The lead story in the current issue of the CAUT Bulletin concerns the attacks on a U of Toronto grad student's work by Ontario politicans. I'm at least heartened to see a public intervention against these uninformed attacks being made by my former professor, mentor, and friend Michael Keefer:

In an open letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty, University of Guelph professor Michael Keefer expressed his concern about the denunciation of Peto and the attack on her academic freedom. He said, “In contrast to your colleagues in the Legislature, I have read Ms. Jenny Peto’s thesis … I believe that the language used by the two MPPs and by the Minister to characterize this thesis is very seriously misleading. It is in my opinion a well-researched study with a clearly-defined ethical focus.”

Of course, I haven't read the thesis in question; but knowing Dr. Keefer personally, as a principled critical scholar, I don't mind taking his word for it. In any case, the attack on a student's academic freedom is distressing. What safeguards do -- or should -- Canadian universities reinforce to protect students' academic freedom? Or must students' academic freedom necessarily be reduced to the kind of freedom Janis Joplin sang about: the freedom of having "nothing left to lose"?