Ahmadinejad To Columbia; Summers Cancelled At Ucal; The World Is Nuts

The invitation to speak, postponed from a year ago, is part of Columbia's mission to understand the world "as it is and as it might be," Mr. Bollinger said, even if that means having to listen courteously to ideas that are "offensive and even odious." He called for Mr. Ahmadinejad to be received with "the powers of dialogue and reason."

Mr. Bollinger said he would introduce the president by issuing "sharp challenges" to his denial of the Holocaust, stated goal of wiping Israel off the map, support for terrorism, defiance of sanctions stemming from Iran's nuclear ambitions, and suppression of human rights and civil liberties.