Bean is being mobbed

To the Editor,

Your readers may be following the controversy unfolding surrounding my husband, Dr. Jonathan Bean. Do not be deceived, this has transgressed far beyond a disagreement over the boundaries of academic freedom. It is workplace mobbing, pure and simple.

Unfortunately, workplace mobbing is endemic in America today. According to the authors of "Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace," mobbing consists of "assaults on the dignity, integrity, credibility, and professional competence of employees" that are "committed directly; or indirectly, in subtle or obvious ways." Often, the perpetrators of such mobbing portray their victim as being at fault.

Why do people engage in mobbing behavior? The authors cite several reasons, including "to force someone to adapt to the group norm," "to revel in animosity," "to gain pleasure, out of boredom," and "to reinforce prejudices." (Perhaps even prejudices against those who hold conservative views?)

Workplace mobbing could happen to any of us but there are no laws as of yet in Illinois that explicitly protect an employee from this injustice. I call on all concerned individuals to write to their state representative appealing for anti-mobbing legislation. I further highly recommend that all employers, managers, supervisors, and especially administrators at the university, read the above named book and educate themselves about this insidious behavior plaguing the American workplace.

Alice Bean, Murphysboro

Kudos to the coalition

To the Editor:

Kudos to the Southern Illinois Dual Language Coalition for their outstanding community conference on the Advantages of Bringing Dual Language Education to Southern Illinois Saturday, April 23. My husband and I, along with our two children, attended the half-day conference because we were curious about dual language education (in this case, Spanish and English), and whether this option would be a good one for our children. Wow! What a wonderful opportunity for Southern Illinoisan children. If the coalition is able to launch this program, either as a charter school, or as a strand in one of the district schools, our children would get to learn to read and write in two languages, learn math and science in two languages, and learn to interact interculturally. What a gift we parents could give the children of Southern Illinois. Our children would have an edge in tomorrow's job market, while Southern Illinois could have an edge in attracting global businesses that appreciate a culturally and linguistically flexible workforce in addition to our beautiful environment, our warm hospitality and our increasingly improved infrastructure and access. We hope this program both finds a home and is available to ALL Southern Illinoisans. As excited parents, we urge the district superintendents to really look at what an innovative opportunity we have here. Thank you to the Southern Illinois Dual Language Coalition for your energy and commitment. We are 100 percent behind you. What a boon to our children and the area.

Kim Asner-Self, Brian Self, Carbondale

Don't talk and drive

To the Editor:

The light at Oakland and Walnut turns red and a cement truck goes right thought it. Luckily no one had gone into the intersection yet. The driver of the truck, oblivious to the light, was on a cell phone.

Almost everyday drivers in Carbondale on one of the three-lane roads in and out of town turn from the middle lane. Talking on a cell phone, they come up on their turn before they realize it, and, "Oh, there's my turn " zip" without any regard whatsoever for cars on either side of them.

This past Sunday a driver coming up on the intersection of New Era Road and 13 and going about 70 while talking on a cell phone crossed lanes and just missed a car with three people in it.

A lot of drivers don't drive all that great when they're not distracted. People are proving they can't talk and drive. Do one or the other.

Need to lead by example

To the Editor:

I would like to respond to the letter by David E. Christensen that appeared April 6 in The Southern Illinoisan.

You state you were against privatized accounts in the Social Security system and that all income, even that above $90,000 should be taxed for the Social Security System. Conveniently, you left out two important facts. During your long distinguished career at Southern Illinois University, you paid not a penny into the Social Security System. Your current retirement is a private account that could have been cashed in, could have been transferred to another system and has rights of survivorship.

It consists of contributions from you, your employer and earnings from the dreaded stock market that flow into SURS. Try doing those things with Social Security. It seems to me you are an adherent to the theory with of Sen. Kennedy's School of Driving Instructions: "Do as I say, not as I do."

My advice to you is to immediately compose a letter to Congressman Costello demanding universal, mandatory participation in the Social Security System. You should deliver the letter yourself to his Carbondale office. As you leave his office, stop by the social security office which is across the hall and leave a check consisting of 6.2 percent of all your past wages not subject to the tax. Then you can say "been there-done that" and your future letters will have some credibility. Of course, no one in their right mind would trade any benefits from SURS for the "insurance" of Social Security. You can be an army of one and lead the way.

Don Skouby