The Issue: An NYU course on international terrorism that asked students to plot a hypothetical terrorist attack.
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As a student currently enrolled in Marie-Helen Maras’ class, I take offense at the blanket statement comparing my peers and me to the perpetrators of 9/11 (“NYU Homework: ‘Plot a Terror Attack,’” Oct. 29).
The article disparages a new generation of counterterrorism, intelligence and police officers.
We are not students who “do the work of the terrorists,” but students doing the work of civil servants to prepare America’s security apparatus for all eventualities.
The NYPD should be proud of this small but determined group in our institution.
John Boasi
Manhattan
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It is a shame that a professor preparing future intelligence and law-enforcement officers has been smeared.
The purpose of our final project is to develop counterterrorism measures using only academic sources.
You have depicted us as a bunch of naive kids plotting against our country for the sake of a grade.
It is incredibly offensive to us to associate scholarly work with the work of terrorists.
Shakira Taveras
Manhattan
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A professor at NYU is teaching a class on how to plan a terror attack.
Can you imagine a family putting up $50,000 in tuition money to have their children taught how to blow up their neighbors?
The NYPD has every right to be outraged — this is an insult to the brave people who sacrificed on 9/11.
This professor doesn’t belong at a university — with all her degrees, I wouldn’t trust her with a kindergarten class.
Michael Sara
Scranton, Pa.