The other week I took a very tough decision: to participate personally in the national protest of public university researchers at present in progress against the draft law proposed by the Italian Minister of Educationa and Researh, Letizia Moratti. In essence the proposal contains legislationary strategies which will change in decisive ways the legal status of university researchers and professors, in an attempt to make the university system - as the minister herself has frequently stated - "more flexible.". The protest now in progress represents a large body of opinion among members of the university community that considers the proposals in the present draft law as potentially harmful to quantity and, more importantly, the quality of scientific research in public universities in Italy in the future.
For more on the proposed draft law see the following review of the situation as of September 30th on The Scientist website: Italy's academics threaten strike.
My contribution to the protest so far has been to promote and present for subsequent adoption by our Faculty Council of a motion, signed by myself and two other researchers at the School of Communication and Economic Science at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, against the content of the draft law.
