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UNL was to use public money to pay Ayers

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BY MELISSA LEE / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Oct 24, 2008 - 11:50:59 am CDT

Contrary to previous reports, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln did intend to use public and NU Foundation funds to pay for William Ayers’ visit, UNL said Thursday.

Ayers’ $1,000 honorarium was to have come from state funds allocated to the College of Education and Human Sciences, UNL said. The education college had invited Ayers to deliver the keynote address at its Nov. 15 student research conference.

And Ayers was to have been reimbursed for travel, lodging and food using grant funds held at the NU Foundation, UNL said.

Story Photo
William Ayers (AP file)

Related Link(s):


10.17.08: UNL cancels William Ayers speech
10.22.08: Memo on Ayers: Threats warned of violence, protests

When UNL announced Ayers’ planned visit on Oct. 16, it said no state or foundation money would be used for the appearance.

But that statement wasn’t reviewed by campus business officials before it was made public, said Christine Jackson, vice chancellor for business and finance.

And a review of documents showing the intended source of funds for his visit — prompted, UNL spokeswoman Kelly Bartling said, by inquiries from State Auditor Mike Foley and numerous members of the public — revealed the statement was inaccurate.

“It was just an honest mistake,” Bartling said. “But there have been enough questions raised about it that we needed to figure out from the accounting standpoint what the intent was and where the funds were going to come from. ...

“We’re sorry that we did provide mistaken information, and so as soon as we had the details, we made sure we were accurate.”

News of Ayers’ invitation sparked widespread public anger. On Oct. 17, UNL announced it had canceled his speech for security reasons.

Ayers, an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was selected by a faculty committee in February, long before he became a controversial figure in the presidential race.

Ayers was a founder of Weather Underground, the group that claimed responsibility for the bombings of public buildings in protest of the Vietnam War. Years later, he and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama served together on the board of an antipoverty nonprofit in Chicago.

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.


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Justin wrote on October 23, 2008 6:31 pm:
" I hope this doesn't become the new "Keep the Fair in Lincoln!" That is to say, I don't want to still be hearing about this 4 months from now. Get off it, people. "
Now the truth wrote on October 23, 2008 6:35 pm:
" comes out. Of course this was known before the facts were made public. It's just like the politicians apologizing after their stupid remarks, Say your sorry and your asnine remarks go away. NOT this time UNL! This will be remembered as trying to pull a fast one on the taxpayers and you will be under intense scrutiny forever after. "
mTm wrote on October 23, 2008 6:37 pm:
" Imagine that?????? "
So They Lied wrote on October 23, 2008 6:44 pm:
" So they lied when they proclaimed that no public money would be paid, only a private honorarium. "
Kudos to Auditor Foley wrote on October 23, 2008 7:46 pm:
" Once again, Auditor Foley shines the spotlight on inappropriate governmental behavior. The academics who wanted Ayers to come were quick to dismiss complaints from taxpayers about the invitation by noting only private funds were involved. Looks like the academics should have done their own homework about the funding issue before assuring all of us that no taxpayer money would be used. "
UNL Alum wrote on October 23, 2008 8:08 pm:
" I'll second that, Justin. The anti-Ayers crowd got their way. If he's not coming, he's probably not getting paid public dollars, private dollars, euros, yen, or candy corn. Issue over. Let's move on. "
Lars wrote on October 23, 2008 8:12 pm:
" $1,000.00 for speaking plus, all expenses paid for a criminal. If you check, you'll find out he will still recieve payment anyway, it was in his contract

"And Ayers was to have been reimbursed for travel, lodging and food using grant funds held at the NU Foundation, UNL said."

Pearlman...It's time to go! "
James wrote on October 23, 2008 8:56 pm:
" It seems a few of you "UNL Alums" are eager to sweep this under carpet pretty quickly. Why is that? Is it perhaps because the more we hear about William Ayers and what type of person he REALLY is, then we get a glimpse into what Barack Obama stands for? The media has done a pretty amazing job of keeping this story under wraps. Barack Obama has ties to this same person who tried to blow up the Pentagon!!! Let's talk about that some more!! "
What Else wrote on October 23, 2008 9:07 pm:
" So what else did they lie about? That he was invited before his association with Obama was made public? "
Ben wrote on October 23, 2008 9:21 pm:
" Nothing inappropriate was done, academic freedom is about keeping a tradition of noncensured speech. When one of the most conservative values is perverted by politics under the guise of an audit, the Constitution of our Republic is mocked and perhaps undermined. It is sad that UNL has made no effort to share the message Mr. Ayers was going to deliver, technology allows for interactive forums. Is UNL still living in the Stone Age? "
Its a simple mistake wrote on October 23, 2008 9:21 pm:
" C'mon. People make mistakes when talking to the media, and UNL is no different in this case. They found out they made a mistake, and instead of letting the mistake proliferate they corrected it. Kudos to them.

Oh, and Ayers was never convicted of anything -- so he's not a criminal. If anyone's the criminal, it's those who pursued him and other groups (including murdering a leader of the Black Panthers in Chicago -- Ever heard of COINTELPRO?). Oh wait, that's why all of his charges were dropped, because law enforcement broke many laws in their attempts to catch the Weathermen.

OH, and then the Weathermen turned themselves in.

Also, Foley did not shine a light on this problem. The university came out and said it after reviewing their own files, not him. "
TWH wrote on October 23, 2008 9:29 pm:
" I think people should get over Ayers. This episode has been deeply embarrassing for faculty and students at the University. Many scholars at other universities have weighed in on our little episode and unfortunately a few of them have been as close minded as many of the Nebraskans who pressured the administration to disinvite Ayers. It is frustrating because we at the University are being accused of being spineless by our academic peers and are being accused of being "unamerican" by the same folks we at the University try to serve. SO please let this go the damage is done. You won. "
Yeah wrote on October 23, 2008 9:34 pm:
" Yeah, I suspect after the gobs of phone calls and e-mails, I'd be reviewing my files too and running mighty scared. However,their actions
are the norm for Lincoln and all the actions that get shoved down the
citizens throats. Course Greenspan didn't see this housing mess coming
either he said. Isn't that amazing, how the WHOLE rest of the U.S.saw it
but the greedy didn't!!! Excuses are interesting when your back into a
corner!! "
Yup wrote on October 23, 2008 9:45 pm:
" A mistake was made? More like we got exposed, we'd better appologize and make everyone think we made a itty bitty mistake. I agree with another poster, some UNL supporters seem to want to get this out of the news pronto, which makes me even more suspicious. More and more has come out about Ayers in the last few months, just because the FBI blew the case and couldn't try him and his wife, doesn't make him innocent. And yes, the ties to Obama go deeper than the democrats will admit. Why would Obama write an endorsement for Ayers book if he didn't know him? "
dan wrote on October 23, 2008 10:07 pm:
" Super Foley to the Rescue...again! "
ricky wrote on October 23, 2008 10:52 pm:
" Auditor Foley goes to where the camera goes and what events suit his partisan ego.
Ask him to look into Omahas' MECA or the N U Foundations pledge to oust A D Pederson and Callahan.
What do you get?
Silence.
Is Foley the auditor for all Nebraskans?
Or just for those who share his political bent?

Ricky From Omaha "
tom issaquah wrote on October 23, 2008 11:06 pm:
" Is the Chancellor a part time or full time position???. There needs to be oversight on this stuff. "
Mike wrote on October 23, 2008 11:12 pm:
" We have a Univervsity that can't tell the same story two days in a row! How pathetic. "
Mike wrote on October 23, 2008 11:15 pm:
" Honest mistake? Ha, these are college educated individuals with Doctorate degrees and they claim to make an honest mistake on where the money is coming from to pay a terrorist? Just another reason the Chancelor and the head of the Education College should be sent packing. The shouldn't have a trouble finding a job, just look to the state of IL to hire them in their college system, they seem to be ok hiring Ayers. "
stop wrote on October 23, 2008 11:25 pm:
" Those same funds would've been used to pay ANY OTHER invited speaker. The damage has already been done. Stop trying to justify this wrong. The lynch-mob mentality has won. Who's on the blacklist next? "
JW wrote on October 23, 2008 11:38 pm:
" The real shame is that they canceled his visit in the first place. "
Annoyed wrote on October 23, 2008 11:47 pm:
" None of you have done anything in the past that you regret or have tried to make ammends for? None of you have changed in the last 35 years? None of you have ever committed a crime? And all of you work hard now to improve the condition of children here in the U.S. Right? "
Thank you Mike Foley wrote on October 24, 2008 12:39 am:
" Good Work Mr. Auditor. "
Mike in DC wrote on October 24, 2008 7:07 am:
" $1,000? First, many top-level speakers would consider that 'B' level money, and second, a $1,000 investment for, good or bad, like or hate speaker for the students et al. to listen to is easily worth it. You want to keep folks honest, but the real reason this may have been overlooked is that $1,000 to a large entity, gov't or not, is noise. With travel costs these days, if he stayed overnight in a business hotel and got two half days of per diem, it may not even be the cost of his travel--the foundation's cost. And it pales in comparison to the alterior costs that UNL would have incured for security, etc. If you want to get upset, realize that both Denver and St Paul received 50 million dollars each of YOUR tax money, of YOUR hard-earned money for two PRIVATE, privilaged, clubs/organizations to hold a conference in their city. That's right. The GOP and DNC conventions. Private organizations. Your money. Every bit is tough. But $1,000 is noise. "
Gerard Harbison wrote on October 24, 2008 7:13 am:
" I've run colloquium programs at UNL, hosted speakers, etc.. When I did so, there was no doubt whatsoever about the source of the funds. Sheesh, people, you have a budget, and you know where the money in that budget came from.

If somebody claimed the funds were not state funds, then it is implausible they made a simple mistake. What I suspect happened is that when this all broke, they thought they could change the source of the funds by shuffling money from different accounts, but that the immediate audit made that impossible. "
A little much wrote on October 24, 2008 7:43 am:
" Frankly I think the honorarium was a little much. I wonder how much is paid for the average speaker. Let's say he was a biochemist coming to speak on a new advance in science. $1000? I doubt it. Even though I didn't oppose Ayers coming, I get disgusted with the standard
procedure of lying first and then telling the truth when caught. "
Fullerton Flash wrote on October 24, 2008 8:02 am:
" As sympatetic as I am with UNL being used as target practice by a bunch of political hacks and other grandstanders on the Bill Ayers fiasco, UNL continues a string of "shoot itself in the foot" moments that--to say the least--are most unsettling. UNL says it was an "honest mistake" in stating the no state or NU Foundation funds were involved in financing the appearance of Professor William Ayers at UNL. In other words, UNL did not intentionally misrepresent the facts when it released this information. Fine. But for goodness sakes, that means that the folks who issued that incorrect information did so without bothering to check with those at NU and Foundation who would have had the correct information. Given the crescendo of furor that had developed of the Ayers matter, it was absolute gross incompetence for someone to make issue the erroneous statement on the Ayers funding without checking and doublechecking to make certain it was accurate. And no, it is no excuse to say that there were time constraints involved. If there was insufficient time to get confirmation on the true facts, an answer like "We don't have that info at this moment and will have to investigate and get back to you" would have been appropriate. Harvey, please get your troops in order--these gaffes have the potential of inflicting real damage on the level of support that UNL enjoys throughout our state. "
Mr. X wrote on October 24, 2008 8:40 am:
" Why shouldn't public money have been used to bring Ayers to the university? He was invited to speak on his education-related research, not run a terrorist training camp. "
Gerard Harbison wrote on October 24, 2008 8:53 am:
" $1 K is in fact a lot of money for an academic speaker. Often there is no honorarium at all; when there is an honorarium, it's typically a couple of hundred. "
mark wrote on October 24, 2008 10:21 am:
" Those decrying 'censorship': Would you be comfortable with public funds paying to host Harvey Mansfield of Harvard University, Paul Cantor of the University of Virginia, or Clifford Orwin of the University of Toronto? "
JIm wrote on October 24, 2008 10:26 am:
" I would love to know how many that show such hate and contempt for Ayers and Obama have pasts they are not proud of. We all have thigs we would want to keep in the closet, some bigger then others. Mr Ayers has done many good things since he has grown older. My parents protested the war when they were younger and did many things that were illegal, it was part of the times they lived in. Today they are active giving members of the community they live in. Maybe we should round up all the old activist and send them to jail today, how many CEO's and prominate people would be punished. They only reason Mr. Ayers is singled out s because of a tie to Obama and a failing campaign by McCain. "
To Annoyed wrote on October 24, 2008 11:31 am:
" Sure - many people have done things they regret and have tried to make ammends for. HOWEVER, Mr Ayers has said publicly on more than one occasion that he does not regret what he did and wished that he had done more. There are right and wrong ways to protest - and clearly bombing public buildings and killing people is wrong. "
JB wrote on October 24, 2008 11:42 am:
" Is money spent for certain speakers and for others not? If Rush from right wing radio came to speak would it be alright? "
John wrote on October 24, 2008 11:49 am:
" Is it money being spent or who the money is spent on?? If it was someone of right-wing radio would it be alright? "
Buddha wrote on October 24, 2008 12:29 pm:
" Someone commented that the $1,000 honorarium seems a bit steep. You'd be surprised how much some simple workshop leaders charge nowadays in the education field. Ayers would have been getting $1,000 for about an hour of speaking, if not more than an hour. "
Those who live in glass houses wrote on October 24, 2008 1:01 pm:
" shouldn't throw stones. It's "innocent until proven guilty," folks. I thank my lucky stars that when I lived in Lincoln UNL was there for me to go to. It opened my mind to many different views I'd have never known (as should be the purpose of higher education) if I'd been sheltered and continued to be force-fed Republican politics. UNL was definitely an oasis in a desert... "
Please wrote on October 25, 2008 12:15 am:
" Cmon JB, Rush didn't blow up a building so he would be welcome. Any left wing radio person would be welcome too if there were any. "

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