So, you a lot of you have previously expressed the opinion that Harvard Business School students and grads are-- how to put this-- pussies. They may have a vast network to dip into when it comes time to raise seed capital for their scam of choice (kidding?) but when it comes to fighting, whether it's in the bar or boardroom, Meredith Whitney could take thirty of them with one arm tied behind her back. Granted, the Dollar Dom has freakishly strong upper-body strength, and the skills that comes with being married to a pro-wrestler (date night consists of rounds on the mat), but you get the idea. Luckily for current and future HBS'ers, one member of the faculty has identified this shortcoming, and is incorporating several weeks of "outside the box warfare training," corporate and street, into his curriculum.
Harvard Business School professor Lee O. Fleming is pleading not guilty to charges of assault and battery after police arrested him last week for allegedly throwing hot coffee at an individual during a parking dispute.Fleming's lawyer, Paul R. Mastrocola of Burns & Levinson LLP, said that the professor "looks forward to addressing these allegations in court." He and Fleming both declined to comment on the specifics of the incident and court proceedings due to the pending criminal charges, but Mastrocola added that they are confident the professor will be vindicated. He did confirm that the dispute took place on a Cambridge public street.
According to the Cambridge Police Department's online Daily Public Log, Fleming and another individual got into an argument on June 1 about a parking situation, after which Fleming "threatened the victim with a thermos and threw hot coffee all over the victim." He was arrested at 8:43 a.m. for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (hot coffee) and by means of a dangerous weapon (thermos).Harvard Professor Arrested For Assault And Battery With Hot Coffee [Crimson]
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:08AM
Was it some of the FREE McDonald's coffee they are giving away? (B/C that stuff is HOT) Or is this crazy Prof still buying SBUX?
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:13AM
In hindsight, he could have handled it better perhaps. But parking is hard to come by in Cambridge. Somebody stealing a spot drives Bostonians mad.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:14AM
@2- doesn't that drive anyone mad?
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:14AM
Well, I say the motorist should sue the professor, HBS, SBUX (for making the coffee way too hot!) and the professor's wife for not placating his husband via sex. Which would have avoided this whole situation.
HBS grads and professors ARE pussies.
-TGFHouston
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:14AM
@2- cambridge, not boston.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:15AM
@2- he also could've handled it worse.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:17AM
Bess, I know you're not kidding. It's true ... only victims fail to spot the truth in your 'joke'
?
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:18AM
@7 wtf?
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:19AM
hell yes!
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:21AM
@8
" They may have a vast network to dip into when it comes time to raise seed capital for their scam of choice (kidding?) "
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:25AM
That poor bastard has been Munsoned again.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:26AM
No way this story is true. Those Harvard pansies only drink chamomille tea - you ever try getting coffee stains out of an argyle sweater?
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:27AM
throwing coffee and no fists? what a pussy
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:33AM
I don't recall anyone saying they're pussies. The standard rap on HBSers is that they are good at theory but stink at action. They don't even know where to begin. Which is why they thrive in consulting but fall fast and hard in disciplines where you need to make things happen.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:37AM
@14- do you always suck the life out of everything? and, actually, yes, HBS'ers have been referred to as pussies, since we're not just talking about "the standard rap on HBSers."
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:38AM
2 here- I say Bostonians because I've seen these parking fights throughout the Boston metro area... Particularly after a snow fall, you've just spent two hours shoveling out a spot and someone has "the nerve" to park in that spot.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:41AM
@16, "everywhere I go has valet"
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:42AM
All the Harvard guys are cracking because every time they go to a party or some such, someone asks why Harvard MBAs at various investment banks did more damage to the US economy recently than any of our known enemies.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:45AM
Good to see HBS is still #1, judging by all the hate spewed by the Harvard rejects. All of you know that you'd still join the club in a heartbeat, if given the invite.
-hbs mba
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:47AM
This would've made a great scene in Good Will Hunting.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:48AM
Having lived there, I can say that the entire Boston metropolitan area is one of those places that really goes out of its way to make cars unwelcome. NYC is tame by comparison. I've found Hoboken however to actually approach Boston in this department. Wheel boots that you can unlock remotely with a credit card seem to appear out of nowhere. The system is really insidious but totally effective. As it should be, since in both places public transit it better than average.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:50AM
HBS prof for Treasury Secretary.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 10:56AM
19 See 14, which I wrote based on experience. Not hatin, just sayin. I suspect a big part of the problem is a downplaying of quantitative skills and issues.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:05AM
@14, particularly true for the soft-sciences (strategy, organizational behavior, etc). the hard sciences faculty and students can hold their own. this d-bag was an organizational behavior prof - the same useless department that made me read "getting to yes" - so should have known better than to pick a fight.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:07AM
23, 19 here. Yes I've heard the stereotypes, and as with all stereotypes, these are examples of categorical and anecdotal thinking. Simply put, the exception proves the rule...or does it? People note that hbs grads tend to be heading firms with negative press. But they fail to put these anecdotes into perspective: 1/3 of the top 3 officers at fortune 500 companies are from HBS. By construction, if there's trouble at a fortune 500 company, it's fairly likely an hbs grad will be affiliated. But it is ridiculous to assert from this observation that somehow hbs training led to the negative event. Association and causality should not be confused.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:10AM
Good to see the HBS image dept is out in full force this morning.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:16AM
26 not full force... It only takes one MBA to debunk your faulty premises
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:17AM
@27 keep telling yourself that.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:17AM
I went to Harvard.
~Fake Jeff Skilling
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:20AM
28 clever comeback
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:22AM
Two Harvard MBAs are talking about the crude oil markets. One says, "Honestly, I'd like to short the volatility with a negative gamma offset given our VIX model's fat tailed kurtosis..."
Other MBA says, "Question........."
MBA says, "What?"
Other MBA says, "Define 'honestly'........"
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:22AM
@19, 24 here. If you went there and are at all honest with yourself you will admit that you can count on one hand the difficult classes at HBS. Lets try: CFE, IM, CVCR, Tax Factors, hmm..., ok lets make that one gimp hand. And you also have to admit that half of the Bakers and most of the "h-bomb" d-bags out there didn't take those classes.
Kisses,
A fellow alum.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:22AM
I went to Harvard. He, he, he!
-Fake George W. Bush
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:25AM
Throwing hot coffee on someone is a finishing move... should be preceded by a proper asskicking beforehand. What a pussy.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:29AM
@34- the finishing move is throwing the empty thermos on the guy.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:30AM
32 sounds like an alum that hit the screen? I didn't find any course at hbs challenging, but I had a math degree from undergrad. There were quite a few my year that took graduate courses in econometrics and behavioral finance across the river in the econ dept. Some went to Sloan for courses. The ec curriculum is flexible- as with anything in life, you get out what you put in.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:37AM
36 My impression is that the cirriculum took too long to change from the time when the prize job to land was a product manager at P&G or an account rep at Citibank (pre repeal of glass steagle citi, that is). That's since been fixed, but a lot of damage done.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:37AM
36, the real joke is even if you hit the screen in most cases you still get the sheepskin. All you got for your econometrics classes and road trips to MIT was the same degree as the OB/strategy/marketing chicks working at Kraft and Amex.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:42AM
38 err, plus knowledge, great friends, expanded network. For me, hbs was unquestionably the right trade. Not to say other schools couldn't provide similar experiences- they do. But I got a ton out of the experience. Keep in mind that I have science background- hbs was extremely diversifying experience to my background/ skillset. I always recommend the humanities/social science crowd go to Chicago or Stanford for the same reason- skillset diversification.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:47AM
@34 - "finishing move" LOL
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 11:57AM
Hilarious that Prof. Fleming's lawyer "of Burns & Levinson LLP" and the Prof is accused of burning a man.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:00PM
I've never met an HBS grad with an attractive wife/girlfriend
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:01PM
@42 - @19 will use his MBA to convince you otherwise.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:06PM
This is what we need more of.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:08PM
43, no 19 would merely ask how many hbs grad he knows. My guess is: not many.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:09PM
no one on the buyside needs an MBA.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:17PM
I have so much more respect for HBS after this.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:20PM
My community college AA can beat up your Harvard MBA.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:38PM
What would this bitch have done if he did not have his latte in hand? I'm thinking not much. You're not tough just because you turn a hissy-fit into someone elses 2nd degree burns. Not saying the prof was wrong for making some piece of shit pay for taking their spot, just that we should all fight on the same terms. It'd be one thing if it was some huge dude he was trying to get leverage on to inflict a massive beatdown, but sounds like he went all limp after losing his cool. It's like a pussy who thought he was a dick for a moment in time and is probably just going to get fucked in the ass becasue of it.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:41PM
@49- I don't know why, but you made me laugh.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:42PM
Why not just bust the guy's windows with a golf club while yelling "do you see what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass"?
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:44PM
I wanna know who the real Buzz Killington is.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:50PM
All perps "look[] forward to addressing these allegations in court." That's why they do the crime in the first place. Addressing allegations in court is what it's all about. It's up there with DSB.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 12:57PM
@49 sir, you are ahead of your time...you're Danny Zuco and we are all just a bunch of Prof. Fleming's using coffee as a weapon.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 1:03PM
@54, 49 here... ha! not saying i have balls anywhere big enough to suggest what i wrote, but in the fantasy land of the DB comment board we can be anything we want to be. nevertheless, throwing coffee on someone is still a bitch move.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 1:16PM
@51- good question!
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 1:55PM
This happens in the SAC parking lot all the time. It's no big deal.
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 2:07PM
Except when it happens in the SAC parking lot it is usually followed by some sticky $50s being shoved down your throat (after the gag has been removed)
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 2:15PM
@51: It is actually, "when you find a stranger in the alps"
Posted by guest , Jun 15, 2009 3:14PM
Conclusion: 1/3 of Top 3 execs a fortune 500 lack a sense of humor and a penis
Posted by thetrystero , Jun 29, 2009 4:46AM
isn't 1/3 of 3, 1? but then again, i didn't go to hbs, so what do i know about presenting information in a transparent, straightforward manner.