Thursday, February 10, 2005
Qloushi-Woolcock Revisited
In late November, after grading all final papers, I asked Mr. al-Qloushi to come and discuss with me the grade. During this meeting, I sought from him his reasons for reneging on our earlier agreement. In response, he expressed in great detail, concerns and feelings of high anxiety he was having about certain developments which had occurred over ten years ago in his country. Some aspects of his concerns were similar to certain concerns expressed in his paper.Prof. Woolcock also denies any mention of reporting the incident to the Dean of International Students. Both Steven Taylor of Poliblog and "Rusty Shackleford" of My Pet Jawa find Woolcock's representation of the meeting with Qloushi credible.
Based on the nature of the concerns and the feelings of high anxiety which he expressed, I encouraged him to visist one of the college counselors. I neither forced nor ordered Mr. al-Qloushi to see a counselor; I have no authority to do so. My suggestion to him was a recommendation he freely chose to accept and which he acknowledged in an e-mail message to me on December 1, 2004.
I have two exceptions to their view. First, if there is an email between Qloushi and Woolcock, it should be presented. That might not be possible for Woolcock to do alone: Since Qloushi was still a student in the class at the time that email could be considered privileged. It would depend on Foothill College's rules, I would think. If I could interview him again, I would ask Qloushi whether or not this was the case. It could be a he said-she said thing. I agree with most everyone that his version could be correct. That doesn't mean it is.
Second, there are other events surrounding Woolcock's course that have been brought up, which are not addressed in Woolcock's letter.