哈佛大学全体教员投票责难校长

 

Harvard Faculty¹ Votes to Censure² University President

哈佛大学全体教员投票责难校长

 

Several months since Harvard University President Lawrence Summers made a remark he would deeply regret.

 

At a meeting of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Mr. Summers suggested that one reason women have fewer top jobs in the sciences might be due to in his words "it was the intrinsic difference between men and women."

 

That comment set off a storm of protest at Harvard -- and the national news media ，in which a majority opposed Mr. Summers' continued leadership of the nation's oldest educational institution.

 

Mr. Summers has repeatedly apologized for his remark. In a letter to the faculty following the incident, he wrote that the comment was speculative³ and perhaps all wrong. But that did not stop the Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences -- the largest faculty group on campus -- from pressing ahead with its vote of no confidence. The Tuesday vote was the first of its kind in Harvard's 369-year history.

 

The resolution simply read, "The faculty lacks confidence with the leadership of Lawrence H. Summers."

 

Following the 218-185 vote, Mr. Summers addressed a group of protesters at Harvard.

 

Mr. Summers: As I said to the faculty, I have tried these last couple of months to listen carefully to all that has been said, to learn from it and to move forward. And that is what I will do.

 

Mr. Summer's comments on women have sharply divided the faculty. Literature professor Ruth Wisse says academic freedom of speech is on trial. She says Mr. Summers has the right -- like any citizen -- to express his opinions.

 

Ruth Wisse: Astonishingly, the President of the University feels inhibited⁵ now from saying anything about one of the issues which is in fact one of the most important issues that we face, and that is, what is going to be the role of women.

 

Harvard history professor Everett Mendelson says the debate over Mr. Summers' remarks is not a referendum on academic freedom. Rather it reflects the faculty's problems with Mr. Summers - formerly⁶ Secretary Treasury⁷ under Bill Clinton -- ever since Mr. Summers took the job at Harvard three years ago.

 

Everett Mendelson: At the time, coming out of government, he had a rough time in Washington. We had been warned. As one columnist⁸ put it in the Chronicle of Higher Education…'Harvard was in for a rough ride.' What we have watched over these three and one half years are a series of mistakes in governance, in management, not only style, but management competence⁹.

 

Mr. Mendelson said that common culminated¹⁰ with the remark in January about women.

 

Mr. Mendelson: I am saying that President Summers raised a storm because he addressed an issue in a careless and unknowledgeable way. Let's be very frank. For the past three years during his presidency¹¹, the percentage of women receiving tenure¹² at Harvard across the board has declined.

 

The vote against Mr. Summers -- while symbolic¹³ -- carries no power. The decision to fire Mr. Summers would have to come from Harvard's corporate¹⁴ board, which has issued a press release saying that it fully⁴ supports the University president.

 

I am Rosanne Skirble.

 

注释:

National Bureau of Economic Research 美国国家经济研究署

speculative [5spekjulEtiv] adj. 投机的

Faculty of Arts and Sciences 文理学院

on campus 在校内

academic freedom 学术自由

referendum [7refE5rendEm] n. 投票表决

a series of 一连串的

percentage [pE5sentidV] n. 百分数

vote against 投票反对

1 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

2 censure   

v./n.责备；非难；责难

参考例句：

• You must not censure him until you know the whole story.在弄清全部事实真相前不要谴责他。
• His dishonest behaviour came under severe censure.他的不诚实行为受到了严厉指责。

3 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 inhibited   

a.拘谨的，拘束的

参考例句：

• Boys are often more inhibited than girls about discussing their problems. 男孩子往往不如女孩子敢于谈论自己的问题。
• Having been laughed at for his lameness,the boy became shy and inhibited. 那男孩因跛脚被人讥笑，变得羞怯而压抑。

6 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

7 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

8 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

9 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

10 culminated   

v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• a gun battle which culminated in the death of two police officers 一场造成两名警察死亡的枪战
• The gala culminated in a firework display. 晚会以大放烟火告终。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

12 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

13 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

14 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。