[Vision2020] President White's Letter Supporting Geocentricism is a Hoax

[Nicholas Gier]

Hail to the Vision!

I received the letter below this morning and I suspected a hoax 
immediately. The President's Office has confirmed that indeed it is. 

I think there is a good possibility that Wilson & Co. are behind 
this.  This is not the first time that they have embarrassed the UI.  
You may have heard that they once produced an announcement on the 
Provost's letterhead about a topless feminist visiting scholar.  You 
can read Wilson boasting about this caper at 
www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/evang.htm.

The time of its sending and the full name with Ph.D. are small pieces 
of evidence in this act of perfidy.

Can anyone trace the server in order to see where it came from?

Nick Gier

Office of the President
Administration Building Room 105
P.O. Box 443151
Moscow, ID  83844-3151
(208) 885-6365

October 6, 2005

Letter to the University of Idaho Faculty, Staff and Students:

Because I’m on a roll here, I write to articulate the University of 
Idaho's position with respect to the solar system:  The fact that the 
sun revolves around the earth is the only curriculum that is 
appropriate 
to be taught in the scientific sciences.  As the President of this 
University, it is within my administrative capacity to issue 
statements 
like this that restrict the academic freedom of the faculty and 
students.

At the University of Idaho, teaching of views that differ from 
geocentricity may occur in faculty-approved curricula in religion, 
sociology, philosophy, culinary arts, adult education and other fields 
that don’t bring in grant money.  However, teaching of heliocentric 
views is inappropriate if there is a possibility that students might 
become scientifically skeptical of the dominant paradigm.

The University respects the attempts of individuals to hold personal 
religious and philosophical beliefs, so long as these beliefs are not 
faith-based, since the University of Idaho only believes in science.

The University of Idaho's position is consistent with views 
articulated 
by respected astronomers for thousands of years. Recent initiatives to 
dispute this scientific fact may not be discussed in any University 
facility, not even WinCo.

Timothy P. White, Ph.D.
President, University of Idaho