Star-Tribune Article about Troubled Waters

More interesting quotes...


From the Strib:

Brian DeVore, communications coordinator for the Land Stewardship Project, said the U's decision to now move forward with the film indicates that it listened to the public outcry and will not stand for censorship. "But now more than ever it's clear that the film was not pulled because of concerns over its scientific accuracy," he said, and the U still needs to answer questions about transparency and possible conflict of interest.


"It's been a dreadful situation for all of us," Weller [Bell Museum Director] said of the controversy. "Well-intentioned people made mistakes and there will need to be some kind of review of our internal procedures. The university is kind of like a big, messy family. We get along but we have our tiffs and when it goes public it's not pretty."

'A PR fiasco'

Legislators were also raising concerns Thursday about damage to the U's reputation, especially because several administrators including Himle did not answer questions for days.

"She shouldn't have made this decision in the first place," said Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis.

"The challenge for the university is that its PR expert is at the center of a PR fiasco," said Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul. "This gets at the heart of academic freedom about an academic product."