8 - Friday, April 25, 1986 ~ North Shore News Doug Collins GARY BOTTING, PhD., © get this straight is a pleasant 42-year-old Alber- tan academic and former reporter whom I met during the Zundel trial in Toronto. He was testifying for the defence in the interests of freedom of speech, and impressed me as being a sensible and gutsy person. t met him again the other night in the International Plaza, where he was giving a talk for the Cana- dian Free Speech League. But he is no longer an English instructor at Red Deer College, where he had worked for 14 years. This month, after a long dispute with the ad- ministration, during which he was suspended, he was reinstated. Then he resigned. A matter of days after I got back from Toronto, word came that Botting was in trouble with the college. Later, after also testi- fying at the Keegstra trial -- again in the interests of free speech -- he was in even greater trouble, Botting’s woes were never tied directly to those court ap- pearances. Hilarious though it may sound, he was accused of having charged the college for twice as many typewriter ribbons ($132 worth) as were normally us- ed by other instructors. In addi- tion, he was said to have charged $100 for having covers printed for a booklet for one of his own plays. That the booklets were to be used for study on the courses he was. giving didn’t seem to matter. ° His position on academic freedom and freedom of speech did enter the dispute in one impor- tant respect. He had ordered for the college library 25 copies of the banned book The Hoax of the Twentieth Century. Hoax disputes that 6,000,000 Jews were murdered during World War Two, and Botting thought the book would be a counterpoint to other literature on the subject. But the college ad- ministration did not dance with delight at that prospect. It was ap- parently scared out of its wits. lt cravenly surrendered the copies of the book to the RCMP, and Bottitig'’s boss refused to sign the routine evaluation form necessary for the instructor's good standing at the college. Western Report magazine states the administration moved against Botting because of the alleged abuse of college funds and because of what the college called “the lack of judgement’’ shown in the Hoax affair. The college claimed to be concerned that in importing Hoax from the U.S., Botting had committed an illegal act. This and the other items, plus personality conflicts, brought his “professional responsibility’ into question. There are enough complications in this case to drive a battery of lawyers crazy. But as Botting told meat the Plaza, **Before I went to the Zundel trial, I had no trouble. After I'd been to the Zunde! trial, I had nothing but trouble.** After appearing at the Keegstra trial he had double trouble. There are things about this situation that puzzle me. Since when has academe been so concerned about the petty cash? Using more typewriter rib- bons than one's fellow thinkers does not strike me as being a mat- ter of major importance. Nor does spending $100 on booklet covers. Furthermore, even when crooks have been involved, the ruling members of Canadian universities have rarely been that quick to act. No one wants any unpleasantness, you know. Then there's the Hoax thing. How come there was such unseemly haste to get rid of a book? lf the book presents a serious argument, which this one does, one would think a college would encourage its purchase, and damn the Customs and Excise and all other censors. Is that all that freedom is worth to our academics? If there were such a thing as a Canada Freedom Medal, I would not recommend Red Deer College for the award. wk ok * The North Shore has more than its share of talented people, one of whom is Dr. T.P Millar, the child psychiatrist and writer. Millar has written a new book called Who's Afraid of Sigmund Freud? and it has rated a long and | “favorable review in the Globe & Mail. G & M bookman William French says Freudian analysis will never be the same after this ‘‘witty and gleeful attack’”’ on it. Bookman Collins says W’ho’s Afraid would make a very amus- ing movie. Hit and run. jdriver sought NORTH Vancouver ROMP ate trying 10 locate the driver of a Mercedes, which left the scene of a hit and run accident Thursday, March 27. Phe accident occurred between 7:30 and 8 p.m. in front of 2008 Fullerton Avenue. 4 dark, blue four-door sedan Mercedes Benz backed into a Pon- .. This-week’‘s. special tac Firebird, but left the scene of the accident. 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