[5 articles] 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: [email protected] -------- 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] or 291-8781. . --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sixties-L" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sixties-l?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
