May 17, 2002

'How Much Can I Get Before Your Ardor Cools?'

By STANLEY FISH

This is the time of the year when offers and counteroffers are made, negotiated, accepted, and declined. You might think that the word "and" should be changed to "or" -- accepted or declined -- for, after all, doesn't it have to be one or the other? Well actually, no.

In the strange and wondrous world of the academic job market it is perfectly possible to negotiate terms you promptly reject, or to accept and then un-accept a position in the same day, or to say "yes" and mean "now that

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