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In response to Dennis Hayes's comments on academic freedom (Opinion, July 28), it would seem to me that academic freedom must relate to those areas in which the academic is qualified. Russian specialists, such as Frank Ellis, should be free to say whatever they find about Russia, but academic freedom does not apply beyond their areas of competence. I believe that there is a confusion in the current debate between freedom of speech and academic freedom, with the former applying to any subject and the latter to one's domain of scholarship.

Tom Franklin
Franklin Consulting