And did the author put them at the end knowing that many people don't bother with the end of the article?

But a young professor of English who followed her out the door to congratulate her did offer some thoughts on politics at the MLA. Aaron Santesso of the University of Nevada at Reno described himself as being "on the left" and sympathetic with much of the criticism of the war in Iraq. But he said that the tenor of the discussion "drives me nuts." "A lot of people here don't want the rhetoric to just be a shrill echo of the right," he said.

Just a few years ago, he noted, the Taliban was regularly attacked at MLA meetings for their treatment of women and likened to the American religious right. Now, there is only talk of how the United States has taken away the rights of the Afghan people.

Santesso said he gains a good perspective from his students, most of whom he characterized as "libertarian conservatives." Most of the debate at the MLA, he said, "would completely alienate my students."

Plenty of English professors share his views, Santesso said. And some of his colleagues are even conservative. They just avoid coming to the MLA.

A couple of observations:

St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, who are nothing if not erudite propagandists, is quoted as saying, "Give me a boy when he is 7, and he is mine for life." He didn't say, "Give me a boy when he is 18", the reason being that 18-year-olds have already formed their basic personalities and have real opinions. Even though we like to think of them as children, they aren't.

Any 18-year-old who could go to college and have his or her entire way of thinking subverted by a group of people who can only give Fs by way of persuasion is ripe for harvest by a cult. Notice the professor quoted above says that his students would be completely alienated by the speakers at the MLA convention. This doesn't sound like a bunch of innocent sheep caught in the slavering jaws of the wolves of Academe.

The author quotes the young professor as he recalls that the MLA hollered about the Taliban's treatment of women before the 911 attacks made it fashionable to do so. Who's to say they aren't right about what's happening to the citizens of Afghanistan now? They were right on this issue before. Until the government of Afghanistan's reach goes beyond the suburbs of Kabul, it's very possible we could still lose this war. It's not a good idea to ignore people because you don't like them. Sometimes they're right.

And in conclusion, let me say that the MLA has still produced the only style manual that deals sanely and consistently with documenting electronic resources, and in doing so has provided a service in line with its academic mission. Has the author attended many MLA conventions? Has he talked to many members of the organization? Did he go to any non-political business-type meetings that produce useful work like the MLA Handbook? Or has he put that, too, at the end of his article, so far off his personal page that it didn't even get into print?

Regards--
Mary Anne