Ben Brabson
President, Indiana University Chapter
American Association of University
Professors
23 August 2001
Talat Rahman
Fellow of
the American Physical Society
University
Distinguished Professor
Department
of Physics
Kansas State
University
George F. Reiter
Professor of
Physics
University
of Houston
Michael A. Lee
Professor of
Physics
Kent State
University
Dear Dr's
Rahman, Reiter, and Lee:
Many thanks
for catching this egregious breech of process in the firing of Jeff
Schmidt. The free speech environment at
Physics Today is very closely connected to the free speech environment
in universities all over the country, a precious freedom in the academic world
that is essential to our effectiveness as researchers and teachers. The AAUP guidelines for freedom of speech
that are adhered to by the vast majority of universities in the US are also
appropriate for employees of Physics Today whose writings have such a
direct impact on our thinking. The AAUP
guidelines might provide a useful framework for a way forward and one that the
editors of Physics Today might take into consideration as they repair
this damage.
Sincerely
yours,
Ben Brabson