We professors are a curious lot’mdash;on a daily basis we preach fairness, social justice and the gold standard, critical thinking. Given that high mindedness why would we walk out of the Panache restaurant without leaving the servers a small tip? I know you worried about your underwater mortgage and decimated 403Bs, but let’s get real for a minute. The folks with the smiles at Panache probably don’t have a retirement plan as they pull in a check barely above minimum wage. In fact, a few of them would give you a blank stare if you mentioned your thinning 403B plan. Most of us comfortably float in and out of that nice little subsidized establishment somewhat secure in our 60K to half million dollar contacts. The Panache folks serve us daily, bus our tables and clean up afterwards’mdash;so let’s start reciprocating for their hard work by plunking down at least a ten percent tip.

‘mdash;Gene Costain, COM Professor

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