MSU professor strips naked in classroon and runs down hall screaming

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http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2012/10/michigan_state_student_who_wit.html

In the middle of a lecture, a math professor at Michigan State University started yelling and swearing, took off all his clothes but his socks, and ran down the hall screaming a lot of nonsense. The internet has photos of him sitting naked in the hall, handcuffed, before he was hauled off to a local hospital. There are many articles on the web with first hand accounts by students who were there when it happened.
 
http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2012/10/michigan_state_student_who_wit.html

In the middle of a lecture, a math professor at Michigan State University started yelling and swearing, took off all his clothes but his socks, and ran down the hall screaming a lot of nonsense. The internet has photos of him sitting naked in the hall, handcuffed, before he was hauled off to a local hospital. There are many articles on the web with first hand accounts by students who were there when it happened.

How sad.
 
Sounds like some sort of psychotic break.. wonder how old the prof is....
 
Thats sad people would take his photos, intelligent man obviously who is in need of medical attention. I wish him all the best on his road to recovery.
 
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/10/michigan-state-professor-strips-naked-in-class/

A Michigan State University professor was taken into protective custody today after taking off his clothes in front of his class and shouting in the school hallway.
In a statement posted on the university website, the university said that a call came in to the local police dispatch center just after 1 p.m. “about a man in the Michigan State University Engineering Building shouting in the hallway.”
“MSU police responded and took the man, a university professor, into protective custody and transported him to a local hospital,” the school said. “No one was injured and the professor is not being charged with a crime.”
Students posting on social media named the professor, but the university spokesman would not confirm the man’s identity.
This afternoon a student posted a photo on the social media website Reddit with the comment, “My math teacher just stripped naked during class and was arrested! Go MSU!”
Another student described what happened in greater detail.
 
This made me think of my Physical Science teacher from high school. He was one of those eccentric types who was so intelligent that he seemed really weird at the time but know that I think back on it I think he just lived in his own world as geniuses often do.

I don't think he was ever married or had kids and a few years ago I went into a local charity thrift store and saw him working there. I was shocked. He looked so dishevled and a friend told me that he started using drugs and lost his teaching cert and now lives in a trailer and walks to work at the store.....

I wonder if he didn't have some mental illness too.
 
Shame on the "adults" who took pictures of the sick man and posted it. I don't care how old my kids are, I would give them a talking to if they did something like this.
 
This made me think of my Physical Science teacher from high school. He was one of those eccentric types who was so intelligent that he seemed really weird at the time but know that I think back on it I think he just lived in his own world as geniuses often do.

I don't think he was ever married or had kids and a few years ago I went into a local charity thrift store and saw him working there. I was shocked. He looked so dishevled and a friend told me that he started using drugs and lost his teaching cert and now lives in a trailer and walks to work at the store.....

I wonder if he didn't have some mental illness too.

Could just be burn-out. We talk about the handful of great teachers who change our lives. In my case, not one of those teachers lasted more than a decade in the classroom.
 
My first thought was that this is probably a man who should have been retired... Seems like so many educators are piecing together a living, from campus to campus, making a pittance as a salary. There's so much of that around here, it's mind blowing how hard a lowly college professor toils these days. Imo, it's an upside down world when a plummer makes more per annum than an individual with a Masters or a PhD..

Remember how the colloquialism "going postal" got started? :( If only this were the wake up call the system needs.
 
My first thought was that this is probably a man who should have been retired... Seems like so many educators are piecing together a living, from campus to campus, making a pittance as a salary. There's so much of that around here, it's mind blowing how hard a lowly college professor toils these days. Imo, it's an upside down world when a plummer makes more per annum than an individual with a Masters or a PhD..

Remember how the colloquialism "going postal" got started? :( If only this were the wake up call the system needs.

I've always heard that professors at 4-year universities make 100k+ a year....
 
The college students have been saying that this professor is an extremely brilliant man with poor social skills. Also, that he goes on such long tangents in his lessons and talks about things not related to the math that he is teaching, to the point that they don't even get the lesson finished. Students are saying that they have a terrible time following his explanations for math problems and that he is very tough in grading and marks people down drastically for small things that aren't important to solving the problem. Many describe him as eccentric or odd. He has worked at some rather prestigious universities and I suspect that he makes quite a bit of money. On the pages where students rate their professors, most of the students advised others not to take this guy's class. I suspect that even though this guy was highly intelligent that he also had some mental problems. Students commented that he couldn't relate to the students in a one on one direct way, like he was in his own world. I'm not sure if he will be able to return to his teaching job at the university after this, time will tell.
 
I've always heard that professors at 4-year universities make 100k+ a year....

Those are "full professors" who have not only made tenure but have been promoted through various stages (each stage requiring a lengthy review and vote by their peers) and have many years' experience. And in the Arts and Humanities, that's the top, not the starting salary.

As a full-time adjunct professor at the U. of California, I made about $34K/year and saw no raise for 12 years. (The salary was set according to my "category", not my individual performance.) I spent more than 10 years in college to get THAT job.
 
I'm not sure if he will be able to return to his teaching job at the university after this, time will tell.

True. If he isn't tenured (and those who teach basic courses often are not), it may be easier to replace him than to reassure worried parents when he returns.

If he is tenured, then I think the U. will find that since he didn't harm anyone, as soon as some doctor says the professor is properly medicated, they'll have to take him back. (And they may want him back, for all I know. He's said to be brilliant and he didn't hurt anyone.)
 
I've always heard that professors at 4-year universities make 100k+ a year....

IF only!:floorlaugh:

My husband and many of our friends are college professors, all at 4 year universities or colleges. Average salary: $45,000. At the end of 25 years of working he MIGHT get as high as $80,000 (if they don't close up the school before then, which is actually talked about). There are a few rare professors at super rich universities that have amazing deals.

It is sad, but at least my husband has a job. Many of his colleagues spent 7 years (after a Bach. degree) in college, got their PhD and couldn't get a job. Some of them are now teaching high school. One person is living with their parents and works as a waitress. She has a degree in BioChem and did cancer research. No joke.
The states and feds have cut back spending and cut funding for colleges. Obviously there is no money and we are in a recession- but it hurts. A carpenter or office worker might be able to move around and find a job- a professor it is much harder.

End rant.
 
I've always heard that professors at 4-year universities make 100k+ a year....

Quite true. Full professors earn a tidy sum ... definitely in that range. There's an automatic increase in salary annually, or based on the number of hours of teaching. The pay schedule starts based on years of teaching experience, and then, for example, each additional 600 hours means being bumped up to the next level in the pay schedule. Teaching on a contract basis is worth about $100/hour, but everything is negotiable at the university. In addition to a salary, there are numerous perks, such as a very generous book allowance, grants, research money, travel expenses, parking etc.

He may have continued working beyond retirement eligibility simply because he didn't know what else to do with himself. He definitely seems to have flipped out ... probably completely unable to comprehend the ridiculous generation that goes through life constantly fidgeting with keyboards that are smaller than a business card, destroying their hearing by sticking blaring noise in their ears, and expecting that because they show up for class they deserve an A.

Then again ... maybe he has a brain tumor.
 
I have spent long hours with students and there was one day when I threatened to throw one out the window. She's very nice, but she's not inclined to think for herself - often preferring to first ask for help, and then think about it. This guy may have wanted to throw the student out the window, but instead opted to strip naked and run down the hall.

If he has been doing this for 30 years ... imagine repeating the same thing for that long, with the only thing changing is the quality of student. That might drive some to madness.
 

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