...As I will show next week, this is largely a rigged rather than an objective committee, and if I were to appear before such a committee, I would demand that I be able to bring my own tape recorder.

But first, let's look at a session of this "rigorous" committee as provided to me by students belonging to Columbians for Academic Freedom, some of whom appear in the film Columbia Unbecoming.

As the members of Columbia's investigating committee were seated at a roundtable, before a student witness, Professor Ira Katznelson, presiding, said, "There will be two reports [by the committee]: an internal report by the committee, which will be full and frank and detailed, and a public summary."

I left a message for Columbia spokeswoman Susan Brown, asking why the Columbia community and the general public would not also be getting a full and frank report. My call to her was not returned.

Professor Katznelson was asked by one of the students in Columbians for Academic Freedom whether there'd be a tape recording of the committee's sessions.

The answer: "Notes will be taken by a professional note-taker but a tape recording will not be made."

The student asked: "Will they be kept internal or will they be transparent to the public?"

The answer: "The notes are for the use of the committee."

Floyd Abrams, the nation's premier litigator on First Amendment issues that come before the Supreme Court, has been appointed an adviser to this special administration committee. So a student asked Katznelson: "Will Floyd Abrams be present in all meetings of the committee?"

The answer: "Mr. Abrams will not be present when the testimony is taken. He has been advising the committee on procedures, and will be meeting with the group regularly as he continues in an active advisory role."

I know Floyd Abrams, and I am confident that if this committee's report is seriously suspect as to its objectivity, Floyd will issue his own independent report. But since he will not be at the sessions, why is he denied an official tape recording of the testimonies so that he can be objectively informed of the proceedings?

Initially, I asked the students whether they would bring their own tape recorders to the committee sessions. But I was told that tape recorders are not allowed by this committee. Professor Katznelson told a student that the committee will "make a full and frank confidential report to the vice president for Arts and Sciences that will be shared with the provost [Alan Brinkley] and president [Lee Bollinger]."...