You may recall WUWT’s coverage of Nick Drapela, a climate skeptic who was fired from his teaching job at Oregon State University. My friend and fellow climate skeptic, nationally syndicated radio host Lars Larson tips me about this story:
Chemistry instructor challenges job loss
OSU denies stand on climate change was factor
By JOCE DeWITT, Corvallis Gazette-Times
An Oregon State University chemistry instructor whose contract wasn’t renewed by OSU says he still doesn’t know the reasons why and is considering legal action.
Nick Drapela, who has taught at OSU for 10 years, says he was told in late May that he would not be invited back for the coming academic year. Drapela said he suspects OSU’s decision is because he has spoken out against the idea that humans are responsible for climate change.
OSU says there’s no connection.
Steve Clark, OSU’s vice president of university relations and marketing, said he couldn’t discuss specific details about the case, citing confidentiality laws that he said prohibit him from sharing protected employee information.
But, Clark said, OSU does not have an institution-wide policy on climate change. In addition, he said, personal beliefs and activities do not play a role in the conditions of OSU employment.
Clark said Drapela’s contract was among more than 100 such contracts across the university that were not renewed. The reasons why a contract might not be renewed vary, but might include factors such as enrollment shifts reducing the demand for teachers in certain classes.
“The university does not base its policy of hiring upon people’s individual points of view or personal activities,” Clark said. “We base it on budget, upon academic requirements, we base it on performance and their academic qualifications, not their personal point of view.”
Drapela said in an interview with the Gazette-Times that his troubles with OSU began in the 2007-08 academic year, about the same time he went public with his climate-change doubts. He said, for example, that he became the target of untrue statements made in public meetings at OSU. Drapela said he didn’t want to discuss other issues because they might jeopardize any legal case.
Full story at Corvallis Gazette-Times
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OSU has a history of pushing out people who are climate change skeptics, State Climatologist George Taylor, also based at OSU and a prominent skeptic was pushed out of his position there due to disagreement over the climate change issue.
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OSU is a very liberal institution and it’s no surprise Drapela was fired.
We have seen from long experience in other contexts that “political correctness” in many universities and departments, is pervasive, dishonest, and corrupt. “Academic freedom” is only robust for people who are tenured and/or politically correct according to the current local regime (and those of course are not the people who truly need protections for “academic freedom”).
I cannot know what all of the facts are in this case, of course, but the circumstances should make anyone highly suspicious.
There are countless examples of professors and academic administrators behaving with ruthless political correctness and then lying about it.
The battle over CAGW will eventually be fought and won by the skeptics in a court of law.
It might take a couple of lawsuits though.
I certainly hope that Nick Drapela will win his lawsuit. Good luck!
Interview by Alan Jones with Nick Drapela on radio 2GB Sydney, 3 July, 2012.
Can he be tried for Heresy? becaue that is the only argument that OSU could have.
I wish him well…
Apparently, the public cannot know who, how many people, academic or political, had which opinions, and how the vote went, to fire Drapela from the chemistry faculty. Drapela and his lawyer haven’t found a reason in his employee file. But apparently, many nameless people, perhaps even Mikey Mann and (UVA president) Teresa Sullivan know all about it, having been on the conference calls debating Drapela’s fate.
Hyperbole aside, actions like this illustrate how standard business processes are set up to protect the back stabbers from scrutiny, while exposing the innocents to ridicule. After all, “the seriousness of the accusation warrants the special investigation” of the professor, while nobody knows what the accusation(s) were, and who made them.
Kangaroo Court, anyone?
If Nick Drapela actually follows through on his legal action then the key will be the discovery process associated with all emails sent to/from decision makers and peers. His legal team should include personal email/voicemail accounts as well (gmail, yahoo, hotmail, aol, etc) due to the widespread knowledge that corporate/gov’t email/voicemail would be subject to the discovery process.
There’s almost always a more direct and simple reason when an instructor seems to be fired for his beliefs. It was true 50 years ago when they were fired for being Communists, and it’s true now when they’re fired for being non-Communists. Budget cuts are a much more likely proximate cause, especially in a mismanaged state like Oregon.
The real question is: Why don’t we have alternative institutions that can hire heterodox teachers? Why don’t some of those super-rich alleged conservatives put their money on the line?
With the Supreme Court now “deferring” to the EPA on questions of science, it may only be possible for the good guys to win this fight with a new Supreme Court. If Obama wins re-election we can forget about honest science for a long time to come.
Oh please; we ALL know that universities and the educational system in general provide forums, a medium and a ‘platform’ for the free and open exchange of ideas through debate on a wide range of issues and subjects mankind faces every day. The mere suggestion that there may be suppression of an idea or position in contrast with what might seem the ‘norm’ or majority position is unthinkable, should be unimaginable, and last but not least should certainly be untenable by both staff and student body.
Or maybe not …
And Happy Independence Day to everyone (if I have not already issued that salutation)!
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Funny, this exactly the sort of thing tenure was designed to prevent. Best wishes for Mr Drapela, and hope the light of day makes the cockroaches scurry!
IIRC, WUWT played a major role in publicizing the treatment that an immigrant family in Western OZ received from the local “greens” and their dupes/colleagues over a feed lot operation. The publicity also helped to lead a fund raising that helped sustain the family during their extended fight. This may be another case where it would be appropriate to solicit financial aid on the Drapela family’s behalf.
The lysenkoistic thugs fro OSU appear to have won this argument!
The public needs to kick them out.
“Steve Clark, OSU’s vice president of university relations and marketing, said he couldn’t discuss specific details about the case, citing confidentiality laws that he said prohibit him from sharing protected employee information.”
How many times does a statement such as the above get rattled off as a non-response response. That employee confidentiality laws make for a nice and neat way of stating a non-response response. Why respond when such an easy out is available.
OSU is extremely greenie. My son was accepted at OSU and every e-mail, letter, brochure etc. was green, green, green. You could not help but notice. He elected another institution.
Q1: Given sufficient financial resources, does he have a winnable case?
Q2: Does he have sufficient resources?
Q3: Is he accepting contributions?
Anthony–on an earlier post I mentioned having found the NSF workshop documents pertaining to implementing the Belmont Challenge.
It has a Prof Thomas Dietterich from OSU as a member of the NRC Committee on Computing Research for Environmental and Societal Sustainability. He is leading the “Understanding, Tracking, and Managing Uncertainty Throughout the Science-to-Policy Pipeline.”
Again it is not about the hard sciences. These are people trying to push the idea that psychosocial prosperity is a more than adequate substitute for economic growth in a green economy.
OSU is so immersed. As is that behavioral ed lab out there.
Slightly OT, but not entirely, given Mr (Dr?) Drapela’s rights appearing to be trod upon: Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans, and um….Happy Woden’s Day to all of our good brothers and cousins around the world!
If the univ’s spokes person was correct and Nick Darpela is one among many, that suggests on the surface perhaps questionable connection; however, if you are downsizing anyway, this is a great excuse to banish the politically incorrect. That sort of thing has happened to me. In hindsight best thing that ever happened.
Our colleges and universities have become bastions of corruption and perversion.
I don’t even need to mention Penn State–Mann, Sandusky.
I have it on very good sources that at the University of Texas, they have established a “prayer room” for muslims.
Institutions of higher learning…..
O/T but such good news out of New Zealand:
4 July: TVNZ: Carbon market ‘buried in a six-foot hole’ – energy trader
Government decisions to leave the emissions trading scheme at current settings indefinitely means the New Zealand carbon market has been “buried in a six-foot hole,” says Nigel Brunel, head of carbon and energy trading at OM Financial.
While Carbon Match principal Lizzie Chambers says “suspended animation” is more accurate, the impact of the government’s ETS reform decisions, announced Monday, will likely keep international carbon emissions reduction units (CERs) cheaper than New Zealand-produced Units (NZUs) for the foreseeable future.
Even with a likely drop in the price of NZUs, which are trading between $6.85 and $7.05 per tonne of emitted carbon, offsetting carbon emissions by buying offshore credits will make more sense for a major emitter than investing in NZUs.
A price drop is expected because Monday’s announcements left some major emitters in the electricity, heavy industrial and transport sectors holding more NZUs than they need because their ETS will be unchanged, instead of rising as expected.
Brunel said “the premium of NZUs over European carbon has been a bit fake because there’s no supply of NZU’s to push it to a discount” and major emitters were now sellers.
***”The carbon market is now in the lap of Europe and the control of the banks,” as the latest changes would discourage active involvement in the New Zealand carbon market by carbon-intensive industrial players and plantation foresters, at least until depressed global prices revived, Brunel said…
http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/carbon-market-buried-in-six-foot-hole-energy-trader-4955455
and once this is dead, buried and extinct, OSU and the rest of the CAGW zealots will look pretty silly.
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Steve Clark, OSU’s vice president of university relations and marketing, said he couldn’t discuss specific details about the case, citing confidentiality laws that he said prohibit him from sharing protected employee information.
We also have FOIP laws in Canada and I cannot discuss a student’s marks with his/her parents if the student is over 18 years, however the student can waive those rights and allow me to discuss things with parents. Can Nick Drapela formally waive his rights so no one gets into trouble for openly discussing the specifics?
Drapela will eventually be vindicated:
4 July: UK Daily Mail: Get set for a month’s rain in next two days (as four water firms insist on keeping hosepipe ban!)
More than 2.4ins of rain expected to fall in 36 hours in much of eastern, central and northern Britain
It is rapidly turning into the summer that never was.
After the wettest June on record, another deluge is on the way, with at least a month’s worth of rain set to fall today and tomorrow across much of Britain.
The Met Office last night issued a severe weather warning, predicting ‘heavy thundery downpours’ and up to four inches of rain by the weekend – more than the average for the whole of July…
The drought declared at the start of the year now seems a distant memory…
It has been the wettest April-to-June period on record…
If the weeks of torrential rain were not bad enough, homeowners have a new problem to contend with – rats.
Experts say scores of rat communities have been displaced by the recent flash floods and they are looking for shelter – in your home…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168573/UK-weather-Almost-months-worth-rain-fall-just-day.html
with my queensland australia winter temps higher than those for england’s summer, it does put a smile on my CAGW sceptic face!
Robin says:
July 4, 2012 at 7:21 pm
“These are people trying to push the idea that psychosocial prosperity is a more than adequate substitute for economic growth in a green economy.”
So instead of paying you your boss hugs you when the month is over? Hey, as long as you find takers, why not. They should start with their own employees.
I think it is now time that all sacked climate sientists form a group to out smart the belivers world wide ? I don,t think they will get any grants good luck to you all
Clark said Drapela’s contract was among more than 100 such contracts across the university that were not renewed. The reasons why a contract might not be renewed vary, but might include factors such as enrollment shifts reducing the demand for teachers in certain classes.
“The university does not base its policy of hiring upon people’s individual points of view or personal activities,” Clark said. “We base it on budget, upon academic requirements, we base it on performance and their academic qualifications, not their personal point of view.”
Hiring and firing not based on a person’s individual point of view. Would have been interesting to have a poll on their CAGW views before and after the “purge”.