GOP targets Ayers
http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/234427
Reps press Millersville University to KO speech
Intelligencer Journal
Published: Feb 28, 2009
The state chancellor of higher education will meet Friday with
Republican lawmakers outraged about Millersville University hosting a
controversial education expert next month.
GOP state Reps. John Bear, Scott Boyd, Tom Creighton Bryan Cutler,
Gordon Denlinger, Dave Hickernell and Katie True have called on the
university to cancel the March 19 lecture by Bill Ayers, a noted
expert on urban education and former Vietnam-era radical.
Thus far, the university has not backed down. But John Cavanaugh,
chancellor of the state System of Higher Education, has agreed to
meet with the seven Republicans to discuss their concerns.
"He understands that Bill Ayers is recognized as one of the
pre-eminent experts in the country on urban education," Cavanaugh
spokesman Kenn Marshall said Friday. "He also understands that
(Ayers) comes with a lot of baggage."
Creighton, Cutler and Hickernell said they would attend the meeting
with Cavanaugh. The Lancaster New Era reported that Boyd will attend,
too. The others did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Since the 1980s, Ayers has worked extensively in reforming urban
education and is now an author and professor at the University of
Illinois at Chicago.
Four decades ago, however, Ayers co-founded the radical group Weather
Underground, which detonated bombs at public buildings and memorials
to protest the Vietnam War. Weather Underground would alert people to
avoid the area before setting off the bombs.
Ayers said in an op-ed piece published in December in the New York
Times that he "never killed or injured anyone."
"The Weather Underground crossed lines of legality, of propriety and
perhaps even of common sense," Ayers wrote. "Our effectiveness can be
and still is being debated. We did carry out symbolic acts of
extreme vandalism directed at monuments to war and racism, and the
attacks on property, never on people, were meant to respect human
life and convey outrage and determination to end the Vietnam war."
Not only do the local Republican lawmakers object to Ayers' means of
protesting the Vietnam War, but they also said in a letter to MU that
his proposals to reform urban education promote "student and parental
political activism instead of achievement testing."
"I mean, this guy (Ayers) probably committed treason, and why
Millersville would want to give him a forum is really beyond my
understanding," Creighton said. "I want them to understand where I'm
coming from."
Hickernell said he's hoping the Republicans can convince Cavanaugh to
join their chorus of voices in calling for MU to cancel the event.
"I'm optimistic that he is looking at this and hopefully will
reconsider," Hickernell said.
Cutler said his constituents are objecting to the use of any public
funds to pay Ayers for his speech or for anything related to the event.
"At the end of the day, the institution does utilize tax dollars,"
Cutler said of MU. "So there has to be a measure of accountability."
Ayers' speaking fee comes out of a private university endowment, and
any costs above what is normally used for security at such events
will come from private donations, MU spokeswoman Janet Kacskos said Friday.
In a related development, the university and a regional
anti-terrorism task force met Friday to discuss security measures for
the event.
The South Central Task Force, which includes the emergency-management
agencies and first responders in a nine-county region, will provide
20 police officers and a central command unit for the event.
But the officers and the command unit are being deployed as a
training exercise for the task force, paid for with federal funds
from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The task force asked MU if it could take advantage of the Ayers event
expected to draw both supporters and protesters to conduct a
training exercise for police officers. The task force's overall
mission is to prepare emergency responders for a catastrophe or
terrorist attack.
More meetings are expected between task force officials and MU.
"Today was to discuss procedures from a training aspect for a
response capability," Randy Gockley, a member of the task force's
board of directors, said. "That goes on with any type of special
event a presidential visit or any type of situation, be it a street
fair or whatever we're involved in."
Gockley also is the coordinator of Lancaster County Emergency
Management Agency.
--
E-mail: dpidgeon@lnpnews.com
--------
MU faces intense pressure on Bill Ayers
http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/234498
Intelligencer Journal
Published: Mar 02, 2009
By DAVE PIDGEON, Staff Writer
Nestled in one of last week's news articles about outraged Republican
state lawmakers trying to prevent Bill Ayers from coming to
Millersville University was this quote from state Rep. Bryan Cutler:
"At the end of the day, the institution does utilize tax dollars,"
Cutler said to me Friday, "so there has to be a measure of accountability."
Accountability to taxpayers unhappy with MU's choice of speaker, a
lauded education expert but formerly a radical during the Vietnam War
ear, Cutler was saying.
Cutler touched on something that's hovering over this ongoing
controversy. Mainly, what does accountability to the state
Legislature look like for Millersville and the other state-operated
universities?
The seven state House representatives from Lancaster County Cutler,
John Bear, Scott Boyd, Tom Creighton, Gordon Denlinger, Dave
Hickernell and Katie True have made it abundantly clear what they
want from MU: cancel the Ayers event.
The Republicans object both to Ayers' controversial past and his
theories on urban education which they consider too radical.
Republicans also are upset about the prospect of taxpayer dollars
subsidizing the event, even though the university has said Ayers'
speaking fee is covered by private funds, as is the cost of any
security measures above what is normally spent for speaking events.
MU has remained defiant. The Ayers show will go on March 19.
Hickernell last week said he's going to a meeting with the rest of
the Lancaster GOP delegation and John Cavanaugh, the chancellor of
the State System of Higher Education, hoping to sway Cavanaugh to their side.
At this point, though, the story has taken on such a high profile
that for MU to cancel the Ayers event would make it appear as if
they're bowing to pressure from lawmakers.
There's a precedent there to consider.
Should MU cancel, the university surely would receive praise from
local conservatives, but it would raise a serious question for the
state Legislature: Where does it all end for Pennsylvania's higher
education institutions?
What if East Stroudsburg University invited a controversial
conservative celebrity and a small but vocal group of Democratic
state lawmakers pressed the university to cancel? If the university
caved, there would be serious ramifications to consider about the
relationship of the state's higher education system and the body politic.
The same is true now.
Where's the line if the universities have to consider political
pressure when booking speakers for their students and campus communities?
...
--------
Anti-terror unit confirms university asked for Ayers security
http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/234389
Lancaster New Era
Published: Feb 27, 2009
By JACK BRUBAKER, Staff Writer
Millersville University officials and representatives of a regional
anti-terrorism task force were meeting today to discuss security
arrangements for the March 19 lecture by Bill Ayers, a former
militant anti-war activist.
"Final decisions may be made this afternoon," said Janet Kacskos,
MU's director of communications.
A task force spokesman this morning said that Millersville University
had requested its aid contrary to an Intelligencer Journal report
that said the task force had initiated talks concerning task force security.
Greg Noll, the task force's program manager, said MU asked
representatives of the task force and Millersville Borough Police to
a meeting concerning potential security issues.
During that discussion, the task force described what it could do.
Then MU sent an e-mail formally asking the task force to protect
Ayers and the task force said it would.
"We could not get involved unless we were asked," Noll said, "but
that's just part of the dialogue."
Meanwhile, the state representative who disclosed the plan for task
force aid Thursday continued to maintain that the university had
requested aid from the task force.
But other university and emergency officials disagreed.
Ayers helped found the Weather Underground. The group protested the
Vietnam War by bombing several public buildings in the 1970s.
Now a professor at the University of Chicago, Ayers has been asked to
speak to MU's School of Education about urban education.
The university has received "vulgar" and "threatening" telephone
calls because of Ayers' upcoming lecture, said a university official
who asked not to be named.
Randy Gockley, a member of the executive board of the South Central
Pennsylvania Regional Counter Terrorism Task Force, said this morning
that Noll initiated the security proposal about a month ago.
"We see this as an opportunity for training," Gockley said. "We've
done this before in some other real-world events." He gave as
examples presidential visits and a craft show.
"Greg Noll looked at this as a potential to be doing training with
this high-profile person coming in and the possible need for
additional security," Gockley explained. "And the university said
that may not be a bad idea."
Kacskos, the only member of the university community who will speak
about Ayers' visit by name, said "the task force contacted us. They
called the police chief and said they might be able to organize this
as a training exercise."
Why did the task force approach MU?
"I guess they heard about Dr. Ayers coming and there have been
demonstrations at other Ayers events and they thought they could help
here," she said.
State Rep. John Bear maintained, however, that the university
initiated the task force idea, as he was told Wednesday, and the New
Era reported on Thursday.
"We've kind of caught them with their pants down on this," Bear said.
"I talked with four sources two who can't be identified and Craig
Stedman and (MU vice president) Jerry Eckert. I asked them all the
same question: 'Did Millersville University make a request that the
task force be engaged for protection?"'
Bear said they all answered "yes."
"I don't know what has changed other than spinning of information so
(university officials) don't look bad and take heat," he said.
Stedman could not be reached for comment this morning. Eckert would
not comment.
A Millersville official who asked not to be named said that the idea
of providing security for Ayers began with a meeting called by the university.
"It was not to ask for any assistance," the official explained, "but
for law enforcement guidance, and at that meeting, law enforcement
offered to assist."
--
Staff writer Jack Brubaker can be reached at jbrubaker@LNPnews.com or
291-8781.
--------
Chancellor wants to meet with legislators on Ayers' MU visit
http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/234388
Lancaster New Era
Published: Feb 27, 2009
By JACK BRUBAKER, Staff Writer
The county Republican delegation's request to Millersville University
officials to cancel former anti-Vietnam radical turned education
professor Bill Ayers' appearance at the university has drawn two responses.
Ayers has invited the legislators to attend his March 19 lecture.
And the state's chancellor of higher education, John Cavanaugh, has
asked the legislators to meet with him at Millersville University
next week to discuss Ayers' visit.
The university has come under fire for inviting Ayers, a co-founder
of the Weather Underground, which set bombs at the Pentagon and U.S.
Capitol in the 1960s and '70s. The FBI filed charges against him that
were later dropped.
Now Ayers is a professor of education at the University of Chicago.
He plans to discuss urban education during his visit in March.
"Come to the lecture," Ayers challenged the GOP legislators Thursday.
"Question me. Challenge me. But don't challenge me based on a cartoon
character created ... to smear Barack Obama."
Rep. Scott Boyd said he will meet with Cavanaugh and MU
representatives to hear their explanation for the invitation to Ayers.
But he said he is not planning to attend Ayers' talk.
"If Mr. Ayers wants to come to my office and have a discussion about
why he thinks it was appropriate to bomb public buildings in a
statement of protest, I would welcome that conversation," he said.
Boyd said he grew up in the 1970s and "watched the moral decay of the
protest movement that was precipitated by individuals like Bill Ayers."
Rep. Katie True also rejected the invitation. She said she would not
sit in the same room with "someone who tried to blow up government
buildings and monuments."
True said she had friends who served in Vietnam and who "were spat
upon by radical protesters when they returned." Ayers also "sullied
our military," she said.
"Millersville University can do better," she noted. "If you Google
'urban education,' you will get lots of interesting professors."
Rep. Gordon Denlinger said he will not attend the lecture because
Ayers has never apologized and "remains a criminal for the actions
that he took with regard to violent protest."
--
Staff writer Jack Brubaker can be reached at jbrubaker@LNPnews.com or
291-8781.
--------
Anti-terror unit asked to protect Ayers
http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/234332
MU asks regional security task force, created after Sept. 11, to
guard ex-radical during visit in March. College cites threats. Local
officials upset.
Lancaster New Era
Published: Feb 26, 2009
By JACK BRUBAKER, Staff Writer
Millersville University has asked the regional counter-terrorism task
force to provide security when William Ayers, a former militant
anti-war activist, speaks at the university next month.
Area law enforcement officers are disturbed.
Speaking on their behalf, Lancaster County District Attorney Craig
Stedman said law enforcement must provide security if the university
requests it, "regardless of how we feel about an unrepentant terrorist."
However, he called MU's decision to invite Ayers "a remarkably
irresponsible choice" and urged the university to consider
alternatives, such as remote video, "which would provide a forum
without the public safety risks or costs."
State Rep. John Bear, who was informed of the security plan by a
local police officer, also teed off on the university. He said he
shared the plan with the Lancaster County House Republicans and they
also were "appalled."
"The fact that they even asked the anti-terrorism task force to be
involved shows you they think this is going to be controversial,
maybe even dangerous," he said. "Why would they even hold the event
in the first place?"
The counter-terrorism task force was created in the wake of the
terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
The university has explained that Ayers' appearance here on March 19
is part of an initiative by the School of Education to revitalize its
urban education program for future teachers. Ayers is a recognized
authority in the field of urban education.
A professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago,
Ayers helped found the Weather Underground while in his 20s. The
group protested the Vietnam War by bombing several public buildings
in the 1970s.
Ayers, who has acknowledged participating in the bombing of the
Capitol in 1971 and of the Pentagon in 1972, faced criminal charges,
which were dropped.
Protests have been staged at other colleges where Ayers has spoken,
especially since the media reported his association with President
Barack Obama. Several colleges have canceled appearances, citing
security concerns and costs.
Bear and Stedman criticized MU for thinking about using a public
agency and public funds to protect Ayers.
"I just think that it's absolutely wrong for the university to use
public funds," said Bear. "The guy's a known terrorist. Using
anti-terrorism funds to protect a known terrorist is irresponsible."
Stedman said, "Especially in these economic times, I believe it is
unthinkable that any taxpayer money should be spent on a situation
entirely created by choice, and I believe the university should pay
for all costs."
MU spokesperson Janet Kacskos stressed this morning that a final
decision on how to pay for Ayers' security will be made Friday after
the university's police chief gathers more information.
"We will know after that meeting if it's going to be a training
exercise for the task force or if we'll need to pay for it," Kacskos said.
If MU does pay for the security, she added, the money will come from
private funds, as is the $3,000 being used to pay Ayers for his talk.
The university has designated Kacskos, director of communications, as
spokeswoman for all information related to Ayers.
Jerry Eckert, vice president for university advancement, declined to
discuss the matter.
MU last asked for an off-campus police force to guard a speaker nine
years ago. Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law
Center, had been threatened by several white supremacist groups and
the Ku Klux Klan.
Twenty police officers from four local departments guarded Dees when
he spoke at the university's three-day Conference on Violence in
America. Officers used metal detectors to search the 800 people who attended.
An MU official who declined to be named said this morning that
special security is needed for Ayers because "media attention,
especially from electronic media" has prompted "calls that are not
only vulgar but threatening."
Student safety, the official said, is "paramount in our minds."
The mission of the South Central Pennsylvania Regional Counter
Terrorism Task Force, according to its Web site, is "to protect
lives, social and economic infrastructure from terrorist threats or incidents."
The task force covers eight counties, including
Lancaster. It operates under the guidance of the federal Department
of Homeland Security.
--
Staff writer Jack Brubaker can be reached at jbrubaker@LNPnews.com or
291-8781.
.
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