Librarian wants to ban 5-time reading champ from contest 11

[SantaMufasa]

Librarian wants to ban 5-time reading champ from contest. What are your reactions to this?

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

 

[kwbMitel]

@KornGeek - I appreciate your efforts at clarification and yes I am sensitive to the word loser. Because it can have negative connotations, I choose not to use it and instead choose what I believe to be more concise terms such as competitor. Competitor does not have any negative connotations that I am aware of. I do not require this of others and I accept that others do not believe it is meaningful to do so. My main issue in this thread has not simply been the use of the word loser but how this instance has been bundled up into what is obviously a sore point for many in the Equality Movement in sports. This instance is not a sporting event and as Welshbird and Guitarzan have also pointed out, reading is difficult to measure in the way of a competition. My standpoint all along has been that the flaw in this scenario is that the event was treated as a competition at all.

I do not believe in the Equality Movement but I also don't believe competition's sole purpose is to determine a winner. To paraphrase Dr. Suess, “Maybe Compitition…perhaps…means a little bit more!”

@SantaMufasa, as in all things that might be difficult, I need to choose whether or not the battle is worth waging. It is becoming apparent to me that I am fighting a losing battle and although I am not adverse to doing so, the benefits that might be gained from such do not add up for me.

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[philhege]

Humor time!
Jerry Seinfeld on the Olympics

The dilution of competition with the goal of furthering self-esteem is risible. Detestable.

I've been part of some epic beat-downs:
We lost a college basketball game 118-25. Let that sink in for a minute.
We lost a city softball game 40-8.

What the heck do you learn from getting whacked like that? You learn to lose graciously. You learn that you need to work harder and get better, no matter how many times you get hammered. I was also on some intramural teams in the service that went undefeated through consecutive softball, football, and basketball seasons. At the other end of the spectrum, you learn to win graciously, but keep working at your skills. Complacency is a killer. If there's no incentive; if everyone gets the same "prize" at the end, what's the point of trying?


-----------
With business clients like mine, you'd be better off herding cats.

 

[guitarzan]

Update:

http://poststar.com/news/local/huds...cle_473a459c-1fca-11e3-9aee-0019bb2963f4.html

So, not only did the school board fire the librarian who created the controversy... they also fired the librarian who defended the kid who kept winning the contest!!

 

[kwbMitel]

That's unfortunate . I don't think anyone should lose their job over something like this. Goes to prove somewhat that not all publicity is good publicity I guess.

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[SamBones]

That is just wrong. A horrible case of heavy handed overreaction.

 

[SkipVought]

The hog-marm ought to be reprimanded, but not fired

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE![/sub]

 

[JCreamerII]

They threw the baby out with the bath water. The board of directors were gutless & selfserving.

Jim C.

 

[CajunCenturion]

I agree that this incident alone doesn't justify termination, but none of us know (unless you were in the board meeting) if the board's decision was based on just this incident or whether this was the last straw, nor what other factors may have been in play.

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[IPGuru]

This is now just silly

the so call competition appears to have been a harmless exercise in encouraging children to read and the request to step aside has been blown out of proportion.

sacking the staff is totally inappropriate.

A Maintenance contract is essential, not a Luxury.
Do things on the cheap & it will cost you dear

 

[KornGeek]

I'm with CC. We don't know the whole story. Maybe they have a policy against speaking to the press. Maybe she was chronically late to work. Maybe one million other possibilities were in play.

It looks like she was fired so they could simply put this whole incident behind them and move on. I'm not even completely convinced that would be a bad reason (although it does feel like an overreaction). I prefer not to judge when I only have a small fraction of the information.

 

[kwbMitel]

Information we do know:
- 41 years service for Librarian
- 28 Years service for Aide
- Aide believes action is related
- Aide states that she has worked there for 28 years without complaint
- Librarian "A New York librarian was fired from her job after standing up for a child who liked to read." Quote: NY Times
- Librarian "beloved presence at the upstate New York reading hole" Quote: NY Times

We may not know the whole story, but what we do know seems to be sufficient for speculation on causality


**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> but what we do know seems to be sufficient for speculation on causality
You can speculate on anything.

==> Aide believes action is related
Just because the aide believes it's related, doesn't mean that it is. What we know is that board is unwilling to share with her the reasons, nor do we know why they wouldn't share.

==> Aide states that she has worked there for 28 years without complaint
There may or may not have been complaints. What we know is that the aide is not aware of any complaints.

According to the article

Before speaking with Gandron [the librarian], Casey [the aide] talked to Herman, the board president, who told her he did not have an issue with the change.

That implies that the aide went over the librarian's head, by talking to the board president before speaking with the librarian. We know that Casey told the press that the change was ridiculous, despite it being supported by her boss and that her boss's boss didn't have an issue with the change.

We also know that the board was is looking for an interim director. What we don't know if any prospective directors placed conditions on accepting the position, such as, only if he or she could replace the staff with their own people.

Maybe there are budget issues in play. And there could be many other issues and factors in play.

Bottom line is that we don't know all the facts, and what we do know is not probitive.

--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something. - Plato

 

[SantaMufasa]

Bottom line is that we don't know all the facts, and what we do know is not probitive.

As usual, I agree with CC. The rhetorical question I pose here is: "If we don't know all of the facts (with which to draw fair and reasonable conclusions), whose fault is that? Whose responsibility is it to present the facts relating to Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How?"

I am so sick and tired (as Bill Cosby's mother used to say) of "news" purveyors that fail in their journalistic responsibilities to provide enough of the facts for us to come to a reasonable and informed conclusion. (But that might require a journalist actually getting up and leaving her/his chair to complete their due diligence, right? <dripping sarcasm>)

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

 

[Westi]

I am sure that there will be a fleet of lawyers ringing their doorbells to make wind.
That seems to be the way things are going these days.

A friend hired a new person to help with admin duties, first week she called in sick Wednesday and had to leave early another day.
Second week:
Monday fell asleep at work
Tuesday called in sick
Wednesday had a doctors appointment and came at 11:30 just in time to leave at 3:45 for another appointment.
Thursday he told her that her services are no longer required
Friday she showed up with a lawyer demanding to know the reason why she has been fired.

I am sure if someone like that can find a lawyer then these two will have no problem finding a lawyer to get them some money that will help them out until they find a new job.

Joe W.

FHandw, ACSS (SME), ACIS (SME)

http://convergednetworks.ca

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”

 

[mscallisto]

I finally read guitarzan's post and found it disturbing to see what happens when some people command power.
This whole thing should have been discussed and remediated by sensible adults.

No one should be fired and not informed why; subsequently I label the President was a coward, but of course that's only my assessment.

Finally I'm guessing Tyler wasn't at all happy to see these people sacked.

 

[SamBones]

This seems apropos to this thread...

http://www.kcra.com/news/controvers...y/-/11797728/22052912/-/14q2rc4z/-/index.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nbc-y...yers-meant-protect-152708445--ocid.yahoo.html

 

[SantaMufasa]

Holy smokes ! I didn't realize how "wussified" California had become. (It was pretty bad when we moved from there in 1991, but now?...Wow!)

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

 

[kwbMitel]

I know in my area hockey is the prevalent sport.

We have many leagues

Drop in Shinny
Men's League of varying levels of competitiveness
No-Hit-Hockey
Fun Leagues
Competitive Leagues
Elite Leagues

And that's just for the casual players.

Each league sets it's own rules. It is not "wussified" to choose what best suits your needs.

It would be odd to choose a fun league and then expect the rules to be the same as a competitive league.

I don't know if any of this applies to the football league in California, but it rings true to me.



**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[SamBones]

I believe the level of competitiveness of a hockey team is judged on the "tooth count scale". Add up the number of real teeth a team has, and divide by the number of players. The lower the number, the more competitive and/or "seasoned" the team is.

It's a scientific fact.

 

[SkipVought]

Unfortunately the Zamboni has scrapped the enamel chips from the rink.

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE![/sub]