The Hearing - Part 6

CASE HEARING RACISM

Chair:                           Professor Deltdrick Ross, Head of Electrical Engineering

Department

Committee Members:   Professor Floyd Bohrer, Architecture

                                    Professor Elena O’Brien, Civil Engineering

                                    Professor Moses Fogel, Mineral and Mining Engineering

Witnesses:                    Delbert Ballas, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Frank Covington Posey, Electrical Engineering student

Agnes Davis, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Carlo Erickson, Electrical Engineering student

                                    John Martin, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Yolanda Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Angeline O’Connell, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Jennifer Wallace, Electrical Engineering student

Logan Wittels, Electrical Engineering student

Professor Phyllis Bligh, Electrical Engineering

Professor Richard Grant, Electrical Engineering

Victim:              Frieda Pianas, Electrical Engineering student

                                   

Accused:                      Jennifer Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Dina Wise, Electrical Engineering student

While John Martin leaves, Professor Deltdrick Ross calls the next witness.

DR:                              Yolanda Miller, please.

Yolanda Miller looks a bit nervous.

DR:                              Ms. Miller, please tell us about the events three weeks ago.

Yolanda Miller (YM):   Well, first of all I want to say sorry. It was wrong to participate. I… I shouldn’t have laughed. At the moment I… I simply wanted to belong. I feel a bit like an outsider and thought, if I join and laugh with them, I might not be so alone anymore. The jokes were crude in my opinion… I still laughed, and I’m sorry about that.

DR (stern):                   What were the jokes about?

YM (picks at a scab on her left hand and her eyes brim with tears): I think swans are more beautiful than Hispanic women and a bar joke. I have forgotten the content of the bar joke. I’m really sorry. I’m not good at it at all.

DR:                              So you thought something is wrong with the jokes from the beginning?

YM (nods):                  Yes.

DR:                              Thank you for your explanation. You can leave.

 

©2012

The Hearing - Part 5

CASE HEARING RACISM

Chair:                           Professor Deltdrick Ross, Head of Electrical Engineering

Department

Committee Members:   Professor Floyd Bohrer, Architecture

                                    Professor Elena O’Brien, Civil Engineering

                                    Professor Moses Fogel, Mineral and Mining Engineering

Witnesses:                    Delbert Ballas, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Frank Covington Posey, Electrical Engineering student

Agnes Davis, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Carlo Erickson, Electrical Engineering student

                                    John Martin, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Yolanda Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Angeline O’Connell, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Jennifer Wallace, Electrical Engineering student

Logan Wittels, Electrical Engineering student

Professor Phyllis Bligh, Electrical Engineering

Professor Richard Grant, Electrical Engineering

Victim:              Frieda Pianas, Electrical Engineering student

                                   

Accused:                      Jennifer Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Dina Wise, Electrical Engineering student

John Martin enters self confident.

DR:                              Mr. Martin. Please tell us what happened three weeks ago shortly

                                    before the first class with Professor Bligh started.

John Martin (JM):         I was drawn to a small group surrounding Ms. Miller and Ms.

                                    Wise. They were telling jokes. I listened in.

MF:                              What was the joke about?

JM:                              I think one was about swans or something and the other was about

guys in a bar. Unfortunately I don’t remember the content, but I thought it was entertaining. When I saw Ms. Pianas’ face I realized what her – I assume – former friend told had been below the belt line, and I was sorry, because I like Ms. Pianas. Maybe she is simply a bit sensitive, because she wasn’t born to American parents.

MF:                              You didn’t think the jokes were racist?

JM:                              No, not really. They were simply funny.

MF:                              So you think it is normal to tell jokes about shooting people from

                                    different cultures?

JM (blushes):                Yes. I mean… Well, yeah, I guess you are right. It’s not okay.

MF (gives John Martin a cold stare):     I think that’s all Mr. Martin.

JM (looks as if his self esteem has been crushed): I’m really sorry…

MF (still cold):  You can leave.

©2012

The Hearing - Part 4

CASE HEARING RACISM

Chair:                           Professor Deltdrick Ross, Head of Electrical Engineering

Department

Committee Members:   Professor Floyd Bohrer, Architecture

                                    Professor Elena O’Brien, Civil Engineering

                                    Professor Moses Fogel, Mineral and Mining Engineering

Witnesses:                    Delbert Ballas, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Frank Covington Posey, Electrical Engineering student

Agnes Davis, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Carlo Erickson, Electrical Engineering student

                                    John Martin, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Yolanda Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Angeline O’Connell, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Jennifer Wallace, Electrical Engineering student

Logan Wittels, Electrical Engineering student

Professor Phyllis Bligh, Electrical Engineering

Professor Richard Grant, Electrical Engineering

Victim:              Frieda Pianas, Electrical Engineering student

                                   

Accused:                      Jennifer Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Dina Wise, Electrical Engineering student

While Agnes Davis leaves, Deltdrick Ross looks for the next witness.

DR:                              Mr. Carlo A. Erickson next, please.

Carlo Erickson shuffles in, looks to the ground and is uncomfortable.

FB:                               Mr. Erickson, please tell us what you remember about the incident

                                    three weeks ago.

Carlo Erickson (CE):    Well, we all were a bit curious what was so funny. That’s why we went all to Ms. Wise and Ms. Miller. She told a joke about swans

                                    and Hispanics. I thought it was pretty cool. The second was not so

                                    nice, but I … I didn’t want to stick out, so I laughed. Now I’m

                                    ashamed about it. I should have told Ms. Miller to stop.

FB:                               Can you remember what the jokes were about?

CE:                              Hm, the first was something along the line why Hispanic women hate swans. The answer is: Swans are beautiful and know who the father of their children is. The second was about a meeting of a Hispanic, a Middle Eastern guy and an American in a bar. I think it went along the line that the Hispanic states: “Where I come from glass is so cheap, we don’t have to drink from the same glass twice.” He grabs his pistol, throws the glass in the air and shoots it to smithereens. Next is the Middle Eastern guy. He empties his glass and says: “Where I come from, we have so many deserts and sand we don’t need to drink from the same glass twice.” He also grabs his gun, throws the glass in the air and shoots it to pieces. Then there is the American, he downs the content of his glass in one huge gulp, draws his gun and shoots the Hispanic and the Middle Eastern men, saying: “We have so many illegal immigrants here, we don’t need to drink with the same twice.”

FB:                               Neither of them is funny and is racist. I’m glad you realized it with the second joke. I’m just sorry you felt the need to belong was stronger than not taking part. Has anyone of you further questions? (Floyd Bohrer addresses his fellow committee members.)

 Professors Deltdrick Ross, Elena O’Brien and Moses Fogel shake their heads.

Carlo Erickson hangs his head low in shame.

DR:                              You can leave, Mr. Erickson. Our next witness is John Martin.

©2012

The Hearing - Part 3

CASE HEARING RACISM

Chair:                           Professor Deltdrick Ross, Head of Electrical Engineering

Department

Committee Members:   Professor Floyd Bohrer, Architecture

                                    Professor Elena O’Brien, Civil Engineering

                                    Professor Moses Fogel, Mineral and Mining Engineering

Witnesses:                    Delbert Ballas, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Frank Covington Posey, Electrical Engineering student

Agnes Davis, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Carlo Erickson, Electrical Engineering student

                                    John Martin, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Yolanda Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Angeline O’Connell, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Jennifer Wallace, Electrical Engineering student

Logan Wittels, Electrical Engineering student

Professor Phyllis Bligh, Electrical Engineering

Professor Richard Grant, Electrical Engineering

Victim:              Frieda Pianas, Electrical Engineering student

                                   

Accused:                      Jennifer Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Dina Wise, Electrical Engineering student

Professor Deltdrick Ross is leafing through the papers in front of him.

DR:                              Ah, here we go: Could Agnes C. Davis, please make it to the witness stand?

Agnes Davis looks a bit flustered and insecure, when she takes her seat.

DR:                              Ms. Davis, tell us about what you heard three weeks ago.

Agnes Davis (AD) doesn’t look up and clasps and re-clasps her fingers: Well, Ms. Miller started to tell something funny to Ms. Wise. I’m not sitting too far away, so I could hear it was some kind of joke. Ms. Wise thought it was funny and laughed out loud, drawing the attention of Mr. Ballas, Mr. Covington Posey, Mr. Erickson, Mr. Martin, Ms. Yolanda Miller, Ms. Wallace and Mr. Wittels. I… I tried not to listen in, but the joke Ms. Miller told next wasn’t funny in my opinion and racist. I don’t remember the exact wording, but it went along the line: Why do Hispanic women hate swans? Nobody knew the answer, so Ms. Miller gave it. She said swans are beautiful and generally know who the father of their babies is. Everyone of the group surrounding Ms. Miller laughed. I thought it was odd Ms. Miller was telling such an inappropriate joke, since one of her friends was Columbian American. She was encouraged by Ms. Wise to tell another joke. That one was about a Middle Eastern, Hispanic and an American drinking together in a bar. They all have guns. In the end the American shoots the other two, because he thinks there are too many illegal immigrants that he hasn’t to drink with the same twice. The small group found it funny. I didn’t. I think Ms. Pianas heard at least one of the jokes. She was absent minded and not talkative for the rest of the day.

EOB:                            Who is Ms. Pianas?

AD:                              She is … I mean … was befriended with Ms. Wise and Ms. Miller. Ms. Pianas is from Columbia.

EOB:                            Did you speak to Ms. Pianas about what happened?

AD (shakes her head):  Not immediately. I was too shocked myself and wanted to talk with Mr. Wittels, my boyfriend, about it. We decided we didn’t want anything to do with the others and Ms. Pianas probably neither. Logan – Mr. Wittels – also thought we should inform one of our Professors, because the student’s behavior had been unacceptable, and it was better to hopefully stop racism before it got out of hand.

We divided the tasks. Mr. Wittles went to Professor Bligh, while I offered Ms. Pianas to sit beside us the next day. I told her I was sorry about the other’s behavior and not everyone was racist. Ms. Pianas accepted our offer.

EOB:                            Was this the end of it?

AD (plays with her fingers): I … No. There were two other incidents. I don’t know if                                        the first had anything to do with it, but the second…

EOB:                            Tell us about them.

AD:                              Well, about a few days after the incident Ms. Pianas came into

class and told me she was a bit late, because she had to go to

the administration and called the police. Somebody had scratched her car. It’s an old timer, a Porsche from the 60ies, so the repair was going to be very expensive.

EOB:                            Was the police able to locate the guilty party?

AD:                              Not as far as I know.

EOB:                            You said there were two incidents. What was the second one?

AD:                              Around two weeks ago I was concerned. Ms Miller, Wise and

                                    Pianas weren’t at their seats. I went looking for Ms. Pianas. One of the places I wanted to look was the ladies rest room.

When I opened the door I was nearly run over by Ms. Pianas. I asked what was wrong, but didn’t get an answer. She seemed stressed and didn’t answer either where she was going to. I followed her, and we ended up at Professor Bligh’s office. Ms. Pianas asked, if she could talk to Professor Bligh and was granted access. I had to wait outside. Professor Bligh asked me a few minutes later to come in and tell her what I had seen in the rest room. It wasn’t much. I caught a short glimpse of Ms. Miller sitting on the floor and Ms. Wise was hovering near the entrance. I guess the three had an altercation.

EOB:                            Thank you, Ms. Davis, for shedding light on the issue.

AD:                              Thank you.

©2012

The Hearing - Part 2

CASE HEARING RACISM

Chair:                           Professor Deltdrick Ross, Head of Electrical Engineering

Department

Committee Members:   Professor Floyd Bohrer, Architecture

                                    Professor Elena O’Brien, Civil Engineering

                                    Professor Moses Fogel, Mineral and Mining Engineering

Witnesses:                    Delbert Ballas, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Frank Covington Posey, Electrical Engineering student

Agnes Davis, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Carlo Erickson, Electrical Engineering student

                                    John Martin, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Yolanda Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Angeline O’Connell, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Jennifer Wallace, Electrical Engineering student

Logan Wittels, Electrical Engineering student

Professor Phyllis Bligh, Electrical Engineering

Professor Richard Grant, Electrical Engineering

Victim:                         Frieda Pianas, Electrical Engineering student

                                   

Accused:                      Jennifer Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Dina Wise, Electrical Engineering student

DR:                              The next witness is Frank Covington Posey.

Frank Covington Posey strolls in.

DR:                              Mr. Covington Posey, please take a seat.

Frank Covington Posey complies.

EOB:                            Please tell us about the events three weeks ago, involving Ms. Miller and Ms. Wise.

Frank Covington Posey (FCP): No comment.

DR (keeping his temper barely under control): Sir, Professor O’Brien has asked you something. Answer!

FCP:                            I won’t say anything.

MF:                              You aren’t on trial or charged for a wrong doing Mr. Covington Posey. We simply want to find out what happened.

FCP:                            No comment.

FB:                               Look, young man, saying nothing won’t help. We are going to find out the truth anyway, so you can talk.

FCP:                            I still refuse to answer your question.

DR (sighs):                   I am very disappointment, Mr. Covington Posey, but I see we won’t get any further. Before we waste time, I let you go.

Frank Covington Posey gets up without saying a word.

©2012

The Hearing - Part 1

This is about Frieda Pianas, the fiancée of  Coldham Fintan “Fin” Noose III. During the coming days you find out more about what happened exactly. Friends of the couple try to influence the outcome of the hearing. Lets see if it’s working or not.

CASE HEARING RACISM

Chair:                           Professor Deltdrick Ross, Head of Electrical Engineering

Department

Committee Members:   Professor Floyd Bohrer, Architecture

                                    Professor Elena O’Brien, Civil Engineering

                                    Professor Moses Fogel, Mineral and Mining Engineering

Witnesses:                    Delbert Ballas, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Frank Covington Posey, Electrical Engineering student

Agnes Davis, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Carlo Erickson, Electrical Engineering student

                                    John Martin, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Yolanda Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Angeline O’Connell, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Jennifer Wallace, Electrical Engineering student

Logan Wittels, Electrical Engineering student

Professor Phyllis Bligh, Electrical Engineering

Professor Richard Grant, Electrical Engineering

Victim:                         Frieda Pianas, Electrical Engineering student

                                   

Accused:                      Jennifer Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Dina Wise, Electrical Engineering student

Deltdrick Ross (DR)     Can we please have the first witness Delbert Z. Ballas?

Delbert Z. Ballas (DB) enters and takes a seat on the witness chair.

DR:                              Mr. Ballas, could you please tell us, what happened three weeks ago shortly before Professor Bligh’s class started?

DB (fiddling with his cuff links): Well…

DR (impatiently):           Yes?

DB:                              Well, Jennifer was telling a joke to Dina. I was wondering what was so funny and went to them.

Floyd Bohrer (FB):       When you speak of Dina and Jennifer you mean Dina Wise and Jennifer Miller. Is this correct?

DB:                              Yes, sir.

DR:                              Did Ms Miller tell another joke?

DB:                              Yes.

Elena O’Brien (EOB):   What was the joke about?

DB:                              I’m very bad with jokes.

Moses Fogel (MF):      You don’t have to repeat the joke, but tell us roughly the content.

DB:                              I think it was a comparison between swans and Hispanic women.

DR (sternly):                 What did you do?

DB:                              I thought it was funny and laughed together with them. We weren’t alone anymore. Frank, Carlo, John, Yolanda, Angeline and Jennifer W. were surrounding us.

DR:                              Didn’t you find it a bit racist?

DB (blushes and plays further with his cuff links): Not at the time.

MF:                              How did the others react?

DB:                              They were laughing, too. Dina asked for another joke before Professor Bligh arrived.

EOB:                            What did Ms. Miller do?

DB:                              She complied and told a bar joke.

FB:                               Can you tell us more?

DB (looks unhappy):     No, I forgot about it.

FB (ironic):                   Was it at least funny?

DB:                              As far as I can remember yes.

MF:                              Was it again racist?

DB:                              I … I don’t remember.

EOB:                            Sure?

DB:                              Yes, ma’am.

DR:                              That’s all, Mr. Ballas. You can leave.

 

©2012

Pasta with Tuna Sauce

This is an easy pantry dinner, but very delicious, so I thought I'm going to share it with you. The recipe is inspired by BBC Good Food. It serves two people.

250 g Pasta, shape of your choice. We used Penne.
1 can of tuna, drained
1 pack tomato sauce (400 g). We used Cirio Tomato and Basil
1 pinch of Oregano
2 teaspoons of paprika
2 garlic cloves
2 red onions
Cheese to your liking. We used Gruyere and Parmesan.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Drain the tuna.
2. Chop the onions.
3. Grate the garlic cloves
4. While the pasta is cooking, roast the onions with a swig of Extra Virgin Olive oil in the oven.
5. Cook the pasta until it's al dente. Drain and set aside, remove the onions from the oven.
6. In a sauce pan heat the tomato sauce on medium heat.
7. Add the tuna, garlic, onions, paprika and oregano.
8. Make sure all is heated through.
9. Divide the pasta and sauce on two plates, sprinkle with the cheese.
10. Enjoy!

©2012