UNIS MUST PUT THEIR OWN HOUSE IN ORDER
[picture of Rindos] Spotlight . . . David RindosIt has been reported that the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee sees the West Australian parliamentary committee into the Rindos affair to be a threat to university autonomy (HES, April 17).
There is another perspective on this, however.
In the numerous cases of whistleblowing and suppression of dissent that I have studied over the years, internal procedures seldom have delivered justice.
Universities are little different from other organisations in this regard. In many cases when an academic exposes some problem such as favouritism, plagiarism or sexual abuse, senior academics and administrators close ranks to squelch open discussion of the issues.
A more enlightened response would be for the university to put its own house in order.
Unfortunately, in the current climate of educational entrepreneurialism, cover-ups are even more likely since open discussion of problems might affect the university's ability to attract funds.
If the University of Western Australia had set up a truly independent inquiry with experts from the outside, the present parliamentary inquiry would probably have been unnecessary.
Now that a web page has been set up about the Rindos case (http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~hjarvis/rindos.html), readers can judge the issue for themselves without relying on the AVCC.
Brian Martin
Department of Science and Technology Studies
University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
MAIL TO b.martin@uow.edu.au
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin
[This provides a link to the site given in this letter.
[This letter generated a legal warning letter from UWA to the author, a topic discussed in more detail in a newspaper article dated 12 May].