Irony Free Zone at Harvard

William Buckley writing in the March 28th National Review about the Lawrence Summers controversy reflects on views expressed by Meghan O'Rourke, culture editor of Slate, about the small number of women working in the sciences in universities: She reported that women account for roughly 20 percent of science and engineering faculty in departments across the United States, although few hold senior positions. In particular, she drew attention to Summers's record as Harvard president; under his leadership, tenure appointments of women have fallen every year, and only 4 of the last 32 appointments have been female.

Buckley goes on to report Summers's three explanations for the disparity in the sciences: 1) Women can't put in the 80-hour work week that would make them competitive; 2) Innate differences between men and women permit men to outperform; and 3) gender discrimination discourages women from going the extra mile.

Like Bill Hicks, said: "Yeah, thanks to you, you fucker!"