Ex-Weather Underground member to speak at CU
http://www.kjct8.com/Global/story.asp?S=9879321
Associated Press - February 20, 2009
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Former left-wing radical William Ayers is
coming to Colorado for a speech at the state's flagship university,
just after being denied entry to Canada to make a speech there.
Ayers has been invited to speak next month at the University of
Colorado in Boulder. Also speaking is Ward Churchill, a former CU
professor fired two years ago on plagiarism allegations after he
equated some Sept. 11 victims to Nazi Adolf Eichmann.
Ayers is a former member of the Weather Underground who featured
prominently in Republican efforts to thwart Barack Obama's
presidential campaign. Ayers was invited to speak at the University
of Toronto last month, but Canada denied his entry.
Churchill and Ayers will take part in a student-organized lecture
about academic freedom March 5.
Information from: Daily Camera, http://www.dailycamera.com/
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Central Pa. GOP reps want Ayers visit canceled
http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_11749248
The Associated Press
Posted: 02/20/2009
MILLERSVILLE, Pa.Seven Republican state representatives from central
Pennsylvania have written to university officials urging them to
cancel an upcoming campus lecture by a former radical activist.
The Lancaster County lawmakers say the appearance by William Ayers at
Millersville University would be inappropriate. His role in the
radical Weather Underground 40 years ago became an issue in the
recent presidential campaign.
Millersville spokeswoman Janet Kacskos says the March 19 event is
expected to go on as scheduled.
State System of Higher Education spokesman Kenn Marshall says system
Chancellor John Cavanaugh hopes to meet with the lawmakers to discuss
their concerns.
Phone and e-mail messages left Friday for Ayers were not immediately returned.
--
Information from: Lancaster New Era, http://www.lancasteronline.com
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Pennsylvania lawmakers protest Bill Ayers speech at Millersville University
http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1444129,w-bill-ayers-millersville-university022209.article
February 22, 2009
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. Republican state representatives from central
Pennsylvania have written to university officials urging them to
cancel an upcoming campus lecture by former radical activist William Ayers.
The Lancaster County lawmakers say the appearance at Millersville
University would be inappropriate. His role in the radical Weather
Underground 40 years ago became an issue in the recent presidential campaign.
Ayers is a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Millersville spokeswoman Janet Kacskos says the March 19 event is
expected to go on as scheduled.
State System of Higher Education spokesman Kenn Marshall says system
Chancellor John Cavanaugh hopes to meet with the lawmakers to discuss
their concerns.
Messages left Friday for Ayers weren't immediately returned.
Meanwhile, Ayers also has been invited to speak at Colorado's
flagship university. Ayers is slated to appear next month at the
University of Colorado in Boulder.
Also speaking is Ward Churchill, a former CU professor fired two
years ago on plagiarism allegations after he equated some Sept. 11
victims to Nazi Adolf Eichmann Churchill and Ayers will take part in
a student-organized lecture about academic freedom March 5.
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Protestors out of line
Bryant West
Issue date: 2/18/09
January 28 was the most rowdy I have ever seen our school without
sports involved. Having the infamous Bill Ayers, as a campus speaker,
will do that to a school, especially right after his recent media
attention during the election as "that terrorist that Obama knows."
The Soda Center was packed and many students and spectators could not
even get in, while protesters marched and chanted their anger at
Ayers and Saint Mary's.
But as all of the attention focused on the protestors,which consisted
of a group called Move America Forward, who donned signs and chanted
"Ayers lied, people died," the Saint Mary's students were the ones
who were misrepresented in all the mess. Certainly, a good number of
the students crowding outside of the Soda Center were there for the
spectacle of it all, but many just wanted the right to hear Ayers
talk, whether or not they agreed with the protestors. But what plenty
of the students were upset over was the fact that the protestors
treated us like ignorant young children who needed protection.
I have no problem with protesting Ayers. The man has admitted to
bombing U.S. buildings and repeatedly said he does not feel bad about
it. There is nothing wrong with the protesting, but it was the
group's patronizing attitude to "protect" the students, their desire
to keep students out of the talk, that was the real problem. "If we
don't speak up, who will?" protestor Nancy Messer told the Contra
Costa Times. "We don't want [the students] corrupted." Excuse me? Are
we college students, or kindergarteners? I did not realize that being
in college- this supposed higher standard of learning, meant that we
had to be protected from big, bad Bill Ayers, come all this way to
turn students into "terrorists."
Rochelle Bird, a Saint Mary's graduate, told the Contra Costa Times
that she intended to bring her family to the lecture to take up seats
that, according to the Contra Costa Times article, "might otherwise
be filled with impressionable students." Apparently, we are all so
malleable that we can not hear someone talk without filtering
anything out. Protesting the lecture? That is perfectly fine. Keeping
students out for our "intellectual safety"? That is robbing us of our rights.
It is the students who should have the first chance to hear anyone,
including Ayers. The protestors violated our rights by trying to
"protect" us by keeping us out and treating us all like ignorant fools.
.
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