Sordid U. - (Diary of a Meltdown) (Paperback)

We have become used to hearing about filthy dealings in the corporate world-illegal stock trades, outright theft of worker pensions, extortion, fraud-a seemingly endless list of felonies. Do we ever hear about similar crimes committed in the supposedly sacred world of higher education?-the esteemed symbol of all that is still good and pure, the time-proven representation of our thirst for knowledge, the institution where people still conduct themselves with professional dignity-the university. The outrageous and disgusting incidents that occur daily at Sordid U., as witnessed through the e-mails of one dismayed employee, Maureen ("MoMo") Dini, to her trusted confidant, Professor Len Jenson, shatter all our illusions about the alma maters we hold so dear. From her lowly perch as a staff member at one of the countless reception counters that abound at Sordid U., MoMo is a not-so-quiet observer of all that is dead wrong in this workplace that appears so normal to the outside world. MoMo discovers she represents an entire subclass of mostly women who work every day in service jobs-people who earn barely enough, people who keep it all flowing seamlessly, people who serve as endlessly cheerful faces for a completely flawed institution-workers who suck it up and keep it zipped until they can no longer compromise their own basic humanity. This is the crisis MoMo comes to in her early middle age when she observes a desperate student trying to break down the impenetrable walls of Sordid U.'s corrupt bureaucracy. When MoMo finally decides to join her in the fight, Professor Len Jenson becomes her e-mail lifeline in a place that appears benign but is rotten and nasty to its core. MoMo realizes thatshe is the typical jaded, long-term, worn-out employee: she knows too much that she must keep to herself-until she finally cracks.