The crash of US Air flight 1549 into the Hudson River yesterday is one for the history books. The stars were perfectly aligned. Had the pilot not been as astonishingly capable, had the crash occurred at night, had the river been icy, had the crash occurred two miles north where there are fewer boats, had a million little things not occurred precisely as they did, it is inconceivable that every person on that airplane would have survived. As it is, Captain Sullenberger, this Bud’s for you.
Filed under: Current Events, Transportation on January 16th, 2009 | No Comments »
Last year I wrote about one of my literature professors who was implicated in a plagiarism scandal. Professor Twitchell, who has written many books about subjects like advertising and vampires, was accused of lifting passages from books by other authors without crediting them. There is no doubt now that this is what occurred. I heard from one of the authors whose works Twitchell failed to cite; I can understand how disturbing it must have been for her to find her words printed practically verbatim in his book.
In today’s Gainesville Sun I read that Professor Twitchell is stepping down now, after more than three decades at the University of Florida. I took his English Romanticism course, and I can testify to the fact that he is a brilliant man, astonishingly knowledgeable and immensely capable. The scandal that has brought him down is of Elliot Sptizer proportions. I am certain this has been difficult for all parties involved, but the real losers in this scenario are the future English Literature students at UF. There will be one less talented professor on the faculty. With the budget situation being what it is, I doubt Twitchell will be replaced. What a waste.
Filed under: Literature and Books, School on January 16th, 2009 | No Comments »