The Algorithm keeps throwing articles and videos about this bad essay that was written by OU student Samantha Fulnecky. I can understand that — there is so much content being generated over the terrible writing by this student, because the internet is full of educated people who in many cases have professional expertise in evaluating writing. I’m going to be teaching a class in writing scientific papers this Spring, so I’m familiar with the work. Here’s an example:
If you didn’t watch it, that’s OK, you can find hundreds of similar examples on the internet. And that’s the problem!
I’ve read hundreds and hundreds of student papers, and some of them have been atrocious and earned zeroes. But I would never drag a student publicly, I would never shame a student’s lack of rigor or talent or ability on the internet. We have strict rules about that — I would get dragged into the division chair’s office, and get a few phone calls from the university’s lawyers, and face disciplinary action if I did that, no matter how badly the essay I was mocking was written.
However, in this case, Samantha Fulnecky exposed herself — she gave her awful essay to Turning Point USA, and they cruelly posted it online with full attribution, and invited the brutal savaging she is getting. I cringe a little bit deep inside every time I see these dissections of her paper, because normally a teacher would do that in confidence, one on one, with the goal of helping the student learn and get better, not to rip her apart in a public display.
I experienced this myself. The first essay I wrote in graduate school was for a physiology class, and I apparently expressed a view on the role of synapse structure that the professor did not like, so he spent an entire class hour going over it line by line and telling the entire class how stupid and wrong I was. It was not a good learning experience, except that I did learn that this one professor was an asshole.
Now, even worse, the entire internet is shredding Fulnecky’s paper, and probably millions of people are wallowing in schadenfreude over this one student’s disgraceful inability to make a coherent argument. What has Samantha Fulnecky learned? Probably only that she has to be more careful about letting people see how she expresses herself.
I also suspect that I’m seeing so much criticism of Fulnecky’s paper because she made herself fair game for the dammed up resentment so many of us have for the bad papers we have to routinely read in detail. Finally, we get to explode at this garbage we have to carefully evaluate, rather than being professional and courteous!
As opposed to the teacher who actually marked it, who was a model of scholarly professionalism. So of course she was put on suspension – can’t have that!
???
Probably not.
She seems fanatically determined not to learn anything in college. I wouldn’t be surprised if she drops out soon.
Lessons Fulnecky might have learned.
.1. All publicity is good publicity.
She, Turning Point USA, and Oklahoma University are now famous. In Reality based areas, for being hate filled idiots.
In Red GOP/fundie xian areas for being a righteous xian fighting against Woke, DEI, Reality, Trans people, and Science.
.2. You can get Trans people fired from University teaching jobs in Red states. She does have the backing of the governor and the heads of the University system.
.3. Hate and witch hunts in Red areas are fun and often a winning strategy.
What have we learned?
Fundie xians are ignorant, lying, hate filled bigots.
Then again we already knew that from countless examples.
And, to avoid Red states in general and Oklahoma in particular.
The lesson: you can be as respectful and helpful as possible to students as possible, but TPUSA will still screw you over.
I thought I’d see how the witch hunts are going in Oklahoma.
Or is this a purge?
GOPers are real fans of Stalin and Stalinism and have purges as often as they can.
Google says some students at UO have protested the removal of a teacher.
So UO also removed another teacher for supporting the students.
So far the fundies have managed to get rid of two teachers.
The lesson is clear here.
In Oklahoma, Progressives and scientists have the choice to keep their heads down and hide, speak up and get fired, or leave.
What I really want to know is…
With the benefit of the intervening years of experience, do you think you were right about the role of synapse structure? It wouldn’t be OK to drag you publicly if you weren’t, but you get extra smug points of you were!
I can’t find the linkie right now (mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa) but I saw a video claiming that Ms. Fulnecky’s mother may have orchestrated this.
Apparently Ms. Fulnecky mere has a history of such stunts, including defending several Jan. 6 traitors.
fusilier
James 2:24
Note on the image at the top:
AFAIK, there is no “F-” grade.
But there SHOULD be an “F+” grade!
I’ve heard, second hand, of students that asked to receive an “F” in a course, so that they could take it again, after earning a marginally higher grade. For those students, and “F+” is appropriate, and conveys useful information.
Also, it’s really terrible how everyone leaves out the umlaut in Fülnecky’s name. She earned it by her actions, and it should always be properly pronounced.
It wasn’t a matter of right or wrong, but of priorities. I was arguing that the key was morphological structure, the pattern of connectivity — he was more focused on chemical interactions and transmitters. Both views are valid, there are a lot of different ways you can legitimately address the topic.
Fulnecky is going to go full Riley Gaines off this and turn it into a career of talking about how “real” women are being silenced and opressed by the transes.
cartomancer @1: I heard there were TWO TAs who graded that atrocity of a paper, and they both agreed on the grade she was given; but only the trans TA got any flack for it.
Rebecca Watson also tears the paper apart. It really is a very bad paper, and it’s going to follow Samantha Fulnecky for years to come. Her one salvation is that after she earns her Mrs. degree and changes her name it’ll be easier for her to hide.