Now that Hailey and the school are under fire for the research, the plan is to respond aggressively through the media, according to John DeVilbiss, USU director of public relations and marketing.

"We want to make it right for both the professor and the university," DeVilbiss said. He called critics of Hailey "mean-spirited," adding that in the end the controversy will reflect "positively" on the institution. "It is not a political issue, it is an academic one."

Without a request for an interview, USU President Kermit Hall called the Deseret Morning News with his own take on the situation.

"Whoever it is," Hall said of the e-mails, "is clearly trying to intimidate the university and trying to intimidate Professor Hailey."

Hall called Hailey's research "legitimate" and said the professor has every right to engage in and publicize the research.

"There's been an effort to suggest that the administration put him up to this — the answer to that is, 'wrong,' " Hall added. "There's a suggestion that the purpose of his work is to join some kind of political action — that's wrong."

Hall called the blogging and e-mails the "worst kind of smear" against academic research and the opportunity for academics to share their research within academe and with the "wider" public.

USU English department head Jeffrey Smitten said he is hearing that those from the political "left" like what Hailey has published while most of the negative comments seem to be coming from the "right wing."

An unidentified person claiming to represent the www.wizbangblog.com Web site called Smitten and accused Hailey of "academic misconduct." There were 50 pages of blog entries critical of Hailey on the Wizbang site as of Friday.

Despite the cyber furor over Hailey, USU officials have no plans to remove Hailey's research from the school's Web site. Hailey said he has no plans to take any legal action against his critics — "Where would I start?" he asked — and that he is taking comfort in the support he is receiving from USU.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com