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More About

• David Barash
• Jon Carroll
• University of Washington
• American Council of Trustees and Alumni
• James Bush

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WELL, IT'S NOT a genius grant, but University of Washington psychology professor David Barash got his 15 minutes of fame.

Barash was one of 40 U.S. academics assailed by a nitwit McCarthyite group, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, for failing to fully support the war effort. You didn't have to do much to make the list— a group of Harvard students was added for voicing the following seditious chant: "What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!"

Credit the San Francisco Chronicle's Jon Carroll with the wisest response to the controversy. "Professors have been known to make provocative statements in an effort to force students to have provocative thoughts," Carroll writes. "Professors have been known to have opinions based on an eccentric view of history. Professors have even been known to be wrong." Sounds like this guy not only read the U.S. Constitution—he also understood it.

James Bush

jbush@seattleweekly.com