Erin O'Connor at Critical Mass writes about the case of Bob Uttl, the fired Oregon State U. psychology professor, remarking that it "begins to take on the familiar contours of a departmental witch hunt". No surprise there. The part that really fascinates me is this sentence:

Uttl apparently works in a department where backbiting and petty politicking are the norm.

By the way, Easily Distracted (written by a historian at Swarthmore) offers some advice on getting a Ph.D. "Short answer: no" Good advice.

The internal politics of the university were explained to me this way: They fight so hard because the stakes are so small.

The quote about university politics: They fight so hard because the stakes are so small. This quote has been attributed to Henry Kissinger. I have not been able to track down whether that is accurate. Does anyone know the true source for the quote? Thanks.

“University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.” Henry Kissinger [Aphorism]

To Chris Harper,

Look at this speech. It is said to be Kissnger's and he says he formulated this aphoristic rule:

http://www.ashbrook.org/events/memdin/kissinger/speech.html