… at Portland State.
It’s early in the story, but apparently an economics professor there, in class a few days ago, suddenly launched a long and elaborate verbal attack on one of his students.
… John Hall, who has taught at PSU for 24 years, began the class with a lecture relevant to the course material but about halfway through the two-hour long class, he began to describe his experiences with law enforcement in places including Eastern Europe, according to a student who wished to remain anonymous.
Hall claimed to have been surveilled at times throughout his life and then told the class that an FBI informant and agent provocateur was in their midst. Hall said this person served as a sniper in the Israeli army and called him a killer with access to a personal arsenal.
He then pointed at Bucharest and identified him as the informant in question, according to the unnamed student.
Bucharest, a student at PSU since the fall of 2006 … sat silently throughout the ordeal, according to students in the class.
… Hall accused Bucharest of trying to organize students to participate in violent acts against the university, according to the unnamed student.
Hall also said he believed that Bucharest is at times armed while on campus. He then put a letter on the document projector that he wrote to the FBI’s Portland Field Office. In the letter, Hall claims to know Bucharest’s identity as an agent. He then handed Bucharest a copy of the letter and told him to give it to his superiors.
After a time of silence, Bucharest got up and said that some of Hall’s claims about his military background were true, but that other claims the professor made were not. Bucharest left the classroom after being told by Hall to leave and not to come back to PSU, according to students…
Let’s pause there for a moment.
One of many strange aspects of the story is that this account, published in the PSU newspaper, is no longer available. I got it from a blogger who reproduced it on his site. Why did the paper take it down? Is the student on whom the reporter relied for the account in fact not reliable? Bucharest apparently has a lawyer – does the paper fear legal action? Has it been asked by the university’s administration to take the piece down?
Anyway. Here’s something we can say with some confidence, assuming we’re getting something reasonably close to what went on. Whatever the background of this student, the professor’s behavior is paranoid and outrageous.
Hall, who has been removed from the classroom — indeed, from the campus — while PSU investigates, has issued a comment to the newspaper (again, I’m assuming the comment indeed came from him, etc.) which does nothing to weaken suspicion that he’s paranoid:
“I decided to take a stand. I observed the situation becoming extremely dangerous, not only for me but for about eight of my very finest students…. I felt that what I had to do should not have been my responsibility. …I understand the students’ privacy is to be respected, as defined by the codes governing PSU… I felt the level of danger had grown to such an acute level that I felt it fully in order to engage in an ‘emergency exemption’ of student privacy.”
This is nuts. The student might be malsain, might talk violence, might even carry a concealed weapon, but you respond to all of that, if it scares you, by going to the administration. Worst case scenario, you go to the police. You don’t stage a tribunal in front of the class.
February 4th, 2010 at 6:09PM
It sounds like the professor might have paranoid schizophrenia. If that’s the case, I hope that he gets the treatment that he needs.
February 4th, 2010 at 6:30PM
Carolyn: I think that’s a strong possibility. But we need to know more.
February 4th, 2010 at 7:19PM
I’m with Carolyn.
February 4th, 2010 at 7:45PM
No you don’t do this in a classrooom.
But the paramoia is not always on the prof’s side of the lectern. I’ve had two very scary experiences with this sort of thing. In one a student claimed that my department and the Government of Finland were conspiring against him to prevent his attaining career goals. In another an ex-policeman from the former Soviet Union made what appeared to be terroristic threats against faculty…
I am almost embarrassed to write this.
Teaching at a modern university is never boring.
February 11th, 2010 at 2:37PM
I was in the class when Prof. Hall exposed the student. The facts speak for themselves: Bucharest approached eight students and solicited illegal, straw man, gun transactions for AK-47s. Furthermore, Bucharest also advertised his experience with explosives and offered to show students how to produce Molotov Cocktails that would explode on impact–with the use of common household items. Bucharest also showed his concealed weapon to students on numerous occasions–he also carried two additional magazines with the weapon.
What is omitted is that Hall has had prior experience with the university administration. The day of the ousting, Hall went to campus security and asked if they would come to his class: security refused. Following the ousting, students who had personal contact with Bucharest told the administration about their experiences with Bucharest; the administration did not care nor were the administrators concerned. The university is now trying to cover up the matter as Bucharest is still on campus and with these allegations he should have been barred from campus: the administration has shown itself as being unreliable and unwilling to provide for the safety of students–which also substantiates Hall’s actions, as this matter would have been ignored and eight of his students could have been exposed to entrapment charges (or worse).
One should ask the question, isn’t it odd that–in the wake of college shootings–a student who has been reported to be armed and had attempted to sell arms is still waltzing around campus?
Here’s a link to the Oregonian’s article:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/classroom_confrontation_on_por.html