I like to crack jokes in class. I figure that life is too short to take it too seriously, so I figure the more outrageous the better. I know that I push the boundaries from time to time, but I figure that as long as we have a good laugh we won't get too absorbed with the day to day grind of physics. Let's face it, you the students aren't going to appreciate the beauty of the structure of matter the same way that I do, but at least we can laugh about each other a bit. 

So, this week when we had our ethics training, I saw ample opportunity to go right for the jokes. The problem is that anyone who can see through the sarcasm will see that the razor sharp wit that I use to make the jokes funny also is drawing blood. The ethics training demonstrates that the people who actually set the tone of the year are out of touch. They are so concerned with what will make news that they can't see that they are over looking the real ethics violations. The ethics training addressed teachers having sex with students, or toeing the line between professional and personal relationships with students. How many teachers does this actually affect? less than 1% How about the dozens of teachers who steal  from other teachers? Teachers that use their students to make themselves a quick buck? Teachers who manipulate test scores to make themselves look better? This is ethics too, but you won't see that make headlines. 

It's so pathetic, but the principal isn't up there bringing this up; even though every teacher in the audience knows not only what is going on but who is wrong. However don't back teachers into a corner. When it comes to money, they are worse than rabid wolverines. But don't let them text or log on to facebook and insinuate that they have a life outside of the FCAT. How fucking (oops) amoral.