Beware of Profs

Three members of a radical political group were evicted from a University of Pennsylvania classroom after calling economics professor Lawrence Klein a Nazi and accusing him of promoting genocide.

"This man's model is Adolf Hitler!" cried one of the three supporters of the Lyndon LaRouche presidential campaign who disrupted the class.

"This is an outrage--a Nazi on campus. He is currently plotting the destruction of Israel. This man is an anti-Semitic genocidal butcher," he added.

LaRouche is somewhat of a cult political figure who has mounted several minor presidential campaigns in the past.

Students in the class were not amused. "How can you come here and call him a Nazi? He's teaching an introductory economics class," said one of the students to the demonstrators' claim.

Klein said, "I insist that you are a bunch of screwballs and will please get out."

According to LaRouche supporter Susan Bowen, Klein served as an advisor to the Monterrey business-financier group which she claims was responsible for destroying the Mexican economy by forcing the country to cease government industrial projects and social services.

Bowen and another group of LaRouche Campaign members demonstrated outside the building where the class was held, toting signs reading. "Stop Klein's Racist Nazi Genocide" and "Feed Africa."

The Daily Pennsylvanian report added that Klein said he has been attacked before by the LaRouche Campaign.

He also said that the protestors are a group that "works on the lunatic fringe, so I don't know what they stand for, other than troublemaking. They don't only deal with third world issues, but whatever suits them."

He denied any involvement with the destruction of third world countries.

In an unrelated story, an anonymous note distributed to Penn students at the Wharton School of Finance warned them not to take courses taught by Assistant Accounting Professor Thomas Cheng.

The notice read "Beware of Dr. Cheng" and said that Cheng was a poor teacher and an impolite person.

"He has a history of being unfair, unapproachable and rude. His classes reflect that he cares more about his research than his teaching," the note said.

Cheng refused to comment to the Daily Pennsylvanian about the complaints.

The letter added that "Cheng received the lowest ratings in the Wharton School for both fall and spring" according to the SCUE guide at Penn. The letter cites ratings of 0.27 and 0.34 out of a total of 4.0 possible points for fall and spring terms respectively.