Economics department receives harassing letter Professors find anonymous note taped to their doors
By Kathy Ward Staff Writer
On the morning of Thursday, Sept. 18, St. Michael’s economics professors were confronted with an anonymous document posted on each of their office doors, which appeared to accuse faculty of teaching theories that are harmful to the environment and humanity, concluding with a threat to “chase you old goats out of power.”
“There is no evidence whatsoever that this letter was written by a St. Michael’s student,” said Reza Ramazani, chair of the economics department. “I am 100 percent sure that this letter was not written by a St. Michael’s student who has taken a class with either me or any of my colleagues.”
Ramazani’s theory is correct, as the same document was found published on multiple Web sites under the title of the True Cost Economics Manifesto, part of a campaign featured on www.adbusters.org. The campaign, which began prior to 2005, invites readers to sign the manifesto and take part in True Cost Economics, a concept aiming to create a “new economic paradigm,” according to adbusters.org.
The Web site states that “the economic revolution begins with jamming Economics departments. It ends with an entirely new way to measure progress. This is our most urgent campaign: a fight to revolutionize economics before our planet is destroyed.”
Ramazani was upset by the inappropriate tactic used by the person(s) who posted the document to express his or her opinion, he said.
“One thing I can brag about my department and my colleagues is we believe in total transparency,” he said.
During his time spent in Tehran, Iran during the Shah’s regime, Ramazani used similar tactics out of fear in a society that lacked freedom of expression, he said.
“We used to plaster flyers in the middle of the night because we were worried about our safety,” he said. “The reason I was saddened more than anything else was that I couldn’t imagine something like this could happen at this institution.”
Ramazani reported the document to Dean Jeffrey Trumbower on the day it was received. Ramazani had a moral, legal and professional obligation to his colleagues and the institution to create a comfortable and safe learning atmosphere, he said.
Trumbower also said he was disappointed the person who posted the document did not pursue this topic in another manner.
“There are all kinds of channels that they can use to put their ideas forward,” Trumbower said. “It’s very threatening and you can’t have a civil debate if it’s anonymous.”
No action will be taken unless there is a recurrence. However, public forums and speakers are always options if the community shows interest, Trumbower said.
Ramazani brought the document to his advanced macro-theory class that Thursday. He asked a student to read the document aloud so he could observe the class’s reaction.
Junior economics minor Kris Ochs said that reading to the class was the right thing to do, as opposed to covering up the incident.
The dismay, laughter and disbelief that projected from that class reassured Ramazani in his support from the students, he said.
“I think that was the most beautiful, rewarding moment for me as a professor at this institution,” Ramazani said.
Junior economics minor Peter Benedetto was present in Ramazani’s class that morning and said Ramazani seemed very upset throughout the lecture. Ramazani agreed that receiving the document probably affected his demeanor.
“It may have had some impact on my performance that day and that’s not appropriate,” Ramazani said. “As a chair I cannot allow those distractions to happen and have a negative affect on my colleagues’ performance.”
Economics professor Patrick Walsh said he also read the document aloud to his public finance class. The class was dealing with many of the issues addressed in the document, Walsh said. Recent presentations focused on the environment and different ways that markets fail to take it into account, as well as policies that could be put in place to rebalance the situation, Walsh said.
“It’s very ironic that the letter talks mostly about lack of environmental awareness among economists,” he said. “They all laughed because we had spent several lectures on this.”
Walsh said he was not concerned with the content of the document as much as he was with the anonymous method by which the individual addressed the issue.
“If you have some sort of conspiracy theory mind-set that economists are just the mouth pieces of some dark organization, then I’ve been left out of the meetings,” Walsh said.
Ramazani said he would like to invite the critic to take any economics class on campus. If the person is not willing to partake in a class, Ramazani extends an open invitation to them to come discuss the issues with either himself or his faculty, he said.
“I am not afraid of anybody when it comes to debate and discussion in an intellectual way,” Ramazani said.
“This tactic has no place at St. Michael’s College.”
