The real point is that homogeneity is rife where ever you look in our society. As a humanities undergraduate I very quickly learned to repeat the marxist/post modern verities (it got me good marks too). As a manager in large corporates in Australia I learned to regurgitate the modern management jargon (this too has worked well).

As long as one subsumes any individual thought & goes along with the prevailing forms of truth in one's current environment one meets the requirements for success.

Express a real opinion or thought in real life - perish the thought!

geekgirl2 that is your failing not mine. I you want to sell your soul for a buck that is up to you.

My point exactly - express an honest opinion & someone wants to have a go at you over it (at least this was only virtual!) Well I've learned my lesson ;-(

I think what geekgirl might be getting at is the common 'indoctrination' found in liberal education today, as compared to learning real critical thought. I would agree that it is a problem, and possibly created by a tug-of-war; the academy is trying to balance the external influences by setting an opposite and extreme position. It doesn't, however, educate, or help to create a dialogue with those outside of the institution.

I agree that funding to academia needs to be increased in order to give universities the breathing space to diversify. As for an 'academic bill of rights', simply restoring the value of tenure would be adequate. I have no desire to bring academy and 'other' closer, however - only get them talking again. I think Australian academia is already utilitarian enough, and would like to see it supported for its intrinsic values rather than for it's service to a fickle society.