And he did it in front of his students and wife. A very sad story:
"An adjunct mathematics professor died Wednesday after he reportedly dived off the second tier of a rotunda to the ground floor of a building at Chestnut Hill College in front of students and staff, a college source said Thursday."
Here's a link to the article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
He was an adjunct according to the story I read over at Huffington Post.
ReplyDeleteI was just coming over here to post this. Speculation abounds -- was it textbook depression? Did it have something to do with the miserable nature of his job? Was he being forced to retire with no savings or prospects?
ReplyDeleteSo sad.
He was 71, an adjunct--and there's very little else given. An update from CBS news said that his students didn't witness it, but several staff members did.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/05/national/main20088691.shtml
Sad whatever the proximate or underlying cause(s). I suspect there will turn out to be several, probably feeding each other. I can't help noticing that the stock market took a pretty dramatic dive yesterday as well (unfortunately all the conventional ways of saying that sound inappropriate given the circumstances), which isn't good for retirees who *do* have savings (nor are low interest rates). It's not a good time to be trying to make a living (except in a few rarefied sectors of the economy), and it's never a good time to be clinically depressed.
ReplyDeleteOn a more detached/analytical note: it's interesting that the news stories have identified him as an "adjunct" professor. I wonder whether that indicates an increased awareness one the part of news outlets of the presence and vulnerability of adjuncts, or a distancing move by the college PR department (which may backfire)?
There but for the grace of God go I.
ReplyDeleteI read that as "he repeatedly dived off the second tier of a rotunda"
ReplyDeleteand now I'm smiling while reading a suicide story.
I'm going to hell.
"I'm going to hell."
ReplyDeleteNo, Hell is adjuncting.
RIP, Math Man
And I'm betting that all admin cares about is the bad publicity.
ReplyDeleteA story I think might be more about aging than anything else, but that's a quick impression.
ReplyDelete@Myra: I suspect you may be right, but even that could mean either that he was actually failing at 71, or somebody incorrectly assumed he must be failing because he was 71. I just watched a very vital almost-80-year-old Biblical scholar conduct a 3-hour workshop one day, and preach today, with no sign of strain. And my father is equally vigorous and engaged (in teaching and writing, among other things) at just over 80. I strongly suspect I'll be teaching at least 'til I'm 70, and, although I hope I won't *have* to be teaching at 80, I hope I'll still be capable of doing so. I also really, really hope that if I am indeed teaching at 70, it won't be intro classes for adjunct rates (in fact, unless adjunct salaries go up a good deal, I don't think it will be, since if I need to work at 70, I'll also be looking for some sort of semi-decent pay). But some people consider the teaching a reward in itself; for them, the adjunct rates might not be a deterrent.
ReplyDeleteMe too, Isis. Me too, Bubba.
ReplyDelete