SAF Demands Revocation of Award

[Kernhuntr]

Second Amendment Foundation Demands Revocation of Award
U.S. Newswire
28 Oct 17:18
Second Amendment Foundation Demands Revocation Of Bancroft Award
From Discredited Author
To: National and State Desks
Contact: Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation,
425-454-7012

BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Second Amendment
Foundation (SAF) today called upon Columbia University to
immediately revoke the Bancroft Prize from author Michael
Bellesiles for his discredited book, "Arming America: The Origins
of a National Gun Culture." Columbia University has received SAF's
revocation request.

"Along with the prize, Professor Bellesiles should be required
to return the $4,000 cash award that came with it," said SAF
founder Alan Gottlieb. "Allowing such a fraud to be awarded at all
harms other Bancroft prize winners as the lack of review for
academic standards is now obvious to everyone. Continuing to let
Bellesiles keep the award will further tarnish Columbia and the
Bancroft Award as no defense remains for his actions."

Bellesiles resigned from Emory University Friday, Oct. 25, more
than three months after an investigative committee found serious
problems with his research. Bellesiles' book was hailed by gun
control groups and anti-gunners in the press. However, almost from
the outset, Arming America was questioned, then debunked, by
historians and scholars (including many supporting gun control),
and reporters for at least three newspapers.

"The committee found evidence of falsification in Bellesiles'
research," Gottlieb noted. "The preponderance of evidence suggests
the book, which attempted to re-write the history of firearms
ownership in America, was a monumental fraud. Columbia University
needs to protect its reputation and that of the Bancroft Prize by
rescinding it from Professor Bellesiles."

SAF Public Affairs Director Dave LaCourse was equally insistent.
"'Arming America' has become a literary scandal, not deserving of
the Bancroft Prize," he stated. "It certainly never deserved all
the applause it received from anti-gunners when it was first
published, and it is remarkable how silent those same people are,
now that the book's serious flaws have been revealed.

"Equally troubling," LaCourse continued, "was the use of
Bellesiles' bogus 'research' in numerous anti-gun legal briefs in
the Emerson case, which found that the Second Amendment is, in
fact, an individual right."

The Bancroft Prize is one of the most distinguished awards in
the field of American history. Columbia University awards it
annually to authors who publish works of "exceptional merit and
distinction." Bellesiles received the award in April 2001, and
within months, an investigation was launched into allegations of
academic misconduct.

LaCourse noted that SAF maintains a complete account of the
"Arming America" scandal on its website at: www.saf.org

The Second Amendment Foundation is the nation's oldest and
largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action
group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to
privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The
Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters
and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public
about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded
successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los
Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun
owners. Current projects include several concealed carry lawsuits,
a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers & an amicus brief &
fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an
individual right.

[DKScott]

Let's see how much integrity Columbia has. I'm reminded of the old Chinese proverb about dealing with opponents:

"Beat the drowning dog" http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-smackin-head.gif

[Kernhuntr]

Columbia Rescinds History Prize for Book
By HILLEL ITALIE
Associated Press Writer


NEW YORK (AP)--Severe doubts about a book on guns in the United States has led Columbia University to rescind the prestigious Bancroft Prize for history.

``Arming America,&#39;&#39; by Michael Bellesiles, had received the award in 2001.

In a statement released Friday, Columbia said that the school&#39;s trustees had concluded ``his book had not and does not meet the standards ... established for the Bancroft Prize.&#39;&#39; Columbia has asked Bellesiles to return the prize money, $4,000.

It was the first time in the 54-year history of the Bancroft award that Columbia has taken such actions. Phone and e-mail messages left by The Associated Press with Bellesiles were not immediately returned.

Bellesiles resigned in October as a professor at Emory University, after an independent panel of scholars strongly criticized his research. In May, the National Endowment for the Humanities withdrew its name--although not its funding--from a fellowship given to Bellesiles. (pronounced Bell-EEL).

Bellesiles has acknowledged some errors, but defends his book as fundamentally sound. ``I have never fabricated evidence of any kind nor knowingly evaded my responsibilities as a scholar,&#39;&#39; he said after announcing his resignation.

The historian spent 10 years working on ``Arming America,&#39;&#39; published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2000. The book challenges the idea that the United States has always been a gun-oriented culture and that well-armed militias were essential to the Revolutionary War.

Relying on numerous sources, Bellesiles writes that only a small percentage of people possessed firearms in colonial times and that militias were mostly ineffective. Only after the Civil War, he contends, did guns become vital.

``Arming America&#39;&#39; was praised in both The New York Times and The New York Review of Books and won the Bancroft Prize, presented to works of ``exceptional merit and distinction in the fields of American history and biography.&#39;&#39;

Many cited it as a devastating statement against America&#39;s alleged historical love affair with firearms.

Gun advocates quickly attacked the book, with National Rifle Association president, actor Charlton Heston, complaining that Bellesiles had ``too much time on his hands.&#39;&#39;

But scholars and critics also became skeptical. In October, Emory released a 40-page study that concluded Bellesiles was ``guilty of unprofessional and misleading work.&#39;&#39;

The report, written by scholars from Harvard and Princeton universities and the University of Chicago, said Bellesiles&#39; failure to cite sources for crucial data ``does move into the realm of &#39;falsification.&#39;&#39;&#39; It also suggested he omitted other researchers&#39; data that contradicted his arguments.

``The Bancroft judges operate on a basis of trust,&#39;&#39; said Eric Foner, a past winner and a history professor at Columbia who has served as a prize judge, although not in 2001. ``We assume a book published by a reputable press has gone through a process where people have checked the facts. Members of prize committees cannot be responsible for that.&#39;&#39;

Knopf said in a statement Friday it regretted ``the circumstances that prompted Columbia University to rescind the Bancroft,&#39;&#39; but respected the committee&#39;s decision. The paperback edition from Vintage Books, which already includes corrections, will remain in print.

Columbia said Friday that trustees concurred with the scholars commissioned by Emory and found that Bellesiles had ``violated basic norms of acceptable scholarly conduct.&#39;&#39; NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam praised Columbia&#39;s decision as ``appropriate.&#39;&#39;

Previous winners of the Bancroft Prize include such influential works as C. Vann Woodward&#39;s ``Origins of the New South,&#39;&#39; Foner&#39;s ``Reconstruction&#39;&#39; and Bernard Bailyn&#39;s ``The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution.&#39;&#39;