Gonzales Discusses Approach to Texas Tech Political Science Class

Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who recently accepted a one-year teaching and recruiting position with Texas Tech, on Thursday said he expects his future students to be well-read on the Bush-era controversies in which he was embroiled before they ask him about it.

For most students across campus who are hoping to land a spot in his class, which only has 15 spots, a main point of interest has been to ask him about the controversial issues that took place toward the end of his tenure as attorney general two years ago.

Those include practices used in hiring and firing federal prosecutors based on political party, the discussion of interrogation methods and his involvement with a wiretapping program.

Gonzales, who spent Wednesday house hunting with his wife and meeting local leaders in Lubbock, said if a student asked him a question about a controversial issue, he would inquire if he or she has read the 100-page report issued by the inspector general's office in which Gonzales said he has been exonerated.

"If they haven't read the report, I'm gonna say, 'I'm not gonna talk about that until you go and read that report'," he said. "All these issues have now been fully bedded. All these accusations, allegations, they've been looked at, and so I think students need to do their work. That's part of being a good citizen, being informed, educate yourselves. Don't just assume that what you read and what you hear is the truth because oftentimes it's not."

Gonzales' junior-level course is titled Contemporary Issues in the Executive Branch.

Paul Olgin, a political science major from Midland, said he's looking forward to seeing what Gonzales has to say.

"Maybe he'll be open to answering those types of questions: 'So what was the deal with your career with the Bush administration?'" he said. "Maybe he can answer those types of questions by being here."

Courtesy of the Daily Toreador.