Of all the people, we ecologists should be the first to realize that over- population is the ultimate cause for almost all environmental problems. It may be true that the European population level is dropping, but the whole world's is definitely increasing. And with the level of globalization today, over-population is a global, rather than localized, problem. How can one acknowledge growing unemployment rate and then encourage more human reproduction in the same paragraph?
I am going to be a bit politically incorrect here. To me, giving people in academia (female or male) flexibility over maternity matters is analogous to allowing people driving SUVs and pick up trucks to purchase gasoline at a lower price because they get bad gas milage. People choose to drive gas guzzlers and should pay the price for it. Similarly, having kids is a personal choice, and those who choose to do so should not be treated any differently from those who choose not to, especially in professional settings. I have heard about certain professors might be favored in tenure considerations because his wife gave birth to triplets, even though he has not been as productive as some of the childless assistant professors. I think this is out right discrimination against childless people. In the highly competitive environment today (in academia and other professions), both males and females can be impeded by an array of obstacles to succeed (e.g. having ADD), but we don't go out of the way to accomodate every bit of these issues. George Wang On Thu, 2 Nov 2006 19:35:10 -0500, Carrie DeJaco <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >I would just like to point out that demographic data show declining >populations in most European countries, while the U.S. is growing. With >a greater proportion of the population in the workforce and fewer adults >procreating, the Europeans are certainly in a better position to afford >to provide more maternity/paternity leave than here in the U.S.. In >addition, with higher unemployment rates, those longer leaves may >provide much-needed opportunities for the younger workers to get >on-the-job experience while waiting for permanent positions to open up. >One more factor is that, by making it easier for people to care for >their children, that might encourage more people to reproduce, which >would provide a much-needed boost for the workforce in the coming >decades when a greater proportion of their populations is elderly. > >Carrie DeJaco > > >
