From: merolajs@vtcc1.cc.vt.edu (JOSEPH S. MEROLA DEPT OF CHEMISTRY VPI&SU)
Newsgroups: sci.research.careers
Subject: Re: Stigma was Re: Hiring quotas and faculty positions
Date: 14 Sep 92 10:45:00 GMT
Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1992Sep14.031322.9003@tc.cornell.edu>, bai@msiadmin.cit.cornell.edu (Dov Bai-MSI Visitor) writes...
>In article <13SEP199218540241@vtcc1.cc.vt.edu> merolajs@vtcc1.cc.vt.edu (JOSEPH S. MEROLA DEPT OF CHEMISTRY VPI&SU) writes:
>>
>>To me, to scrap these programs because of these problems is to
>>say that : "Oh well, racism and sexism are so rampant that we can't
>>do anything about them and so let's give up, let the status quo
>>operate as is, and write off the potential contributions of
>>minorities and females."  I'm sorry, but I'm not willing to make
>>that concession.
> 
>Let me give you a pratical advise: avoid the temptation to solve 
>problems by force. In this context I don't mean firearms: I mean 
>using your position or your institution to solve problems. 
>It may seem to be working in the short term, but it usually backfires 
>in the longer term. It is a common trap that many people, including 
>very intelligent ones, fall into too easily. People dont like to be 
>controlled by you, and when you need their help they will do things 
>against you. And dont try to use excuses like: "we only do it if
>two candidates are equally competent". Every intelligent person
>knows what it really means. 
> 

You don't know me personally nor do you know any of th hiring 
situations in which I have been involved both in industry and
academia.  Please refrain from insults like your last line.  I am
not trying to blow smokescreens nor am I trying to lie to anyone
about my intentions or my past actions.  If you cannot accept my
position, that is fine:  I don't expect to have everyone
agree with me.  But, at some point, you have to accept another's
position without resorting to insults.  

With respect to your "advice", I get the idea that you view
professors as cloistered monks sitting in their cubicles 
doing their work and feeding their results to the world through
a slot in the monastery door.  Well, if my intelligence, my
position and my institution aren't there to solve problems then
I guess I haven't the foggiest what they are there for.  
In terms of technical versus social problems, I again don't know
what the position of the university is then.  Surely we have
a chemistry and physics department, but the university also
has a history, psychology, political science, sociology dept etc.
The balanced mission of a university is to have some impact
on society on all of those areas.  The fact is  that I happen to
believe that being a chemist does not absolve me of the need
or responsibility for also thinking of issues beyond the 
technical.  

Finally, I submit to those of you  who disagree with AA the 
following question:  Articles such as the Ithaca Journal one
posted earlier show that there are still problems where
women's applications are not taken seriously.  My own
experience shows that in the sciences this problem is
a big one.  So, if AA is not the way to go, propose a
solution.  

Joseph S. Merola
Department of Chemistry
Virginia Tech (aka VPI&SU)



Newsgroups: sci.research.careers