S O U N D   O F F

Well! Reading the list of paper titles in the reference list, I can see why you all chose the title you did for your protest of them. One has the distinct impression that Trevors and Saier have been using the journal as their personal political air vent. And if your selections of their offerings are representative, their thoughts approximate the utopian yearnings of a high school junior.

You are dead on right that this sort of thing has to stop. It seems to me that the corruption of the tenure contract that began in the Humanities during the 1970s has finally spread to science. I can recall, as a grad student, being in a meeting that included Philosophy professors, who were forthright discussing how to best inculcate their students with their own political ideas.

It seems to me that the tenure contract, for public universities at any rate, is that faculty will be free to offer non-partisan knowledge in return for public money. Freedom of views and tenure means that faculty will not be dismissed merely because their non-partisan message is unpleasant to those concurrently in power. These days, far too many academic faculty have blatantly violated their half of the tenure contract. Among them, clearly, are Trevors and Saier and your protest is exactly on target.

Pat

Dr. Patrick Frank - Scientific Staff at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource/SLAC