Professor publicly ridicules and won't allow me to leave to use the restroom.

[samueljames]

I am a student at a college in Minnesota, and want to drop one of my classes. I'll just spell out what happened, and hopefully someone here can tell me if I have any options.

There have been two instances where my professor has made an example out of me in class. The first one I accepted as my own fault, and fully realize that he had the right to make a fuss about what happened. It was the middle of class, and I had turned my cell phone ringer off, but forgot to disable an alarm. I apologized, explained what happened, and disabled the alarm. He then went on to tell the class how disheartening it was, and asked me "don't you agree?" while starring me down until I said "yeah." He then told the class "ok now hopefully we can get back to what we were doing after that most rude interruption."

The second instance occurred during the following class session. After we had broken off into groups, and the professor was no longer speaking to the class I excused myself from my group to use the restroom. When I returned my professor asked me where I had been, and I told him I went to the bathroom to which he replied "you can't do that, you have to come to class prepared." I told him that if I need to use the bathroom, that I need to use the bathroom, and he said "listen dude, this is my classroom, and you need to take care of any business before class, it even says it in the syllabus."

After class I looked in the syllabus, and it didn't say anything about not being able to use the restroom during class. I want to drop this class because it appears to me that after the cellphone incident my professor decided he didn't like me, and is now going to do whatever he can to make me feel uncomfortable in class. Unfortunately, the last day to drop a class was the 5th of January, and now in order to drop the class I need to get his signature on a drop slip. My only options other than that are to stay in the class, or withdraw and still have to pay for it.

I am going to ask my professor for his signature tomorrow, and I'm almost sure he is going to say no. My counselor told me that if he says no that I need to go to the dean and have her sign it. I called the dean, and explained in a voice mail that I want to drop a class, but I am not going to see my professor until Tuesday, and was wondering if I could just have her sign it. She responded in a voice mail that I have to try to get his signature, and if he won't sign it then I go to her. This was on Friday. Today she left another voice mail recanting what she had said and telling me now that if my professor doesn't sign it that there is nothing she can do. In case you are wondering I haven't had a chance to explain to her why I want to drop the class.

I don't care if it is too late to drop the class. I don't think the teacher has a right to not allow me to use the restroom. Or does he? If he doesn't then do I have leverage that I can use to force them to allow me to drop the class?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Zigner]

The teacher is not stopping you from using the restroom.

Talk to him tomorrow and try to get that signature on the drop slip.

 

[HappyWanderer]

I agree with Zigner. What I'd do is get up and go to the bathroom when I needed to. (I would go before class in the hope I wouldn't need to, but that's another thing. I've a bladder the size of a peanut and there would still be some times when I'd simply have to leave.) When the professor yelled at me I'd smile and thank him for his concern and then ask him a question from the reading.

I'd be sure to be the best student in the class so that if the poor fellow who doesn't get a say at what goes on at home takes it out on you grade wise, you'd have something to fall back on when you go to the dean.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

I had a professor last year who would not allow students to leave the class for the bathroom.

If it was an emergency, you could go, but you were not to bring your belongings with you, and you were not to return (and interrupt) the class. You had to wait until the end of class to get your stuff.

 

[Zigner]

I had a professor last year who would not allow students to leave the class for the bathroom.

If it was an emergency, you could go, but you were not to bring your belongings with you, and you were not to return (and interrupt) the class. You had to wait until the end of class to get your stuff.

He DID allow you to go though

ETA: You also COULD have taken your stuff.

 

[HappyWanderer]

I think I have a disability. An inordinately small bladder.

Guess what I'm asking for as my reasonable accommodation.

By the time we got to the point where anything would have to be proven, the point would be moot. I wonder if the dean would take the chance of a disability lawsuit?

 

[Mass_Shyster]

He DID allow you to go though

ETA: You also COULD have taken your stuff.

Yes, you COULD take your belongings, but if you do so, you may as well just go home. You will NOT be permitted back into class, and refusing to leave the class when instructed to by the professor WILL get you thrown out of the school.

 

[Humusluvr]

I am a student at a college in Minnesota, and want to drop one of my classes. I'll just spell out what happened, and hopefully someone here can tell me if I have any options.

There have been two instances where my professor has made an example out of me in class. The first one I accepted as my own fault, and fully realize that he had the right to make a fuss about what happened. It was the middle of class, and I had turned my cell phone ringer off, but forgot to disable an alarm. I apologized, explained what happened, and disabled the alarm. He then went on to tell the class how disheartening it was, and asked me "don't you agree?" while starring me down until I said "yeah." He then told the class "ok now hopefully we can get back to what we were doing after that most rude interruption."

The second instance occurred during the following class session. After we had broken off into groups, and the professor was no longer speaking to the class I excused myself from my group to use the restroom. When I returned my professor asked me where I had been, and I told him I went to the bathroom to which he replied "you can't do that, you have to come to class prepared." I told him that if I need to use the bathroom, that I need to use the bathroom, and he said "listen dude, this is my classroom, and you need to take care of any business before class, it even says it in the syllabus."

After class I looked in the syllabus, and it didn't say anything about not being able to use the restroom during class. I want to drop this class because it appears to me that after the cellphone incident my professor decided he didn't like me, and is now going to do whatever he can to make me feel uncomfortable in class. Unfortunately, the last day to drop a class was the 5th of January, and now in order to drop the class I need to get his signature on a drop slip. My only options other than that are to stay in the class, or withdraw and still have to pay for it.

I am going to ask my professor for his signature tomorrow, and I'm almost sure he is going to say no. My counselor told me that if he says no that I need to go to the dean and have her sign it. I called the dean, and explained in a voice mail that I want to drop a class, but I am not going to see my professor until Tuesday, and was wondering if I could just have her sign it. She responded in a voice mail that I have to try to get his signature, and if he won't sign it then I go to her. This was on Friday. Today she left another voice mail recanting what she had said and telling me now that if my professor doesn't sign it that there is nothing she can do. In case you are wondering I haven't had a chance to explain to her why I want to drop the class.

I don't care if it is too late to drop the class. I don't think the teacher has a right to not allow me to use the restroom. Or does he? If he doesn't then do I have leverage that I can use to force them to allow me to drop the class?

Thanks for your time.

Go to the student's health clinic and explain that you need to have a note to use the restroom whenever you need to. If they don't give it to you, at least ask if you can get one from your family physician and then go to the Office of Accessibility (or whatever they call it on your campus). Then if your prof is still a jerkoff, at least you would have recourse through that office.

It wouldn't hurt to say,

Hello Professor

I am so sorry to have gotten off on the wrong foot with you in class. I certainly don't want there to be any tension between us, because I'm looking forward to your class. I apologize, and hope we can start anew on Monday."

Love, Me

Then don't do anything else that might be construed as rude, dumb, inconsiderate, or wrong.

All will be forgotten, and you will earn a good grade, I hope.

These are the words coming from me, a University Prof. You might also note that there are a lot of rude people in the world, and giving up or throwing in the towel in life is not always the best decision. I say grow some think skin, and learn from what happened.

Good luck

 

[justalayman]

unless you bathroom break interupts the class, he is simply practicing what is typical with many prof's

This is MY class and in MY class, I am GOD.


next time he has a problem with a body function, ask him why he did not breath all of the oxygen he needed before starting the class and would he please stop breathing so he is in compliance with his own rules.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Depending on how much you enjoy being a student at this school, the next time this occurs, you always have the option of whipping out your junk under your desk and letting loose on the floor. (Or if you're really daring, on the professor's desk).

Seriously, just ask for the w/d slip and if the prof balks, take it up with the dean in person.

 

[justalayman]

Depending on how much you enjoy being a student at this school, the next time this occurs, you always have the option of whipping out your junk under your desk and letting loose on the floor. (Or if you're really daring, on the professor's desk).

Seriously, just ask for the w/d slip and if the prof balks, take it up with the dean in person.

dang yag, between this and the shaving cream in the pants...

you must have been a blast to be with in college!!!

 

[HappyWanderer]

I thought we weren't supposed to advise OPs to commit crimes which would require them to register as a sex offender?

 

[justalayman]

public urination as a sex crime?

I guess if golden showers have more meaning to you than thinking they are something in the locker room at the health club for geriatrics.

 

[Shadowbunny]

OP, I'm not an attorney, so this is not legal advice, just real world advice:

Suck it up, sunshine, and get through this class. As long as you keep your nose clean, there will be someone else who aggravates this guy and will get his attention.

If you quit every time you have a professor (and eventually, boss) who is a jerk, you will never finish anything. So finish up this class. You've already invested a couple weeks, it won't kill you to sit there a few more months.

If you have a medical condition (like the pea-size bladder issue mentioned above), then get a doc's note to that effect. But if your only issue is that you like to suck down the bladder-buster from 7-11 before class, then cut back on the liquids or hit the head before class.

If you're very lucky, this will be the biggest jerk you have to deal with. And, quite honestly, it could be a heckuva lot worse.

 

[HappyWanderer]

It is in California, by appellate decision. Guy was peeing by a fence, the cop saw him and now the guy is registering for the rest of his life.

You're not supposed to show your naughty bits in public. (Although I don't know how Minnesota would interpret things.)

---------------
I still don't know the registration part, but some genius in Minnesota had a cop pull him over (for good reason he was swerving all over) and by the time the cop got to the driver's side door of the semi, the genius got out the passenger side door and went to the side of the road. Then genius, no super genius, told the cop he needs to urinate. Cop says to hold on a moment and she'll let him get on the road in just a minute. Super duper genius unzips, turns and answers nature's call. From the unpublished case: STATE OF MINNESOTA IN COURT OF APPEALS

A04-917
State of Minnesota,
Respondent,
vs.
Randall Gerald Maring,
Appellant.

Filed April 26, 2005

2. Indecent Exposure



Maring next argues that the jury had insufficient evidence to convict him of indecent exposure. On review of a claim of insufficient evidence, we determine whether the evidence in the record, when viewed in the light most favorable to the conviction, is sufficient to support the verdict. State v. Webb, 440 N.W.2d 426, 430 (Minn. 1989). We must assume that the jury believed the state’s witnesses and disbelieved evidence contradicting those witnesses. Dale v. State, 535 N.W.2d 619, 623 (Minn. 1995). We will not reverse the verdict if the jury, acting with due regard for the presumption of innocence and the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, could have reasonably concluded that the defendant was guilty of the charged offense. State v. Alton, 432 N.W.2d 754, 756 (Minn. 1988).

Statutory construction is a question of law, which this court reviews de novo. Brookfield Trade Ctr., Inc. v. County of Ramsey, 584 N.W.2d 390, 393 (Minn. 1998). Maring was convicted of indecent exposure under Minn. Stat. § 617.23, subd. 1 (2002), which provides:

A person who commits any of the following acts in any public place, or in any place where others are present, is guilty of a misdemeanor:



(1) willfully and lewdly exposes the person’s body, or the private parts thereof;



(2) procures another to expose private parts; or



(3) engages in any open or gross lewdness or lascivious behavior, or any public indecency other than behavior specified in this subdivision.



Maring argues that the evidence to convict him was insufficient because his act of urination did not have the sexual component that is required for lewd or lascivious behavior. The district court charged the jury in terms of subsection (3) of the indecent exposure statute. Subsection (3) defines two types of conduct—connected by the word “or”—that would constitute indecent exposure: “open or gross lewdness or lascivious behavior,” or, “any public indecency other than behavior specified in this subdivision.” Thus, the jury could have found Maring guilty of indecent exposure if he committed an act of public indecency. “Indecency” is defined as “something indecent,” and “indecent” has been defined as “[o]ffensive to public morals; immodest.” The American Heritage College Dictionary 690(3d ed. 2000). Therefore, there would be sufficient evidence for the jury to convict Maring of indecent exposure without any evidence of lewd or lascivious behavior, if his actions were public and offensive to public morals.

Coughlin testified that when Maring insisted that he had to urinate, she asked him to wait a short while until he could leave. Maring refused and instead unbuttoned, unzipped, and reached inside his pants while facing Coughlin and then turned his back to urinate. Coughlin testified that her patrol car was on the shoulder of the interstate and estimated that Maring was standing five to ten feet away from the patrol car when he urinated. The incident occurred around 11:00 a.m., and Maring’s actions would have been fully visible to individuals in oncoming cars. The fact that the incident occurred on an interstate highway made the incident more public than if it had occurred on, for example, a two-lane county road. Thus, the jury could have reasonably concluded that Maring’s act of unfastening and reaching into his pants in front of an individual who had asked him not to, and urinating while visible on an public highway, was an act of public indecency.