This was Phil Busse, a visiting professor at St. Olaf's College in Minnesota; he publicly discussed his actions on the Huffington Post, calling them "one of the single-most exhilarating and empowering political acts that I have ever done."
The Northfield News reports,
St. Olaf spokesman David Gonnerman issued the following statement Monday afternoon:
"The St. Olaf College administration first learned of Phil Busse's self-admitted theft and destruction of campaign signs on the morning of Oct. 31 as a result of his posting on the Internet.
"The St. Olaf administration immediately referred the matter to local law enforcement authorities and commenced an investigation of its own.
"Mr. Busse has tendered his resignation and is no longer affiliated with St. Olaf College.
"In a statement issued on Friday, the administration made clear that Mr. Busse's actions were in direct conflict with the college's values and mission and that the college did not in any way condone them.
"The statement also declared that St. Olaf College deplores unlawful interference with political campaigns and expression of speech.
"Mr. Busse had a one-semester temporary visiting appointment to teach one course in introductory media studies for the college during the fall term."
Busse was also charged with misdemeanor theft after confessing to the Rice County Sheriff’s department that he took three McCain/Palin yard signs, said Sergeant Dave Stensrud of the Rice County Sheriff’s Office.
Glad to hear it. Thanks to The Virginian for the pointer.
"'one of the single-most exhilarating and empowering political acts that I have ever done.'"
misdemeanor theft is politically empowering? Exhilarating I can understand, lots of criminals get a rush from their crimes, but politically empowering? What kind of juvenile mind does this guy have? Please get him away from any sort of teaching position until he grows up a little.
(Please note, however, that tenure will not save you if you are caught faking Indian blood. see Ward Churchill.)
What's worse is that he hasn't done anything -else- he considers more empowering. I can see how someone might think stealing stuff is empowering (and be wrong), but -the most empowering thing ever-?
There now seems to be an open position at Olaf. Anyone know when they will post it in the Chronicle?
This guy sounds more like 14 year old that just lifted a pair of earrings from Claire's Boutique at the local mall.
But stealing and/or defacing election signs does qualify him for a job here in Chicago working for the Daley organization and I understand that there is an opening as of this morning.
With that type of experience, petty theft being
\
is a believeable statement.
Any St. Olaf alumi posting here? That college always had a good rep. Have standards been lowered so that someone with such a history of nonaccomplishment is now considered qualified to teach there?
This guy's the equivalent of a guy copping a feel in a crowded subway train and telling the guys.
Rolling through pumpkin patches and apple orchids
"Rolling through" pumpkin patches? "Apple orchids"?
I think I have found one more reason why he should not be teaching journalism at St. Olaf.
Hey, I don't teach journalism.
All the poisons that lurk in the mud have hatched out during this election. Even the most shameful pathologies are now touted as political virtue.
My only sign story is that when I was a kid, our property extended in front of our neihbors house, and we noticed some signs we didn't like there... Totally by chance I arrived to remove the offending ones at the same time as our neihbor, who apperently had the same inention. Also by chance, we supported the same candidates, and were both happy to leave those ones up. Gotta love the local school board elections...
Why bother?
Wotta maroon.
"One of"? I would love to hear what the others were. Smoking pot at a Palin rally? Donating $200 to Obama under the name "Dick Cheney"?
As my son, who went to the "other" school in Northfield (Carleton College), points out, it's a wonderful place. Home of Malt-o-Meal, so the name of the cross-town rivalry football game is the "Cereal Bowl." Site of a famous bank robbery, celebrated each year, and recently memorialized in the book and movie: "The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." The late Sen. Paul Wellstone, he of the pre-Obama liberal wing of the Democratic Party, taught at Carleton, and they have a student activism program in his name.
Oh, and Olaf's is a dry campus. Don't think that had anything to do with this episode, though.
Huh?
Then they should throw the book at him so he spends the maximum time in jail and pays the maximum fine. And hopefully he'll be sued by those whose signs he stole for theft of property.
reminds me of the UW students who bragged about some similar low grade crime they had committed on myspace, and then complained about "invasion of privacy" when their public preening over the crime was used to identify and punish them.
this also is far from the first college prof caught doing this sort of thing. recall the case of the female professor punished for vandalizing a pro-choice display (along with several of her students) on campus.
Good to know. One less college to look at when my kids are 17.
I assume that he stole only McCain signs because he was trying to help Obama to win, not just because he's an idiot. My only regret is that he didn't steal more signs.
If a tenured prof here did the same thing, as a first offense, I don't think that person would be terminated, but there would be some sanction (options range from verbal or written reprimand to reduced pay to suspension or termination--management decides where on the scale the consequences fall). Then the prof could file a grievance objecting to the sanction (grievances happen less often than you might imagine in discipline cases) and the two sides would duke it out through a pre-defined process that potentially ends in arbitration.
Tenured faculty who the univ believes have committed serious crimes (harrassing students or staff; child porn; drunk driving, etc.) are terminated outright &any grievance would be pursued after that.
I spent 3 days in Northfield a couple weeks ago. In the town (where both Carleton and St. Olaf's reside), there were only Obama signs. At the farms outside the town, esp. on the highway where the professor stole the signs, there were many more McCain signs than Obama signs.
I assume it was in a car, tractor, or wagon. If not, then I guess it should be "rolling around in a pumpkin patch."
I think he was describing driving past them.
Yeah? And what kind of damages do you think they'd be able to prove? Five bucks?
In the mid 80s, when I was just figuring out what elections were, we had a Tim Penny sign in our front yard. Tim Penny was perhaps the most moderate politician ever. Pro-life Blue Dog fiscally conservative Democrat. So anyway, right after we put up the sign, somebody put nails in our driveway, and predictably destroyed our car's tires. We're still pretty sure this was election-year vandalism. I think my brother called the vandals "Banana-heads" in his 8-year old attempt at making up clever insults...
However, it still puzzles us that support for Penny could have provoked this reaction...
Maybe the puzzle has finally been solved?
Nick
What has the world come to when we are naming the serious crimes that will get you fired and child porn and drunk driving are compared in the same breath.
Hope I never get anyone from your school in a Jury pool.