Aurora CO Theater Massacre

[Perelandra]

What you say may be true but that that event took place after the coal miners established the use of the word, as far as I know.

You're both wrong. Hate to go more off topic, but I read about etymology and semantic change for fun. There is a long history in English of explicitly and implicitly pejorative words for rural (poor, uneducated) people, in which this term would fit well. There is also plenty of evidence of use of the term which predates the appropriation by union members and miners. Search it out, if you care.

Sorry, Bruce.

[Hunter]

That's why I stopped spending a lot of time here.

Really? I thought you left because your brand of anti-semitic conspiratardology wasn't really getting the traction you hoped for.

Eww. One of those huh?

[Hunter]

What you say may be true but that that event took place after the coal miners established the use of the word, as far as I know.

You're both wrong. Hate to go more off topic, but I read about etymology and semantic change for fun. There is a long history in English of explicitly and implicitly pejorative words for rural (poor, uneducated) people, in which this term would fit well. There is also plenty of evidence of use of the term which predates the appropriation by union members and miners. Search it out, if you care.

Sorry, Bruce.

Fair enough but it did mean at one time exactly what I said it meant, my great grandfather told me about it many, many times as he lived through that and was a coal miner himself. That is not to say that there werent other usages of the word that perhaps even predated that and that seems to be what others taking issue with, wearing a red bandanna around one's neck was common and still is so I am sure it can be associated with any number of circumstances.


I am done Bruce.

[brekin]

I was wondering about the theatre security that night. Looks like there was none, when generally there is for big nights. Although the event happened late Thurs/early Fri, and they usually have security Fri and Sat night it doesn't make sense to me that one of the biggest anticipated films for a midnight screening opening night didn't have security at a large movie theatre.

Also where is the surveillance footage from the parking lot and back of the building? Has any of this been alluded to or seen yet? Parking lots are huge vice and crime spots late at night and I would be surprised if there was no camera(s) there. Especially since the young like to congregate in movie theatre parking lots.

Aurora Shooting: Colorado Theater Lacked Uniformed Security Guards On Night Of Massacre
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/2 ... 17480.html

DENVER -- The Colorado movie theater complex that was the scene of a gunman's massacre this month didn't have any uniformed security guards on duty the night of the shooting, even though other theaters operated by the same company did provide such protection for the busy premiere of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises."

It's impossible to know whether guards – often off-duty police officers – at the Aurora Century 16 would have spotted the suspected gunman, James Holmes, and thwarted the attack that left 12 moviegoers dead and dozens wounded on July 20.

Officers hired as guards are generally armed and usually spend their time roaming the complex, checking bags or dealing with minor disputes.

Cinemark provided off-duty police guards at the Aurora theater on busy Friday and Saturday nights. As for other nights of the week, theater operators decide on a case-by-case basis whether to hire security, depending on the likelihood of trouble. The attack came early Friday, shortly after the midnight screening of the Batman film began.

Larry Lowak, whose son Brent was among the wounded, said security personnel on the scene possibly could have stopped the gunman, and he was dismayed to learn that guards weren't on hand.
"If you bring in security on Friday or Saturday, you sure as hell want to bring it in for this particular function," Lowak said.

Plano, Texas-based Cinemark, which operates the Aurora theater, declined to explain why guards weren't provided in Aurora that night and declined to discuss safety policies in general.

Through interviews with police officers and officials outside the theater company, The Associated Press was able to identify places around the country that did use armed security workers for the July 19-20 Batman showings – including places like Beaumont, Texas; Lake Charles, La., and Tupelo, Miss.

Some other locations, including a Cinema Century 16 theater in the western Denver suburb of Lakewood, did not have security.

Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates has said that the Cinemark in Aurora normally uses off-duty officers to provide security on weekend nights but did not have any working for the July 19 showings that went into the next morning. The theater does not have an unusually high record of complaints or crimes, police Sgt. Cassidee Carlson said.

In Moosic, Pa., Cinemark has worked for years with off-duty officers from the local police department – typically on Fridays and Saturdays – and authorities said they were asked to provide two officers on July 19 because the midnight showing was likely to be a major event.
"If they're expecting large crowds, they call our department for additional police presence," said Moosic Borough Police Officer James Giehl.

Two major multiplexes in Amarillo, Texas, including one Cinemark facility, also ensured that off-duty uniformed police officers were present for the first screenings of the Batman film. Amarillo Police Cpl. Jerry Neufeld said that the off-duty officers work in pairs; the town's theaters made a point of asking for them on the busy opening night.

There were no incidents at the screenings, and Neufeld said he heard that people were, as always, happy to see people there to deal with any dangers.
"When they're there, they're visible, people see them and people come in and say, `hey man, we're glad you're here,'" Neufeld said. "It gives people a sense of calm."

The Aurora shooting has stirred discussion about appropriate security precautions at gathering places commonly considered safe from the cares and worries of the outside world. Experts say that security at public venues has increased substantially over the past decade, but they also note that it's impossible to maintain perfect safety at all times.

Officials have said the Aurora shooting suspect bought a ticket to the midnight showing and went into the theater as part of the crowd. A federal law enforcement official said suspect Holmes is believed to have propped open an exit door in the theater as the movie was playing, donned protective ballistic gear, re-entered about a half-hour into the film and opened fire.

Aurora police said the suspect tossed two gas canisters into the crowd and had an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun, and two .40-caliber Glock handguns.
Some theaters have added security guards for all nights of the week since the shooting, and police departments around the country have also conducted extra patrols that focus to movie theaters, though it's not clear if those shifts will be permanent. AMC Theatres has barred people from wearing masks or bringing fake weapons inside its buildings.

Many theaters, including the Cinemark in Aurora, prohibit patrons from bringing in their concealed weapons they use for personal protection.

That irks people like Dudley Brown, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, who said that he has refused to go to Aurora theater because of that ban.
"What could have stopped this is law-abiding citizens being allowed to carry," Brown insisted.

Lowak, the father of the shooting survivor, also said he believes people carrying concealed weapons might have helped limit the bloodshed.

But Hubert Williams, former head of the Newark police department and president of the Police Foundation, said that the idea that average citizens with guns could keep a theater safe only makes sense "on a piece of paper."

"Reality is much more complicated. What if you pull a gun out, take aim and someone else thinks you're the shooter?" he asked. "Would you stand up against an AR-15, AK-47 military-style assault weapon? Give me a break."

[Hunter]

Very good questions, Brekin. To my knowledge and I ha1ve read everything about this case, there has been no mention of cameras or footage or security of any kind that night. Very strange indeed and especially in light of the fact that this theater was in a very bad area of town, it was generally a ghetto area and very high crime, drugs, prostitution etc.

[82_28]

Very good questions, Brekin. To my knowledge and I ha1ve read everything about this case, there has been no mention of cameras or footage or security of any kind that night. Very strange indeed and especially in light of the fact that this theater was in a very bad area of town, it was generally a ghetto area and very high crime, drugs, prostitution etc.

Not necessarily "very bad area of town". Saudi Aurora for sure (this is meant because it is out in the plains, not ethnically). All American cities, towns and villages have this gangsta culture. However, I can tell you stories from way back that would make your hair curl about this area. But it certainly isn't uniquely different than any suburban area of any American city. Not ghetto, no more drug use than anywhere else and probably less prostitution than financial centers in any major American city.

I present to you Aurora, as it always has been:

[82_28]

Take of it what you will. . .

History maker: Aurora native first black woman to be 3-star admiral

A woman who grew up in Aurora has made history — again.

Vice Admiral Michelle Janine Howard on Friday became the first African-American woman promoted to a three-star rank in the U.S. armed forces, as she became a deputy commander of U.S. Fleet Forces.

Howard, a 1978 graduate of Gateway High School, already was the first African-American woman to command a U.S. Navy warship, the first female graduate of the Naval Academy to achieve the rank of rear admiral, and the first African-American woman to command an expeditionary strike group at sea.

Her most recent assignment was as chief of staff to the director for strategic plans and policy for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon.

She was nominated by President Obama to become vice admiral on April 12 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 24.

How does such an accomplished American keep it in perspective?

"I'm married; "I have a husband who keeps me grounded," she said by phone Friday of her husband Wayne K. Cowles, a retired Marine.

A contingent of Coloradans, including a childhood friend from Aurora, Mark Jessup, made the trip for Friday's history-making ceremony in Norfolk, Va.

Her father, Clarence Howard, an Air Force master sergeant who was once stationed at Lowry Air Force Base, passed away a few years ago, and her British-born mother, Phillipa Howard, relocated to the east to be near Admiral Howard, whose siblings and their families still live in the Aurora and Parker areas.

The admiral said so many people, including friends and family, had contributed so much to her career.

"It takes a village to accomplish anything, and I've been fortunate to have a wonderful village to take the ride with me."

In remarks during the ceremony she credited her Colorado upbringing, she said.

"There is a steadfastness about people from the West," she said.

Howard decided as a 12-year-old thatshe wanted to be a military officer. The dream, however, was complicated by a federal law that blocked women from military academies.

Her mother told her to hope and wait for change. Four years later the law changed. At 17 years old in 1978, Howard was accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., the third class to admit women.

In 1999, she became the first African-American woman to command a Navy warship at sea, the amphibious dock landing ship USS Rushmore.

She became a rear admiral lower half in 2006, the first female graduate of the Naval Academy to reach such a rank and the first member of her 1982 class to reach the rank of admiral.

Howard earned her second star and became a rear admiral upper half in 2009 as she assumed command of Expeditionary Strike Group Two and was deployed to thwart pirates in the Gulf of Aden aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer.

Within a week of assuming her command, she participated in the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips, commanding officer of the MV Maersk Alabama, from Somali pirates.

She was amazed so much military force was focused on rescuing one American. People, however, have been diamonds along of the path of her rewarding life, she said.

Howard credits her high school sociology teacher at Gateway High School, Chuck Woodward, for helping her appreciate all that's happened.

"He reminds me in many ways life is a journey, and we get so focused on reaching the destination, like we're riding on a train, that you can forget to meet and talk to people along the way," she said.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ ... k-woman-be

[crikkett]

"Cracker" is just hilarious, easily the least charged racial epithet in common currency today. I am sympathetic to "redneck" as slur -- I read Jim Goad, too, but he was an abusive asshole in addition to being a gifted writer -- but cracker is just LULZ. There are no sharp edges anywhere on that word.

Well I am not a prude or anything, I can see the humor in cracker, I guess it just depends on how it is used, but yea I generally agree with you.

Anyone know the etymology of 'cracker' as racial slur? (I don't)

[Perelandra]

OT again, I just can't resist. Here's what wiki has to say. Seems like many slurs to originate in description and degrade over time.

Cracker, sometimes white cracker, originated in the 18th century. There are many theories of its origins, most going back to the days of slavery. In its pejorative form it is often used as a racial slur.
One theory holds that the term comes from the common diet of poor whites. Britannica notes that the term derives from the cracked corn from which cornmeal and grits, which formed their staple food, are made, as well as corn whiskey.[2] Historians point out the term originally referred to the English and Scots-Irish farmers of the back country (as opposed to the wealthy planters of the seacoast). As sociologist Horace Kephart reported in 1913: "As the plantations expanded these freed men (formerly bond servants) were pushed further and further back upon the more and more sterile soil. They became 'pinelanders', 'corn-crackers', or 'crackers'."[3]
As early as the 1760s, this term was in use by the upper class planters in the British North American colonies to refer to Scots-Irish and English settlers in the south, most of whom were descendants of English bond servants. A letter to the Earl of Dartmouth reads: "I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by Crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascalls on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who often change their places of abode.
This use of the term derives from an Elizabethan word used to describe braggarts. The original root of this is the Middle English word crack meaning "entertaining conversation" (one may be said to "crack" a joke); this term and the Gaelic spelling craic are still in use in Ireland, Scotland and Northern England. It is documented in Shakespeare's King John (1595): "What cracker is this same that deafs our ears with this abundance of superfluous breath?"

[crikkett]

That's actually pretty cool. Folksy.

[8bitagent]

So it's possible James Holmes WASNT a black ops manchurian candidate.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48798535/ns ... ork_times/

Just saying.

[beeline]

"Cracker" is just hilarious, easily the least charged racial epithet in common currency today. I am sympathetic to "redneck" as slur -- I read Jim Goad, too, but he was an abusive asshole in addition to being a gifted writer -- but cracker is just LULZ. There are no sharp edges anywhere on that word.

Well I am not a prude or anything, I can see the humor in cracker, I guess it just depends on how it is used, but yea I generally agree with you.

Anyone know the etymology of 'cracker' as racial slur? (I don't)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracker_(pejorative)

Etymology

Cracker, sometimes white cracker, originated in the 18th century. There are many theories of its origins, most going back to the days of slavery. In its pejorative form it is often used as a racial slur.

One theory holds that the term comes from the common diet of poor whites. Britannica notes that the term derives from the cracked corn from which cornmeal and grits, which formed their staple food, are made, as well as corn whiskey.[2] Historians point out the term originally referred to the English and Scots-Irish farmers of the back country (as opposed to the wealthy planters of the seacoast). As sociologist Horace Kephart reported in 1913: "As the plantations expanded these freed men (formerly bond servants) were pushed further and further back upon the more and more sterile soil. They became 'pinelanders', 'corn-crackers', or 'crackers'."[3]

As early as the 1760s, this term was in use by the upper class planters in the British North American colonies to refer to Scots-Irish and English settlers in the south, most of whom were descendants of English bond servants. A letter to the Earl of Dartmouth reads: "I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by Crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascalls on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who often change their places of abode.

This use of the term derives from an Elizabethan word used to describe braggarts. The original root of this is the Middle English word crack meaning "entertaining conversation" (one may be said to "crack" a joke); this term and the Gaelic spelling craic are still in use in Ireland, Scotland and Northern England. It is documented in Shakespeare's King John (1595): "What cracker is this same that deafs our ears with this abundance of superfluous breath?"

A similar usage was that of Charles Darwin in his introduction to The Origin of Species, to refer to "Virginia squatters" (illegal settlers).[4]

Georgia Cracker label depicting a boy with peachesFrederick Law Olmsted, a prominent landscape architect from Connecticut, visited the South as a journalist in the 1850s and wrote that "some crackers owned a good many Negroes, and were by no means so poor as their appearance indicated."[5]

[82_28]

So it's possible James Holmes WASNT a black ops manchurian candidate.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48798535/ns ... ork_times/

Just saying.

From link:

Other students said Mr. Holmes did his rotations in the laboratories of Achim Klug, who studies the auditory system; Mark Dell’Acqua, who does basic research on synaptic signaling; and Dr. Curt Freed, whose work focuses on messenger chemicals in the brain and stem cell transplants in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Apart from presenting to you all, Aurora above, I present to you this Dr. Klug who studies the auditory system:



ummm. If neuroscience was the specialty and the link to neuroscience is one of the cornerstones of understanding this, all I can say is that Dr. Klug's eyes get my neuro-juices flowing.

[82_28]

I have no fucking clue what importance this has, but here's Klug's "neurotree" which can be researched further:

http://neurotree.org/neurotree/tree.php?pid=16356

It appears to me Holmes, just by association should now be added to the tree, no? Neuroscience is exactly what studies this type of behavior, no? Don't wanna smear the guy. I have no idea and mean no harm. But, in full on honesty, his line of work and his eyes should be added to the mystery of what made the alleged snapping of James Holmes. I gotz the day off -- I'll continue to look for the possible connections applicable and throw 'em up on the board.

[brekin]

8bitagent wrote:

So it's possible James Holmes WASNT a black ops manchurian candidate.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48798535/ns ... ork_times/

Just saying.

That article had great background on the months leading up to the theatre event
and helps flesh out Holmes more. One thing I wonder about is why Holmes supposed target
was anonymous movie goers and not the department in which he had so much invested
and lost? Related to this I wonder why he didn't try to take a leave of absence or semester
off? I'm also a little surprised that no action was taken much earlier with some of his behavior
and communications. Such as:

“I want to let you guys know that James has quit the program,” a student remembered her saying. “He wrote us an e-mail. He didn’t say why. That’s all I can really say.”

Mr. Holmes informed the school that he was dropping out at the same time that members of the threat assessment team were discussing Dr. Fenton’s concerns, the official familiar with the investigation said. Prosecutors in the case have said in court documents that Mr. Holmes was barred from the campus after making unspecified threats to a professor. But university administrators have insisted that he was not barred from campus and said his key card was deactivated on June 10 as part of the standard procedure for withdrawing.

Did he or did he not make threats against a professor and get barred from campus? That is no small deal. The article below relates a recent case where a student allegedly made some threatening type remarks about a professor and because he was a known gun enthusiast was investigated, taken into custody, given a 6 day psych eval and expelled.

Also, I wonder if the following student went to the admin after hearing this from Holmes;

Prosecutors said in court filings released last week that Mr. Holmes told a fellow student in March that he wanted to kill people “when his life was over.”

I don't know, someone as withdrawn and strange as Holmes making such a comment to a fellow neuroscience student would hopefully raise some flags. As well as the him showing the gun he bought to another fellow student;

In May, he showed another student a Glock semiautomatic pistol, saying he had bought it “for protection.” At one point, his psychiatrist, Dr. Lynne Fenton, grew concerned enough that she alerted at least one member of the university’s threat assessment team that he might be dangerous, an official with knowledge of the investigation said, and asked the campus police to find out if he had a criminal record. He did not. But the official said that nothing Mr. Holmes disclosed to Dr. Fenton rose to the threshold set by Colorado law to hospitalize someone involuntarily.

That and some of his other comments to a fellow female student seem like they would be elevated to admin. Really students spend much of their time gossiping and trading notes on fellow students. Weird students are noticed and in post Virginia Tech they are watched. I would think Neuroscience types would be into diagnosing their fellow humans and with Holmes obvious behavior and isolation issues would be cause for concern. The article below I think captures the climate of hyper-vigilance people have now with student behavior. (This incident happened before Aurora.)

Was Portland State right in expelling student as safety risk? The student says no; the university says yes

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/inde ... in_ex.html

Henry Liu was a promising graduate student in Portland State University's conflict resolution program. He had excellent grades, with law school on the horizon. But his academic career swiftly derailed last spring after he confided to a classmate that he was upset with a faculty member and mentioned guns in the same conversation.

Liu's classmate told campus police that her friend felt a lot of hatred and said of one assistant professor, "He could get shot." Liu, a gun enthusiast, denies making any such threat and says he never intended to harm anyone. Yet Portland State officials took swift and decisive action.

Less than 24 hours after Liu spoke to his classmate, campus police put him in handcuffs and he landed in a psychiatric ward. PSU officials barred him from school property and put out a public flier with his photo that included this line: "If you see Mr. Liu on campus, or if you have any significant concerns about your immediate personal safety, please notify law enforcement officials by calling 911." Last month, PSU expelled him.

The 33-year-old Astoria resident hasn't been charged with a crime and has no history of violence. A psychiatric report concluded that he poses no danger to himself or anyone else. At the time of his arrest, Liu's interest in firearms had waned because owning guns seemed to conflict with his growing passion for conflict resolution.

He now finds himself considering legal action against the university, saying he was harmed by school officials who wildly overreacted to the allegations and profiled him -- in his words -- as a "crazy Asian shooter."

So what went wrong at PSU? Did anything go wrong?

Liu's case shows how a student can get caught up in a post-Virginia Tech world and how universities find themselves in dicey territory as they balance student security with free speech rights.
The way U.S. colleges respond to any hint of a gun threat took a dramatic turn five years ago, when a mentally ill Virginia Tech senior, Seung-Hui Cho, went on a shooting rampage at the school, killing 32 people before committing suicide.

Since then, campus administrators across the United States have grown hypervigilant to the point where concerns about gun-related speech have spiked into a state of alarm, says William Creeley, director of legal and public advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Higher Education.

"We are seeing an increased sensitivity to any behavior that could possibly be construed as aberrant, threatening or evidence of some larger personality disorder," Creeley says. "As a result of this broad focus on unusual behavior, we're seeing lots of normal, protected speech swept into the dragnet and used as reason for investigation or even punishment."
Here's what led to Liu's expulsion, based on The Oregonian's interviews with Liu, his accuser, his lawyer and campus police, as well as police records, a psychiatric report and other documents.

Walking with a classmate

On the evening of April 19, Liu walked a classmate to her car after class. What happened next remains in dispute.

Liu's classmate told police he vented loudly about the conflict resolution program and its chairman, Robert Gould, saying, "I'm about ready to stick a .45 in his ass." She said that Liu had complained about his chronic back problem and sleeplessness, and that he was going target shooting that weekend, according to a campus police report.

Liu disputes his classmate's characterizations of the conversation. He says he confided his deep disappointment in PSU's conflict resolution program and his unhappiness with assistant professor Stan Sitnik, who had given him a B-plus instead of the A he thought he deserved. But Liu says he never raised his voice and never mentioned Gould.
(Although Liu's 55-year-old classmate is named in public records and gave a brief interview for this story, The Oregonian is withholding her name at the request of PSU officials, who say that naming her might have a chilling effect on others taking safety concerns to campus authorities.)
About 3 a.m. the next day, Liu's classmate encouraged him by email to seek counseling or mediation for his anger. Liu was asleep and didn't reply.

At some point, she reported his comments to PSU authorities. At roughly 9 a.m., an official in the dean of student life's office phoned campus police to report the comments attributed to Liu. The police report described the incident as "inappropriate behavior."

At 1:38 p.m., two campus police officers, joined by a pair of Portland cops, walked into a brick building on Southwest Clay Street, one block from the PSU campus, and knocked on the door of Apartment 43. Liu answered, shocked to see a group of officers on his landing, and stepped outside to talk.

Portland Officer James Crooker asked Liu if he had any guns inside his one-bedroom apartment.
"No," he said.
Liu, who had four firearms in the apartment, would later explain that he wasn't truthful for a reason: He saw police ushering people out of the building, and he hoped to defuse the situation rather than scare his neighbors or the officers.

Police told Liu they wanted to talk about statements he had allegedly made about harming staff members at PSU. When Liu denied having made any threats, Crooker asked again if he had any guns inside. Liu looked at campus police Sgt. Joseph Schilling, who said, "Where are the guns, Henry?"

Liu invited police inside and told them they could find two semiautomatic handguns in a locked footlocker in his closet. Police found both guns -- a .22-caliber Smith & Wesson and a .45-caliber Springfield -- and handcuffed their suspect. Liu says he heard one officer, noting the .45, ask, "You didn't say you were going to stick this up somebody's ass?"

Liu denied making the comment, and he told them where to find two other firearms, including a Daniel Defense M4 carbine, a semiautomatic version of a combat rifle used by U.S. troops. None of the guns were illegal, and none were loaded. Liu had bought two of them -- one equipped with pink grips -- for his fiance.

Officers poking through Liu's place found loaded magazines, boxes of cartridges, survival gear stuffed into packs, along with extra food and a QuikClot sponge designed to quickly stop bleeding. Liu also had shooting glasses and ear protection, a first aid kit, a flashlight, wet naps, and a Bear Grylls survival knife.

The gear looked suspicious to police, as if Liu were planning a hasty departure, and, according to Liu, they kept using terms such as "tactical" and "military." But as Liu later explained, he's an avid camper with an abundance of gear, including a huge stock of ramen noodles his mother bought him at Costco.
Liu recalls police asking about his state of mind, wondering if he intended to follow up on his threats. He says he kept telling them it was all a terrible misunderstanding, but he felt as if they were trying to coerce a confession.

The impasse ended this way: Liu voluntarily agreed to be evaluated at Oregon Health & Science University. Police walked him out to a patrol car in lounge pants, his hair a mess. "I had my head down in shame," he recalls.
Liu says he didn't realize he would have to spend six days in a psychiatric unit at OHSU before he was released with a clean bill of mental health.

Conduct evaluated

PSU's Student Conduct Committee, composed of students and faculty, heard the complaint against Liu over two days last month. The panel took testimony from Liu's accuser and Sgt. Schilling. Liu didn't appear in person because he wasn't allowed on campus. He testified by speakerphone in the office of his attorney, Michael E. Rose.

Rose wasn't permitted to speak during the proceeding. Students can have advisers at the hearings, says PSU spokesman Scott Gallagher, but only as consultants, not as participants in the proceedings, which aren't intended to be judicial in nature.
"The fact that the two witnesses against (Liu) were sitting in the room with the committee, and Henry was only allowed to participate by telephone -- invisible, and highly ignorable -- really cuts at the root of any notion of a fair hearing," Rose says.

On June 20, Liu got notice that he had been expelled for violating two provisions of the code of student conduct: "Furnishing false/misleading information," and "Possible health/safety threat."
Liu isn't the first student expelled for making credible threats on campus, Gallagher says. School officials declined to cite the precise number of expulsions, saying the information could possibly violate the privacy of other students.
Liu has filed for an administrative review of PSU's expulsion. He and his lawyer will wait for the outcome of that review before planning their next step, Rose says.

The circumstances confronting PSU officials last April were serious, says Public Safety Chief Phillip Zerzan. They had a heavily armed student -- with survival gear and hundreds of rounds of ammo -- who lived spitting distance from campus and was accused of threatening faculty members.

With all those factors in play, he says, PSU took reasonable and compassionate steps to keep Liu and the campus community safe.
Zerzan's job is to keep the university safe, but he also recognizes that students and faculty have free-speech rights.
"It is a difficult balance, and I think we were responsible," he says. "This was not a rush to judgment. ... How defensible would it be if we didn't put out the warning and he came back and shot up the school?"

Liu feels betrayed.
"My takeaway is that I was wrongly dismissed from the university based on hearsay and conclusions that weren't supported by facts," he says. "My name's been smeared, and so much has been taken from me. My future is uncertain. And I miss school."