Posted on 07/08/2006 9:32:09 AM PDT by radar101
The suicide of ailing UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Denice Denton – a pioneer among women scientists – was a wrenching personal tragedy. Unfortunately, however, Denton's death is now being used by another former UC executive to suggest sexism and homophobia helped fuel the bitter controversy of the past year over UC's extravagant, arguably illegal, compensation policies. Denton was one of many UC officials of both sexes to draw fire – in her case because UC spent $600,000 renovating her Santa Cruz home (including a $30,282 dog run for her pets) and hired her longtime partner, Gretchen Kalonji, to a $192,000-a-year post.
This criticism, former UC Provost M.R.C. Greenwood wrote in the San Jose Mercury-News, was unfounded and darkly motivated:
“Some will try to deny that the harsh male-dominated environment faced by many female leaders at the highest levels of academic and corporate America contributed to her ultimate decision. Some will speculate that the lack of support she received from the UC leadership was the cause. Others may claim that it was all personally motivated. It doesn't really matter. In the end, we have lost a colleague who was badly treated both by the institution that hired her and by the seemingly insatiable appetites of the media.”
If Greenwood's name seems familiar to scandal followers, it should. She resigned as UC provost in November after reports she arranged for her friend and business partner to get a $192,000-a-year UC job. (There sure are a lot of those.) Her son had also been given a UC Merced job in questionable circumstances.
Plainly, Greenwood is implying that she, too, is a victim of a sexist witch hunt. On behalf of taxpayers, we say, “Baloney!”
Now if she would only stop using Denton's death to fuel her crusade for martyr status. Like a lot of baloney, it's tasteless.
The world is better off with her feeding the worms, IMO.
another great result of the socialist-public education complex.
MHO, too...
When did she commit suicide? I remember reading about her in Nov.
June 24th (two weeks ago). She jumped from the roof of a 42-story apartment building. Her paartner has an apartment in the building.
Oh sure, another victim of evil nasty males. It IS "baloney", and I think the taxpayers ought to stand up, demand accountability and clear the public university system of PC nonsense!
What poor writing.
http://michellemalkin.com/
NEWSFLASH: I DIDN'T KILL DENICE DENTON
July 06, 2006 02:01 PM
The blog of the libertarian magazine "Reason" is titled "Hit and Run."
They can run, but they cannot hide. And I'm not going to let them get away with their latest hit.
Last night, Glenn Reynolds linked to this Hit and Run post by David Weigel, who crassly attempts to connect my criticism of UC Santa Cruz's anti-military thugs with the recent suicide of the school's deeply troubled president, Denice Denton.
Weigel accuses me of "smearing" Denton because I simply asked people to take a stand and quoted from a San Francisco Chronicle article reporting that the capitulationist administration knew about the anti-military activists' plans weeks in advance and had hoped that they would be rained out.
Weigel accuses me of throwing around charges of "treason" and "traitors," neither of which I used in any of my blog posts on the anti-recruiting brigade at Santa Cruz. "Seditious," yes. Treasonous, no. Not that it seems to make a difference to Weigel in his quest to label me a reckless labeler. Treason. Sedition. Whatever. Right, Weigel?
And take a look at that shameless last paragraph:
"While no one is suggesting that her readers pushed Denton over the edge..."
Of course, that is exactly what is being suggested:
"...Malkin has said nothing about the chancellor since her suicide. It might become her to apologize for smearing an academic, and directing people to direct their outrage to her office, in what were the final troubled months of her life."
Weigel attacks me for not saying anything about Denton's suicide. Crikey. If I had said anything, his ilk would have jumped all over me for not having the compassion to keep quiet about her various scandals and corruptocrat ways and let her loved ones mourn in peace.
Finally, Weigel wants me to "apologize" for supplying readers with the public office phone number and contact info of a prominent and outspoken public official.
So much for free markets, free minds, and free speech. Are we to withhold criticism now of all public figures because they might be going through "troubled" times and any call for accountability might send them over the edge?
What's so libertarian about that?
***
bump
I'd be troubled too with the thought of my outrageous spending habits would be front-page news. Appears this woman was out of control. Maybe she got the news that she has AIDS and couldn't live with it.
Lirebalism generates heat but cannot stand light.
"...a $192,000-a-year UC job..."
I wonder how many of those are still in the UC system...while California
is still in a less-than-wonderful financial state?
I guess they are trying to be nice to a dead person, but this is not even close to being accurate on many levels -- she was apparently an engineer, not a scientist, who went in to academic administration.
The blatant nepotism and the obvious financial corruption are due to the machinations of White Males. Again. When - oh, when! - is the nation gonna get with the program and realize that every smallest utterance of modern multi-culti academics, especially homosexuals, is Revealed Truth, and thus this protected minority can do no wrong....
"hired her longtime partner, Gretchen Kalonji, to a $192,000-a-year post."
The University is now pimping?
"The world is better off with her feeding the worms, IMO."
She sounds like she should have been fired and maybe get some jail time, but your opinion seems a little harsh.
I wonder how many of those are still in the UC system...while California is still in a less-than-wonderful financial state?
That's minimum wage at UC. There are folks making $600K + as base salary.
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