I’m probably in violation of some kind of confidentiality clause, but I don’t know the names of anyone involved, so I couldn’t divulge them if I wanted to. The background: a complaint was recently filed against a researcher here for unethical conduct. Not sure what the details are with that, be it mistreatment of animals or plagiarism, but when the department had an initial interview with him, to get some more information, apparently he flew off the handle. The people who were running the meeting informed him of the conduct complaint, and he started ranting and raving, calling the department “a bunch of nazis.” Nice. Come to find out, a couple witnesses of whatever incident prompted the complaint have reported that they think he needs psychological counseling, is an avid gun collector, and has a license to carry.

Sooo, the department here requested a campus police officer to hang out in the building, just in case things “get out of hand.” The only reason I know this is because a conversation happened right in front of my desk, where the department director explained the whole situation to the officer. Most of the time it’s really irritating when academics ignore the receptionist, but occasionally it comes in handy. I’m more excited about this situation than I should be, but I also feel safer knowing that I’m leaving early, and my defenseless co-workers will have to fend for themselves.