Lennox filed a criminal complaint with CMU campus police on Tuesday, however Gates preempted him with a complaint of her own, and the Isabella County prosecutors have decided not to press charges in either case. Gates' complaint, however, received the scorn of popular blogger Chet Zarko from OutsideLansing.com.

"Unconfirmed word is that the Dean beat Lennox to the punch and filed her own criminal complaint with the CMU "police" against Lennox alleging assault, and that the complaints against both Gates and Lennox will be or have been dismissed." Zarko wrote, "...if it turns out to be true that she filed a criminal complaint against Lennox to "pre-empt" him then she has engaged in a frivolous and false filing and abused her office and position to retaliate against Lennox..."

The University has responded with a campus-wide policy restricting the use of video recording. Even campus journalists who videotape on campus without permission will face disciplinary action. There are some who claim that this provision will not hold up to Constitutional muster.

However, the most important issue here actually isn't the assault of Dennis Lennox. As tragic as the assault is, the most important issue is what this assault stems from: Gary Peters himself. Allow me to give you a brief history of the whole subject and how all of this has come about. Brace yourself. As a Michigan tax-payer, you should be offended. What's happening is about as corrupt as it gets.

Students Against Gary Peters was created because of the concern that some students had regarding Peters' employment at a public university while running for Congress. However, when the group investigated further, they found an entire network of lies, deceit, and corruption. Here are some of the reasons, according to the Students Against Gary Peters' web site, that these students take issue with Peters' position at CMU:

Some members of the CMU Board of Trustees, the body that hired him, have also financially supported his campaigns throughout the years, a clear conflict of interest. Craig Ruff, the former holder of Peters' professorship, has also given money to Peters and was consulted during the hiring process. His conflict of interest, however - like the trustees - was never properly disclosed. Upon Peters' hiring, the dean and provost told the Political Science Department to interview someone else so that the hiring process would appear credible and transparent. Peters told Tim Skubick's "Off the Record" television show in July that an employee of the state of Michigan "should step down once you file with the FEC that you are a candidate for Congress." He said his ethics would prevent him from being both a public official and a congressional candidate, a violation of what Peters is currently doing. His contract with CMU requires his "primary commitment" as a professor through the 2009/2010 academic year. Students Against Gary Peters asks an interesting question: How does Gary Peters expect to run for Congress -- and presumably win -- when he's under contract with CMU for three years?

Finally, how does the University expect Peters to be objective in the classroom while running for Congress. What happens when a student asks Peters about his opponent, incumbent congressman Joel Knollenberg? This laundry list of corruption speaks volumes about the underlying issue of the assault on Lennox by Dean Pamela Gates. When will CMU realize their mistake? Probably never, if the same people who are running the university are the same people engaged in the corruption in the first place.

While it involves politics, this is not a partisan issue. I would be equally disgusted with CMU's handling of the incident if Peters were from another political party. The issue here is accountability, and so far, it appears that CMU has made a major mistake. Here's to hoping they will correct it.