Tom,
I am so sorry this protest has further crossed into your personal life, now including your safety and job. Something is indeed wrong here.
Expecting any of the protestors to censure this guy will likely prove frustrating. The "movement" could easily be classified as fundamentalist...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalism
"The term usually has a religious connotation indicating unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs,[3] but fundamentalism has come to be applied to a broad tendency among certain groups, mainly, although not exclusively, in religion. This tendency is most often characterized by a markedly strict literalism as applied to certain specific scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, and a strong sense of the importance of maintaining ingroup and outgroup distinctions,[4][5][6][7] leading to an emphasis on purity and the desire to return to a previous ideal from which it is believed that members have begun to stray. Rejection of diversity of opinion as applied to these established "fundamentals" and their accepted interpretation within the group is often the result of this tendency.[8]"
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fundamentalism
"Fundamentalists often assert the primacy of their own idiosyncratic interpretation of religious texts over centuries of acquired knowledge and practice. This puts them at odds not only with the secular world and members of other religions, but also with their less zealous brethren."
In this case it seems unclear whether there exist any "less zealous brethren" since they seem to be tripping over each other in rationalizing his behavior away.
It will be interesting to see whether UH, the county, state or federal government will continue to bow to this "idiosyncrasy" over time. Mtviewdude put it well about there being little justification to do anything the right way if it can be derailed by a small group of zealots after the fact. So far one day of arrests followed by completely stopping construction, followed by talk of early decommissioning. It's hard to see this as an example of reason's impotence in the face of unreason, as opposed to zero-backboned politicians hiding behind political correctness.
Incidentally, I watched the Nova on math you recommended (stunning) and followed with the Nova on the Hubble Telescope (even more stunning). Two of the best Nova episodes of the decade to me eyes. How will the TMT will compare to the 8 foot mirror of the Hubble when factoring in the atmosphere? (OT I guess...)
Cheers,
Kirt
