OUR State University Standards

Add Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane to the list of Kevin Barrett supporters.

According to Kane, we only know what the government told us about the 9/11 attacks. In his world, that's reason enough to doubt that Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda were responsible and to question the role of the Bush administration.

To believe that it was an inside job, then one must also believe that bin Laden and his cohorts are accomplices in this alleged U.S. government conspiracy.

Were the nineteen hijackers U.S. agents?

Are all the taped messages from bin Laden and all the threats fakes?

It's ridiculous.

In addition to Kane stating his openness to the theory that the Bush administration planned and carried out the attacks, Kane defends UW-Madison's notion of academic freedom.

He writes:

Mark Graul, a spokesman for Green, told reporters Barrett's teaching were "garbage" and had no merit.

"All you had to have was a TV to know what happened on 9-11," said Graul.

Well, actually, most of us didn't see everything that happened during 9-11. That's kind of the point.

That nagging reality is why when you type "9-11" and "myths" into a search engine, you will get enough information to spend the next year getting the willies.

There's so much information about alleged myths about 9-11 out there that it's ridiculous not to expect today's college students to investigate some of this stuff on their own.

As a part-time lecturer at UW-Milwaukee, I support the right of any teacher to conduct his class as he feels fit, within university standards.

Unwittingly, Kane hits the nail on the head when he refers to the "right of any teacher to conduct his class as he feels fit, within university standards."

WITHIN UNIVERSITY STANDARDS.

What does it say about university standards when a nutcase is given a classroom forum to spread the deranged view that the Bush administration executed the 9/11 attacks?

It says that university standards are unacceptable.

We, the taxpayers, fund the schools. We have the right to expect that the portion of our tax dollars being devoted to education is spent wisely.

It is reasonable for us to expect the government to establish and maintain a successful educational system, one that produces positive results from pre-kindergarten through college.

It's OUR money.

They're OUR schools.

We are right to hold those in charge of OUR public educational institutions accountable for what our children are being taught.

Public education is OUR investment in OUR future.