Powell speech incites protestors

Almost every year, UB manages to attract at least one high-profile, and often controversial, political figure for its Distinguished Speaker Series.

This year, it's former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a speaker lauded for his topical significance with his role in the lead-up to the Iraq war. A local group that plans to protest the event is critical of that role, particularly his misleading testimony to the United Nations regarding potential Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. In a recent interview, Powell admitted to presenting inaccurate information.

"For General Powell to mistakenly trick us into the war, for him to charge a generous fee for speaking and still not come out against the war is upsetting," said Jim Holstun, a UB English professor and one of the organizers of the UB Progressive Alliance, the group that is protesting.

Holstun said one of the biggest problems with Powell's lecture is that audience questions will be screened before they are asked, a problem he said amounts to censorship.

"There is no provision for unscreened questions and answers. UB is paying an extraordinary amount of money, as Powell's fees go as high as $70,000," he said. "(The audience) won't be asking the questions; it will go through a screener. It's really contrary to the university. I hope that the change will be that we won't have any speakers who refuse to answer tough questions. It turns the university into a game show, into a performance."

Holstun said he expected as many as 100 protestors at Alumni Arena on Wednesday, demonstrating for about an hour before Powell's speech.

The UBPA is a new group formed of various UB community members, from students to faculty. It formed about a month ago, initiated by the coming speech by Powell, according to Holstun.

Bill Regan, director of the Office of Special Events, said UB is aware of the protestors and they do not need a permit to demonstrate.

"It's a free country, people are entitled to say what's on their mind," he said. "The only thing we're not going to be allowing are signs and placards inside the auditorium, so they don't block people"s view."

Regan said protestors are a common part of the event when politically charged speakers are brought.

"We had them with Madeline Albright, with George Pataki," he said.

Regan disagreed, however, that screening audience questions was censorship.

"We've got a couple of ways, depending on the speaker, in how we handle questions," he said. "For tomorrow we will have a panel of political science professors who will triage questions to recognize the good ones. Their job is to identify the questions that best represent the group or type of question people will ask."

Regan said the panel is aware of UBPA's demonstration and will be considering their views as well as others.

"We're not trying to duck anything. We're trying to make this a quality event," he said.

The question panel will be made up of Claude Welch, Paul Senese and Michelle Benson, all professors in UB's political science department. WBFO radio host Bert Gambini will ask questions the panel approves.