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One-hundred-sixteen years ofeditorial freedom
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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXVI, No. 104
@2006 The Michigan Daily
o
Beware
professors?
E .
Book lists two 'U' profs among 101 most dangerous academics
CAITLIN KLEIBOER/Daily
Jon Lozer, a senior at Pickney Community High School, smokes a pipe at the bottom of the
sloping underground glass windows of the Law Library on Saturday after trying to retrieve a
frisbee and getting stuck In the deep ravine. Onlookers solved the potentially risky situation
without the help of law enforcement by pulling the man to safety with a rope.
H lash Bash
i s
By Kelly Fraser
Daily Staff Reporter
When Biology Prof. John Vandermeer heard that
right-wing activist and author David Horowitz had
published a list of the 101 most dangerous professors
in America, he said he grew upset.
Vandermeer wasn't angry that Horowitz was
attacking the academics - he was angry that he
didn't make the list.
"I'm dangerous - or at least I try to be," Vander-
meer joked.
While Vandermeer was overlooked, two Univer-
sity professors did gain Horowitz's recognition.
Because of their left-wing perspectives, His-
tory Prof. Juan Cole and Anthropology Prof. Gayle
Rubin each earned an entry in Horowitz's book, "The
Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in
America," published in February.
Horowitz labeled Cole as dangerous because
he holds a controversial perspective on U.S.
involvement in the Middle East and is fre-
quently quoted in the national media. Cole, a
prolific blogger, said he does not consider him-
self politically active.
"Anytime you become prominent you attract atten-
tion," Cole said. "Very frequently political opponents
resort to political assassination and smears. I stick to
making arguments deliberately in hopes of fostering
more dialogue."
Horowitz also slams Rubin, who was the Univer-
sity's first women's studies major, for her stances on
gender and sexuality.
Horowitz claims that Rubin once openly endorsed
pedophilia in a 2003 magazine piece and that she
believes there are no natural differences between men
and women.
Rubin could not be reached for comment because
she is currently on sabbatical.
Professors dismissed the book as an attempt to stir
up fear of liberal academics and damage their cre-
dentials in the eyes of the general public; few feel the
book carries much weight.
"I think it's pretty silly. Silly is the right word,
Vandermeer said.
Horowitz warns that the academics on the list,
mostly composed of political science and religion
professors, use the classroom to further their radical
agendas.
Horowitz, a founder of the New Left movement
in the 1960s, turned his back on liberal circles in the
1970s and now is the editor in chief of FrontPageMag.
com, an online conservative newsmagazine.
On the point of the dangers of pushing politics in
the classroom, Cole and Horowitz agree.
...................... ...........
Cole said the claim that he is guilty of using the
classroom as a soapbox is a "bald-faced lie."
To prove this, Cole pointed to his semester evalua-
tion scores for his class "America and Middle Eastern
Wars" last fall. Out of a possible 5 points, Cole earned
a 4.82 in the category of "Overall this was an excellent
course" and a 4.86 in "Overall the instructor was an
excellent teacher."
If he teaches with a political agenda, it would
be reflected in his scores, given that a large
lecture is composed of a variety of stu-
dents with a diverse range of political
viewpoints, he said.
RC sophomore Luke Bostian,
who took a course with Cole,
said the professor was up-
front about his views a
from the beginning.
According to Bos-
tian, Cole encouraged 3
students to challenge him.
Bostian acknowledged that
some conservative students may
have been turned off or intimidated
by Cole's authority.
Though Cole called the book "an irrel-
evant publicity stunt," he said it highlights an
increasing trend in politics to monitor and intim-
idate intellectuals; he refers to this as "the privatiza-
tion of McCarthyism."
Horowitz also said he is increasingly concerned
with the overlapping relationship between the gov-
ernment and universities, which he reasons could
lead to increased governmental control over the
curriculum.
"The purpose of intellectuals is to constantly exam-
ine the grounds of our political existence," Cole said.
"We have to be dangerous in that way. The Founding
Fathers were dangerous. Ben Franklin, Thomas Jef-
ferson - they were dangerous intellectuals."
Vandermeer said that he purposely chooses to
address contemporary issues in his Biology 101 course
to provoke students to place science in context.
"If by dangerous (Horowitz) means professors who
tell the truth to their students, then yes, I'm danger-
ous," Vandermeer said.
In a poll on FrontPageMag.com asking stu-
dents to vote for the "worst professors" in the
United States, Cole and Rubin's combined votes
place the University in fourth place overall behind
Penn State University, Columbia University and
Western Washington University.
Cole is ranked the fifth worst professor, only about
200 votes behind fourth-place Massachusetts Institute
of Technology Prof. Noam Chomsky.
Cast of characters at
annual event colorful,
but students not
represented well
By Drew Philp
Daily Staff Reporter
Aging hippies carrying signs of peace
joined dreadlocked teenagers on the Diag
Saturday to celebrate cannabis culture and
protest marijuana laws in Ann Arbor's 35th
annual Hash Bash.
Despite a low student turnout at the rally,
Hash Bash turned out ast least as many
supporters of marijuana as last year, when
about 900 came.
In years past, Hash Bash drew thousands
of colorful people to Ann Arbor to gather
in the aromatic, smoke-filled Diag. Recent
years' protests carried over to celebrations
Over the past seven
years, DPS has arrested
or issued citations to 212
Hash Bash attendees.
Only four of the 212 were
students.
This year DPS arrested two
and ticketed three for drug or
alcohol violations.
on Monroe Street, including this year.
Organizers and longtime bash attend-
ees noted that Hash Bash has fizzled and
changed face over the past few years.
"The crowd has been getting older every
See BASH, page 7A
Michael Eric Dyson
Humanities professor
University of Pennsylvania
Included for his use of hip-hop in
the classroom, hailing rapper Tupac
Shakur as a black Jesus.
Gloria Watkins
English professor
City University of New York
Included for herfeminist writings under
the pseudonym "bell hooks" and free-
structured classroom environment
incorporating race and class.
Victor Navasky
Journalism professor
Columbia University
Included for his role as edito-
rial director of left-wing journal The
Nation and for defending Alger Hiss
and the Rosenbergs in an article.
GRAPHIC BY
BRIDGET O'DONNELL
Detroit Project sweeps
away urban blight
ACCORDION RIDER
0 More than 1,000 students from 5
schools clean urban neighborhoods
on 7th annual DP Day
By Shruti Saran
For the Daily
DETROIT - Rows of homes, many unoccupied,
stand interrupted by empty lots dotted with piles of trash
composed of bricks, twigs, leaves, dirty diapers and other
items.
This was the scene at Brightmoor, a neighborhood in
northwest Detroit, before students participating in DP
Day arrived Saturday.
But by the time students left the scene looked much
different. Gone were the abandoned tires. Erased was the
overwhelming urban blight.
More than 1,000 students participated in the day, which
was hosted by the Detroit Project. The students came from
five universities - the University of Michigan, Eastern
Michigan Unversity, Wayne State University, Michigan
State University and the University of Detroit Mercy.
They assisted in cleaning up and beautifying Detroit
neighborhoods by doing things like picking up trash,
See DETROIT, page 7A
Internet TV
station goes
Earth-friendly
New London-based
environmental Internet television
station plays all green, all the time
By A. J. Hogg
Daily Science Writer
Internet television turned a little greener Friday with the
launching of Green.tv, a network that focuses on the envi-
ronment.
The network delivers on-demand, full-screen video via
Internet Protocol Television, an emerging technology.
"We're keen to make Green.tv the place to see environ-
mental films, whether that be online or on TV," said Ade
Thomas, Green .tv director.
Thomas's goal for the network is "leaving a positive
environmental footprint via its engaging, entertaining con-
tent."
Based in London and backed by the United Nations
Environment Program, the channel acquires films from
sources like Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, the Royal Hor-
ticultural Society as well as Ben and Jerry's.
The channel currently features 22 films with subjects
ranging from glacial retreat in Greenland to American oil
Ambulance response
slower for small sports
One gymnast lay
Crisler Arena on Feb. 17, she lay
er Dan Sedory was on the scene
- 'motionless on the arena floor administering first aid irom te I