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Printer-Friendly ModePeters campaign deceitful
October 29, 2007 —
Pamela Gates needs to be fired. Gates is the interim dean at Central Michigan University that was caught on video tape assaulting a student, and since my last column regarding the incident, the story has gone national.
The Associated Press picked up the story last Wednesday evening, and by Thursday morning, it was on the front pages of the Drudge Report, the New York Times web site, and the FOX News channel. As I explained before, Dean Gates' barbaric action is just a raindrop in the ocean-sized bucket of corruption taking place over at CMU. Since the assault, the chairpersons in the departments within CMU's College of Humanities and Social & Behavorial Sciences wrote a letter to the student newspaper, Central Michigan Life, claiming that Gates performed an "appropriate defense." Apparently, these chairpersons and professors in the departments within CMU's College of Humanities and Social & Behavorial Sciences believe it is appropriate for school administrators to assault students serving Freedom of Information Act requests.
Also in the letter was the statement that there were "three frightened eye-witnesses." What a joke. What Gates and her colleagues are trying to do is very transparent. They are saying that a student named Dennis Lennox intimidated her - it's the infamous "self defense" routine, but nothing could be farther from the truth. The only reason she is using that excuse is to get away with assaulting a student. There is nothing intimidating about Dennis Lennox. The fact that so many professors can be so close-minded is frightening. I am relieved they do not teach at SVSU.
How has CMU reacted to the national press coverage of the incident? They have taken retaliatory action against Lennox for handing out a couple of fliers inside a building, which is supposedly a violation of CMU's Policies and Procedures Affecting Advocacy Activities school policies. Lennox has been ordered to appear before a kangaroo court - otherwise known as a student judicial panel - however for Lennox to appear would give credibility to this cowardly action, and it would be a mistake.
In a parallel to the corruption of Petersgate (the Gary Peters scandal), there is much to disclose regarding CMU's handling of the Gates incident as well. Upon learning that he needed had to file a report with campus school police in lieu of an independent agency such as the Michigan State Police or the Mount Pleasant City Police, Lennox grew concerned about the capacity of campus police to investigate an administrator, and rightfully so.
Steve Smith, the spokesman for CMU, has made statements on behalf of the investigation as well as statements on behalf of the University school in which he personally degraded Lennox. This greatly jeopardizes the integrity of the so-called 'investigatioin'. Soon, many people began imploring the University to call an independent investigation due to the conflicts of interest. What did they do? They had the internal Office of Affirmative Action investigate the incident, an office where one of the sixteen 16 coordinators is none other than - you guessed it: Pamela Gates.
On top of all of this, Gary Peters, the man at the center of this entire scandal, has produced some interesting comments since my last column. Regarding Petersgate, Peters stated to the Associated Press that he needs his cushy, $2,031.25-an-hour CMU job to "pay the bills."
However, this is exactly the point Lennox's group, Students Against Gary Peters, is trying to make. It is extremely unethical for a congressional candidate to pay his personal bills while serving at a public university and not giving his primary commitment - which is required under his contract - to the students, rather than his campaign. It is a disgrace.
And Peters knows just how to get away with it. He is a career politician who is a master at making a living off of Michigan tax-payers - he simply bounces around from one political office to another.
Peters' integrity came into question once more this week when he lied to Mitch Albom on WJR AM-760 claiming his position at CMU was "part-time".
"I may want to reiterate," Peters said, "that the Griffin position is a part-time position at the University fully funded by private dollars."
First of all, Peters receives public perks, and just because the salary is privately funded doesn't mean Peters isn't benefiting from Michigan tax-payers. Secondly, the position is not part-time. Peters' contract clearly stipulates "as a full-time employee we expect you to give primary commitment to the duties of this assignment during the time of your appointment."
Finally, Peters tried to convey the message to Albom that Students Against Gary Peters has a "very radical conservative agenda." Once again, that is not true. The group of CMU students is non-partisan, and just like this columnist, the group would be equally disgusted if Peters was a Republican.
But just for kicks, I thought we'd take a look at Peters' campaign. On Peters' campaign website, it says his aim is to make a change in Washington. Gee, I've never heard that one before. You also hear Peters talk more about the president and Iraq than of his opponent, Congressman Joe Knollenberg. He's doing this because he has to rely on the national disapproval of the president in order to win. He cannot win on issues here at home, just like he couldn't beat Mike Cox in the Michigan attorney general's race back in 2002. Peters is simply running a cookie-cutter campaign, but this time with a side order of deceit.