PSX5Central
Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: GigaShadow on April 02, 2003, 07:38:45 PM
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NEW YORK — The controversy over a Columbia University assistant professor who called for the bloody defeat of U.S. troops in Iraq refuses to die, with critics heaping scorn and supporters saying he has gone into hiding after receiving numerous death threats.
A graduate student told the Columbia Spectator that Nicholas De Genova and his wife were "fearing for their lives" after receiving some 1,000 threatening phone and e-mail messages. The threats led De Genova to nix his two classes on Tuesday, according to the student newspaper.
De Genova told a campus "teach-in" last Wednesday that he wanted to see the U.S. defeated in Iraq and suffer "a million Mogadishus" — a reference to the 1993 Somalia ambush that left 18 Americans dead.
"The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military," he said at an anti-war event attended by students and faculty.
A school senior whose father is an Army colonel serving in Kuwait was among those who slammed De Genova\'s remarks.
"A Columbia professor wished death upon the father of a Columbia University student and possibly [on the parents of] other students," William Pratt told the New York Post, adding he was "appalled and devastated" by De Genova’s harsh remarks.
"What really pushes me over the edge is when a professor basically wishes for the slaughter of U.S. military men and women who gave him the right to free speech and to make those disgusting comments," Pratt told the Post.
University President Lee C. Bollinger released a statement distancing himself and the school from De Genova, who was apparently a last-minute add-on to the teach-in lineup.
"I am shocked that someone would make such statements. Because of the university’s tradition of academic freedom, I normally don’t comment about statements made by faculty members. However, this one crosses the line and I really feel the need to say something. I am especially saddened for the families of those whose lives are at risk," Bollinger said in his Friday statement.
The university has not publicly said if De Genova’s job as an assistant professor is in jeopardy over the scandal. De Genova does not have tenure.
Though most university officials and trustees declined to comment on the controversy when contacted by Fox News, one said he supported Bollinger’s statement.
"My mind turns with admiration to the deaths and wounds and countless other sacrifices suffered by tens of thousands of brave U.S. military people to establish and protect American rights of free speech ... even free speech as outrageous, insensitive, thoughtless and offensive as that reportedly uttered by Professor De Genova," said attorney Stephen Case.
Some students defended the professor. About two dozen of his students took part in a silent protest on Tuesday, as they sat quietly outside in the rain to show their support of De Genova and their displeasure with the university’s handling of the matter.
"We feel that the university has failed to protect Nick," anthropology grad student Ayca Cubukcu told the Spectator.
LINK: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,83002,00.html
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hard to pass any judgement when they only print one sentence of what he said
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You can\'t make a person stop thinking what they want to, you can just make your own opinions.
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It figures that you probably would agree with him ya freak. Maybe he could give you some tips on where to "hide out".
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You should stop and think what would make someone say something like that.
What he said in wanting Americans to die was wrong. Even if your against this war you shouldnt want ANYONE to die. Even if you think someone is in the wrong, you shouldnt wish death on them. If they are in the wrong, death will come upon them anyways.
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Originally posted by Clowd
You should stop and think what would make someone say something like that.
Um he hates America? That is the only explanation. With comments and beliefs like that he should be trying to get out of the country. It is one thing to oppose the war, but what he said can\'t be justified - unless of course you are in the Baath Party or a member of of one of these Islamic Fundamentalist groups.
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Anyway is spelled with no \'s\'.
What this guy said is revolting. I don\'t care what it was about. That is just uncalled for.
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I have the professors email address and phone number for anyone who wants it... ;)
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Well I disagree with him. I\'m sure most people do. But apparently those are his thoughts, and as long as they\'re just thoughts, it\'s not really a big deal.
He can think what he wants, just like I might rightfully believe he\'s an ass. ;]
-Eik
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Originally posted by GigaShadow
Um he hates America? That is the only explanation. With comments and beliefs like that he should be trying to get out of the country. It is one thing to oppose the war, but what he said can\'t be justified - unless of course you are in the Baath Party or a member of of one of these Islamic Fundamentalist groups.
theres more people/groups then that that share is beliefs and are willing to do things like 9-11 against America.
Not a good time to visit the capital....
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Originally posted by Eiksirf
Well I disagree with him. I\'m sure most people do. But apparently those are his thoughts, and as long as they\'re just thoughts, it\'s not really a big deal.
He can think what he wants, just like I might rightfully believe he\'s an ass. ;]
-Eik
Sometimes I go to the mall with my wife and I see a hot chick.
I think to myself, "Man I\'d love to slam my penis in her poonanny."
You realize how far I\'d get my ass knocked down if I said that out loud?
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Quick someone... hold me back.... (why you son of a.... ill kick ur little... come here u .......) ok well i just got my anger out. Yea... people who are ignorant enough to make a statement like that should just not be acknowledged by the public.
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Alright, that\'s fair. I didn\'t take poonanny into consideration before I made that post. ;]
-Eik
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Yea we have freedom of speech...but no matter how you feel about a subject.....there are some things that you just dont say. This is one of them.
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This is why I have such a distaste for college and the teachers (for the most part) that work in these universities. I can\'t tell how many classes I have had that were so obviously slanted to one side of the political spectrum.
This professor doesn\'t deserve death threats but a good reason to find another line of work.
Here is a small part of an article that involves Columbia.
Teach-In, Turn On, Walk Out
The ins and outs of the antiwar movement.
By Matthew Continetti
In the spring of 1968, antiwar activists protesting American military action in Indochina besieged Columbia University\'s historic Low Library, the massive, Romanesque space designed by McKim, Mead, and White which houses the offices of university administrators. Thirty-five years later, Low Library still contains the offices of university administrators. But today, antiwar activists are welcomed inside.
Such was the case on Wednesday night, when hundreds of Columbia students braved long lines and rain for a chance to witness a faculty-led "teach-in" on the Iraq crisis. I was one of them. And judging from the monolithically antiwar attitude of the speakers — and the uproarious applause that greeted criticism of the war and of the Bush administration — I was a pro-war minority of one.
The teach-in, organized by the Columbia Anti-War Coalition in conjunction with leading faculty members (among them historians Eric Foner and Alan Brinkley and law professor Patricia Williams), included over 20 presentations from faculty members on topics including international law, humanitarian aid, and the reconstruction of Iraq.
While some presentations — notably those of political scientist Gary Sick and historian Charles Armstrong — took a dispassionate, scholarly attitude toward the events in the Middle East and elsewhere, most of the lecturers simply argued that George W. Bush, not Saddam Hussein, poses the greatest threat to world peace and security.
Moreover, "teach-in" is something of a misnomer. In fact, the panelists were not really teaching, if teaching means "to impart knowledge or a skill." Instead, the cavernous rotunda of Low Library was in effect made into an echo chamber for anti-Bush boilerplate.
It became clear over the course of the six-hour teach-in that antiwar activists and intellectuals care little, if at all, about Iraq. There were few direct references to Saddam Hussein. What the antiwar professors do care about is the Bush administration. "A coup d\'etat brought us to this path," said Todd Gitlin, professor of journalism and author of Letters to a Young Activist. "Our most cogent obligation is to assure that George W. Bush is not in office in 2005."
Nary a speaker departed the podium without mentioning that George W. Bush is an "illegitimate" president. "Try democracy in Washington or somewhere else," said George Saliba, a professor of the history of science in the Department of Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures.
"I live under an unelected government," said Bruce Robbins, a professor of English and Comparative Literature. In Robbins\'s view, apparently, not all wars are equally evil: "I fantasize," he said, "about being liberated by a European invasion."
Comparisons of the Bush administration with Nazi Germany and other totalitarian, imperialist powers were also common. "We must talk in order to remind the tyrants who have ignored the consent of the governed," said Barbara Fields, a professor of history. "Our leaders have given the finger to the millions who have demonstrated against the war." Professor Normand quoted Nuremberg prosecutor Robert L. Jackson, essentially equating Donald Rumsfeld with Hermann Goering. And political scientist Jack Snyder found room in his speech to compare the Bush administration with, in chronological order, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm, Hitler, and Tojo.
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Ace, IMO..college is exactly where that type of thing belongs. Teach the basics like they do k-12 without slanted views, which are hardly ever anyway.
Once we have the choice(college) we can choose which slanted prof. to listen to. I dont agree with that guys words, but they are his and he is entitled to them.