My favorite expression when explaining why individuals with bad track records with regard to publicly traded companies should be treated with extreme skepticism was "leopards don't change their spots." I'm also guessing the same applies to those of us who have a habit of pointing out certain improprieties on public message boards when we see them.
I got to thinking about this when I started reading the cover story on my college alumni journal that came in today's mail. The article was about 125 years of the school paper and featured eight photographs of the front pages of issues deemed, I suppose, worthy of mention. Naturally I wouldn't be mentioning this unless one of those issues happened to have my smiling face on the cover. The headline: "Fake Paper Stuns Campus". Sound familiar? Yes, as my wife tells me, once a dick always a dick. (g)
Here's the relevant text:
In November 1981 two members of the WRUC staff turned the tables, publishing a "counterfeit" issue of the paper. Although the lampoon was relatively mild, it was greeted with a total lack of humor by the Concordiensis ("offended and outraged"), by the Student Forum, and by the administration; with the Dean of Students' permission, issues were "impounded."
union.edu
Yes, the school and most of my fellow students had absolutely no sense of humor, which, of course, is what prompted me to do what I did in the first place. Even better, some even tried to get me expelled. I'll spare everyone all the gory details... suffice to say I did graduate, and on schedule.
Note: I'm pictured in the last photo sitting on the left. My friend and I thought it would be fun to put on a suit and tie for our interrogation by the student counsel. We each brought along a brief case with a bible in it and sat there racing each other to see who could complete a Rubick's Cube first (it was our admittedly lame way to try to intimidate people). Ahh... memories. :)
- Jeff |
