barry will get reassigned next semester to a new proffessor.
Clif
You seem to be conflating the person you TA for with your academic advisor.
Not every grad student is a TA. A TA is a job. It is much more likely to involve grading papers than doing research. There are RAs (Research assistants) but that is different from TAs (Teaching Assistants). Either way, the pay is crap but you can do it while pursuing the advanced degree.
Needfuldoer
Yeah, TAs are mostly there to grade the undergraduate students’ work.
Ari
The pay is crap BUT unlike a bartending job TA jobs often pay tuition and are also available to international students who are in the country on student visas and can’t take out federal loans. Which is why Jason needs this job even though it’s probably completely unrelated to his field of study.
UrsulaDavina
Im not comflating the idea of academic advisor with who you’re proffesor you TA with. I’ve been a TA at least at my insitution the TAs serve both as RAs and TA The proffesors I worked for did use me in research and grading papers, mostly organizing data. I suppose different institutions have different roles.
UrsulaDavina
*conflating one’s academic advisor with proffesor you TA with.
TulipKitten
I mean, we don’t know that Robin won’t do any work. She’s got a very lax persona, but she wouldn’t have gotten as far as she did in politics if she didn’t work her ass off. She’s a Latina woman and the winning Republican contender. You don’t get that position by slacking, you get it by showing that you absolutely are the best candidate for the position, even when racists would love to see you fail. And senators read and interact with paperwork almost all day long, when they aren’t meeting with constituents, gathering supporters, etc… And she almost completely won the race, too, with Becky’s support.
Needfuldoer
If only it actually worked that way. She was in the House of Representatives; look at some of the clowns that have been elected to the House in the last couple cycles.
All she had to do was spout the right (abhorrent) lines, and she’d have Rs lining up to carry her down the street on their shoulders because she’s “one of the good ones” who “tells it like it really is” and “owns the libs”.
G127
There are certainly a lot of horrible people in the House. Too many racists and liars. But that doesn’t entail that they are lazy. There are a lot of people out there trying to make a career out of owning the libs. You do need to put in an effort to raise above the racist fray.
Nalim Skarro
Or you could just lie. A lot. Its been established fairly recently that it’s all too possible to lie your way into ejected office…
Needfuldoer
Ejected? If only…
Taffy
Now I’m picturing the entire oval office being flung off the White House via giant spring.
Psychie
I find it really interesting that people seem to think lying well enough to get elected to congress is easy. It takes a LOT of work to curate your image like that, a proper deception is far from easy, and the more scrutiny you have on you the more work it takes to properly maintain. Long cons performed on a single mark are hard, and while it isn’t quite the same as simply multiplying the effort by the number of marks- I mean voters, it’s still significantly more effort required than to con a single individual. Swaying public opinion and curating a public persona are NOT simple or easy tasks, no matter how shitty the persona is or how much you’re conforming to the current majority public opinion to make swaying it easier. Lazy people don’t get into positions of political power without being the puppet of someone being paid to do the work for them, and that takes like Kennedy money to afford.
UrsulaDavina
Robin may have worked hard initially. But after you get into the house it’s hard not to lose your seat due an incumbency advantage and gerrymandering. Robin had even stated she didn’t even bother voting in her own election.
Segnosaur
I guess the question is, did Barry have other options?
Do all grad students get TA (or similar) positions? Or is there a large pool of grad students all fighting for a small number of open positions? (Since the semester has already started and Barry wasn’t already employed I assume it’s a case of more bodies than positions. In that case Barry is lucky to have any position, even if it involves working for Robin.)
Dara
please probationally kick him in the nuts, like
daily
Dara
weekends too, we got the kickstarter high enough
DailyBrad
Ruth, I didn’t know you posted here.
Steamweed
Ruth might be displeased with this. Jealous, perhaps.
(probably jason won’t appreciate it, either.)
butting
QUIET, JASON, YOU’RE NOT REALLY PART OF THIS.
Taffy
>Ruth when Jason isn’t really part of this. (This being the mind-blowing sex the two are having when she says it)
Needfuldoer
She may be displeased that Robin hired him, but she’s the one who tried to get him a TA job again via Leslie.
Nono
Well, at least she didn’t kick Barry out from a rightful position for this.
Nepotism is only funny to a certain extent.
Lokitsu
I’m still expecting Barry to be put on a bus.
PS Sorry Nono, I accidentally hit the report button. Stupid fat fingers.
Proto_Eevee
Even the poll was tied
Jenn
I’m amazed at just how close it was. 23 votes when I checked — under 1% of the votes. Normally we’re a lot more polarized.
Clif