<h3>Academic Freedom? </h3>

Now I it looks like you have to watch what you say even in the halls of academia. A professor at Penn State's Altoona campus is facing termination because she dared to speak out against the University. Welcome to John Ashcroft's America.

Professor battles to keep tenure
By Gwenn Miller
gmiller3@centredaily.com

UNIVERSITY PARK - A tenured associate professor of theater arts at Penn State Altoona is in the midst of a private battle to keep her job.

In a rare move by Penn State, closed hearings are being held this month at University Park to determine whether Nona Gerard will be given the ultimate penalty -- unemployment -- for her vocal criticisms of a Penn State program.

Gerard received a letter Aug. 11 from William Cale, dean and CEO of Penn State Altoona, outlining the charges of "failure to perform" and "grave misconduct."

The letter states that in numerous e-mail messages to various faculty members, Gerard has refused to "work positively to develop and promote the IA (integrative arts) program."

Gerard, who earned tenure in 1994, admits that she criticized aspects of Altoona's four-year integrative arts degree but said it was within her First Amendment rights and rights as a tenured faculty member to do so.
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