From the University of Oklahoma newspaper:
… When Kieran Mullen, OU physics professor, noticed that students’ laptop usage was a distraction during his lectures, he planned a scene to get students to pay attention. During a general physics for engineering majors class Monday, Mullen placed a student’s decoy, non-functioning laptop into a plastic container and poured liquid nitrogen on it.
“He said: ‘this is just liquid nitrogen, so it alone won’t hurt the computer. But this will’,” said Lindsey Brinkworth, University College freshman. “Then he threw it to the ground and told him to have IT fix it.”
Most students usually find Mullen to be considerate of students and attentive to their needs, said Jonathan Scranton, University College freshman.
“He is one of those quirky kind of professors but to actually break someone’s laptop seems a little harsh,” Scranton said.
… “I was a little concerned at first, but I thought later that it was a little too convenient that he would have liquid nitrogen and a Styrofoam box in a back room like that,” said Brinkworth. “Either way, he got his point across.” …
February 18th, 2010 at 10:34AM
There’s something about “attentive to their needs” that sounds like a job description for Jeeves, not a physics prof.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:54AM
John: LOL. I saw that too, and thought it was odd…. Isn’t there a line with “attentive to their needs” in it in HMS Pinafore? I’ll check.
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No. I was remembering “attentive to our duty.”
February 18th, 2010 at 11:14AM
If universities are businesses, if universities sell training designed to improve students’ future incomes, if students are customers, if customers are always right … then yes, young Bertie Wooster’s language is blunt in its expectation.
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:46AM
What exactly was the point he was trying to make? That he plans to destroy any laptops that are brought into the classroom?
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:29AM
Their misuse enrages him to such an extent that if he sees you doing it, he’ll destroy yours?