MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich., Oct. 25, 2007
Student Hounds Prof. Running For Office
Dennis Lennox Uses Camera And Web Site To Try To Force Congressional Hopeful Gary Peters Out Of Teaching Job
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Central Michigan University junior Dennis Lennox is shown during an interview, Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Lennox, an outspoken conservative, turned a video camera and web site into a high-tech campaign to force assistant professor Gary Peters, a Democrat running for Congress to give up his teaching job. (AP)
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Dennis Lennox, a 23-year-old junior, has posted videos on YouTube of himself questioning assistant professor Gary Peters about campaigning for office while holding a prestigious position at the university.
Some say Lennox is persistent. Others accuse him of pandering for attention.
"What I'm doing isn't about getting media attention," said Lennox, a political science major. "I'm speaking for the hundreds of students, alumni, taxpayers and even legislators who have complained because Gary Peters won't pick between Congress and campus."
In one video Lennox posted online, Peters is seen walking to his car while Lennox asks him several questions, including whether he is angry about his campaign not getting "positive press." Peters doesn't respond.
On Thursday, Lennox said he got a letter from the university saying he had violated policies against distributing printed materials inside a campus building. A disciplinary hearing will be held if Lennox does not meet with school officials.
He had been cited for handing out fliers at a public forum moderated by the professor. "I can't believe what's going on. I'm flabbergasted my school is seeking retribution against me," said Lennox.
Peters said in an interview this week with The Associated Press that his university position is part-time and privately funded.
"The bottom line is that people who run for public office still need to pay the bills and still need to work," he said. He drives 130 miles from a Detroit suburb to Mount Pleasant to teach class once a week.
Peters, 48, is seeking the Democratic nomination to face Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg in Oakland County, one of the top congressional targets for Democrats nationally in 2008.
"If I was running for Congress in a seat where I had no chance of winning, I probably wouldn't have any attention put on me at all," said Peters, a former state senator who lost a close race for Michigan attorney general in 2002.
He acknowledges it would be difficult to keep his $65,000-a-year job at the university if he gets elected to Congress, but says he will worry about that if he wins. Peters holds the Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government - named for a former Republican U.S. senator and Michigan Supreme Court justice.
Lennox helped start the group Students Against Gary Peters and created a Web site for what he calls "Petersgate." He insists that he isn't targeting Peters because he's a Democrat.
But some see it differently.
"Basically, he's just an extreme partisan. Anybody that's a Democrat, he's going to try to get at," said fellow political science major Eric Schulz.
Lennox's anti-Peters campaign shows no sign of slowing down, though his tactics have generated complaints.
Both Lennox and college Dean Pamela Gates filed police complaints against each other after Lennox requested Peters' e-mails under the Freedom of Information Act. At one point in the brief video, also posted online, Gates it seen gesturing into the camera at close range, and it then goes out of focus, as if it has been struck.
Lennox is heard saying, "Don't touch my camera," suggesting that Gates either touched it or attempted to.
Lennox said he started videotaping Gates after she refused to take the request and ordered him out of her office.
"She accosted, assaulted and battered me," Lennox said. "Whether you're a liberal or conservative, we all have to live and play by the same rules. I seemed to learn something in first grade that you keep your hands to yourself."
No charges have been filed and the university is investigating the incident. But spokesman Steve Smith said that "people get very uncomfortable when a camera is shoved in their face. Employees and students have a reasonable expectation to privacy."
When the school told Lennox he couldn't record employees or students without their permission, he filed a censorship complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union, which is reviewing it.
Peters says requiring permission before filming is reasonable when it involves students' privacy, though he stops short of saying it should apply to public figures such as himself.
"When you run for public office, you've got to have a thick skin," he said.
Peters says somewhat ruefully that he has fulfilled his job description of bringing practical politics to campus.
"Students are definitely seeing what happens when somebody runs for public office in a high-profile race, the types of things they have to confront," he said.
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See all 33 CommentsPosted by kansas1946 at 11:51 PM : Oct 25, 2007
The ACLU is on the side of freedom and democracy, and even fascist mostly ignorant little twits know this is true. We need the ACLU!!! Thank you, Mr. Lennox for your sound endorsement of the ACLU. I encourage other patriotic Americans to join Mr. Lennox in supporting the ACLU and the values that it stands for.
Lennox reminds me of David Horowitz and his band of Israel-firsters who troll campuses for any sign of integrity or honesty regarding the Zionists'' apartheid abomination in occupied Palestine.
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Toilet humor? I guess I missed that. Yes, liberals are notorious for questioning authority, and thank God for that. You notice where the little twit ran to when he was told he couldn''t video tape people at school. That godless, commie, left-wing, radical, ACLU. LMAO
He need to harrass every encumbant, senator, house memeber, and president, for running for reelection on the taxpayers dime. He is hypocritical, and the Republicans are desparate.
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Peters said in an interview this week with The Associated Press that his university position is part-time and privately funded.
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I guess this little twit forgot the "privately funded" part, and even his fellow students call him "highly partisan." I think Karl Rove has a groupie here.
How about stalking ??
Stalking is defined as "the willful, malicious and repeated following and harassing of another person"
Posted by toldyouso21 at 03:48 PM : Oct 25, 2007
Kinda with you on this one, He must be some kin to Meyers cuz neither one knows when to shut his mouth.
"Students are definitely seeing what happens when somebody runs for public office in a high-profile race, the types of things they have to confront," he said.
Sounds to me that Assistant Professor Peters has ACCOMPLISHED what he was hired for and has definitely earned his salary.
Maybe, Lennox will take a couple of ethics and etiquette classes so he can better understand why his actions might be self-defeating.
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Posted by parrot2
Not true...we are just able to understand not everyone who says they are ''this or that'' is actually ''this or that''....person by person assessment. That''s how grown ups do.
My guess, when he finally reaches that age he''ll try.
For now he''s probably just working for the local political machine to "cut his teeth" on the "dirty tricks squad" tactics.
Anyone else notice that our youngsters are at least taking notice and TRYING to get involved in things again?
Granted some of these kids can be pretty obnoxious since they seem to have been raised in etiquette deprived environments but AT LEAST they''re noticing and getting involved!
Aside from the home-school affiliated camps and some PRIVATE SCHOOLS there''s NO real CIVICS being taught anymore and THAT has led to a mismanaged ONE-SIDED inept political leadership that''s amazingly EASY to manipulate and control.
I DON''T agree with this kids actions or attitude but I do laud his attempt to become involved.
Now, can SOMEONE mentor him on more ethical and less desperate ways of getting his point across before he tries for office?
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I guess he should had known better..only liberals are allowed to question authority..and it must be done with toilet humor..
Liberals can see a consipiracy on a tiny little thing but they cannot see the massive reality that they are doing..
Posted by tuckerndfw at 01:22 PM : Oct 25, 2007
really? even if the "other job" pays over 192,000.00 a year and essentially requires less than 3 months of work and will result in health, pension and other benefits for life? I''d say he is pretty savvy and the irony would be--if because of the harassment, he gets even more press and wins--then the Republicans can thank this little neo-numbskull for catapulting this unknown into another Congressional seat. lol
Being from Georgia you can probably correct me if I''m wrong, I''m pretty sure that Gingrich kept his college professorship while campaigning for office and no democrat tried to pull this on him.
This is why more decent people that don''t already have a million dollars and must keep paying bills don''t want to get into politics. This is why we end up with
the creeps that we do, because of this kind of ***. Who needs it?
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