Thursday, September 04, 2008

A student who should have thought a little more

Well, when you think your college instructor has shorted you on a grade, you might think twice about filing a lawsuit against him, and you might want to rethink how you word your suit. Especially if you want to be a Supreme Court justice someday.

KSAT-12 has the story of Franchesca O'Neal:

Franchesca O'Neal has filed a lawsuit against speech instructor Charles Falcon for ridiculing her in class and giving her a B when she felt she deserved an A, but the [Alamo Community College District] used statements in O'Neal's legal filing to seek the restraining order.

In the legal filing, O'Neal states she was previously in the military and "can handle a sidearm and a semi-automatic assault rifle," and that "any person of sound mind is not immune to a psychotic break and subsequent killing spree." O'Neal is seeking $300,000 in damages, but the lawsuit states, "in exchange for every penny I have asked for, I would shoot him dead and walk away penniless," and she would, "blow the back of his head out."

O'Neal told KSAT 12 News the legal claim was not a violent threat, but a "spirited discussion in the courts." She said she brought the lawsuit after Falcon allegedly made disparaging comments about her in class and said her reputation and goal of becoming a United States Supreme Court justice is now in jeopardy.


Hmm. I don't know, a B grade might not have ruined her chances of being appointed to the Supreme Court; that seems to be pretty much up to the wishes and desires of the president and Congress, and I'm sure a qualified candidate would not be automatically excluded based on a less than perfect grade.

Now, a death threat, on the other hand, might get you taken off the short list.

5 comments:

Kels said...

I guess she didn't think that she could get her point across in a more tactful way? And I'm sorry, but at some point she would have had to transfer to a university system to obtain her degree, and something tells me if she can't take criticism (constructive or not) at a community college level, then she probably wouldn't be able to take it at the university level. I mean, for example, a friend of mine at UTSA once had a professor that on the first day wrote "F--K GOD" on the board at the front of the room and then turned around and said, "If anyone has a problem with my beliefs on this, I suggest you drop the course." Do you think she would have sniped that professor... because I happen to know she was one of 2 that taught that course... not many options for students if their degree depends on that course!!! lol

And regarding her highly set goal... it doesn't hurt to question the kind of judgement someone with irrational tendencies would have... does it? Something tells me she would let personal things get in the way of her job...

Dave said...

I don't know. I mean, I'm certainly no Ivy League snob - we can't all go to Harvard or Yale, but wouldn't it be refreshing to watch this gal, packing a side-arm even, during her Senate Confirmation hearings as she lists off her credentials:

"And I got my law degree through the Alamo Community Colleges District - I would have had a 4.0 if it hadn't been for that pesky professor I had to shoot in the head..."

This would certainly liven up CSPAN.

Anonymous said...

FYI - TheRanger.org has more coverage of this case.

Anonymous said...

She's nuts, I know for a fact that ACCD officials were very worried about Falcon's safety, to the point where classroom doors had to be locked and windows covered during class. She's a psychotic loser who thinks she is the best of the best. As for her grade the reason she got a be was because she only wrote an outline for her speech and then when she presented her speech it was something completely different besides she didn't even bother to write a speech, so yeah he didn't understand her speech. COMMON SENSE!!!

Anonymous said...

Chaz is AMAZING. And was probably spot-on about whatever ridicule she earned.