Sexual harassment training necessary

It’s a fact of life that supervisors sometimes make their employees perform menial, pointless tasks. Whether it’s brewing another pot of coffee or putting cover sheets on reports, employees always like to say that these things waste their time.

At the University of California at Irvine, a biology professor has stretched this excuse too far. Alexander McPherson, one of the leading scientists in
protein research, stands to lose his tenure if he does not agree to attend sexual harassment prevention training, which is mandated by law for all public and private businesses with 50 or more employees.

McPherson believes that the training session is a waste of his time and that it casts suspicion on his character. We think McPherson’s logic is backward. By not attending the sessions, he only makes himself appear to be more of a creeper, and by taking such a public stance against something so simple and straightforward, he is wasting everyone’s time.

Sexual harassment is not an irrelevant issue in higher education. According to a report by the American Association of University Women, nearly two-thirds of university students experience some form of sexual harassment. Granted, much of this figure can be explained by advances from other students, but that doesn’t acquit faculty. The numbers speak for themselves, and sexual harassment in higher education is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed.

University professors expect plenty of privileges to come with their profession, most of which make sense. However, professors are still employees, and even if they believe certain state and university regulations are politically correct - as McPherson suspects the California law is - or simply useless, they are still obligated to abide by them.

McPherson explained his absence at the training, by saying he needed the time to conduct his research. Now, being a graduate of Purdue, it is clear his priorities haven’t always been straight, but he and other stubborn professors across the country need to understand that as university employees they will need to comply with university rules.

The great Tommy Pickles of “Rugrats” once said, “A baby’s got to do what a baby’s got to do.” This bit of wisdom still rings true, and it extends far beyond the realm of infancy.

Sometimes we have to do things that we don’t want to – things that seem unfair and overbearing – but so what? That’s life, and as much as certain things suck, in the grand scheme of things, they’re just a few short moments in time that are recovered easily enough.

Sure, the program will doubtlessly be boring for McPherson, but that’s an issue that’s easy enough to deal with. Clearly, he should grab a copy of the Indiana Daily Student and do the crossword while his facilitator is babbling on about “what sexual harassment means to you.”

Suck it up, McPherson. You and just about everyone else will be better off for it.