Ivor van Heerden Fired By LSU
LSU will not renew Ivor van Heerden's contract. This should concern the public. LSU has given no explanation for ending its relationship with van Heerden. Nevertheless, van Heerden and the issues that he has raised in the national press are well known to the public.
Ivor van Heerden was a leader in the investigation of the failure of levees and flood walls around New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. During this process, van Heerden was frequently quoted in the national media criticizing the Army Corps of Engineers. It was no secret that the Corps was unhappy about this.
According to van Heerden, leaders at LSU asked him to stop his public criticism of the Corps because his statements were threatening research grant dollars that LSU received from the federal government.
Although van Heerden probably will not be silenced, he will no longer be able to draw a salary from LSU while he is speaking. That is a shame. I like people that speak their mind even if they are challenging in ways that are uncomfortable to some. I wish Professor van Heerden the best in his future endeavors.
For more on this story, see Mark Schleifstein's article posted last night on the New Orleans Times Picayune (April 9, 2009) entitled, Ivor van Heerden, who pointed fingers in Hurricane Katrina levee failures, fired by LSU.
Wow. What a shame. I wish Dr Van Heerden the best of luck. I hope he sticks around N.O. and continues to hold FedGovt feet to the fire.
No surprise here. This is how the world works. When truth is spoken it gets silenced, not heeded, by those in power. The Board of LSU should be ashamed of themselves; but that would take courage and a conscience. Instead what has prevailed is fear and greed. Moneyed interests (the power brokers)down through the ages have always sought to control the directon of governments and, ultimately, civilizations for the advancement of their own aims. In their eyes the ends always justify the means. Such power,though,is an illusion and ends up revealing the fallibility and weaknesses of our human nature. Man playing god...it's an old,old story. Take care, Dr. Van Heerden and thank you for your courageous efforts.