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[Phys-L] Reich, McKibbon, & Hansen: Three Academicians Who Have Spoken Out on Social Issues



Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a discussion-list "Reich, McKibbon, & Hansen: Three Academicians Who Have Spoken Out on Social Issues" [Hake (2014)]. The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: In response to my post "Re: Professors We Need You!" [Hake (2014)] at <http://bit.ly/1hw62E1> regarding Nicholas Kristof's "Professors, We Need You!" at <http://nyti.ms/1oIs7jD> and "Bridging the Moat Around Universities at <http://nyti.ms/1kOp8Wi>, Christopher Green of the TIPS list responded at <http://bit.ly/1dZrWfA> [slightly edited; my <URLs>]:

"Kristof missed the boat on this one. If [Kristof] wants to know why professors are reluctant to enter public debate, he needs to address the quality of public debate in the US political arena. Both the governor of Wisconsin <http://bit.ly/1c5FUrS> and attorney general of Virginia <http://bit.ly/NftpnE> have recently used the powers of their offices to investigate and threaten the livelihoods of professors who opposed their political agendas (labor unions and climate change, respectively). [Politicians] have essentially demanded that professors NOT bring their expertise to bear on public debate and professors, understandably, have mostly complied."

Thankfully, not ALL academicians have complied, e.g.:

(a) UC-Berkeley's Robert Reich <http://bit.ly/1fga1Tm>, an outspoken champion of labor unions <http://bit.ly/1c8scER> and tireless critic of income and wealth inequality – see e.g., "Beyond Outrage" <http://amzn.to/1ebN6CI>;

(b) Middlebury College's Bill McKibbon <http://bit.ly/1fhrKKb> who has been lobbying for action to deter climate change for over two decades – see e.g. "The End of Nature" <http://amzn.to/1p1wIgN> and consider his organization <http://350.org/>;

(c) Columbia's James Hansen (2010, 2014) <http://bit.ly/omiMY3> who alerted the world to anthropogenic global warming in 1981 <http://nyti.ms/1gwHUMm>. In a recent draft "Renewable Energy, Nuclear Power, and Galileo: Do Scientists Have a Duty to Expose Popular Misconceptions?" <http://bit.ly/1goLfgs>, Hansen rebuffs 4 widespread misconceptions: human life is endangered by nuclear power; renewable energy sources alone are sufficient; killing nuclear would make the world safer; and renewable energy is cheaper and faster than nuclear power. Below I quote Hansen at some length because: (1) nuclear power is so controversial; and (2) it allows me to insert references, hot-links, and comments.

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To access the complete 106 kB post please click on <http://bit.ly/1k9QuX5>.



Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University; Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands; President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII); LINKS TO: Academia <http://bit.ly/a8ixxm>; Articles <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>; Blog <http://bit.ly/9yGsXh>; Facebook <http://on.fb.me/XI7EKm>; GooglePlus <http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE>; Google Scholar <http://bit.ly/Wz2FP3>; Linked In <http://linkd.in/14uycpW>; Research Gate <http://bit.ly/1fJiSwB>; Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs <http://bit.ly/9nGd3M>; Twitter <http://bit.ly/juvd52>.



REFERENCES [URL shortened by <http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 26 Feb 2014.]

Hake, R.R. 2014. "Reich, McKibbon, & Hansen: Three Academicians Who Have Spoken Out on Social Issues," online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/1k9QuX5>.The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists and are on my blog at <http://bit.ly/1cR8cdj> with a provision for comments.