?Mogadishu' Professor Cuts Class

[thedrifter]

?MOGADISHU' PROFESSOR CUTS CLASS

By JENNIFER FERMINO and TODD VENEZIA
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April 2, 2003 -- Nearly a week after Columbia University professor Nicholas De Genova called for the mass slaughter of U.S. troops, the man who wants "a million Mogadishus" fears so much for his own life he is refusing to go to class.
De Genova claimed death threats forced him to skip his 2:40 p.m. Latino History course at the university's Hamilton Hall - the first lecture he had scheduled since the March 26 anti-war "teach in" in which he referred to the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" incident in which 18 GIs were slain.

Instead of the professor, some 25 students were greeted by three graduate students, who said class was canceled and the professor was in hiding.

"Because Nick is afraid for his life, nobody knows where he is," said one, who refused to identify herself.



The woman then invited the undergrads to protest at the library.

Almost two dozen De Genova supporters gathered at 4 p.m. by a statue outside the Ivy League school's library. The protesters sat silently near an empty chair meant to symbolize the absence of the professor.

One who did not show up was Rebekah Pazmino, who attended the 2:40 p.m. class De Genova missed.

The 19-year-old sophomore said she is set to enter the Marines this summer.

She said she is angry at what her professor said.


Sempers,

Roger