Rep. Pocan Denounces Rep. Nass For Stance On UW Lecturer
Rep. Pocan denounces Rep. Nass for stance on UW lecturer
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/inde...=91016&ntpid=2
By Bill Novak
7/13/2006
The war of words over a controversial UW lecturer escalated today when a Madison legislator called a fellow legislator "ineffective and useless" for condemning UW's decision to allow the lecturer to keep his position.
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, told The Capital Times today that Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, was way off base in his condemnation of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's decision to allow Kevin Barrett to teach an introductory course on Islam.
Barrett will make $8,247 as a part-time lecturer for the fall semester. He is active in a group called 9/11 Truth, which believes the World Trade Center towers were blown up by U.S. government operatives on Sept. 11, 2001, as a way to get the United States into a war in the Middle East.
The Legislature wrapped up its work this session on Wednesday without taking up a resolution from Nass calling on the UW to fire Barrett.
Nass now plans to send the resolution as a letter to UW officials next week, and is also calling for cuts to be made to UW administrative positions when the university's next biennial budget comes under review.
Pocan dismissed Nass' views as "fodder for someone who hasn't done anything this session."
"If Steve Nass has nothing better to do than micro-manage every part-time lecturer's curriculum, and then make crazy threats, it shows how ineffective and useless Steve Nass is," Pocan said. "Some people are out there, some are way out there, and then there's Steve Nass."
Nass said Wednesday he didn't have the votes of two-thirds (66 members) of the Assembly to bring up the resolution for a vote on the chamber floor. Republicans control the chamber 59-39, and minority Democrats would have objected to the resolution, he said.
Nass said he'll continue to gather signatures of lawmakers and send the resolution blasting Barrett's "academically dishonest views" to the university as early as next week. Nass said 26 Republicans and one Democrat had signed the resolution by Wednesday afternoon.
UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell, the No. 2 official at the Madison campus, cleared Barrett to teach the course on Islam on Monday, saying Barrett was well qualified to teach the course, had solid lesson plans, would allow students to challenge his views, and that the discussion of 9/11 would be a "small yet significant" part of the course.
When contacted by The Capital Times today, Farrell issued a statement through the UW communications office saying that he stood by his position to allow Barrett to teach this fall and "respectfully disagrees" with Nass.
Pocan said he didn't agree with Barrett's views of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, but the theory that the U.S. government had something to do with the attacks is one that's believed by millions of people around the world, especially among Muslims.
"I went to Indonesia with a bipartisan delegation right after 9/11 but before we invaded Iraq," Pocan said. "There definitely is a theory in the Islamic world that there was some involvement by the American government in the attacks."
Barrett's remarks have drawn criticism from politicians including both gubernatorial candidates, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Mark Green.
Farrell's decision to allow Barrett to teach was ripped by Nass and other politicians, but hailed by professors and the American Civil Liberties Union.
