>Dixie Chicks under siege
>
>THE Dixie Chicks say they're in danger of bodily harm from folks who
>are taking their anti-Bush statements a little too personally. The
>country trio - who got in hot water three weeks ago for telling a
>London concert audience they were "embarrassed" that George W. Bush
>is a fellow Texan - told Australian radio they've been receiving
>threats and some of their property had been vandalized. "We've
>gotten a lot of hate mail, a lot of threatening mail," Martie
>Maguire said Saturday after a gig in Sydney. "Emily [Robison] had
>the front gate of her ranch smashed in. We have to have security
>when we get back to the states. It puts my well-being in jeopardy."
>Even after seeing Dixie Chicks albums banned from radio playlists,
>Natalie Maines says she's still shocked at the amount of press her
>tantrum received, reports Sydney journo David J. Baird. "What is
>wrong with the world when what the Dixie Chicks say is more
>important than the war? Why does anyone care what we think?" The
>backlash has left Maguire with "a combination of emotions. Either I
>want to speak out more or I'm scared to say anything."
---
>'MOGADISHU' PROFESSOR CUTS CLASS
>By JENNIFER FERMINO and TODD VENEZIA
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>April 2, 2003 -- Nearly a week after Columbia University professor
>Nicholas De Genova called for the mass slaughter of U.S. troops, the
>man who wants "a million Mogadishus" fears so much for his own life
>he is refusing to go to class.
>
>De Genova claimed death threats forced him to skip his 2:40 p.m.
>Latino History course at the university's Hamilton Hall - the first
>lecture he had scheduled since the March 26 anti-war "teach in" in
>which he referred to the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" incident in which 18
>GIs were slain.
>
>Instead of the professor, some 25 students were greeted by three
>graduate students, who said class was canceled and the professor was
>in hiding.
>
>"Because Nick is afraid for his life, nobody knows where he is,"
>said one, who refused to identify herself.
>
>The woman then invited the undergrads to protest at the library.
>
>Almost two dozen De Genova supporters gathered at 4 p.m. by a statue
>outside the Ivy League school's library. The protesters sat silently
>near an empty chair meant to symbolize the absence of the professor.
>
>One who did not show up was Rebekah Pazmino, who attended the 2:40
>p.m. class De Genova missed.
>
>The 19-year-old sophomore said she is set to enter the Marines this summer.
>
>She said she is angry at what her professor said.