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I've been saying this for years and have been punished for that. Even here. I've done Biology and CS for almost 20 years now, I've worked at four of the top te

I've been saying this for years and have been punished for that. Even here. I've done Biology and CS for almost 20 years now, I've worked at four of the top ten research institutions in the world. The ratio of honest to bullshit academics is alarmingly low. Most of these people should be in jail. Not only do they commit academic fraud, many of them commit other types of crimes as well. When I was a PhD student, my 4 year old daughter was kidnapped by staff at KAUST. Mental and physical abuse is quite common and somewhat "accepted" in these institutions. Sexual harassment and sexual abuse is through the roof. I am very glad that, slowly, these things are starting to vent out. This is one real swamp that needs to be drained. Some smartass could come up and say "where is your evidence for this?". This is what allows this abhorrent behavior to thrive. Do you think these people are not smart enough to commit these crimes in covert ways? The reason why they do it is because they know no one will find out and they will get away with it. What's the solution? I've thought about this a lot, a lot. I think a combination of policies and transparency could go a long way. Because of what they did to me, I am fully committed to completely destroy and expunge people who do these things from academia. If you, for whatever reason, would like to help me on this mission, shoot me an email, there's a few ideas already taking shape towards that goal.

mmooss 2y ago
I hope your daughter is ok?!
- moralestapia 2y ago
  We are fine now. That was four years ago. Our embassy intervened and eventually she was released and we were able to fly back home. I'm not 100% satisfied with how they handled the situation (they took a while to react to the issue) but in the end we were able to leave that place and I'm happy with that.
bartathe 2y ago
"Four of the top ten" research institutions is probably part of the reason for your experiences. I went to an elite private undergrad as a scholarship student and was sexually abused by the son of high powered lawyers, probably awful people themselves, who targeted scholarship students, international students, etc. because we were vulnerable with no recourse. I then went to a highly ranked but not super sexy public school for my PhD and my experience has been significantly better. Bad actors are attracted to glamor and prestige because they're part of the cloaks and levers they use to escape consequences. Bad actors are far less attracted to, just as an example, living in Wisconsin, Michigan, or Indiana and telling people at conferences that they work at UW rather than Cambridge. UCs are also vastly more welcoming and supportive of working and middle class students than HYPSM even at the graduate level. That doesn't mean that you won't find any assholes at these places, and go too low in the rankings and you'll see ugly competition over scarce resources, but there's a sweet spot where more honorable people who aren't chasing prestige cluster and you'll find more support and recourse. Public schools ranked 5-15 are best for students without significant, significant social savvy and other forms of protection, IMO.
- nextos 2y ago
  > Public schools ranked 5-15 are best for students without significant, significant social savvy and other forms of protection Do you think these are also the best for incoming faculty?
- moralestapia 2y ago
  So sorry to know you're one of the victims of these idiots. >scholarship students, international students, etc. because we were vulnerable with no recourse That's very accurate, this is a big target group prone to being abused. >Bad actors are attracted to glamor and prestige because they're part of the cloaks and levers they use to escape consequences. Yes, it could definitely be that the higher you go the more rotten it becomes, for the reasons you mentioned. The Epsteins of the world hang around those places for a reason. Shoot me an email (check profile), I'll be very glad to get your feedback on what is being done to fight against this.

mmooss 2y ago

I hope your daughter is ok?!

moralestapia 2y ago
We are fine now. That was four years ago. Our embassy intervened and eventually she was released and we were able to fly back home. I'm not 100% satisfied with how they handled the situation (they took a while to react to the issue) but in the end we were able to leave that place and I'm happy with that.

bartathe 2y ago

"Four of the top ten" research institutions is probably part of the reason for your experiences. I went to an elite private undergrad as a scholarship student and was sexually abused by the son of high powered lawyers, probably awful people themselves, who targeted scholarship students, international students, etc. because we were vulnerable with no recourse. I then went to a highly ranked but not super sexy public school for my PhD and my experience has been significantly better. Bad actors are attracted to glamor and prestige because they're part of the cloaks and levers they use to escape consequences. Bad actors are far less attracted to, just as an example, living in Wisconsin, Michigan, or Indiana and telling people at conferences that they work at UW rather than Cambridge. UCs are also vastly more welcoming and supportive of working and middle class students than HYPSM even at the graduate level. That doesn't mean that you won't find any assholes at these places, and go too low in the rankings and you'll see ugly competition over scarce resources, but there's a sweet spot where more honorable people who aren't chasing prestige cluster and you'll find more support and recourse. Public schools ranked 5-15 are best for students without significant, significant social savvy and other forms of protection, IMO.

nextos 2y ago
> Public schools ranked 5-15 are best for students without significant, significant social savvy and other forms of protection Do you think these are also the best for incoming faculty?
moralestapia 2y ago
So sorry to know you're one of the victims of these idiots. >scholarship students, international students, etc. because we were vulnerable with no recourse That's very accurate, this is a big target group prone to being abused. >Bad actors are attracted to glamor and prestige because they're part of the cloaks and levers they use to escape consequences. Yes, it could definitely be that the higher you go the more rotten it becomes, for the reasons you mentioned. The Epsteins of the world hang around those places for a reason. Shoot me an email (check profile), I'll be very glad to get your feedback on what is being done to fight against this.