Subject: jobs and "protectionism"

From: "DR. DOUGLAS A. SMITH, UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 1994 13:31:59 -0500 (EST)

Ah, thinly veiled prejudice, racism, cultural/religious bias all smell so
sweet, even electronically.

The problem is not US immigration policy.  The problem is people. Some
people are prejudiced, some are not willing to fight against unreasonable
quotas, some are paying back favors to former mentors, some just don't
realize the situation. Surely there are hundreds more types of people on 
every side of this issue.

Unfortunately, some people don't remember that the Nazis and KKK used and
still use these same kinds of arguments to further their own brand of
hatred.

I was always taught that scientists, and "intellectuals" in general, were
the people who were above all of that garbage. I have learned first hand
that what I was taught is not true, not only by this recent discussion but
by (personal) politics and events during the past few years.

Let's face it, the current (and future) job situation is the result of a
complex and extensive set of causative factors. To start a pogrom against
foreign scientists could and most likely would lead to far more serious
and undesirable consequences of much broader impact.

At the risk of sounding trite, the international scientific community is
one that should transend national and ideological boundaries. Maybe if
Americans were, IMHO, less chauvanistic (in the original meaning), we
would all be better off.

Maybe we should all study history for a while.

Douglas A. Smith
(WATCH FOR CHANGES IN THIS .SIG IN THE NEAR FUTURE)
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry
Center for Drug Design and Development
 and
Chairman-elect, ACS Division of Computers in Chemistry

The University of Toledo
Toledo, OH  43606-3390

voice    419-537-2116
fax      419-537-4033
email    [email-masked]