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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bridge Player who wrote (98083)	2/1/2005 2:56:13 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793904

Ward Churchill; I just caught a bit on Fox about him. He lost his chair, but he shouldn't be fired for his views, IMO. It's obvious from the interview they showed that he is now going out of his way to cause a ruckus. Want's to be a radical hero, I guess. His department, "Ethnic Studies," should be abolished. It is an unneeded division of social science.

To: Bridge Player who wrote (98083)	2/1/2005 4:51:26 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793904

Maybe someone in academia can correct me, but I don't think that college professors with tenure can be fired for expressing unpopular ideas. But Summers is not a tenured professor, he's an administrator, and administrators can be fired. The whole point of tenure is to protect the free exchange of ideas. Unfortunately, some people's ideas are repulsive.

To: Bridge Player who wrote (98083)	2/2/2005 8:38:13 AM
From: Mary Cluney	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793904

I repeat a question I asked you about Ward Churchill; perhaps you missed the original post. Do you think that this professor at the University of Colorado, heavily supported and subsidized by Colorado taxpayers, should be fired for his comments about 9/11? I had no knowledge of Ward Churchill existence until very recently (after you had asked me about him the first time). Personally, I don't like his looks (bad hair) and the little sound bites that I've read quoting him. Again personally, I don't fear him. I don't think he has much of a following and in my opinion, is very unlikely to get much of a following. Again personally, if I were Chancellor of the University of Colorado, I would make sure that only qualified people get jobs at the University of Colorado. That is job #1. Once in place, the contract with teachers (professors) and the University, they are allowed to teach and do research as they deem fit. That is the contract. Unless the person does something unlawful, as opposed to something that is unpopular, he gets to keep his job. Of course Universities make mistakes in hiring. There are all kinds of ways to try to get rid of them (wink, wink). If I were University Chancellor, I would try to be on top of things and not let things get to a point where I have to change the concept of a university to kiss up to more popular causes. In this case, I question the ability of the Chancellor. But, this is not the first instance with this particular Chancellor. She has led the Univeristy Football and Athletic program get away from her. I would be looking more to getting rid of her than to getting rid of Ward Churchill. Now, what does this have to do with Lawrence Summers? Lawrence Summers can say whatever he wants. If he wants to say that women are inferior to men, he has every right to say so. In fact, I think he should be manly enough to come out and say that. But, instead, he was musing about the possibility of women being inferior to men in math and the sciences because that is what the numbers suggest (but not in medicine and law). I think he should be fired because he is not able to and can not support (whether right or wrong) any of his musings. At least Ward Churchill has the courage of his convictions (whether right or wrong). Ward Churchill fulfills a role in academia. He can put up a straw man. The academic community can tear this straw man a part and make him look foolish and destroy his credibility. That is in part what the academic community is all about. There is really nothing to fear about Ward Churchill and people like him. Lawrence Summers is about something else. He is in a position of power and has a lot of influence. He does not have courage. He doesn't know what he is talking about. He should not be the President of a Major University. The same may be true of the Chancellor at the University of Colorado.