UMass teacher blasts colleagues on hoax story

Boston Globe ^ | 12/29/05 | Jonathan Saltzman

[Pikamax]

UMass teacher blasts colleagues on hoax story Episode warrants reprimand, he says By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | December 29, 2005

The head of policy studies at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth wants the university to suspend a student who made up a story about being grilled by federal antiterrorism agents over a library book and to reprimand faculty members who spread the tale.

Following the student's admission Friday that it was a hoax, Clyde Barrow, chairman of the policy studies department, said UMass should punish the student and faculty members, in particular two history professors who repeated the unsubstantiated assertion of the history student to a New Bedford Standard-Times reporter.

The story, first reported by the newspaper on Dec. 17, was picked up by other news outlets, triggered screeds on left-wing and right-wing blogs, spurred a flurry of concerned e-mails among UMass faculty, and appeared in a Globe op-ed piece written by Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

In a Saturday Globe story reporting the hoax confession, UMass spokesman John Hoey said the university had no plans to discipline the unidentified student because the deception had nothing to do with his studies.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The story that keeps on giving...

[P-40]

Suspending/expelling a student for intellectual dishonesty sounds like a no-brainer to me...and a valuable lesson to the student.

[Fiddlstix]

Just Damn

[Ninian Dryhope]

"the university had no plans to discipline the unidentified student because the deception had nothing to do with his studies" and it was done in a good cause, defaming President Bush and America, which is exactly what UMASS stands for as a charter member of the Blame America First club.

[SlowBoat407]

Suspending/expelling a student for intellectual dishonesty sounds like a no-brainer to me...and a valuable lesson to the student.

More importantly, it puts the student that much farther away from being able to use any kind of credible background as authority for future moonbat emissions.

[King Moonracer]

UMass spokesman John Hoey said the university had no plans to discipline the unidentified student because the deception had nothing to do with his studies.

Like that ever stopped them before. State University folks are among the pettiest dictators around when they disagree with the politics of a student.

[DBrow]

Of course nobody gets punished for spreading blatant false anti-Bush propaganda at a time that the Patriot Act is being debated.

It was a hit against Bush! It's a free throw.

And the professor is proud of how middle-of-the-road centrist moderate he is, so he could not possibly have chuckled with glee when Senator Kennedy picked up his story and repeated it.

The worst part is that core story makes absolutely no sense at all. Mao's Little Red Book?

[KC_Conspirator]

...appeared in a Globe op-ed piece written by Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

Are you kidding me? That POS cited that bogus article in the student paper? Kennedy is the master of lies.

[ssaftler]

Wow, I guess there are afew good guys left at U Mass-Dartmouth. MAJOR props to the unnamed head of policy studies. We could use a whole lot more of this person in academia!

[Always Right]

Why punnish the kid??? Eventhough it was completely made up, it was still 100% accurate. The bright kid has the making of being the future editor of the NYT.

[RabidBartender]

Kudos to Clyde Barrow for stepping up and seeking punishment for the student.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Clyde Barrow, chairman of the policy studies department

Is his girlfriend's name Bonnie Parker?

[Always Right]

Wow, I guess there are afew good guys left at U Mass-Dartmouth. MAJOR props to the unnamed head of policy studies. We could use a whole lot more of this person in academia!

Not really. The professor is probably just mad at the kid for making the MSM look like idiots and giving the conservatives a good laugh at their expense.

[ssaftler]

Oops. Missed the guys name when I scanned the article.

"Clyde Barrow"? Is this a pseudonym or an unfortunate joke played on him by his parents??

[mcenedo]

Williams, an associate professor of Islamic history, said he prides himself for having middle-of-the road political views and said Barrow's description of the professors was ''incendiary language" befitting someone who ''seems to me to be unstable."

I'm soooo sure he is middle of the road and anyone who doesn't believe him is just plain crazy.

Got it?

[P-40]

The worst part is that core story makes absolutely no sense at all. Mao's Little Red Book?

The sad thing is that this story got so much coverage with so few catching such an obvious error. I used to do a lot of fake "news" stories until it became too hard to keep people from taking them as truth.

[Darkwolf377]

Clyde Barrow

Bonnie Parker could not be reached for comment.

[Darkwolf377]

So when a female Harvard professor gets the vapors because the President of Harvard wonders aloud why women aren't as comeptitive in science, all the forces go into play to reprimand him.

But when someone actually flat-out lies about the WOT at UMass...zilch.

[Baby Driver]

Democrat "ethics", "trustworthiness", "responsability"
and "patriotism"...displayed for all to see.