Only in Windsor

An article in Thursday’s Toronto Star caught my eye, but with a busy weekend I only got around to blogging about it today. It’s pretty scary to think this guy could have been teaching for so long, but I must admit some portions of the article made me laugh quite hard. Registration is required to read the article, so I will post it here.

From praising Osama bin Laden and calling the Holocaust an "exaggeration" to telling students he'd like to have sex with their mothers, a former Windsor-area high school teacher is accused of having broken just about every taboo of civil conduct — in class or out.

William Fabel is alleged to have dished out insults equally: Girls ("I'm a leg man; I have cameras hidden under all the girls' desks!"); boys ("How many of you guys would sleep with these girls for a million dollars?"); gays ("There's no room in the world for them"); Catholics ("That nun isn't getting any"); fellow teachers ("Go check them out at the strip club going down the pole"); the school principal ("If you want to laugh, picture the principal naked!"); and blacks ("Watch your back; I have a n----- friend who could fight anybody.").

In what is being called one of the more "outrageous" cases to come before the Ontario College of Teachers in the eight years it has overseen the province's teachers, Fabel is facing a disciplinary tribunal for charges of professional misconduct and incompetence three years after he was fired by the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board for a reported breach of the Safe Schools Act, which outlines acceptable conduct for teachers as well as students.

….

Fabel declined to comment, even to confirm he is in his early 40s or that he no longer teaches, even though he remains a certified teacher "in good standing" with the College of Teachers until the tribunal rules on his case.

But the type of racist, sexist and sexual comments of which the one-time history teacher is accused contradicts everything society expects of teachers, says college spokeswoman Lois Browne.

…

A cluster of former colleagues who had come to Toronto to testify expressed frustration at another delay in a case that has dragged on for three years.

Fabel taught history, geography and sociology at St. Anne High School in Tecumseh, near Windsor, from 1997 to 2002, with the bulk of the complaints near the end of his tenure.

Browne said about one-quarter of formal complaints against teachers that are filed with the college end up in disciplinary hearings, which are adjudicated by three educators.

The article’s sidebar is where it gets quite funny on occasion.

Among the complaints cited in documents presented yesterday at the hearing:

· After the Columbine shooting, he entered the class pretending to be a gunman, causing students to cower under their desks.

· To the mother of two students at the start of a parent-teacher interview, he asked: "Who do you want to talk about first? Dumb or Dumber?"

· He told one student his mother was a "M.I.L.F." — meaning a "mother I'd like to f---."

· To a female Grade 10 student, Fabel said: "I was looking at Playboy magazine and saw someone who looked just like you."

· He spoke about his own sexual activities and offered tips to male students on "how to get into girls' pants."

· He mimicked an Italian accent and said Italians are fat and hairy and can only pursue careers in cement.

· He referred to a student as "a retard from the sticks."

As someone who makes a fair amount of politically incorrect comments at times, there’s a difference between talking to a few friends and making statements in a position of authority. It’s pretty obvious, in my mind anyway, when I’m joking and when I’m making an actual argument that I believe in. Furthermore, there’s a difference between making a statement that goes against the accepted truths and being deliberately hurtful and offensive or offering gross inaccuracies concerning the Holocaust. In conclusion, I have no idea how it took 5 years to fire this guy and then another 2 to bring him to the tribunal. And I’d have been seriously scarred if any of my teachers had called my mom a MILF.

Finally, to prove I’m an equal-opportunity blogger, I will provide this site’s readership with the alternative for those who were missing something when sitting through yesterday’s pictures of baseball wives.

First of all, check out this poll, which ranks soccer’s hottest players. Look who is at #19, who incidentally beats out Michael Owen. Incidentally, this is currently the second hit on Google for “hot soccer players”, so I’m not cherry-picking either. I don’t want to say I’m always right…but I win again.

Secondly, here’s a very nice picture of a shirtless Pat Burrell, who plays outfield for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Thirdly, here is a pic of Brady Anderson, former Orioles outfielder. There’s a funny story that involves a fantasy draft a bunch of friends and I had for a baseball league in high school. When we were drafting one of us, not me, drafted Brady Anderson. I mentioned the fact that Brady Anderson was an icon in the gay community, for shots like the one linked above. Anyone, a friend of mine (we’ll call him RMD) immediately said to the guy who drafted Anderson, “I’ll trade you Cliff Floyd for Brady Anderson!” I still get a kick out of that story.

Finally, although Joe Mauer might give him a run for his money when he becomes more widely-known, Javy Lopez is still, by many people’s judgement, the hottest catcher in baseball.