[lbo-talk] RE: Wolf vs Bloom

[Hari Kumar]

Joanna: "The sexual harassment practices of professors needs to be prosecuted 
and there need to be consequences. Otherwise it will just keep going on. 
Currently, having sexually available students is simply considered one 
of the perks of the job.
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."

I fully agree with you, as I suspect most of the partakers of LBO would. 
It is very difficult to expose however - I mean expose what you call the "issue .. bigger". 

Actually both 'littler' & 'bigger' issues are difficult to expose.
In a rather Byzantine scenario that I have been involved in for over 2 years, largely revolving around patient safety, it has become perfectly clear that neither the women involved in the first 'littler' issue can/are able to/are supported adequately to deal with the consequences of 'coming out';

Nor;

On the generic issues of academic power control - and the crushing of the dissident - are many junior faculty willing to speak out. 
Even when they know that a 'victim' is being sacrificed, they (naturally- yes I think that is legitimate word in this context) hesitate to speak up. 
In my own experience it is the NON-academics who have come forward - nursing staff, lab staff, support workers. 

Academics are in my view, a generally spineless set of people in today's environment. Not all of them of course, but the overwhelming tendency seems that way. 

So I find the problem of 'organising' academics rather tricky. Not necessarily a non-starter - but sure is difficult to get those folk to recognize the objective circumstances. 

Hence my hat off to those such as James Turk - Organizing secretary for the Canadian Association University Teachers - who has
really stood up in a big way against the Enronisation of Canadian academe. 
Cheers, 
H