William Ayers calls push for his firing 'frivolous'
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ayers-school-06feb06,0,3012489.story
Educator, former radical defends self against criticisms during
speaking engagement at high school
Steve Brosinski, special to the Tribune
February 6, 2009
Calling a state senator's push to get him axed from his public
university job "frivolous," William Ayers on Thursday said lawmakers
have more important things to do than to go after him.
Ayers, a former member of the radical Weather Underground and a topic
of heated discussion during the 2008 presidential and primary
campaigns, was responding to a Downstate Republican's proposal to
forbid a public university from employing someone who has "committed
a violent act" against the United States or Illinois.
"This is absurd," Ayers, 64, said in a speech at Riverside-Brookfield
High School. "It's a waste of time."
The Weather Underground set off bombs at government buildings in
protest of the Vietnam War. In a 2001 book, Ayers said he
participated but never hurt anyone. Charges were filed against him
but were dropped in 1973.
Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said the
proposal by state Sen. Larry Bomke of Springfield is "working off of
a Fox News paradigm."
Ayers defended his controversial past, and said it would have been
wrong to not take a stance against the Vietnam War.
--------
Neo-McCarthyism lives, snares Bill Ayers
February 6, 2009
by Sergio Barreto, Chicago Progressive Examiner
So you thought that after watching the Bush cabal slink out of
Washington in ignominy, the "love it or leave it" crowd that spent
most of the decade throwing periodical neo-McCarthyist fits would
just pipe down and crawl under a big rock.
Well, think again. Central Illinois State Sen. Larry Bomke (50th
District) just introduced a bill designed to put University of
Illinois at Chicago (UIC) professor William Ayers out of a job over
his militant past.
The bill doesn't single out Ayers, of course; it merely seeks to keep
any university that receives state funding "from employing a person
who has committed an act of violence against the government of the
United States of America or the State of Illinois." But there aren't
that many people in Illinois (or anywhere else) who fit the
description, and at any rate Bomke admitted to Galesburg's
Register-Mail that the bill was drafted with Ayers in mind.
Problem is, the description may not even apply to Ayers. The bill
doesn't define what "an act of violence" is; Ayers has admitted to
taking part in the bombing of some government buildings, but nobody
was injured in these actions, and while he was indicted over the
bombing campaign, the charges got dropped after it was revealed that
the government used some shady tactics of its own (illegal bugging,
break-ins) in the effort to convict him and other Weathermen.
In the next few decades, Ayers became a respected professor and
education theorist who played a role in Chicago school reform,
earning praise from Mayor Daley, whose adminstration isn't exactly
known for being kind to protester types. Ayers has expressed regret
over some of his actions, and although there's some room for doubt
about his version of the story, even the prosecutor in charge of the
ill-fated case against Ayers said recently that he was entitled to a
chance to redeem himself.
But after the McCain campaign seized on Ayers' tenuous connection
with Obama as a chance to tar the candidate, the idea that Ayers is
an unrepentant terrorist with blood on his hands became an article of
faith among the right wing, and little things like facts and reason
have no place in that kind of discussion. And so three months after
the election, Ayers still can't make any public appearances without
being heckled.
Speaking at a suburban high school Thursday, Ayers lambasted the bill
as "absurd" and "a waste of time." Some voices of reason have come to
his defense, including UIC education professor William Schubert and
the ACLU of Illinois.
--------
Controversial professor calls job threat 'frivolous'
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/controversial-professor-calls-job-threat-frivolous.html
February 5, 2009
by Steve Brosinski
Calling a state senator's push to get him axed from his public
university job as "frivolous," William Ayers today said lawmakers
have more important things to do than to go after him.
Ayers, a former member of the radical Weather Underground group and a
topic of heated discussion during the 2008 presidential campaign, was
responding to a downstate Republican's proposal to forbid a public
university from employing someone who has "committed a violent act"
against the United States or Illinois.
"This is absurd," Ayers, 64, told a mostly young audience in a speech
at Riverside-Brookfield High School. "It's a waste of time."
The Weather Underground bombed government buildings in protest of the
Vietnam War. In a 2001 book, Ayers said he participated in the
bombings but never hurt anyone. Charges were filed against him but
were dropped in 1973.
Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, compared
the proposal by state Sen. Larry Bomke of Springfield to a
conservative TV network's hatchet job.
"It's working off of a Fox News paradigm," he said.
Before a crowd of about 175 made up mostly of high school students,
Ayers defended his controversial past as a 1960s radical. He said it
would have been wrong not to take a stance against the Vietnam War.
An education professor and an advocate of school reform, Ayers also
gave a lukewarm endorsement of the choice of Arne Duncan as the U.S.
Secretary of Education. Ayers said Duncan, the former Chicago public
schools chief, was the best of "four failed superintendents" on
President Barack Obama's shortlist for the post.
"He [Duncan] doesn't hate teachers ... and he doesn't hate the
teachers' union," he said. "He's the best of the lot."
Obama and Ayers became acquainted early in Obama's political career
on Chicago's South Side. Questions about their association were
campaign fodder during the presidential campaign.
Ayers said he refused to talk about Obama throughout the campaign
because he objected to being portrayed negatively in the media. The
notion of guilt by association could have tarnished Obama's
reputation, he said.
"The fact that Obama talks to a lot of people is not a sin," he said.
"It's a virtue."
Jan Goldberg, a social studies teacher at Riverside-Brookfield, said
the school's Forum Club invited Ayers to speak because students were
interested in learning more about his role in the presidential race.
"That's my job to get them [students] to think critically," she said.
"And I think they were engaged."
--------
Bill would target professors with violent past
http://www.galesburg.com/news/news_state/x955247948/Bill-would-target-professors-with-violent-past
By Eric Naing
GateHouse News Service
Posted Feb 06, 2009
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. The story of protestor-turned-professor William
Ayers was enough to send state Sen. Larry Bomke to the legislative
drawing board.
Bomke, R-Springfield, is pushing Senate Bill 41, which would prevent
Illinois universities that accept state funds from employing anyone
who has "committed an act of violence" against the state or federal
government.
Bomke came up with the idea after learning about William Ayers, a
former member of the radical anti-war group the Weather Underground.
Ayers' group was responsible for a campaign to bomb public buildings
during the 1960s and 1970s. Today, Ayers is a professor at the
University of Illinois at Chicago.
"I was outraged that we have somebody teaching at a major university
that is a proud former terrorist," Bomke said.
Ayers did not return messages seeking comment about the proposal.
Ayers called the proposal absurd and a waste of lawmakers' time in a
speech Thursday at a suburban Chicago high school, the Chicago
Tribune reported.
Critics of the idea include fellow educators who say the proposal is
misguided and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.
Ayers gained national notoriety during the just-completed election
after a controversy about his connection to President Barack Obama.
Bomke insists that he is not attacking Obama.
"This has nothing to do with President Obama," he said. "I believe
him when he says he had no idea that Bill Ayers had been a former terrorist."
But Bomke says he's not targeting Ayers either.
"I don't want it to be the 'Bill Ayers bill,' but he certainly is
the one that instigated it," said Bomke. "Whether the bill is
applicable to him or not, I don't know."
That's one of several issues Bomke still needs to work out.
The measure does not specify what counts as "an act of violence,"
but Bomke said the destruction of government property or harming
people should qualify.
There's also a question of whom the proposal would cover. Ayers, for
example, was never charged or convicted of any crime. Bomke suggests
universities would have to check the backgrounds of their employees
for anyone who has at least admitted to committing an act of violence
against the government.
"It really is going to be more by admission -- granted, that's going
to make things a little more difficult," he said.
Bomke also said he's not specifically targeting former members of the
Weather Underground group and can't name any other former terrorists
working for public universities here.
"I hadn't even heard about Ayers until last year," Bomke said.
Bomke said the legislation can be modified later if it gets more
support, but that's also a question.
"I have no idea and I may well not," said Bomke. "We'll just have to
see how it goes."
Rikeesha Phelon, a spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton,
D-Chicago, had no comment on the idea or whether it will move ahead
in the Senate this spring.
Others see problems with what Bomke is trying to do.
UIC education professor William Schubert, who has known Ayers for
more than 20 years and was the chair of his department, believes
Bomke's legislation is "not too far removed" from blacklisting and
McCarthyism that targeted alleged communists in the 1950s and said
that firing Ayers would harm the state.
"In view of the fact that so many students depend on him for advice
and support, it would be an act of violence against the state if he
were taken away from them," said Wilson.
Ed Yohnka, communications director for the ACLU of Illinois, is
worried about the consequences of targeting individuals that have not
been convicted of a crime. Yohnka says the measure "is not a good
use of public policy time" and that avenues already exist to deal
with educators with a criminal past.
"If there is an individual that broke the law and was convicted of it
but received a teaching position, there are ways to deal with that," he said.
--
Eric Naing can be reached at (217) 782-3095 or eric.naing@sj-r.com.
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