According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, Colorado State University will no longer promote Atlantic Hurricane Forecasts by Professor William Gray. Professor Gray is a pioneer of Hurricane forecasting, and is generally considered the top expert in his field. He is also very outspoken in his opposition to the Climate Change (or Global Warming, if you prefer) hysteria.
CSU claims this has nothing to do with his statements on Climate Change.
"It really has nothing to do with his stand on global warming," said the dean, Sandra Woods. "He's a great faculty member. He's an institution at CSU."
Professor Gray sees things much differently, of course.
"This is obviously a flimsy excuse and seems to me to be a cover for the Department's capitulation to the desires of some (in their own interest) who want to reign (sic) in my global warming and global warming-hurricane criticisms," Gray wrote to Dick Johnson, head of CSU's Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and others.
CSU claims it's a staffing issue.
According to Woods, Gray's forecasts require about 10 percent of the time a media support staff member, Emily Wilmsen, has available for the College of Engineering and its 104 faculty members.
I'm sure with all the tax money Bill Ritter has found, he outta be able to pony up for one more media support staffer at CSU. I mean, if he's going to complain about low education spending, here's somewhere he can make a real difference. (H/T to Mount Virtus for the linked articles.)
For me, I'm quite sure that staffing has nothing to do with this decision. It has everything to do with silencing those that can interfere with CSU's outside funding sources that aren't happy about Professor Gray. So much for free and open dialog on our university campuses.
There's plenty of free and open dialog on our university campuses...
... so long as you toe the mark, that is.
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Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.