Is Dorothy Mantooth a Saint?

I’m not responding to the article in the Observer. I think it’s news not opinion, and that’s it, there really isn’t scandal, and there is no reason to trade shots across the bow. Or is there…. OK I don’t want to respond to the substance of the article, but since one of the commenter’s comments were pretty much directed right at me, I do feel like it would be fun to put them in a conversation. If you want context you won’t find it here, but if you want some humor, sit back and enjoy the ride.

"Kevin Burke was an RA for more than a year and a half. He made a number of significant contributions. He left for personal reasons."

--Thanks for saying that, that could quite possibly be one of the most awkward sentence that I have read in the paper. And really you could have left it at that. Indeed I left for personal reasons.

Jason said that she and Burke spoke and he asked her to keep things confidential. "Out of respect for that I'm honoring that."

--I was always under the impression that meetings between any student and an administrator were confidential. Hell, I assume that friends keep my confidence, and that my fellow coworker’s maintain my confidence. So I guess, out of respect for me… you are honoring my confidence, by telling the Observer that we met ….. Ok…. Not sure I follow your logic in that one.

When asked why many students feel like Res. Life has an atmosphere of secrecy, Jason said, "I think that Res. Life has an heir [sic.] of confidentiality not secrecy."

"We have a commitment to maintain confidentiality partly based on law and partly based on Fordham's commitment to student needs. We do our best to protect student's rights. I think it is necessary for students to feel comfortable that they can come in and talk with us without the fear that the information will be leaked," Jason said.

--First off, “air of confidentiality” and yes it is secrecy, it’s confidential, it’s secret, they are synonyms, take an English class. Here’s the part that really bothered me. “I think it is necessary for students to feel comfortable that they can come in and talk with us without the fear that the information will be leaked…” Take a political science class. When someone has their shit aired in public and it stinks? What do they say? “Leaking is bad, it makes people not trust us.” No, I am sorry, treating people poorly and then saying that it is confidential so don’t tell anyone is what makes people not trust you. If you have nothing to hide, then leaks shouldn't be a problem, cause you can then operate in a transparent system that the public is able to see, and say, "hey, this looks honest, looks like they are doing good work." Seriously, who were the people that were going apeshit when Woodward and Bernstein were talking to Deep Throat, right like those guys had your interest at heart...

In reference to the discrepancy of Burke's story based on the two sources' testimony Jason said, "People interpret thing in different ways."

-- Yes, people do interpret them in different ways, sometimes when we are asked to talk to the paper, we say: “I resigned for personal reasons” and leave it at that and refuse to comment on anything. And sometimes, we think, fuck-it, I am the adult in the situation, let’s be catty and not address the issue, and leave it at, “people interpret things in different ways.” So there you have it kids. This is one of the personal reasons for why I resigned.