The Whine thread.

[Linda]

So sorry about all that rain you are getting, Asso! We have been getting more rain than usual and it has been a very cold Spring, but not the flooding you are getting.

[Distracted]

GRRRRR. I have to vent. Aren't ya'll so lucky?

I'm an employee of a state university health center, and I don't think I can take 16 more years of this before I retire. I feel like the biggest hypocrite on the face of the planet.

Here's the scenario. My department head is on vacation, leaving me temporarily in charge, which is why when a reporter from the local newspaper wants an interview regarding the well-documented increases in STD incidence in the local community among teenagers and young adults, I get stuck calling her back. Turns out she wants data about the university population. I don't see the harm in it. We collect statistics for the American College Health Survey every year. I give her a few numbers, pointing out that the trend is slight in our population, but a really good reason to be more careful, yada, yada. I don't think much of it. The photographer from the paper comes today, my boss (who's back) sees her, I mention the upcoming article, and that's when the shit hits the fan. Apparently, even though the data's a matter of public record when compiled as nationwide statistics by the ACHA, I am not allowed by TPTB at the university to release ANY numbers, much less imply, God forbid, that there has been any increase in STD incidence on campus. All I'm allowed to say, appparently, is that I've seen STD's among our students, and that SHS works to "educate the student population regarding their risks". So my department head has me contact the paper, and the poor reporter is forced to basically gut her article of every meaningful fact in it, simply because the university administration is so PR conscious, so worried that Mom and Dad might decide not to send their precious offspring to a college where "STD's are on the rise", that the fact that KNOWING when you're at risk is the first step in changing behavior is totally swept under the rug. Not to mention that now this newspaper staff hates me and I feel like I'm under the thumb of The Man.

My department head seemed entirely serious when she said that I could have lost my job if the article had gone to press as it was, and her job would have been in question as well. Jeez. People don't THINK. They're too busy practicing the ancient art of CYA. If we don't tell these kids the truth, how will they know how dangerous their behavior is? It's crazy... and I'm alternately pissed and scared to death that someone might have fired me over something so trivial.

Okay. I feel marginally better now. I'm beginning to suspect that I'm really not cut out to be a bureaucrat.

[CX]

I would almost be tempted to write something into the paper about it, because you're entirely correct about a big part of the problem with STDs being a lack of information about them, and if the numbers are indeed a matter of public record, TPTB should hardly be able to rake you over the coals for it. Jut hearing about this irritates me. It's kind of like this push to not have condoms or information available for young people outside of the standard abstinence only party line.

[Distracted]

Yep. I can go to classrooms and speak about risk reduction, but I'm not allowed to hand out condoms. Funny thing is, I agree 100% that just handing someone a condom and telling them to go have fun is irresponsible, since many STD's can be transmitted despite regular condom use, so my views are probably MUCH closer to the party line than most people's, but information doesn't give people STD's, behavior does. And to change behavior a person needs to know his/her risks. Knowledge of risks then (theoretically) motivates change. Unless you're a teenager and believe that you're immortal and impenetrable.

This theory, however, is apparently not espoused by the university administration, who seem to mainly be concerned about salvaging the reputation of the university, as if it weren't already known as the college with one of the highest rates of alcohol use in the US. Yeah. I'm sure making certain that incoming freshmen aren't warned about the risks of sexual behaviors is really gonna help them be safe while they're out getting drunk.

Unfortunately, being the university "Deep Throat" is not an option. I need my job.

[JadziaKathryn]

Yep. I can go to classrooms and speak about risk reduction, but I'm not allowed to hand out condoms. Funny thing is, I agree 100% that just handing someone a condom and telling them to go have fun is irresponsible, since many STD's can be transmitted despite regular condom use, so my views are probably MUCH closer to the party line than most people's, but information doesn't give people STD's, behavior does. And to change behavior a person needs to know his/her risks. Knowledge of risks then (theoretically) motivates change. Unless you're a teenager and believe that you're immortal and impenetrable.

This theory, however, is apparently not espoused by the university administration, who seem to mainly be concerned about salvaging the reputation of the university, as if it weren't already known as the college with one of the highest rates of alcohol use in the US. Yeah. I'm sure making certain that incoming freshmen aren't warned about the risks of sexual behaviors is really gonna help them be safe while they're out getting drunk.

That seems simple and obvious to me. But neither bureaucrats nor teenagers are know for being good with the simple and obvious.

[TPoptarts]

Distracted you poor thing

Grrr.

[Alelou]

This sort of thing just infuriates me. I see it from both ends because my husband works for the state but my dad is a journalist. Meanwhile, who is kept in the dark? The public! Whose tax dollars paid for the original data and whose tax-dollar-paid employees are being intimidated into hiding it.

I'd be tempted to quietly point them in the direction of the information on public record, though the truth is if they are good reporters they should be able to find it on their own.

[blacknblue]

That is an idea. Can't you direct them to the appropriate data? Like, such and such dept. has compiled a database and it can be found at this web site, blah blah...

Or would that get you fired also?

At least you could write a letter to the editor under an alias couldn't you?

[Alelou]

Reputable papers don't run anonymous letters to the editor, and as it is they need to verify the sender. But a little background info in the right reporter's ear could be anonymous.

[Distracted]

Nope. I'm done. What I'm doing here is risky enough. And the specific info about our institution is compiled into national statistics. Those are on public record, but she didn't want those. I directed her to the local health unit as well. She'll just have to settle for community data. What I feel bad about is that this was so last minute. The article went to press this afternoon, so she really didn't have time to do any more. I basically cut her throat to save my own skin. Hopefully her job's not on the line.

I'm really hoping that the editor was telling the truth, and that when she got the watered down say-nothing paragraph which my supervisor was willing to approve she didn't just say "to hell with this" and just print the original. My husband says I could have a field day with the press if I did get fired, but that wouldn't get me my job back. I'm not tenured. I'm an "unclassified" employee. I can be fired without cause and without notice and it's perfectly legal. So, if my supervisor was telling the truth about how negatively TPTB would respond to the article in its original form, I just might be unemployed later this month if this editor decided to lie to me.

[Alelou]

I don't see why the editor would lie to you. But if you do get fired, sue their butts. You were just doing your boss's job as best you knew how. An institution like that will settle in a minute rather than risk publicity over what happened.

[Linda]

Yup, Distracted, public employees are at risk of losing their jobs for not covering their institution's ass because they value the truth higher than publc image. The institution eats its own and the food chain is like that in nature - the bigger fish eats the smaller fish. The smaller fish lose, the public may also lose because they do send their kid to a school where they might have a higher risk of catching something, being robed, or being raped, than they were led to believe. Life is not fair. No good deed goes unpunished.

Boy, what a cynic I am today. Well, I work for a university too - have done for 25 years, which means I am only 5 years from retirement, thank whatever Gods and Goddesses - (if they really exist)! See, BIG cynic today!

[Bether6074]

^There does seem to be a lot of confusion in the world about what is really important. I hope it all works out okay.


I'm going to whine some more about the situation with my daughter. I have a defiant, non-conformist side to me and it's coming out now. I took Emily to the specialist that was recommended by her former therapist. This psychologist specializes in diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorders. Emily cried painfully the entire time we were there. The therapist says he's never had a child in 20 years act that way with him. Wonderful. The next day the doctor calls me. He says try bribing her to talk. Then he tells me he won't see her again unless I dope her up. He wants to calm her emotions down so she'll talk and be more compliant with him. Needless to say, we aren't going back there. I keep hearing how Emily is avoidant and yet, they want me to drug her to avoid dealing with the actual problem. I don't get it. I'm going to call my cousin, who is a psychiatrist, and see what he has to say. This is all very draining and we don't seem to be getting anywhere.

[Linda]

Gosh, Bether, this all sounds so very frustrating. And that 'professional' sounds very suspect to me. I hope your cousin can help.

[Entilzha]

A nerve in my lower back started to act up so now I can't properly stand or sit without agony. Even laying down isn't without pain .