NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #19/NN_1992_19.iso/spool/sci/research/970

Text File | 1992-08-29 | 4.3 KB | 87 lines

Newsgroups: sci.research
Path: sparky!uunet!ftpbox!mothost!white!sapphire.rtsg.mot.com!declrckd
From: [e-mail] (Dan J. Declerck)
Subject: Re: Was Fabrikant a big pain?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group
References: <[e-mail]>
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 19:55:59 GMT
Lines: 74

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (JULIO RODRIGUEZ BANGA) writes:
>
> [e-mail] (Stephen R. Tate) writes:
>
>>This comment represents an attitude that really gets to me.  I have
>>known people who believe that as long as a scientist puts out good
>>research, then nothing else matters.   Go back and read the messages
>>written by Fabrikant --- the man was abusive, arrogant, and more
>>than a little unstable.  Would *YOU* want to work with someone like
>>that on a daily basis?  I wouldn't!  As far as I'm concerned, if someone
>>is as big a pain as Fabrikant seems to have been, it doesn't matter
>>one whit how good their research was.  The scientific community can
>>certainly wait for another person to come along that knows how to
>>deal with human beings.
>
> Well, after reading the postings of Fabrikant, I don't see an abusive and
>arrogant scientist. A bit unstable, perhaps, but how would *YOU* feel if your
>bosses are treating you like he was treated? Desperate. What kind of
>information do you have to say he was a big pain? Why not saying that of
>his bosses?
>
>>As far as what the department "owed" Fabrikant, I don't believe ANY
>>university is obligated to give tenure to such an abusive person.
>
> I don't think any University should give tenure to parasites either.
> And many universities are full of parasites of the kind described by
>Fabrikant.
>  Abusive? Any evidence?
>
> Julio.

I have a few datapoints to add to the "scattergram" of issues on this incident.
From my posting site, you know I am from industry. I design cellular phones.
As an undergraduate I worked as a research assistant for a tenured professor
in the physics department. He was quite a nice guy, and I worked like a dog
(got paid, but worked like crazy because to work was challenging for an undergrad).
One of the greatest factors for my enthusiasm was his demeanor, and his intelligence
(he still blows me away to this day, and it's been over 5 years). He was sad that
I did not choose a career in physics. If he'd have been a real tyrant, I would have
A) not done as well
B) not worked for him
C) not admired the physics community the way I do now.
My hat goes out to Dr Richard Cowen.

I've worked for other professors as a teaching assistant, and the ones
I can work with are the ones I tend to admire.
The ones that:
1) rail about the department chairman for his/her incompetence
2) rail on the students for being "stupid" and not to their level.
3) rant about the teaching materials forced down their throat by a committee
Do not make the mark. They are terrible to speak to because of their disposition.
They are difficult to learn from, since they don't feel like disseminating information.
I'm not sure, but I usually found it was a case of inflated ego, or a spouse
that ran off with a younger student (I've seen this one).

In industry, I feel the same way. Tyrants and ranting lunatics (even if they
are the next Henry Blosser or Albert Einstein) do not contribute to the over-all
effort. Teamwork is paramount in industry, and it makes excellent sense product wise.

Maybe researchers should feel the same way?? The results of their research is a "product"
to be perused by other researchers and industry.
They shoudl be rated on the quality of the work produced (innovation and discovery),
as well as the capability to disseminate it to colleagues as well as the rest of academia

Poor Dr. Fabrikant. maybe it was a cultural gap?? Did he ever work with people
of such a varied backgound (culturally and economically) in the former Soviet Union??

-Dan

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