April 20, 2011 - Oregon State University - Rally respective of Dr. Art Robinson

I thought Art Robinson did VERY well today at OSU in the face of a large counter-protest organized by the students (and teachers?) in the OSU Nuclear Engineering Department. It was the gray hairs (us) versus the long hairs. They were obviously well prepared with huge signs that looked almost professional, while our side had the usual home-made signs with home-made sentiments. The enormous difference was Art himself. He gave a great speech directly to the protesting students and suggested they reply. But they did not. Instead, both sides talked at considerable length to the press that was on-hand. All seemed to be local and included TV, radio, and print media.

Then Art went over to the students to engage them in conversation. One fellow started to curse Art, but his compatriots immediately told him to quit and leave, which he did. Chuck Wiese and I stayed very close to Art so he could not be mobbed. One of the two leaders of the students (both were woman) initially tried to be aggressive with Art but calmed down to allow a reasonable exchange of ideas. They first accused Art of instigating all sorts of harassment of the department, including death threats. Art would not be baited and said something to the effect that "you are not going to get me to promise not to beat my wife!" "All such charges including accusations that we are going to shutdown a portion of the campus or attack the nuclear reactor are ludicrous." He and the students then got into some strong exchanges that demonstrated Art's excellent grasp of the situation and their mere parroting of what they had been told. Although Art's children who are enrolled at the University were not there, one of his older sons (Noah?) stood by his father's side and was introduced as a PhD Chemist from Cal Tech. He is a very tall and soft spoken fellow. As the exchange progressed, I sensed that the students were losing some of their steam and gaining some understanding of Art's perspective. Their aggressive tactics faded.

Once most of the students had drifted away, Chuck and I engaged three of them in a lengthy conversation that began by discussing what might be a solution to the situation and progressed into a series of stories (mostly mine) about life in grad school. That seemed to strike a chord with them. When they would point out how long Art Robinson's daughter Bethany was taking to get her masters degree, I pointed out that it took me longer, because it was just an incidental part of Chicago's PhD program. I also pointed out that the professors at the University of Chicago, while encouraging students to finish their degrees, were also understanding of difficulties that most students face at one time or the other and did not throw them out. Chuck and I kept insisting that a solution needed to be found to allow the Robinson students to complete their graduate work.

We ended by talking about the Feminism that was obvious from the student leaders. I said that I myself was quite progressive and liberal when it came to women. I certainly supported their right to vote. But I wasn't so sure it was a good idea to let them drive! That brought great laughter from the three male students who likely never hear anything that far from politically correct at OSU.

I also ended with a brief technical exchange with one of the nuclear engineering students about their NuScale nuclear reactor company (spun off from OSU). I told them I had reviewed their design for the Oregonian and thought it was especially interesting in light of the disaster at Fukushima. But I noted that their design had a bit lower thermal efficiency than the GE reactors used by the Japanese. The student said that all nuclear power plants have a relatively low thermal efficiency, because they operate at a relatively low temperature compared with other heat engines. "But it doesn't matter," the student said, "because the fuel is so cheap." That was a fine answer.

These students impressed me considerably more than the physics students that Chuck and I engaged last week at PSU. The OSU students were able to think on their feet and carry on an intelligent conversation that quickly lost its initial political character. They wanted to come to an understanding, and I think we did. In contrast, the PSU students showed little ability to think coherently but were great parrots.

Chuck and I came away from today's event feeling that we had made progress. Of course, the faculty on the other side who are at the heart of the problem were hiding. So we will have have to wait for them to come to their senses.

Gordon J. Fulks, PhD
Corbett, Oregon USA

| Land And Water USA© 2009 |