November 16, 1993 The Other Press 3 Censorship! Textbook ban ends after Trent U. Appeal by Clive Thompson TORONTO (CUP) -- Canada Customs has reversed a decision to bar a course textbook from entering the country af- terTrent University appealed the ruling. Last month, Canada Customs at Fort Erie, Ont., barred a shipment of Man Sitting in the Corridor by Margue- rite Duras, saying it contained “sex with violence.” The book was to be taught in two Trent cultural studies courses. The university appealed the rul- ing last week, and on Oct. 28 an em- barrassed customs official called Trent from Ottawa to say they'd reviewed the book more carefully and didn’t have any problems with it, according to Trent bookstore manager Ralph Colley. “They think it’s all been a terri- ble mistake,” Colley said. “They're here to stop hate literature, not to ban regu- lar literature.” Don Labelle, senior communi- cations officer for Revenue Canada, said Customs usually immediately reviews the decisions of border officials to ban books. But in this case, the shipper — United Parcel Service — sent the ship- ment back to the publisher immediately after the ruling, so Customs didn’t have a copy of the book to review, Labelle said. Trent professors say this inci- dent shows it’s time for Customs to get out of the book reviewing business. “Shouldn't it be time to sepa- rate the question of fruit and vegeta- bles and firearms from literature?”, asked cultural studies professor Zsu Zsa Baross, who ordered the Duras book for her undergraduate course, “The Mak- ing of the Modern Body.” Baross agreed the book’s por- trayal of an erotic relationship is shock- ing — she plans to teach it in a section on “perversions”, alongside the Marquis de Sade — but said universities must be free to explore fringe topics. “It's a very disturbing book, but suppose I was teaching a course on ob- scenity, how would I teach it without examples?” Trent isn’t the first university bookstore to have shipments detained by customs. McMaster University, Wa- terloo University, and the universities of Calgary and Manitoba have all had books barred in the last year. Trent spokesperson Susan Wheeler said her university had to fight the “arbitrary” decision, or risk setting a bad precedent. Otherwise, professors would shy away from designing courses with risque material, for fear of it not being available, she said. Ironically, Duras’ book is al- ready available at other libraries and bookstores in Canada, such as Robarts Library at the University of Toronto. Officials at Blue Moon in New York, which publishes the book, said they haven’t had trouble getting the book into any other country. But sales and marketing director Louella Dizon said she was glad Trent fought the de- cision. However, not everyone sees Trent as a defender of free speech. Glen McGregor, assistant editor at Frank ends meet. then think again. Canadisn Canadimn is a registered trademark of Canadian Airlines International Ltd. Fares available on a one-way or return basis. Fares applicable for students between the ages of 12 and 24. Proof of age is required. Travel is on a stand-by basis only. STAND-BY FOR TAKE-OFF. At Canadian Airlines, we understand how difficult it is for students nowadays to make That’s why we’re offering a year-round student stand-by fare at 65% off the regular economy fare anywhere that Canadian flies. So, if you thought a flight home or a chance to get away was beyond your budget, For more information, call your travel agent or Canadian Airlines and simply stand-by. Magazine, pointed out thatTrent’'s book- store itself banned Frank a year and a half ago after a local resident com- plained it was racist and sexist. “It's ironic,” he added. “That's the other type of censorship, when you have special interest groups that can get material banned because they don’t like it.” But McGregor also criticized cus- toms officials — “these sluggos at the border” — for their actions. UofT tries to sack Prof. who runs his own universities by Brian David DiLeandro TORONTO (CUP) -- The University of Toronto wants to fire a tenured pro- fessor who runs his own chain of uni- versities. Herbert Richardson, a profes- sor of religion at St. Michael's College, was sent a notice of dismissal by U ofT in early July, due to an alleged “breach of fiduciary responsibility.” An academic tribunal will at- tempt to determine whether the dismissal can proceed. If the university is successful in dismissing Richardson, it will mark the first time in over two decades that a U ofT professor’s tenure has been ter- minated. In September, Richardson told the Globe and Mail he is uncertain as to the exact reason for his dismissal. But U of T administrators in- sist Richardson received a five-page let- ter in June, detailing the exact circum- stances surrounding his dismissal, with four explicit grounds. Donald Dewees, vice-dean of the Faculty ofArts and Science, said the letter followed an earlier seven-page memo he had sent to Richardson in May, which also outlined potential rea- sons for dismissal. “I was surprised to see that Prof. Richardson claimed to be puzzled. That claim is preposterous,” Dewees said. University provosf Adel Sedra agreed U ofT had just cause to go ahead with dismissal. “This came at the end of a big series of incidents all related to negli- gence of duties or complaints by stu- dents,” he said. Since the case is currently un- der review, no one associated with U | of T or St. Michael’s College will dis- | Cuss the specific reasons given or any particulars of the situation. Richardson, too, declined comment. What is apparent, though, is that U ofT’s administration has grown increasingly concerned about Richardson's activities outside U of T. The professor is owner of a private pub- lishing house, Mellen Press, as well as the founder of two universities — al- | though neither has received accredita- tion as such. In January, after taking a term- long sick leave, Richardson checked into the Duke University Medical Center for what he claimed was a seri- _ ous heart ailment which prevented him from carrying out his teaching duties. But in bothApril and June, Richardson traveled to Dodge City, Kansas, to es- tablish his new University of Western ’ Kansas. Although Sedra did not specifi- cally comment on Richardson’s trips to Kansas, he admitted the university was concerned about his activities during his medical leave. “We were very concerned that Prof. Richardson was not fulfilling his duties toward the university,” said Sedra. “We were concerned that he took a medical leave and it came to our attention that in fact he was using the time to conduct his personal business.” The University of Western Kan- sas, which opened in July, is affiliated with Richardson’s other university in the Caribbean. Degree requirements at Mellen University, located in the Turks and Caicos Islands, are notably different from those at accredited universities. For example, Mellen offers a “BA for Life Experience” for $995. Al- though students need not actually at- tend classes, they must demonstrate “religious and moral self-consistency,” “live life in a rational way,” display “cul- tural literacy, creative expressiveness and multi-cultural sensitivity,” and prove proficiency in “social compre- hension and psychological self-knowl- edge.” Only one class has graduated Mellen U. Comprised of a group of 11 ministers from North Carolina, all re- ceived PhD’s in “pastoral supervision,” which they flew to the Caribbean to obtain last April. Founded in September of last year, the university was intended to augment Mellen Press, an esoteric and quasi-academic publishing house Richardson formed in Lewiston, New York in 1973. Mellen Press was not un- profitable, grossing $2.5 million in 1992, up from $600,000 in 1988. In the beginning, Mellen Press published mostly religious texts, often in connection to the Unification Church, led by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, whose followers are commonly _ known as “Moonies.” Richardson's involvement with the Unification Church is well-docu- mented. At first, his press focused on material that bolstered the. church’s reputation, such as a 1981 book edited by Richardson, entitledA Time for Con- sideration: A Scholarly Appraisal of the Unification Church. In addition to a chapter writ- ten by him, the book contains an in- troduction written by Richardson where he states he proudly wears a Moonie Supporter sash. In the early 1980s, in an at- tempt to attract university librarians as buyers, Mellen began publishing litera- ture from more established academic writers. University librarians often pur- chase book titles in large quantities to be cost-effective. Books that are bought in large orders are frequently priced less than the list price. Mellen Press, therefore, began to publish a more gen- eral list, at times changing the titles of books that at first would appear too ob- scure, or rare, to be of interest. The new and comprehensive Mellen Press ran into trouble until 1989, when accusations of plagiarism were made about Stephen Barnes, whose book Muzak: The Hidden Mes- sages in Music was published by Mellen. In 1990, another book by Joseph Washington drew the scrutiny of many librarians who were uneasy about the book’s title, The First Fugi- tive Foreign and Domestic Doctor of Divinity: Rational Race Rules of Reli- gion and Realism Revered and Reversed or Revised by The Reverend Doctor James William Charles Pennington.