I received an excellent email tonight from one Antonio Ciaccia, with a pointer to his just-published piece in the Ohio State Sentinel on Professor Saul Cornell. You remember the good Professor? He’s the scholar that wrote the op-ed I fisked last month, and then the reply to it that I, er, took exception to a couple of days later.
Well, Mr. Ciaccia has done a bit of an exposé on Prof. Cornell, entitled Something’s Fishy at the John Glenn Institute. Mr. Chiaccia’s email was as follows:
Hello sir, I couldn’t help but notice your work on Saul Cornell. I am a student at Ohio State University, and I have recently done some research of my own on Dr. Cornell. I write for a watchdog student newspaper here on campus. I have found that Cornell’s name seems to pop up everywhere on pro-gun sites for his work with Bellesiles and his own personal op-eds. Yet despite most press, too many are still guessing on whether this guy is anti or not. Well, your answer is hopefully here.
Mr. Ciaccia, after reading Prof. Cornell’s op-ed, it was blindingly apparent where he stood. But your piece is outstanding work, and I congratulate you for it.
For my readers, here’s an appetizer:
Picture this: a public policy institute at Penn State University is awarded money to establish an abortion research center. The money to establish the center is donated by the Christian Coalition, and the appointed director of the center has written op-ed pieces in the past about how abortion is comparable to murder. Then the center releases documents authored by its director that discuss the interpretation of the Constitution that could forbid abortion all together.
Does this sound like a reliable source for fair research?
While the above scenario is fictitious, a very similar situation has arisen at Ohio State, thanks to our very own Second Amendment Research Center (SARC). In March 2003, the John Glenn Institute created SARC to “promote informed discussion of an important policy issue and stimulate interest in history as a dynamic field relevant to current policy issues.” The director of the center, Dr. Saul Cornell, a Constitutional historian, was chosen to shed light on the difficult topic of gun policy.
It just gets better. Go read.