But the issue is much bigger than this. Because academia is a closed, inbred world, the professors have absolute power over the students. I know that as a graduate student I was branded a troublemaker; this mostly for being fairly open about my socialist politics and for questioning/arguing with profs. I didn't actually give a rat's ass. It was very clear to me from the beginning that the chances of my having an academic career were slight. But there are those who do want to work in academia and for them the situation is really bad because one's entire career-- approval of dissertation, TAships, recommendations for jobs ALL hinge on the "goodwill" of their current crop of profs. Earning that goodwill has more to do with unquestioning obedience than anything else.
Joanna