UPDATE: Freedom in Academics

I’ve long known that university professors enjoy Academic Freedom but did not know what freedoms it allowed or rather from what persecution did it protect. Early on, I was sure academic freedom meant something like the joy of having summers off and a long winter break or not having a traditional 8-5 Monday thru Friday work week. Later I thought maybe it related to living the life of the mind, being an intellectual, and being free from more physically demanding laborious occupations. Today, I know academic freedom as it is conceptualized by the American Association of University Professors, is “the free search for truth and its free exposition.” [1]  The AAUP outlines academic freedom as a) Freedom of research and publication; b) freedom to discuss one’s research and express opinions in the classroom; and c) freedom from institutional censorship when speaking or writing as a citizen. 

Not too long ago I met a historian of psyhology, Dr. William Woodward, at the American Psychological Association’s conference in San Francisco. I attended a talk he gave and later rode the bus with him on the way back to the hotel. While he didn’t mention his beliefs during his presentation, I later learned Woodward is a member of the Scholars For 9/11 Truth (http://911scholars.org/) and had recently been in the news. [2] In a political psychology course he claimed a group within the federal government had organized the destruction of the World Trade Center. Obviously, his statements created some anger and excitement. Several NH politicians demanded the administration dismiss him. However, the university administration defended him on the basis of academic freedom.The AAUP also jumped in the ring claiming the First Amendment protected Woodward’s actions. Woodward continues to teach psychology at UNH.

Stanley Fish, over at the New York Times, recently wrote about academic freedom in his column, Think Again. [3] In the column he argues he has tried to “deflate the balloon of academic freedom” in the past but now is satisfied others have published what he thought all along. Namely, Matthew W. Finkin and Robert C. Post, write that free speech is protected by the First Amendment but academic freedom is NOT. Rather, academic freedom is a practical policy that allows freedom of research and protects professors from public scorn (cf. stem cell research).  Finkin and Post also note academic freedom should be seen as a collective freedom of research professionals as opposed to an individual right. As such, each individual is held accountable to the group and the standards therein. 

Clearly, academic freedom involves more than I once thought, but having extended breaks and flexible hours might be just as a good as a governing body covering your ass if you get out of line.  

[1] http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/policydocs/contents/1940statement.htm

[2] http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/29/woodward

[3] http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/an-authoritative-word-on-academic-freedom/?ref=opinion

UPDATE: 

In the comments, Mark mentioned an article by Ward Churchill about 9/11. Churchill was employed at the University of Colorado but was fired in 2007 for “research misconduct,” whatever that means. He is also listed as “political activist” according to his wikipedia entry. I’ve read the article, it is definitely inflammatory but I consider it protected, like Woodward’s statements, under Academic Freedom.  Here is the article. I got an email today and the sender’s signature was a quote by Aristotle and exemplifies what I think the purpose of academic freedom should be. 

 It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

Election Apparel

Veteran Suicide

Tonight on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer there was a segment on the alarming new statistics on the rate of suicide among returning United States soldiers (1) . The Army has recently confirmed suicide rates have doubled in recent years for active personnel, almost 700 cases since 2000. Furthermore, attempted suicides and self-injurious behaviors have quardrupled. The Army’s top psychiatrist thinks multiple deployments are to blame.

What I found interesting was that the Secretary of Veteran Affairs, James Peake MD, is not assigning blame for increased suicides to combat experience. This may seem like it is counter-intuitive, or even an outright lie, but, if his figures are accurate there could be some merit to his argument. Dr. Peake cited a figure that the suicide rate among non-deployed active personnel is actually higher than the rate among returning active personnel. In other words, there is not a direct correlation between suicide and combat experience. To me, this sounds like a classic “third variable” problem. A third variable problem is when a another, often non-obvious, factor is influencing the outcome. For example, looked at simply, there is a strong positive correlation between number of children and the presence of a toaster in the household. Surely, one would not attribute toasters to an effective form of birth control. The third variable in this example is money, people in comfortable financial situations can afford birth control AND toasters. 

Dr. Peake went on to say failed relationships, feelings of hopelessness, and failures to transition are the real causes of veteran suicide. I would argue another factor that may be accounting for increased suicides is the type of individuals signing up to be in the armed services. My purpose is not to sully the reputation of military personnel, I appreciate what they do as much as the next person. But who joins the Army? Could it be that those that join the army are inherently more likely to commit suicide or engage in risky behaviors? Relatedly, motorcycle accidents have killed more Marines than Iraqi enemy fire in the past 12 months (2). 

Regardless of the cause of suicides among military personnel, the solution remains the same. When individuals, military or otherwise, have good access to mental health professionals, suicide rates go down. In December 2007 the nonprofit group Mental Health America reported a state-by-state ranking of the severity of depression. Several midwest locations ranked in the top ten (South Dakota was #1) because people there have the most psychiatrists and social workers per capita than anywhere else in the United States. People in the midwest also have relatively high rates of health insurance.  They have the most access.

The good news is the Department of Veteran’s Affairs appears to be taking steps to increase access. They have established a Suicide Hotline, they’ve hired 4,000 new mental health professionals in the past two years to bring the total number to 17,000. They are also increasing efforts to screen returning soldiers and promising to increase prescriptions for soldiers who need it. They are also spending money on research to identify suicide risks.  

I will definitely be following this trend and hope the efforts by the VA will have an impact. Perhaps the best thing would be to bring the troops home. However, I say this with some caution because a return en masse would likely bog down the already strapped VA system. 

(1) http://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/

(2) http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/30/marine.motorcycles/index.html?eref=rss_latest

Fun Fun Fun Fest

Went to Austin, TX again this past weekend for a 2-day music festival called Fun Fun Fun Fest. The concert was held outdoors and the weather was beautiful in the mid-70’s. Although the concert was happening Saturday and Sunday we decided just to attend Saturday missing out on Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. But we did see a fair amount of good/interesting bands. First, we saw Terp2It, a hip-hop performance ensemble from Austin. I’ve since found out that the leading man is a sketch comedy and improv performer in addition to fronting the musical group. They were all dressed unusually and sang songs about backpacks, statistics, and drinking soda to name a few topics. Terp2It also came complete with people (performers) roaming the crowd, dancing wildly, and “preaching.” The preachers would be yelling out, “Terp2It,” “3, 4, 51″ during the statistics number all the while looking prophetic. Each of the preachers carried a book and held it up high like a corner preacher would hold a bible, although I got a glimpse of one of the books, it was Women by Charles Bukowski. 

The rest of the day we saw Octupus Project, Deerhoof, Dengue Fever, and Atmosphere. Atmosphere was definitely my favorite act of the festival. 

If you ever in Austin, Waterloo Park is a must see.