Well, Chris, if you honestly believe this:
> Words and language are not going anywhere
Then I have no common ground with which to argue this:
> Tenure is a different matter because it relies on a discussion of
> different issues.
But I tell you what, the minute I believe the second, I leave academia;
and the second I believe the first, I quit teaching entirely. Language
not going anywhere? It's not going to disappear, certainly, but it *is*
going, always, some*where* ...
The rules are changing as the various media evolve, collide, merge, and
diverge, only to eventually evolve, collide and merge yet again. So, in
fact, tenure is NOT a different matter. The issues are *changing* only
because a good many of us are making noise about changing them. To dismiss
that fact with "that's a different matter" is to misunderstand the point
entirely.
Language is changing, and with it reality is changing. Old, grizzled,
nonsensical realities like tenure.
stepping off the soap box,