the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence

A dispute with Stanford faculty and students over Donald Rumsfeld appointment as a Hoover Institute Fellow is reminding Southern Methodist University of what may be in store for them when/if President Bush’s Fantastic Freedom Institute opens on campus paired with the prospective Bush Library.

Opponents lack the two/thirds majority needed in the Stanford undergraduate senate to condemn the Rumsfeld slot, but faculty grumbling continues., according to the Dallas Morning News.

   The Hoover does what it likes despite nominally being part of Stanford, but at SMU…

“…while it’s unknown exactly what the relationship between the university and library will be, there is general agreement that the library’s policy institute will be more independent than the Hoover Institution.”

The News quotes Southern Methodist Anthropology Professor David Freidel as to what fantastic freedom is all about:

“If it’s entirely independent of us yet part of us,” he said, “the implication is that it can represent us in any way it wants to.”