Thomas Benton hints at the danger behind the developing trend of faculty casualization - of which Yale is on the vanguard: Of course, I am now a tenure-track professor. I can afford to take some of the risks that I believe make one a better teacher. I decreasingly feel the need to protect myself by strict adherence to inhumane regulations. I speak more informally; I venture jokes. I often talk about my personal life in class. And I let students talk to me about theirs. I don't recommend medications, but I do loan books. Sometimes I hold classes at my house. All of this over the protests of my inner lawyer. I know these actions are a direct outcome of my increasingly privileged position. How much harder is it for the growing numbers of faculty members working off the tenure track? I imagine something between Kafka and a day at the motor-vehicle bureau. What Benton's article doesn't mention among the unmentionables transient professors fear discussing is perhaps the most taboo - criticism of the university administration.