Who on FSU's faculty wants this????

FSU Provost Larry Abele is quoted in this CNN story.  He says the following about FSU's chiropractic proposal:

"There's a small number of faculty who would like it to happen, there is another group of faculty who would like it to die as painful a death as possible, and then there's another group that has a lot of concerns that they would like answered before anything else happens," provost Larry Abele said.

FSUblius is curious:  Who exactly are the faculty "who would like it to happen"?  The faculty Senate Graduate Policy committee voted 22-0 not to let the chiropractic proposal go forward without serious faculty consideration, and no one on that committee expressed positives about the proposal.  So far, every indication is that FSU's faculty is strongly opposed to the proposal.  Back in December, several faculty raised concerns with the local media, and it is reported that hundreds signed an early petition in opposition.  One faculty member drew up a now infamous parody map of campus, which has been reprinted in several newspapers and magazines.  Several faculty members spoke up at the Graduate Policy Committee meeting and at the faculty forum, and have been quoted in the media as being opposed to the chiropractic school.  The chiropractic interest goups are attempting to paint opposition at FSU as based in the medical school and "out of state" interests, but in fact many faculty members outside of medicine, from math to chemistry to psychology and biology, have raised concerns with this proposal at FSU.  As far as FSUblius is aware, although several faculty have publicly conceded that they use chiropractors and that the treatment works for them (this kind of support was voiced at the Faculty Forum), not one  single faculty member at FSU has voiced support for the chiropractic proposal as it is currently drafted.  If this is incorrect, perhaps a reader can identify the faculty members who support it??????

Last Friday the Tallahassee Democrat ran a full page ad in opposition to the chiropractic school, which was signed by the following sample of distinguished faculty at FSU.  FSUblius understands that many additional faculty joined the petition too -- but the main objective was to present a balanced set of perspectives from the highest levels across many disciplines on campus.  There is so far no evidence to support the claim that members of FSU's faculty want this to happen.

Robert Schrieffer, Nobel Prize in Physics,
University Eminent Scholar in Physics

Sir Harold W. Kroto, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Eppes
Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Karen J. Berkley, McKenzie Professor of Psychology

Janet G. Burroway, Lawton Professor of English

Gregory R. Choppin, Lawton Professor of Chemistry and
Biochemistry

Timothy A. Cross, Earl Frieden Professor of Chemistry
and Biochemistry

Joseph Dodge, Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler, Alhadeff
& Sitterson Professor of Law

John G. Dorsey, Katherine Blood Hoffman Professor of
Chemistry & Biochemistry

Marc E. Freeman, Lloyd M. Beidler Professor of
Biological Science

Philip Froelich, Eppes Professor of Oceanography

Werner Herz, Lawton Professor of Chemistry and
Biochemistry

Adam Hirsch, David M. Hoffman Professor of Law

Kurt Hofer, Lawton Professor of Biological Sciences

Robert Holton, Matthew Suffness Professor of Chemistry
and Biochemistry

Michael Kasha, Lawton Professor of Chemistry and
Biochemistry

Marie E. Krafft, Martin A. Schwartz Professor of
Chemistry and Biochemistry

T. N. Krishnamurti, Lawton Professor of Meteorology

Alan G. Marshall, Kasha Professor of Chemistry and
Biochemistry

Kent Miller, Emeritus Professor of Psychology

James J. O'Brien, Lawton Professor of Meteorology and
Oceanography

Michael Rashotte, University Distinguished Teaching
Professor of Psychology

Jim Rossi, Harry M. Walborsky Professor of Law

Leo Sandon, Distinguished University Teaching
Professor of Religion

Joseph B. Schlenoff, Leo Mandelkern Professor of
Chemistry and Biochemistry

Jayaram Sethuraman, Lawton Professor of Statistics

Raymond K. Sheline, Lawton Professor of Chemistry

James C. Smith, Lawton Professor of
Psychology/Neuroscience

De Witt Sumners, Lawton Professor of Mathematics

Fernando Teson, Tobias Simon Eminent Scholar of Law

Comments

[Young]

I have to say that I am very glad that I did not attend FSU and honestly, never even looked into it because outside of Florida, FSU is known as a party school. I am surprised that even 2 nobel laureates came from your school. Even your sports programs are in a huge decline. Can anyone say Gators? To set the record straight, I am from the midwest with no affiliation with Florida but am pretty amused at how blatantly naive, pretentious, and pompous FSU's faculty seem to be. They make a huge fuss over something that they deem "psuedomedicine" when over the years, the benefits of chiropractics has been very well documented and accepted by the government, the public, and the medical community. Like someone once told me, chiropractors never accidentally cut off the wrong limb or left their instruments inside of someone. How about all the unnecessay procedures and tests traditional medicine requires in order to boost revenues and profits? FSU's academic integrity will not be measured based on incorporation of a chiropractor school. Instead, the extreme measures that the FSU faculty is taking that border almost on desperation and fear will hurt FSU in the long run because as time has shown us, chiropractic techniques are beneficial. FSU faculty, you remind me of all those "scientists" who claimed that the world was flat or those that forced Galileo into submission. Shame on you!

[FSUblius]

Right: If FSU were any other university, the faculty would be endorsing a chiropractic program. Are you saying that such a proposal would sail through any of the midwest's great universities, including Michigan, Chicago and Illinois with little or no faculty concern? "Beneficial" is a loaded term, and I would think that the scientific claim of benefit of chiropractic will need to withstand scientific scrutiny before chiropractic techniques are accepted into the curriculum at FSU or any other research university. I do not think any faculty member at FSU is opposed to usig science to evaluate chiropractic treatments, although many faculty are opposed to creating a stand alone college of integrative health and alternative medicine, focused primarily on chiropractic, with no faculty input.

[A student]

I commend these FSU faculty. Us graduate students at FSU are also opposed to this. I can't believe that the university we have chosen to affiliate with is risking its reputation in the scientific community by taking a step down this highly uncertain path. The administration that has allowed politicians to take control of the agenda for FSU is incompetent.

[Peter H. Christiansen]

We in California thank the Florida legislature for this proposal. Now we are no longer the front runner for the title of the number one state for crackpots and quacks. Florida is now clearly number one in that department. We are spending our money on stem cell research while Florida hunts down mythical "sublaxations."

[Al Stiegman]

The faculty just received the following e-mail from Pat Howard, assocaite vp of the university. It appears that the forces of academic integrity and reason have perservered.

Dr. Abele asked that I inform you that the Board of Governors voted 10-3 to deny the approval of a chiropractic program at Florida State University. As far as we are concerned this will end our discussion of this issue and the designated committees need not continue work on this project. There will be a full report at the next Faculty Senate meeting. Dr. Abele and President Wetherell asked that I thank all who have contributed to this effort. Pat
--

Patricia C. Hayward
Associate Vice President
Office of the Provost
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-1310
Phone: (850) 644-1711
Fax: (850) 644-0172

[Dre]

After having been trained in the military, having spent time at military hospitals and research facilities, having spent time at a major research institution and having received funding from NIH for clinical research, I am apalled at the behavior of the FSU people. I would never recommend an aspiring young student to your university to develop his/her undergraduate or graduate foundation. Research is intended to prove or disprove theories and if a research-based chiropractic program might prove its worth, why not? Whose individual reputation will be tarnished? Has the NCCAM reputation been tarnished? Have professional athletes reputations been tarnished for receiving treatment from chiropractors? The behavior exhibited by these individuals is very similar to the racist tactics directed against african americans by the good ol white boys. You people really need to grow up!

I didn't think FSU was proposing a research-based program. It was proposing to have a chiropractic training program focus, and focus on research second. Read the proposal. If it were just about research, they would have broadened their dean search to include at least a few Ph.D.'s without D.C.'s.

[Tom]

Young,

Pretty pathetic attempt to disguise your affiliation with UF. Why the "gators" comment? I can't imagine what UF finally beating FSU has to do with chiropractic, any more than FSU's overall dominance over UF in the modern era. You may be from the midwest, but you clearly have an anti-FSU bias. My hunch is that you've at least been to Gainesville.

PS So much for FSU athletics being in decline...one of the Top Athletic Programs in the Nation. And 5-0 in football so far. It's great being part of FSU.

[Dr S. B. Kalidhar]

I wish to have complete postal address and e-mail of Prof W. Herz