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Gold9472
09-14-2006, 10:33 PM
BYU's 'Conspiracy' Professor Getting New Support

http://kutv.com/local/local_story_256194352.html

9/13/2006

(KUTV) SALT LAKE CITY - It’s a local story – with ties to September 11th – that won’t go away.

Now, a BYU professor who believes a conspiracy was involved in the terror attacks on America is getting support from fellow scholars.

Physicist Steven Jones was put on administrative leave last week, because BYU officials were worried that his conspiracy beliefs are tarnishing the university’s image. The school also expressed concern over his research methods.

Jones believes that the hijacked airliners that crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 were not enough to topple the towers by themselves. He says the resulting fire simply did not burn hot enough to cause the structural damage necessary for the buildings to collapse.

Many have criticized Jones for his theory, but now an academic group is stepping forward to offer support.

A local chapter of the American Association of University Professors is criticizing BYU for its actions, saying that it restricts academic expression of thought.

“The way that our institutions are supposed to work is, to raise questions,” said AAUP local founder Larry Anderson. “Let everybody else attack if they must.”

“This will help the information about his case get out to other people who are interested in academic freedom,” he added.

In response, BYU issued a statement saying that it “did not make its decision based on external pressure.”

Jones’ conspiracy theory is still generating some interest on the internet, among both supporters and critics – including Popular Mechanics, which says it can discredit any conspiracy theory.