A small update on Big Government Rauner, the Republican governor of the state of Illinois. Rauner, as you might remember, refuses to sign the state’s budget. At the same time, the number of insane and ridiculous regulations the state imposes on our university (and every other institution) has mushroomed during his short tenure.
Today, for instance, yet another mandatory training seminar was imposed on us. We are supposed to watch a training video that teaches us to use passwords to access our email accounts. We’ve been using these passwords for as long as we have been working at our university, but the Governor decided that it’s crucial to waste time and money teaching us to do what we already do every day.
The seminar is followed with a mandatory survey that allows a fresh flock of bureaucrats to generate paperwork as to how many people have taken the seminar and who still needs to be badgered into taking it.
Can anybody explain to me how creating a bureaucratic structure to teach people with PhDs to use their email accounts can be justified in a broke state? Especially given that to access the training seminar people have to enter their email accounts. Meaning that the training is entirely superfluous.
In the meanwhile, a crowd of wide-eyed fanatics cheer the fellow who keeps introducing these bizarre and unhinged governmental regulations as a proponent of. . . a small government.
This is Alice in Wonderland type of absurdity.
Clarissa's Blog 
Great post!
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Wow. Just wow. I’m not all that shocked because we have a very similar kind of thing at my school but still. . . wow. . .
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Perhaps there are bored Boomers and Silents who acquired credentials by correspondence and Pony Express who need to be taught basic computer skills? It’s not uncommon for people of a certain age to be unable to understand things like passwords and computer file saving even after multiple attempts.
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But how did they access the training video if it’s only sent out by email?
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Technologically specific short term anterograde amnesia? They created the email account with the email, accessed the seminar and then promptly forgot everything they knew about passwords once they started the seminar. But they still remember how to use mimeograph machines from the 1970s forever.
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This is the only remaining explanation. 🙂
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“Can anybody explain to me how creating a bureaucratic structure to teach people with PhDs to use their email accounts can be justified in a broke state?”
Yes, I believe the appropriate turn of phrase is “Fail Faster” … 🙂
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Two considerations.
The parade of humiliations: He’s trying to make being a university professor as stressful and horrible as many university professors have always claimed it is…
The small government con: Out of the thousands of republicans who run on the platform of “smaller government” maybe one or two actually want that. The way to understand “smaller government” is “more intrusive and troublesome government”.
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Absolutely! The whole point is to create needless aggravation and tons of stupid and humiliating busy work.
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I suspect a simpler explanation. Someone who donated to Rauner or someone who is related to Rauner runs a business that creates these “training” videos.
The “education” and “accreditation” racket is full of this sort of back scratching.
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I should say education and accreditation in the business world — but as more and more universities take up the idea that they should be run like businesses, it’s all becoming one.
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“Someone who donated to Rauner or someone who is related to Rauner runs a business that creates these “training” videos.”
Knowing Rauner’s way of operating, I’m sure you are right. It’s either this or he needs to justify the existence of yet another bureaucratic structure he created and staffed with his massively overpaid buddies and relatives. He’s been doing this since day 1 in office.
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