From: russell@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (David Russell)
Subject: Re: A few thoughts on Fabrikant.
Organization: Clarkson University
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 17:48:05 GMT

From article <714926508@pike.cs.duke.edu>, by srt@duke.cs.duke.edu (Stephen R. Tate):
> In article <BtMEFC.Hps@cs.dal.ca> kumar@ug.cs.dal.ca (kumar yelubandi) writes:
>>
>>		From the piggy-backed postings of Dov Bai, two
>>	things stick out.  One, Fabrikant seems to be a very capable
>>	and intelligent research scientist (ie. the quantity
>>	of publication attests to this, as well as the variety of
>>	different journals that have accepted his articles).
>>	Why then, was he refused tenure? (I'm assuming he was 
>>	eligible for tenure).
> 
> 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.
> 
> As far as what the department "owed" Fabrikant, I don't believe ANY
> university is obligated to give tenure to such an abusive person.
> 
>>ps:	In the end, no matter what, Fabrikant proved to be
>>	what his critics charged, ie. unstable.
> 
> You couldn't have read his postings and not realized the man was
> unstable...  I do have one question about the whole situation:
> the night of the shooting, Headline News reported that Fabrikant
> was reported to have brought a gun to a previous faculty meeting.
> Does anyone know if that is true?  If so, why wasn't he out on his
> butt long ago?

  He talks about this somewhere in all those posts. He was searched
but none was found. I also heard on the news that Concordia expressed
there concerns to the police when Dr. F. had applied for a gun permit
a few months ago.
> 
> -- 
> Steve Tate srt@cs.duke.edu | The reason why mathematics enjoys special esteem,
> Dept. of Computer Science  | above all other sciences, is that its laws are
> Duke University     | absolutely certain and indisputable, while those of all
> Durham, NC  27706   | other sciences are to some extent debatable. (Einstein)

  Unstable, YES. Accusations valid, Maybe.
But, one paragraph stood out when I
originally read the postings (before the end result). With the other
statements that he made, this paragraph was very scary.
[directly from one of the postings]
> 2. The University, as well as "persons affected" are very welcome to sue me 
> for libel. May be, this is the only way for the truth to come out. 
> Someone has asked me if I am afraid that the "persons affected" might hire
> someone to stage my "accidental death" or to frame me in some kind of a crime. 
> Well, I am no longer afraid of anything or anybody. We all have to die one
> day. Whenever I die, I shall die an honest person. I just wonder, how many
> administrators can say the same about themselves. Gandhi considered jail 
> as a must for an honest person. I am prepared for that too. 
> I just regret that I put up with all this filth for twelve years. 
> Make no mistake, I am dead serious in what I am doing. I can not fight 
> all the crooks in the world, but I shall not rest until the bogus 
> scientists in this university are exposed and the Justice is served. 
> 
  He mentions death FIVE times in this paragraph. One (I) definately
gets the impression that he was going to do what ever he deemed necessary
until justice was served, even if it means he has to die to do it.
IMHO what he did was premeditated, and he didn't plan on being alive
when all was said and done, (but I could be wrong). I agree that
something may be very wrong at Concordia, but that is no excuse.
--
David M. Russell, Mechanical Eng. Dept.
Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13676
(315) 268-9806 
russell@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
Newsgroups: sci.research