BYU Wiser Than UW?

Brigham Young University has suspended Steven Jones, physics professor of the so called"9/11 truth movement" fame, with pay. BYU places '9/11 truth' professor on paid leave

Brigham Young University placed physics professor Steven Jones on paid leave Thursday while it reviews his involvement in the so-called "9/11 truth movement" that accuses unnamed government agencies of orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. BYU will conduct an official review of Jones' actions before determining a course of action, university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said. Such a review is rare for a professor with "continuing status" at BYU, where Jones has taught since 1985. (...) Jones became a celebrity among 9/11 conspiracy-theory groups after he wrote a paper titled "Why Indeed Did the World Trade Center Buildings Collapse?" The paper was published two weeks ago in the book "9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out" and lays out Jones' hypothesis that the three towers fell because of pre-positioned demolition charges -— not because of the planes that hit two of the towers. When Jones began to share his demolition theory publicly last fall, he politely declined to speculate about who set the charges other than to say terrorist groups couldn't have been the source. Then, later, he started to speak publicly about research conducted at BYU on materials from ground zero. He said he found evidence of thermite -— a compound used in military detonations -— in the materials. In recent weeks, after becoming the co-chairman of the group Scholars for 9/11 Truth, Jones seemed willing to go further, implicating unnamed government groups but not President Bush. (...) "BYU has repeatedly said that it does not endorse assertions made by individual faculty," the statement said. "We are, however, concerned about the increasingly speculative and accusatory nature of these statements by Dr. Jones." (...) "It is a concern when faculty bring the university name into their own personal matters of concern," she said.

Nutjobs, moonbats, whatever you want to call them, they are spooky people. At least BYU has enough decency to suspend this clown, unlike the UW system, that seems to think that it's juhonkykey dory to employ a loony tune to "educate" the brains of mush. H/T: Sweetness & Light