Date: Thu, 6 Nov 1997 10:52:04 -0500 (EST)
From: Theresa Mackey <tmackey-AT-westga.edu>
Subject: Re: PLC: Thanks (and no thanks)


I must agree with John Lye.  Without tenure, there would be mass-muzzling.
Publishing, speaking, etc., would be inhibited; too many would be more
concerned with what pleases that what's true.  Every profession has bits
of dead wood, but far more damage would be done to the academy if tenure
were abolished; nonproducers can be sanctioned in other ways (bad course
assignments, low raises, etc.), but producers can only be supported
through guarantees that new (potentially offensive to some) scholarship
and stimulating class discussions (already limited by potential lawsuits)
will not lead to unemployment.  The nastiness that comes out in some
pretenure and tenure decision-making surely shows the dangers there,
though some departments/colleges are more fair than others.  Consider how
careful the untenured must now be, not only in writing but in teaching
(one cause of grade inflation is fear of student evaluations).




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