Academic under fire for 9/11 conspiracy theory

Scott Malone/Reuters | August 31 2006

BOSTON (Reuters) - A University of New Hampshire professor has come under fire from state politicians for teaching his unconventional view that a U.S. government conspiracy allowed the September 11, 2001 attacks to occur.

William Woodward, a professor of psychology at the Durham, New Hampshire, university, belongs to Scholars for 9/11 Truth, a group which believes it took more than two planes to bring down the Twin Towers and that an explosive charge in the building's basement played a role.

But, he said, the theory comes up only once in his class, to encourage students to think critically.

"What we learn in the mainstream is not the full story," Woodward said in an interview. "To label this as extreme is really a frame that the mainstream media has promulgated to the exclusion of scientific views."

The hijacked plane attacks killed 2,992 people at New York's World Trade Center, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.

Some state lawmakers, who last year appropriated $61.7 million in funding for the university, said taxpayers shouldn't have to pay to provide Woodward a platform.

"This kind of nonsense is ridiculous," said State Senate President Ted Gatsas, a Republican. "He has the ability of free speech, there's no question, that's what makes this country great. But ... speaking his free speech in a classroom with the taxpayers paying for it, I don't think is appropriate."

Gatsas said University officials should consider taking disciplinary action against Woodward.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, has called on the university to look into Woodward's fitness for duty, according to a spokeswoman.

"The notion that the American government carried out the 9/11 attacks is crazy and offensive," said Lynch spokeswoman Pamela Walsh.

"That raises questions as to why this person is teaching at the university system. Academic freedom is important, but in every profession there should be, there is, a certain level of professional standards that are expected. And that is certainly true in academia," Walsh said.

University of New Hampshire Provost Bruce Mallory, in a letter to Chancellor Steven Reno, said Woodward had only raised the September 11 issue in the context of his course on political psychology, which he called "an appropriate venue for exposing students to conflicting ideas about the American political context."

Mallory said in the letter, a copy of which was given to Reuters, that student evaluations and other reviews revealed no complaints about Woodward's teaching and he was satisfied that Woodward exercised appropriate restraint and adhered to professional standards.

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