Dear Forum, I wrote the letter below to Camy, but just before sending, I checked into the Forum yet again. And there was Barry Crimmins' resignation from the Forum. Please, this all is getting out of hand. Crucial to the value of discourse, examination, self-reflection, and any other aspect of learning is to have all the ideas and points of view possible. If academics are rude in their assertion of being an academic, then tell them. They need therapy just as much as the rest of us. Don't leave the room; speak to them. If people leave out of academic insecurity, there may be very few people left, especially among the "academics". Kit -------------------------- Academics, flawed like the rest of the world - Dear Camy, The academic world is often brain heavy and humane light. I grew up in an academic community. Father on faculty, etc. As a single example of how off-base the academic world can be, of the 100 member faculty, 10% that I have been able to track, was clinically alcoholic. There likely were more of whom I was not aware. This is roughly 4% above the national average. This is not an uncommon statistic of boys schools in the pre-1970 years. And the point being that putting children in the care of alcoholics is contradictory to the word "care". Teachers of all people should be 100% there in behavior and role-modeling. That is their job. At this school, the job was failed. Another take on academics - when I was 22 and realized it was the educated ones that started and maintained wars, I took a new position on the academic world. My classmates were executing Viet Nam, and my alumni were running Viet Nam. Please do not violate the principles of freedom yourself by acceding to one person's unkindness. Leaving something has less chance of changing the world than staying in something and maintaining one's position. I know there are exceptions to this. Some places are better to leave, but I do not think the Forum is one of those places. Acknowledgment that your feelings were unjustly and crudely hurt would hopefully be enough to encourage you to stay within the fight and not exit. In working against Ignorance of the Academics, your presence could do more than your absence. If you leave, and others leave for the same reason, whose voice will there be against Ignorance of the Academics? Sincerely, Kit Kit Barry The Ephemera Archive for American Studies Brattleboro, Vermont 802: 254-3634