Top Professor receives Stand Down Order from BYU

Well, peer review is technically the evaluation of a work by other people in the same field. Jones' field is crazy paranoid conspiracism.

His "peers" read his stuff and said:" Yeah, that's grade "A" crazy paranoid conspiracy sh**. Nice work."

And he got his stamp of approval.

:D
 
pgwenthold said:
Paid leave would be awesome!

I could get so much more of my work done if I didn't have these stupid university assignments (teaching, committees) getting in my way.

Place me on "leave" and all I will be able to do is to write papers and proposals. I only wish for the opportunity.
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Start producing some crazy wacked out theories backed by poor, poor science and I'm sure your employers will oblige.
 
He had it coming

This doesn't surprise me. I gave my thoughts on how to handle Steven Jones in this thread, and while I feel it's a grey area, Jones has been walking a fine line for years.

The most serious transgression is probably his "journal." I've worked with professors who've run conferences, published proceedings, even started journals in the past, and even where those are controversial, they don't usually irritate their University -- quite the opposite, a new journal is generally a point of honor and prestige. But one needs to do so properly.

It takes almost no investigation at all to see that his "journal" falls well short of the standards for peer review. All he would have had to do is bring some qualified professors into his review board, and make the process of submission, review, and revision transparent. Of course, had he done so, his "journal" might have been very short indeed.
 
so the gubmint got to dem profs at BYU, and now deh is discreditin da valid credentials of da bravist s-eye-entist ever to be born...dem damn gubimint devil worshippers.

;)
 
Darth Rotor said:
It is completely appropriate for the University to censure or punish him, even replace him, if he cannot uphold high ethical and academic standards.

This isn't censorship, this is similar to firing a professor for plagiarism or faking the results of an experiment: he is embarassing the academic integrity of BYU.

DR
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Agreed. He brings shame upon their house. Surprised he wasn't tenured, though.
 
Arkan_Wolfshade said:
For that matter, how did Jones survive at BYU following his cold fusion scandal?
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Cold Fusion embarrassed quite a few people. I haven't looked up Pons or Fleischman recently, but I imagine they suffered as a result. Jones was not a major player in the eyes of the public.

There's nothing wrong with researching wacky things (provided somebody will fund you to try). But you must always be prepared to disclose a negative result, be honest about your data and methods, and take criticism seriously. A good researcher will even raise his own doubts and ask others to not only replicate his work, but try to find alternate explanations.

This is not business as usual among the "Scholars for Truth."
 
Gravy said:
Agreed. He brings shame upon their house. Surprised he wasn't tenured, though.
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That's mainly because BYU doesn't tenure professors, according to the article:
BYU does not grant tenure, generally regarded as a permanent position, to professors. However, it does give continuing status to professors found worthy after six years on campus.
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R.Mackey said:
Cold Fusion embarrassed quite a few people. I haven't looked up Pons or Fleischman recently, but I imagine they suffered as a result. Jones was not a major player in the eyes of the public.

There's nothing wrong with researching wacky things (provided somebody will fund you to try). But you must always be prepared to disclose a negative result, be honest about your data and methods, and take criticism seriously. A good researcher will even raise his own doubts and ask others to not only replicate his work, but try to find alternate explanations.

This is not business as usual among the "Scholars for Truth."
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Jones actually still talks up his cold fusion research, distancing himself from Pons and Fleischman, and insisting on calling it "metal-catalyzed" fusion.
 
chipmunk stew said:
Jones actually still talks up his cold fusion research, distancing himself from Pons and Fleischman, and insisting on calling it "metal-catalyzed" fusion.
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Yeah, I've read up on Jones. He's not the only one still chasing Palladium dreams, not by a long shot. And one never knows. I cannot categorically say that room-temperature fusion is impossible, even though it seems unlikely. I'm not at all against him continuing his pursuit.

However, Jones would be incorrect in stating that his results to date are anything other than negative. Even "inconclusive" is a stretch.
 
R.Mackey said:
Yeah, I've read up on Jones. He's not the only one still chasing Palladium dreams, not by a long shot. And one never knows. I cannot categorically say that room-temperature fusion is impossible, even though it seems unlikely. I'm not at all against him continuing his pursuit.

However, Jones would be incorrect in stating that his results to date are anything other than negative. Even "inconclusive" is a stretch.
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Yeah. And yet, if I'm not mistaken I've read him refer to them as "promising".
 
As I've said before, BYU is wholly owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Every church employee, from the building manager at my local chapel to the dean of BYU are under a morality clause.

If Jones doesn't keep his spiritual I's dotted and T's crossed, he's out.

I think it will be interesting to see where Jones (who has always claimed to be a devout mormon) goes with this. My guess is he will either have to make some apology for some of his actions, or he will turf himself from the church. We believe the church to be guided by divine inspiration. IF these 9-11 theories are true, God is certainly aware of it and would not allow his church to become a tool of these modern day "Gadianton Robbers" (a band of of evil conspirators responsible for provoking a series of wars for thier own gain in the Book of Mormon).

If Jones accuses the church of bending over for the gadiantons, he is basically throwing out one of our foundational beliefs.

Either way, he won't be our problem anymore.
 
I came across a paper written by one of his studentswho was (mis)using the 2nd law of thermodynamics to show that WTC 7 could not have fallen because of fire alone! I think Jones has a right to free speech but BYU has the responsibility of making sure their professors aren't teaching their students to be crackpots.
 
From the parallel thread over in the Loose Change Forums:

MJChicago
does he not have tenure?
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FidelCastro
Nope, I believe he is non-tenure.
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The article they are commenting on is quoted, in full, in the opening post of that thread. Here's the related paragraph. (emphasis mine)

BYU does not grant tenure, generally regarded as a permanent position, to professors. However, it does give continuing status to professors found worthy after six years on campus.
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Do the loosers have poor reading skills or do they only understand something when it is presented in video format?
 
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I assume that he will soon "resign" from BYU to pursue "other endeavors".

Translation into plain English: "We'll pay you X dollars to quietly go away and spare us the embarrassment of explaining how it is you managed to stay on our faculty this long anyway."
 
The 9-11 deniers are going to go nuts over this:

Bush20and20Hinckley.jpg


This picture was taken a few days before Jones's recent vacation was announced. We all know who the gentleman on the right is. The small grey haired man is mormon Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley. Just behind him and mostly obscured is his 1st councilor, Thomas S. Monson.

You just know what the deniers are going to assume. That the mormon church has knuckled under to the NWO.

Ironically, I first came here to defend my religion. To assure the sceptics that Jones doesn't represent us. Now the shoe is likely going to end up on the other foot. I'll get to defend my faith from a jihad declared by the truthseeker cult!

This should be amusing.
 
R.Mackey said:
The most serious transgression is probably his "journal."
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I quite agree, but....

Sword_Of_Truth said:
The 9-11 deniers are going to go nuts over this:

[qimg]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/Kilstryke/Bush20and20Hinckley.jpg[/qimg]

This picture was taken a few days before Jones's recent vacation was announced.
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... shouldn't we be worried about this coincidence nonetheless?
 
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