🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <9crvmb$h4u$1@eeyore.INS.cwru.edu>,
 "mikeCWRU" <mikeCWRU@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Crohn's is associated with stress, but not soley caused by it.  Don't 
> you think you are jumping the gun by saying that you deserve an 
> apology for the causation of a disease that doesn't have a clear cut 
> etiology?
> 
> Don't think I am being unsympathetic.  Regardless of the causative 
> factors, Crohn's is a terrible disease to have.

I don't think you're being unsympathetic in the least.  But I've read 
everything about Crohn's that I can get my hands on, I've studied the 
research (and participated in some), and I've talked with many GI 
specialists including the co-founder of the Crohn's and Colitis 
Foundation of America.  While I can't prove conclusively in a lab that 
CWRU caused my Crohn's, all indicators point in that direction, and all 
of the specialists agreed that my theory is more than plausible.  I'll 
put the blame squarely where it most likely belongs, and at this time 
the greatest likelihood lies with CWRU.

> Don't you think your story could be part of a snowball effect?  You 
> pissed someone off (appropriately or inappropriately) and they tried 
> screwing you over (probably inappropriately).  What did the biology 
> professor do?

As far as I can tell, he was upset with me for several reasons.  First, 
I'd dared to ask if he could please make older exams available for 
students to review.  (Keep in mind that once he said no, I didn't 
attempt to pursue the matter further with him.)  Second, I pointed out 
an error in one of the questions on his first exam, and he had to give 
me back a few points.  I thought both exchanges went well -- but from 
the second incident onward, he started giving me dirty looks when I came 
into class and making insulting remarks whenever he had the chance.  It 
was as though he considered himself infallible and he was going after me 
for proving him wrong.  Finally, the killer: a classmate and I received 
our second exam back, and we'd missed *exactly the same questions* (the 
section was all multiple choice, and we'd scored equally well in the 
essays) -- but I received a C and he received a B.  We both went to him 
to find out why, and he exploded, claiming (among other things) that it 
was his right to grade as he wished.

> You have to understand that we're getting one side of a story.  Moreover,
> one side of the story from someone who is extremely bitter.
> 
> mike

Understood; unfortunately I had few opportunities to present both sides, 
apparently due to a lack of courage on the part of the processors in 
question.  I found it interesting that when a professor pulled a stunt 
like the ones I've just described, in most cases all I had to do was 
*suggest* that I could escalate the matter and it was resolved before I 
had to pursue that option.  It was as though they knew their claims had 
no merit and wouldn't stand up.  I wonder why?

 -- DZ

> David Zinkin <dzinkin2@rochester.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:dzinkin2-4A1283.00425003052001@eeyore.ins.cwru.edu...
> > Partly because CWRU didn't let it go, and partly because I am literally
> physically
> > unable to let it go.  Some key incidents:
> >
> > 1. During my first semester at University of Buffalo School of Medicine,
> the
> > school lost track of some paperwork, including part of my CWRU
> transcript --
> > specifically, the list of biology courses I'd taken, what was covered in
> each
> > course, and the grades I received.  To obtain some of the missing
> information, the
> > admissions rep for UB called the biology department at CWRU and asked to
> speak
> > with the professor who ran the biology lab course I'd taken.  Said
> professor, who
> > had given me a great deal of trouble when I took his course, flat-out
> lied: I'd
> > received a B, but according to the UB rep, this professor called me "the
> worst
> > student in the class" and claimed that I'd failed -- which would have made
> me
> > ineligible to attend UB in the first place.  It wasn't until I called the
> CWRU
> > registrar and arranged for a faxed copy of my transcript that the
> situation
> > regarding that grade was resolved; luckily, after seeing that I'd told the
> truth
> > about the grade, the UB rep took me at my word regarding the content of
> the course
> > and the matter was dropped.
> >
> > 2. During that same time frame (fall 92-spring 93), there was a fire at
> Millis
> > Science Center.  Before determining that the fire had originated with a
> frayed
> > electrical cord in a biology professor's office, the fire department
> suspected
> > arson, and asked some of the professors who worked in Millis whether they
> knew of
> > anyone who might have had both the motive and the opportunity to start a
> fire in
> > that building.  A certain professor -- not coincidentally, the same one
> who had
> > falsely accused me of cheating two years before -- gave one of the
> investigators
> > my name.  I didn't know this until another chemistry instructor called me;
> he'd
> > overheard the other professor make the false charge, and told the
> investigator
> > that I had neither the motive nor the opportunity.  On the matter of
> motive, I
> > wanted to stay the hell away from CWRU and to have nothing to do with the
> place;
> > as to opportunity, the investigators had already figured out that the fire
> had
> > started sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 AM... when I was in class at UB.
> In a
> > perverse sort of way I almost wish the case hadn't been dropped so
> quickly; it
> > would have been fun to watch the bastard claim that I definitely had to be
> at
> > CWRU, only to be met by over 100 of my classmates who had seen me sitting
> in a
> > morning lecture in Buffalo. :-)
> >
> > 3. I carry a scar from my CWRU battles: Crohn's disease, with which I was
> > diagnosed during winter break in my senior year.  (As I type this I am
> tethered to
> > an IV which will deliver my breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next month
> due to
> > a recent flare-up of the disease.)  A great deal of research suggests that
> the
> > disease can be caused and/or triggered by stress, particularly unnecessary
> stress
> > -- and never has there been a greater source of completely unnecessary
> stress than
> > Case Western Reserve University.  Because of the Crohn's, I had to leave
> medical
> > school and chose to pursue a career in computers instead.  Thankfully I
> love what
> > I do; I'd planned to use computers extensively in medicine anyway.  But
> the fact
> > that I have a successful career now does not excuse what CWRU did to me.
> >
> > So when you ask "why not just let it go?" the answer is: I'll be happy to
> do so
> > when I can let go of the Crohn's disease that CWRU gave me, and when the
> school's
> > administrators and faculty prove their willingness to let go by
> apologizing, in
> > writing, for all of the trouble they have caused and promising, also in
> writing,
> > that it will never happen again.  Considering that there is currently no
> cure for
> > Crohn's, and given that CWRU's administrators and faculty seem to be as
> arrogant
> > and unrepentant as ever based on reports I receive from time to time, I'm
> not
> > optimistic.
> >
> >  -- DZ
> >
> >
> > In article <9cqk6a$7d5$1@eeyore.INS.cwru.edu>, "mikeCWRU"
> <mikeCWRU@yahoo.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > I must have come to cwru.gen a year post this thread.  I have one
> question for
> > > you, please don't respond by just telling the story over again:  it's
> been 8
> > > friggin' years man.   Why not just let it go?
> > >
> > > mike
> > >
> > >
> > > > I told Jerry at the time that I had no intention of ever posting to
> CWRUgen
> > > > again, but reserved the right to change my mind at some point in the
> future,
> > > > particularly if my name came up in an interesting context.  I'd kept
> an eye
> > > > on the board all these years, and marveled at how all of the
> accusations I'd
> > > > made against CWRU were proven right one by one -- much to the
> consternation
> > > > of two frequent posters who'd often accused me of lying, yet could
> never
> > > > muster the courage to admit that they'd been wrong about me all along.
> > > >
> > > > So why did I come back now?  To provide some political balance, as
> well as a
> > > > dose of honesty and common sense.  With an overwhelmingly left-wing
> political
> > > > orientation, as well as too many people who think CWRU either can't be
> > > > improved or doesn't need to be, this board was in desperate need of
> all
> > > > three. :-)
> > > >
> > > >  -- DZ
> > > >
> 
>