Saturday, April 05, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Where in the world is Perry F. Mills?
To anyone interested in contacting Perry:
Please note that as a self-professed Luddite Bear, and one in deep hibernation, Perry Mills cannot be reached via email. That said, if you would like to touch him through the proverbial bars of Ye Olde Communication Methods known to the human race ahead of the advent of the internet(s), please feel free to email me at perryfmills@yahoo.com, include your address or phone number, or both, and I will pass this information along to the Great Omnivore for his determination as to whether to warmly contact you, ignore you, or send you a bill for unpaid gambling losses.Saturday, March 15, 2008
Freedom of Speech Continues to Chill
New link on the right. This is Mills' attempt to get Washington's Supreme Court to review his appeal of the case. It very clearly breaks down Mills' grievances with WWU's suspending him, the way they handled the suspension, and the way the courts have--so far--treated the situation as a whole.
Click on "Appellant's Statement of Reasons for Direct Review" and then drag your cursor over the stupidly narrow image. When you see a magnifying glass, click with it and the image will--magically-- zoom in to a readable size.
If any of you still have the issue of the student with cancer--and Mills' hard statement to her when she vacillated between putting her work up in class or allowing fear to win over--stuck in your craw, then read his explanation on page 11. If that doesn't convince you--at the very least--that it's possible this issue was blown out of proportion, and--more to the point--taken entirely out of any context, in order to highlight its emotional weight, then go back to looking for updates on the MySpace page for that prostitute that "triggered" the downfall of Eliot Spitzer or price comparisons on bottles of Paris Hilton's perfume or whatever you normally "read".
Can you tell that my favorite line appears at the end?:
"There are no Washington cases which address assertions that the existing disciplinary rules for university professors are unconstitutionally vague and chill the exercise of freedom of speech."
In other words: You've been served. Hello? Served. Is anyone out there? Served!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Would You Let This Man Teach?
I finally understand WWU's problem with this ogre... Anyone who misunderstands the social norm that the word "Cheeeese" is meant to provoke shouldn't be allowed anywhere near impressionable young people on Cheerleading Scholarships.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Washington's Shame = New York's Pride
A smallish, non-fictional town in northern New York State names itself in honor of our stalwart, hearty, hard-hearted, hearth-warming scholar of the evermore, in an attempt to right a few wrongs and bring the ephemeral, but well-intentioned powers of geography to the surer side of goodness and light:
Coordinates of Perry Mills, New York, USA:
Longitude: 73° 30' 22" West
Latitude: 45° 0' 1" North
Perry Mills can be found 34 miles [54 km] to the south of Montréal (QC).
Yes, friends, supporters, and corporate sponsors: there is, indeed, a town in the state of New York known as Perry Mills. Don't believe me? Googlemap it! Try to book a Greyhound ticket from YOUR own unbelievable home station to this hotspot of intellectual curiosity and aesthetic confrontation!
Well, it's unfindable through Greyhound, this much is true, sadly, but--LO!--there has nary been a destination of note that HAS been easily accessed by said odiferous omnibus corp...
Check this chyme out before it passes through the pyloric valve of our plastic way of life:
From a sublisting of the subsection of Wikipedia's entry on the Champlain subregion of New York, sandwiched delicately between notations on Kings Bay Wildlife Management Area and Point a Fer:
Perry Mills -- A hamlet in the northwest part of the town on the Chazy River.
Looking for affordable accommodations to enhance your stay in Perry Mills, NY? Use the INTERNET!
For attractions, please contact the Champlain, NY, Chamber of Commerce and tell Gussie or Mindy-Vespa that you really are looking to find things to do in Perry Mills and that--NO--that wasn't a typo!
Still have no idea what to do in or about Perry Mills, NY? Then rejoice! This is the exact position our Professor, for whom this mythical but still very real town was named, finds himself every day of his frustrated existence as he faces a dwindling bevy of reasons to continue fighting. But oh--sooth!--isn't the FIGHT ITSELF worth the effort? Yes! If you're 12 and believe Iron Man will come to your tent and deliver a magic lantern that will cure your acne and allow locomotives to start by the snap of fingers! Fight! Fight! Fight!
"From across the land they send their teams of great renown,
But on the field of battle they are trampled into the ground,
Pull the Golden Bear,
From his mighty lair,
And we'll drag his carcass with us to the Northland."
"I'm a Mills Man, I Sally Forth!"
In memorium: "February 11th, 2008" (another day of unlearning for the ghost-horde of students untaught by non-Professor Perry F. Mills--a drop in the bucket of hope-gapped-eternal...)
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Disembodied Voices Continue to Find their Way Home
A letter from another alum, full of unsought, but unsurprising, shame and loathing:
Dear Editor,
In regard to Paul deArmond's article about Judge Mura's ruling in favor of WWU's actions in the case of Perry Mills (in the WI issue of Nov. 29, 2007):
Firstly, embezzlement is very clearly defined (citing the Oxford dictionary): "embezzle | em-bez-l | verb [trans.] steal or misappropriate (money placed in one's trust or belonging to the organization for which one works)." There is no stipulation for falsifying records in this (or any) definition. Where is the call for legal subjectivity in this case? Where did this new qualifying circumstance come from? Can justice be exacted both ways, or is Judge Mura placating his county's largest constituency?
Secondly, the idea that the constitutional right to free speech should be confined to course material is terrifying and outrageous. There is no such thing as an "innocent" college student; remember that college students are adults, and removing the right and requirement of open discourse (which can be unpleasant at times, especially for those who obsess over how they feel about what they believe) elementally contradicts the academic process, and robs every college student of the fundamental right to be challenged as an adult. When the right to speak freely is curtailed, either for controversial professors or anti-intellectual college-goers, a university becomes nothing more than a focus group.
Lastly, I find it disgusting that Judge Mura found that WWU acted illegally, yet found that their illegal closed hearing warranted no attention because of a lack of provisions for remedial actions against them. Where is the reason behind this decision? is it not the place of a judge to maintain the rule of law by meting out punishment to those who disobey? What is the point of a law that cannot be enforced?
Having taken classes from both Perry Mills and those seeking to remove him, I am glad that I opted to challenge myself with Mills' persistently demanding coursework, rather than slogging through overbearing, pointless sharing of feelings and ephemeral nonsense with a faculty and student body fixated on simply making themselves feel "good," rather than striving to grow intellectually. If there were any adherence to objectivity, both at the university and in the Whatcom County Superior Court, the value of Perry Mills as an educator would be self-evident, and I would be less ashamed of my alma mater, and the city I used to call home.
Rick Banuelos
Manhattan, Montana
WWU Class of 2000
A Rare Sighting Of The Redbreasted Grizzly, And A Few Grumblings Straight From The Maw Of The Beast Itself
A recently received letter and some photos from our Dear Professor...
(or: Live Feed Straight from the Well-Fed, Still Alive, Perry F. Mills)
(or: Live Feed Straight from the Well-Fed, Still Alive, Perry F. Mills)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE(Pending spelling corrections and change of font)
News Update, New Year 2008!
(Material to be Typed in by a Non-Robot)
After four years of being savaged by sheep, the excised professor bakes zucchini loaf and brandishes a spatula!
Local judicial rulings indicated that the processes stifling this loudmouth were illegal, but it was O.K. with the good old boys downtown, so the egregious suspension was affirmed.
This will be glad news to the State Supreme Court, who will be reviewing this mess shortly. Since no one wants to hear the aggrieved tales from the victim, it's a bit of a guess what is being judged all round....
Perhaps moving the inquiry to a venue in which the evidence is heard by folks who aren't related to the participants will allow a little law and justice to creep in.
Stay tuned for more of the same....
PS: If you haven't already, please read the previous post and "sign the guestbook" or whatever you want to call it....
A request from your sponsor...
Folks. I'm about to upload some new stuff Perry sent me to share with you.
I ask one thing, however (it's all I've ever asked from you at this point, and likely it's all I ever will):
As I have no idea whether I'm maintaining this blog entirely in vain, and while a labour of love should command this worry into donning the cloak of irrelevance, I would still greatly appreciate some response from anyone actively reading this page that would suggest to me the pulse does not just beat within a vacuum. One word, even, or a series of inexplicably arranged punctuation marks denoting your displeasure at my amateurish shattering of our fourth wall. Or even--dare I ask it--a fully formed thought. Some sort of "Boo" from the dark vast to let me know I'm not staring into Nietzsche's void without ever realizing that the void's been staring right back at me the whole time.
Oh, and Capt. O'Neal, while your responses are always welcome, of course you know I'm not referring to you here. I already know your pulse beats strongly in our minor community...
Thanks very much. Up next: a few words from the Tenure Track of Purgatory....
Thursday, January 24, 2008
A Word From Our Professor (via George Carlin)
Perry sent this quote to me in the mail. Seemed like something worth sharing, as I imagine it's very much on his mind these days, as should it be on your own.
Political Correctness is America’s newest form of intolerance, and it’s especially pernicious because it comes disguised as tolerance. It presents itself as fairness, yet attempts to restrict and control peoples language with strict codes and rigid rules. I’m not sure that’s the way to fight discrimination. I’m not sure silencing people or forcing them to alter their speech is the best method for solving problems that go much deeper than speech.
-George Carlin
Two P'd-Offs in a pod...
Blast from the Past
Apparently, we missed this article from 2 1/2 years ago. Pretty rudimentary stuff, but Mills' last line is the sort of thing that gives campaign volunteers the excited silly giggles, so...
Cause for suspension stated
By: Sarah Martin
Posted: 7/12/05
Nearly eight months after Western's theater arts department suspended associate theater professor Perry Mills, he received a statement of charges -- which included written complaints from students and faculty members -- from Provost Andrew Bodman in June.
According to the statement, the reason for the suspension was that Mills' conduct fell below the standards to which faculty should adhere. Mills, who has been on paid suspension since Oct. 18, 2004, said the ordeal is a witch hunt.
"You can't prove that Julius Caesar ever existed," Mills said. "It's all hearsay."
In the statement Bodman wrote that he, Carol Edwards, dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts, and theater department chair Mark Kuntz believe enough evidence exists to warrant a formal hearing.
The next step in the process is a hearing in October during which a panel of at least five members will review evidence and hear witnesses.
Mills, a faculty member at Western for 25 years, taught theater arts classes such as introduction to cinema and dramatic writing and said he misses his job. Some students have mixed feelings about Mills' teaching methods.
"If he could get an attitude change, he wouldn't be that bad," said Kerrie Thornton, Western senior and Mills' former student. "It's just too bad that he doesn't have very good people skills."
Thornton said that, while his classes are difficult, Mills listened and helped with playwriting.
The charges Mills faces are based on actions some faculty and staff believe violated Western's Faculty Handbook, which specifies the professional standards the university expects from its faculty. According to the handbook, the university may dismiss faculty members from their position for violating one or more of five obligations for behavior. Mills allegedly violated two of the five.
Edwards, Bodman and Kuntz are charging Mills with "a serious and persistent neglect of faculty duties" and "intentional and malicious interference with the scientific, scholarly and academic activities of others," according to the statement.
Attached to the statement of charges were three written statements from faculty and students concerning Mills' conduct.
In a statement dated Oct. 7, 2004, Western junior Shareen Faleafine wrote that Mills, who was her professor for Theater 201 during the prior spring quarter, harassed her in a faculty parking lot for having a Bush/Cheney bumper sticker on her car.
"I have always felt comfortable and at home here at Western," she wrote. "Today I felt uncomfortable, put down, discouraged and scared for the first time."
Faleafine wrote that Mills said that if a problem arose in his class, he did not care and students should drop the class immediately. She wrote, however, that she could not afford to drop the class.
In an internal statement to Edwards dated Sept. 24, 2004, Kuntz said he witnessed a conversation between Mills and an administrative assistant of one of his courses. Kuntz said Mills' language included "You bitch, you screwed up," and "Is she retarded?"
Mills said he suspects his suspension could be partly a result of him carrying a pocketknife around campus. Kuntz received a report of a student seeing him with a pocketknife. Mills said he carried a pocketknife for years and needed it for repairing onstage equipment.
Kuntz said he told Mills on several occasions not to carry his knife on campus.
"I believe in protecting his privacy and his rights while protecting the rights of students," Kuntz said.
Mills also speculated that his suspension is due in large part to a $12 lab fee theater students paid until recently. He said Kuntz spent the money for items such as computers, which was not the purpose of the fee, and Kuntz was upset with him for whistle blowing.
Kuntz said the fee was not a factor in Mills' suspension and the department discontinued the fee because it was no longer needed.
In a written complaint Edward's office received on Oct. 12, 2004, a former student of Mills' wrote that she returned to Western after doctors diagnosed her with cancer, and Mills was aware of her situation.
During class, when Mills called on her to present an assignment in front of the class, she said she was nervous.
According to her complaint, Mills said, "If you can't even put up with your piece for class, then you should have just died of cancer."
Mills said he did not think he said anything wrong or should treat students with illnesses any differently from other students.
"I hope that it hurts someone enough to either go home or do their work," he said. "If she died I wouldn't have given her an 'A.'"
Mills said he does not want to handicap his students by avoiding the issues.
"I don't talk nice," he said. "I say 'I hate that idiot' instead of saying 'I hold you in imperfect esteem.'"
Mills is on paid suspension until the hearing.
"Your tax dollars are going into me as we speak," he said.
Comments:
From the The Western Front Online, July 11, 2005
Photo Credit: Lauren Allain/The Western Front
Monday, January 14, 2008
Do You Miss Mark Kuntz? I do, too...
It's been awhile, hasn't it? Well, I know you've been as sick for both the presence of Professor Mark Kuntz--really, the man who started it all, an inspiration to educators and educatees alike--as well as the concision and attention to detail that defines the Western Washington student. So, here's a little treat for your attendant patience, unedited for "letter-order" and grammatic creativity:
From Rate My Professor (Mark Kuntz)
1/5/08
Ugh. Terrible class. I usually love theatre. I didn't with Mark. He was self-absorbed and, though he would ask student opinions in discussions he would usually just make what they said fit his own narrow-minded opinions. The tests were confusing and I thought his grading on papers was kind of harsh. Obnoxious guy, obnoxious class.
1/1/08
What a god awful teacher. I couldn't stand the man....so full of himself, disorganized, unavaliable and he out and out lies about stuff. Huge ego way out of porportion to any talent I saw ....as a director he sucks. Actors actually fell asleep on stage in the last play he did it was so boring.........
12/3/07
I was interested in theater prior to taking this class, but I really didn't learn much about it and I have completely lost interest. He grades papers too hard and the basis of the tests are several uninspiring articles written by people with large egos.
10/8/07
Mark is hilarious! He's such an awesome guy. Get to know him on a personal level... it helps!
Indeed! Truly awesome.
Note: I would have been happy to balance this post with some student musings on the criminal pirate himself, but--ah, helas--it's somewhat difficult for students to properly rate their professors when their professors aren't allowed to set foot on campus...
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Cries in the Dark: Two Opinions
From the Whatcom Independent Online Op-Ed Archives
Thursday, December 13th, 2007
Letters to the Editor
Thu, Dec 13, 9:54am -
Silence does not become us
Dear Editor,
And so we hear the last bleating call of the whistle blower. I’ve been keeping tabs on Western Washington University’s (WWU) attempts to silence and dismiss Perry Mills, as the man was a professor of mine during my time in Bellingham. It never ceases to astound me that a community like Bellingham could stand silently by while this sort of thing occurs.
I know Perry Mills; he’s an educator of the old school. He still believes in standards of learning and thought that were once held dear on university campuses. Standards that have now fallen out of favor, not because they are somehow less invaluable now, but because they are difficult. He is gruff, crass, often shocking, but this stems from the fact that he is driven, direct, and above all, honest.
Professor Mills’ film students were required to pay fees that ostensibly were used for films and equipment. Instead, the funds, in their entirety, were taken and utilized by the department head. For what, then, were his students paying? Trips to conferences, in all likelihood.
Now it’s true that Mills is known for his scathing commentary of his peers. Again, vitriolic though it may be, it is also honest. The mere fact that Mills is known for this should ring some warning bells with the courts and the public, however. Mills did not suddenly become the “neighborhood meany” that the school is making him out to be. He’s been Perry for his entire tenure at WWU, some decades now, and no action has ever been taken to censure him.
University guidelines dictate that offensive behavior be reported and cataloged. They further state that the offender be called to a meeting where the problem will be discussed and rectified before any punitive action is taken. None of this was done. No action was ever taken.
Until now. Now, suspiciously, after he’s attempted to rectify his problem through established means (reporting the missing money), he’s being thrown from his position in direct violation of university guidelines. No official complaints had been made prior to this final attack on Mills, no meeting was called, no discussions were had, no mediation considered. After blowing the whistle, what constituted normal behavior for years became grounds for immediate removal. Well, perhaps eccentric people should just remember their place in life, and keep silent when they’re stepped on. Perry’s plight will serve as a great example to us all.
Stephen Austin II
Seattle
Dean’s view of Mills
Dear Editor,
I have just finished the Paul deArmond piece on Prof. Perry Mills. I am not fully acquainted with the details of the event, as it happened after I left the Deanship of the College of Fine and Performing Arts (CFPA). As the first dean of the new CFPA, I was of course a part of process when Mr. Mills joined the college. He was hired as an assistant to an associate professor. He advanced to his present rank by way of his excellent work in the Theater Department.
Prof. Mills has been with the theater for a good number of years. His record as a teacher is excellent. His student’s evaluations were, as I remember, very high. His production of student credit hours, a most important factor in any department, was exceptional. Professor Mills’s students were among the best in the college. His development of the student playwrighting project was remarkable.
It is true that his language in informal situations may have left something to be desired, but he was obviously revolting against the effete professor stereotype that is all too common in the collegiate world. I have known him for many years and his language has certainly not worsened. (I am aware that reactions to that statement ranged from “Thank God” to “It couldn’t.”) His command of the English language will put the average educated person to shame. He is certainly as well- or better-read than most of his colleagues. His sense of humor, which I suspect is at the bottom of a lot of the anger that has been generated, is one of the best I have ever encountered.
I strongly suspect that those who have been behind the move to get rid of Prof. Mills are among those who have felt insulted but were not sure how or why. I have seen him in formal situations where his language has always been on the highest level and been extremely effective. Those who have been intimidated by Prof. Mills must have an extremely thin skin.
Prof. Mills is an excellent teacher, one who always put the student first. Certainly that seems to be the case here when dealing with student funds.
W. A. Gregory
Lynden
Friday, January 04, 2008
Administrative Code Violated; Suspension Upheld (aka Illegality Rewarded)
Okay, so I've re-read this article at least three times (listen, I attended Western, so I can't do objective math--just the new subjective kind, resembling the accounting WWU employs to determine the various sundry fees they collect from new batches of "students" every year). Anyhow, I've read the thing more than once and I still can't understand how this sentence works:
[Whatcom County Superior Court Judge] Mura said he upheld Mills’ suspension but found that Western’s refusal to hold open hearings in the case violated administrative code.
To quote other myriad on-line bafflees: A-wot?
Is this not like saying "[United States Supreme Court Judges] said they upheld Bush's claim to presidential victory but found that Florida's refusal to hold non-discriminatory elections violated constitutional code"?
Well, I guess we can turn to the brilliant thinker F. Scott Fitzgerald for a bit of perspective on this conundrum:
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function."
Or, to quote Western's Assistant Attorney General Wendy Bohlke: "We won, he lost."
Isn't it nice to know that WWU has such a time-saving reductionist on staff? With spin powers like that, it's a wonder she only works for a minor university and hasn't extended her step to a higher ground like, say, Legal Advisor to Vladimir Putin. I know, Russia is cold and snow is heavier than rain, but I think simplicity of the sort Bohlke has to offer would be more useful on the world stage than on the stagnant prosceniums of "Higher Education." At least she'd help give serious editorial cartoonists more work.
Or, how about this other choice statement by the same beast, quoted in the same article: "Universities hire intelligent, educated people. Personnel problems don't happen that often. We deal with them quietly and people move on."
Wow! Silence = progress! Once again, Western Washington's formulas for success are far more interesting than those that come with any amount of ethical integrity! Yep, no more surefire a way to solve intricate issues that affect large populations like nations or student bodies than with that proven vanquisher of time-squandering complexity: silence!
Anyway, enough about me: there are a few more words sandwiched between Bohlke's lardy emissions within the article itself, so read on if you run out of more interesting fiction in your own home's library. And here's some post-reading homework for you: Where did Krell's Facebook group "Perry F. Mills, Where Have You Gone?" go?...
WESTERN FRONT ONLINE
Judge to uphold theater professor's suspension
by Steven Chea, Sarah Gordan and Shana Keen
Friday, December 07, 2007
The dispute regarding the fate of Western theater professor Perry Mills is one step closer to being resolved after Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Steven Mura issued an oral ruling on Mills’ case Nov. 21.
Mura said he upheld Mills’ suspension but found that Western’s refusal to hold open hearings in the case violated administrative code.
“We won, he lost,” said Western Assistant Attorney General Wendy Bohlke. “He was an … abuser of people. We will defend that. The decision was sound.”
Mills was put on paid suspension by the theater department in October 2004 while the university investigated complaints received from faculty and students, according to a review decision and final order released by Western’s Board of Trustees.
In one of the complaints, a female student, whose name was redacted from the document, wrote a letter to then theatre department chair Mark Kuntz stating Mills’ behavior in class toward her was offensive, according to the board’s document. The student, who had been diagnosed in the fall of 2003 with ovarian cancer, returned to Western after surgery and chemotherapy sessions and enrolled in Mills' dramatic writing class in the spring of 2004. The student volunteered to present her work in front of the class, but after she expressed reservations, Mills made a comment to her that she found offensive, according to the document.
The document states Mills testified that the comment he made to the student was along the lines of “If you don’t put up your work, it’s just as if you died of cancer and aren’t here at all.” The comment brought the student to tears, according to the document.
Mills justified his words as a way of motivating her. The board found that Mills’ actions toward the student were “entirely inappropriate,” according to the document.
The incident is one of several mentioned in the document, which include comments made by Mills to other students and faculty members they considered derogatory toward gender and sexual orientation.
The department presented its findings to a hearing panel in October 2005 while Mills defended his actions to the panel. The five-member panel held six meetings and voted unanimously to recommend that Mills be placed on a two-quarter suspension without pay, according to the document.
Theater professor Deborah Currier was one of the faculty members to whom Mills allegedly made comments that she deemed inappropriate, according to the document. Currier did not say her position on Mills’ suspension, but said she disapproved of his conduct.
Western senior Adam Krell took Theatre 201 with Mills, and said he didn't find Mills’ unusual style offensive.
“I just thought he was funny,” Krell said. “He cracked me up. He was abrasive, but I don’t think he was ever serious.”
Krell created the “Perry F. Mills, Where Have You Gone?” Facebook group, which originally protested the suspension.
Krell said he now feels he doesn’t know enough information to make a judgement about whether or not the suspension is justified.
“I think most of what he said was tongue-in-cheek, but I don’t think most of the students took it that way,” Krell said. “I interpreted him as sarcastic.”
Attorneys on both sides must type up Mura’s ruling and add suggestions they feel the judge needs to take into consideration. Mura said he will issue a formal finding after receiving reports from both sides but did not specify a deadline.
Bohlke said she believes Mura will sign the formal finding next week. She said Mills’ case was an unusual situation for Western.
“Universities hire intelligent, educated people,” Bohlke said. “Personnel problems don’t happen that often. We deal with them quietly and people move on.”
Mills’ attorney James Lobsenz was not available for comment by deadline.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
A couple of new documents and an update from the Battle Weary but Live Professor Himself
Okay, jog your eyes just a few inches to the right and you'll find a couple of new pdf files:
1. Reschedule Memo: wherein the court decides that "service was adequate", the case is not successfully thrown out by WWU, but the hearing is rescheduled for November 21st.
2. Bohlke Declaration: wherein Wendy Bohlke decides that Mills may NOT resume teaching, due to a supposed non-fulfillment on his part of some sort of pre-requisite "training" sessions (going against the earlier decision that his suspension would last only through August 31, 2007.) Essentially, this document reflects a possibly arbitrary step on behalf of WWU, toward keeping the situation in a state of paralysis (continued suspension with pay, instead of a resumption of teaching duties.)
Also, a few words from the Professor himself, bringing us up to speed through to Thanksgiving Day (proving that not even the consumption of gallons of cranberry smothered bird meat will keep the one-eyed former roofer silent):
Court yesterday...we will be into appeal EVEN THOUGH the witch trial was deemed illegal... So now it's off to the Supreme Court (of Washington State)... We're out in the open and struggling mightily, so stay tuned...
He goes on a bit further, and that's private stuff--sorry--but hist last words are worth their weight in uneducated undergraduates, and here they are:
Time to give thanks for the strength to brave the nasty...you must, too! Banzai!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Back Online...
To any weary traveler still occasionally visiting these deserted shores: we are now back online (we, as I said, not the site, which has not gone away) and have reloaded the majority of the links just there to the right. More will appear as they are located. Thanks for your patience!
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Western Front: Mills can return to Western
Mills can return to Western
If Mills serves another suspension, he could resume teaching theater classes
By Ciara O’ Rourke
November 11, 2005
After a yearlong paid suspension and six meetings to assess the teaching eligibility of Perry Mills, a tenured Western theatre arts instructor, the controversial professor could return to Western.
First, however, he must serve a two-quarter unpaid suspension, according to the document containing the findings of the panel that reviewed the charges against Mills.
If Mills decides to continue teaching, he must also sign a statement agreeing to comply with Western’s code of faculty ethics.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Findings of WWU's Secret Hearing
All of this started over something about some kind of incident involving a pocketknife and, here, in this document, the panel members of a WWU secret hearing reveal that the panel could find "no credible testimony" that Mills engaged in "threatening conduct" or that anybody anywhere at all was "actually frightened" by whatever it was that Mills didn't do in the first place.
In other words, those charges were complete bullshit. Yet the vast usefulness of bullshit is herein once again proven, in that even though the initial justification for Mills' suspension has disintegrated into dust, the panel, now committed to action, simply shrugs and changes its focus. (After being a sweeping big-time hit, no doubt this "Weapons of Mass Destruction Tactic" is on the rise amongst our fine nation's more common scoundrels.) In Mills' case, even though there was no threat, no incident, no victim that anyone can find, a bunch of good solid hysteria about "safety" was useful for getting all the cattle to trample in the same direction. And now that there's momentum, WWU's secret hearing panel no doubt find it difficult to change course, let alone admit that there's no good reason in the first place for them to be clomping and mooing like a herd of beasts dumber than stone.
The entire document is fascinating. Building from a solid base of passive voice, the terse tone of paternal disappointment dissipates only in those places where the panel realizes it might look silly if it doesn't at least acknowledge that a few jackasses have made a power-play, cut a few corners, told a few yarns, and things didn't really work out as planned. Even though crude and inexpert in their deviance, and though Stalin would no doubt be embarrassed for them, their failures risk making the University look bad, or rather, worse than it does presently. But, of course, those moments when the panel appears to recognize that there is more tomfoolery to the case than they've heard, they quickly return to accounting anything Mills has said in the last twenty years that ever hurt anybody's feelings.
In short, what began as a move to subdue an alleged knife-wielding maniac has become, in the course of weeding out fantasy from fact, a very serious tribunal solemnly discussing what to do about Oscar the Grouch.
The panel's criticism of Professor Mills rests on one assumption: That a professor's method of teaching be palatable to all students. The weak, dumb, or slow must never encounter anything that frightens them. As best he can, the professor must insulate his philosophy with cotton-candy pillows, lest some unsuspecting suburbanite accidentally be stabbed in the head with an idea.
In any case, the panel has penned some small bits of brilliance for a herd of career educators, such as this logical howler tucked away in the course of some otherwise drab paragraph: "Verbal abuse is verbal abuse."
What fun! Let me try too! A kangaroo court is a kangaroo court.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Provost Bodman Off the Hook (For Now)
[Following is the text of the STIPULATED ORDER OF DISMISSAL filed on Nov. 9. Emphasis added by editor.]Plaintiff Perry Mills, by and through his attorneys Carney Badley Spellman, P.S. and James E. Lobsenz, and defendant Andrew Bodman, by and through his attorneys Miller Nash LLP and Francis L. Van Dusen, Jr., stipulate to the entry of the subjoined order dismissing all claims against defendant Bodman with prejudice and without the award of fees or costs to either side, and expressly reserving the right to bring suit in the future against Western Washington University and officials of the University other than defendant Bodman.
Based on the parties’ stipulation as described above, it is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED that: The plaintiff’s claims against defendant Bodman are dismissed with prejudice, and without the award of attorneys’ fees or costs to either side. Nothing in this order shall preclude the plaintiff from filing suit against Western Washington University, or against officials of the University other than defendant Bodman, challenging either his suspension, or any subsequently imposed discipline.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
If Dreams Came True
Excerpts from a Western Front article on Mark Kuntz' play "If Dreams Came True":
"The play," [Mark Kuntz] said, "is about six West Point cadets who banter and put on blackface makeup while preparing to perform a minstrel show in 1923."
[...]
"Kuntz said the script’s language is raw, and those offended by coarse language should not attend."
"The play is a safe excuse to be a guy," [actor] Emerick said. "It’s fun to discuss dicks and pussies, and to discover new things we can do with it."
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Western Front Blitzkrieg
Monday, October 10, 2005
Whatcom Independent, 7 October 2005
WWU Debates Firing Professor Mills
Meeting Closed to Public and Press
By Paul de Armond
BELLLINGHAM - Wednesday, Western Washington University's faculty hearing panel banned the public and all members of the press from a meeting called to debate whether to fire tenured WWU professor Perry Mills. If fired, Mills would not only lose his job, his pension benefits would be severely reduced.
Professor Mills' attorney James Lobsenz contended the Washington State Open Meetings Act and the state constitution promise citizens justice will be done openly.
After the hearing Lobsenz said, "There isn't a gag order. The hearing's procedure is clearly illegal. However, the panel has expressed their wish that the proceedings be private and out of politeness and deference to their feelings I will not say anything about what happens in the room until it is over."
At issue are the charges brought by the university against Professor Mills a year ago. The charges remained secret until last June. Last October, Professor Mills had been barred from campus and suspended with full pay for allegedly brandishing a pocketknife and speaking rudely to students and faculty. Mills contends he was suspended in retaliation for his exposure of what he alleges were financial irregularities in the theatre department.
In July, Professor Mills brought suit in federal court against Provost Andrew Bodman for violating his civil rights and ignoring the employment contract that spelled out the procedure for suspension. That case is currently in federal court in Seattle.
In September the university selected former King County Superior Court Judge Robert Alsdorf as its hearing officer and appointed five faculty members to the panel. "The hearing is not bound by strict legal rules of evidence and the panel may admit any evidence they find probative," Alsdorf said.
Mills' attorney James Lobsenz asked that the hearing be open to the public. "There are levels of authority regarding this hearing. First there is the faculty handbook, then there is state law and finally there is the state constitution," Lobsenz said. "Above the laws of the state is the constitution, which requires that justice be administered openly."
"Why should this hearing be secret?" he asked. "It would be a shame if the community is shut out."
University counsel Wendy Bohlke claimed the faculty senate had already decided the matter when they approved the handbook. She said, "The hearing is not secret. The proceedings are recorded and when the decision becomes final, the record of the decision becomes open." She noted the university already has a policy of closing quasi-judicial hearings by the Board of Trustees and the Associated Students.
Bohlke asked the panel to consider whose issues are at stake. "Witnesses' testimony could result in charges of slander or disparagement if they were open to the public," she said.
Lobsenz said, "The faculty senate cannot override the state constitution."
The panel retired for ten minutes to consider the issue. When the hearing reconvened, Hearing Officer Robert Alsdorf said the panel had decided to keep the hearing private. They then directed all members of the public to leave the hearing room, adding, "And that applies to the reporter present." This reporter was the only member of the public present.
Professor Mark Kuntz and Provost Bodman also left the hearing before it adjourned. It is not known if they left voluntarily or if they also were barred by a later decision of the panel. The hearing continued for another hour and a half, but the proceedings are now secret and as of the Independent's publication deadline no further information is available.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Witnesses to the "Knife"
Declaration of Michael MurphyOne day in October 2004, immediately after a class session, I discussed with another student, Nick McLeod, a play he was writing for the class. Mr. McLeod wanted me to play a part in the play for a scene to be performed in class. He told me that the character needed to use a knife onstage as a prop and asked me if I had a suitable knife. I did not, but I told him that Professor Mills had a folding knife we might be able to use, and I asked
Professor Mills if he had the knife to show to Mr. McLeod. I knew that Professor Mills sometimes carried a pocket knife because I have seen him use a pocketknife in the past to cut holes in the ends of his cigars. Professor Mills said that he did have the knife, and he removed it from his pocket and opened it to show it to Mr. McLeod. Professor Mills said we could use the knife as a prop, and then he put it away. The knife was out of Professor Mills' pocket for less than 15 seconds, and at no time did Professor Mills brandish the knife in any remotely threatening manner. I was standing near Professor Mills and I was not at all frightened for my safety. There were other students in the area, but I saw no indication that any of them was afraid and certainly none were in any danger.
Declaration of Nicholas McLeodOne day in October 2004, immediately after a class session, I discussed a play I was writing for the class with Professor Mills and Mike Murphy, another student in the class. The play was called "Bagels and Balrogs," and included a discussion among the patrons of a bagel shop, who were debating the relative merits of the film and novel versions of the Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
I had cast Mike Murphy to play one of the characters in the play. The character was intended to be reminiscent of a "Hell's Angel," and have a rough, surly persona. I had written a scene in the play which called for the character to slice a bagel while 
passionately arguing a point about the film version of the Lord of the Rings. For dramatic effect, and to deepen the development of the character, the script called for the character to use a knife to hack the bagel into several pieces. I believed that the knife would need to be fairly large in order to convey the dramatic intent and a smaller knife would not be appropriate for the scene.
I asked Mike Murphy if he had a suitable knife, and he said that he did not. Professor Mills then told us that he had a pocketknife that might be appropriate, and removed his knife from his belt. He opened it and showed it to us, asking if we thought it would serve as a prop for the scene. We agreed that it would be an appropriate prop, and asked Professor Mills if we could use it for the scene. Professor Mills said that we could use the pocketknife as a prop.
When Professor Mills took out and opened the pocketknife, Mr. Murphy and I were within approximately arm's length of Professor Mills. I did not feel at all threatened, and Mr. Murphy likewise gave no indication that he was made uncomfortable by Professor Mills' actions. Professor Mills did not brandish the knife, point it at anyone, or make any gestures with the knife of any kind. I considered the discussion to be related to my coursework.
During the discussion with Mr. Murphy and Professor Mills, there were several other 
students in the area, the class having not yet fully disbanded. None of the other students were as close to Professor Mills as I and Mr. Murphy, although other students were close enough to see that Professor Mills was showing us a pocketknife. No other students indicated any alarm or displeasure at the fact that Professor Mills showed us his pocketknife. I did not hear anyone say anything about the knife at all, and certainly no one seemed to be afraid.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Documents
I suspect the addition of a crate of PDF files on the side links will tempt only those familiar with Professor Mills, so here's some highlights:
The Syllabus
We will aspire rather than compromise, excell instead of settle-for and we will write the best piece of dramatic intensity the world has ever suffered through......and in doing, we will focus every ounce of intellectual and artistic energy we possess upon the work. If we do not, we are no better than a pack of animals and we deserve to die unread and unheard. Get busy.
Mills' Eval of Dept. Chair Mark Kuntz
(In which the Professor gives Kuntz a One-to-Five rating of Three for Scheduling; Zeros in most cases, and a Minus One in Handling Budget Resources. It could be that Professor Mills' unholy evaluation of Kuntz in April 2003 has something to do with Kuntz's unholy suspension of Mills presently.)
He will say ANYTHING in order to further his own selfish ends; I consider him a liar and worse (see section on the budget) and lament that such persons are deemed necessary to the running of an academic unit. He is flawlessly polite, oily to the point of extreme unction and untrustworthy in any situation....Fire this phony, now.
Kuntz' Memo After September 11th
Or: Mark Kuntz Implies That People Are Terrorists Who Aren't
Or: Mark McCarthy Knows a Good Angle When He Sees It
I am concerned about the safety of our students, staff, and faculty.Last week our nation learned some tough lessons as we were aware of a potential terrorist threat, but were without the resolve to act on that threat. Our culture prefers to act after substantial damage has occurred, so that the removal of the threat is clearly defined and a call to action has substantial momentum.
Perry Mills represents that kind of threat on campus. The level of threat Perry represents is not clear, and a course of action is very difficult if not dangerous itself.
A Student Letter of Support for Mills
I'm writing this letter in order to recommend Perry Mills for whatever it is he wants to be recommended for....Getting along with Perry is often a chore. He is not easily impressed or easily endeared.
Another Student Letter of Support for Mills
To Whom It May Concern:
Dear Sir,
Perry Mills is of the old school, in the tradition of the Academy, Cambridge, and Gottingen. This means that he demands scholarship from self and students, and it is disheartening to see the majority (who are fools) attempt to wheedle out of the higher learning, or to see his administrative superiors discontinue his interdisciplinary studies program. He is the only force I have met at this university that insists that one engage the material. Among the priceless multitude of ideas introduced to me by Professor Mills, both in and out of class, are works by the following:
Paul Fussell, Richard Mitchell, Scott Buchanan, Ben Shahn, Friedrich Nietzsche, Aeschylus, Sophocles, H.L. Mencken, Arthur Koestler, Jean Anouilh, Jean Cocteau, J.P. Sartre, and Florence King.
If this list is recognized to be one composed of pessimistic and notorious nonconformists with anger management problems, so be it: this little note is not addressed to you. But if these names are friends, then consider this: Do you know how difficult it is now to free one's self from the mires of this technocratic disinformation age and get some real answers?...If it had not been for Professor Mills I would not have found these authors.
Let me make this little note perfectly clear: Professor Mills deserves a full professorship with all its attendant privileges and proper remunerations.
Thank you for your attention,
Max M. Strumia
Department of Mathematics
Mills' Tenure Eval
The strengths of the contributions that Mr. Mills makes to the Theatre Arts Department in the area of Teaching are as follows:
Generates large SCH numbers in GUR class
Is well read in 20th Century philosophy and theory
Often appeals to bright non-traditional students
Offers academically prepared and challenging classes
Promotes the importance of critical thinking and writing skills in theatre curriculumThe weaknesses of the contributions that Mr. Mills makes to the Theatre Arts Department in the area of Teaching are as follows:
Uses foul language with and, on occasion, toward students
Employs a combative style with students as a central part of methodology
Discusses other faculty members with students in a derogatory and demeaning manner
Enjoys his wit at the expense of students
Extremely high student complaint rate (formal and informal)
Berates and demeans students in the guise of humor
The Large Invisible Antique Screwdriver by Perry Mills, Auditioned by Dean Edwards
[In a meeting with Provost Bodman, Dean Edwards, and lawyers for Plaintiff and Defendant, Mills] indicated that he owned a large antique screwdriver with which he could easily kill someone by driving it into the victim's brain, and while he said this, he mimicked with his hands, while looking at his hands, how he would handle it, lifting his hand with the invisible screwdriver in it, and then hitting the table hard with his fist closed around the invisible screwdriver. He looked up at us from looking at his hand, and indicated he could probably kill anyone with anything that was available. His presentation was alarming....I personally felt fearful in his presence given what he said and how he behaved."
Friday, September 09, 2005
Interview with the Terribly Crazed and Dangerous Professor Perry Mills (Part 1)
When did you start teaching at Western?
I started teaching at Western in 1980, when I went back for a Masters degree after being crippled on my carpentry job. The Dean C.F.P.A. hired me on the spot to teach Interdisciplinary Arts, and from there I picked up theatre classes and became a "professor".
Why do you have a glass eye?
I do not have a glass eye. One sees; one does not, having an opaque lens due to an explosives mishap in the '70s. The glass eye syndrome comes from the insufficient tracking of the unseeing member—it "wanders" because it cannot focus. Tape up one eye and view the world as I do. Curbs become a great challenge, steps take on a whole new dimension, and then get on your motorcycle and follow me through some corners: you will notice that the world is one large two-dimensional postcard without any dimension or depth. Why be afraid of corners if they don't exist?
I must applaud Perry Mills for actually having the guts to say whatever he wants to say. The University has no right to try to censor what their faculty say and do. Remember that First Amendment "Free Speech" Clause? Justice William J. Brennan, Jr put it best when he wrote:
"If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable."
Bravo Mr. Mills, bravo...
Thomas Hintz
posted 7/18/05 @ 8:21 PM PST
I am angry and appalled that this behavior and attitude is present at my alma mater.
Mark A. Hardie, 1953, Retired Educator
Puyallup School District
posted 7/23/05 @ 11:02 AM PST
Madeline Chauvin, Videographer
Austin, TX