Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/586605
ByKristinJ.Bender TheAssociatedPress SAN FRANCISCO A prom- inent astronomer resigned Wednesday from the Uni- versity of California, Berke- ley, after an investigation found he sexually harassed female students over many years, two top administra- tors said. The university immedi- ately accepted professor Geoffrey Marcy's resigna- tion, according to a state- ment from Chancellor Nich- olas B. Dirks and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Claude Steele. It called Mar- cy's conduct "contemptible and inexcusable." "We also want to express our sympathy to the women who were victimized, and we deeply regret the pain they have suffered," the statement said. Nodetails The university has not re- leased details of a six-month investigation into one of the world's leading experts on planets outside Earth's so- lar system, which found he violated the campus' sexual harassment policies. The in- quiry that ended in June stemmed from complaints from former students and involved incidents dating as far back as 2001. An email to Marcy wasn't immediately returned. He apologized last week, but the university faced grow- ing pressure to fire him. "UC Berkeley's reaction to the finding that Profes- sor Geoff Marcy violated the university's sexual ha- rassment policies has been the subject of understand- able criticism and anger," the administrators said. After the investigation and the nature of the com- plaints first were reported by BuzzFeed News, UC Berkeley said Marcy had agreed to clear parameters around his behavior, know- ing that he would be subject to automatic suspension or dismissal for any violations. The school described the agreement Marcy reached with Vice Provost for Fac- ulty Janet Broughton as "the most certain and ef- fective option for prevent- ing any inappropriate fu- ture conduct" because it bypassed a lengthy disci- plinary process that would have required a hearing be- fore a faculty committee. Some of Marcy's col- leagues and former students were angry that he had not been sanctioned more se- verely, including one of the four female students who filed complaints about him with the school last year. 'Devastating harm' "His job as a professor is to mentor and provide guidance to young people; in that role he's caused dev- astating harm," Sarah Bal- lard, who earned an under- graduate degree in astron- omy from Berkeley, told The New York Times. Ballard, now a post-doc- toral fellow at the Massa- chusetts Institute of Tech- nology, said her former pro- fessor talked to her about his sexual experiences as a young man and tried to give her a neck massage as she was getting out of his car. She told The Times she was afraid to confront Marcy or file a complaint because she needed letters of recommendation for graduate school. Marcy posted a pub- lic apology on his website (http://bit.ly/1jtpjrT ) in a letter he sought to have published in the newsletter of the American Astronom- ical Society's Committee on the Status of Women in As- tronomy. The committee declined his request. UC BERKELEY Astronomerresigns a er inquiry finds sexual harassment By Sue Manning The Associated Press LOS ANGELES PETA has done a lot with a little sex, shock and shame. One of the longest-run- ning and sexiest stunts you will see in online ads around the world is a group of naked women who choose to wear nothing rather than wear fur, said Ingrid Newkirk, president and co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. For shame, there are photos, group posts and videos, like one of an an- gora rabbit screaming as its fur is yanked out one tuft at a time. For shock value, two of the hundreds of petitions and lawsuits PETA has filed over the years stand out. One in 1982 sought to make PETA the guardian of all animals used in re- search experiments; and another in 2011 asked a federal court to declare five SeaWorld orcas to be con- sidered slaves in violation of the 13th Amendment. PETA did not win the guardian case, and whales were not declared slaves. But the Norfolk, Virginia- based non-profit is still us- ing attention-getting tac- tics to fight for animal wel- fare as it marks its 35th year. It now has 3 million members and supporters, including celebrities rang- ing from Paul McCartney to Bill Maher. Its fundrais- ing brought in nearly $52 million in 2014. "Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way," is the organization's credo. And while its push for an- imal rights has coincided with larger trends, like the popularity of vegan diets, it's also led to real achieve- ments, like an end to using live animals in car crash tests following a PETA campaign. But wacky stunts and some questionable deal- ings complicate PETA's standing in the animal rights world. The group sometimes clashes with re- searchers and other orga- nizations. "By campaigning against animal research, PETA presents a threat to the development of hu- man and veterinary medi- cine. Only days ago we saw the Nobel Prize awarded to Tu Youyou, whose work in monkeys and mice paved the way for the use of arte- misinin to protect against malaria, saving over 100,000 lives every year," said Tom Holder, director of Speaking of Research, an international British-based advocacy group. "If PETA had got their way 30 years ago, we would not have vaccines for HPV, hepatitis B or meningitis, nor would we have treat- ments for leprosy, modern asthma treatments and life support for premature ba- bies," Holder said. Newkirk was in charge of a Washington, D.C., an- imal shelter in 1980 when she co-founded PETA to publicize what was going on in slaughterhouses, fac- tory fur farms and labora- tories. One of PETA's first targets was the Ringling Bros. circus. After PETA ac- quired images of baby ele- phants being yanked from their mothers and train- ers using whips and bull hooks, the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture fined Ringling Bros. $270,000 for violating the Animal Wel- fare Act. Thousands of PETA dem- onstrations later, the circus pledged this year to stop using elephants by 2018. Former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson, who's been working with PETA for 20 years, says she thinks PETA's methods are "bril- liant," especially the out- of-the-box campaigns. "Hu- mor can bring attention to something that is difficult to listen to," she said. One thing PETA's been criticized for is the eutha- nasia of animals at its lone shelter in Norfolk. PETA's 2014 annual report showed the shelter placed 162 cats and dogs, but euthanized 2,454. Newkirk notes that 500 of those animals were brought in by owners who wanted to relieve their pets' suffering from old age, illness or injury. Many of the other animals eutha- nized were feral, aggressive or otherwise unadoptable, and had been rejected by no-kill shelters. "Animals don't evapo- rate if you refuse them ad- mission to your shelter, which is the new game in town," Newkirk said. When shelters refuse to accept animals, pet owners "let the old dog die slowly on the rug or throw it in the woods." ORGANIZATION PE TA t ur ns 3 5, s ti ll u si ng s ex , shock to help animal causes AKIRASUEMORI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Actress Pamela Anderson poses for photographers during a photocall to unveil a new advertisement in aid of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in London. The Associated Press LOS ANGELES The City Council on Wednesday voted to legalize urban bee- keeping, overturning a ban dating to 1879 and overrid- ing concerns that it might bring aggressive African- ized hives to backyards. "To bee or not to bee, that is the question. But there is no question. We must have bees," Councilman Paul Ko- retz said before the unani- mous vote. Once the ordinance is signed by the mayor, the nation's second-largest city will join New York, San Francisco and others that permit beekeeping within their borders. The city has many hives already — some illegal and some wild. Some estimates put the number of wild hives at 10 per square mile. Feral hives that are dis- covered in public areas usually are wiped out be- cause of worries that they might contain Africanized bees — hybrids of tamer European honeybees and a hardier but more aggres- sive strain. However, those who work with them say honeybees typically only attack in de- fense of their hives — a view shared in a recent city re- port. The new ordinance re- stricts beekeeping to back- yards of single-family homes, sets buffer zones and requires beekeepers to keep a water source for the hives. The hobbyists also must register with the Los Angeles County Agricul- tural Commission. Some critics were wor- ried that the law lacked suf- ficient protection for chil- dren, some of whom might be allergic to bee stings. "A person can have beehives on their property five feet from a school play yard or five feet from a playing field where kids will be playing soccer, and it also doesn't limit the size of a hive," Mar- cia Rozelle told KNBC-TV. Supporters, including il- legal beekeepers, argued that the threat is over- blown. They said the in- sects are important pollina- tors and part of a healthy environment. BAN OVERTURNED Los Angeles council approves backyard beekeeping ordinace DAMIAN DOVARGANES — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE HoneyLove.org founder, and beekeeper Rob McFarland inspects his beehive, which he has kept on the roof of his Los Angeles house for the past three years. By Alan Fram The Associated Press WASHINGTON Anti-abor- tion activists have given Congress lengthy, unedited videos they recorded show- ing Planned Parenthood of- ficials discussing their re- trieval of fetal tissue, a Re- publican House committee chairman said Wednesday. Democrats complained that the recordings seemed to be copies and not orig- inals. That could mean they wouldn't help resolve conflicting claims about whether the videos — in- cluding shorter versions that abortion foes began posting online this sum- mer — were misleadingly edited. The House Oversight and Government Reform Com- mittee subpoenaed the re- cordings last month as part of an investigation into whether Planned Parent- hood has illegally sold tis- sue from aborted fetuses for profit. The chairman, Rep. Ja- son Chaffetz, R-Utah, said he has set up a viewing room where Republican and Democratic lawmak- ers and aides can see the re- cordings. He said the videos will not be released to the public now "out of an abun- dance of caution to ensure the safety and security of all individuals recorded." Chaffetz said the foot- age contains nearly 800 gi- gabytes of data, which he said means it will take in- vestigators "significant time to evaluate." Though recording techniques vary and make estimates diffi- cult, that amount of data is roughly equivalent to sev- eral dozen DVDs worth of movies. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the commit- tee's top Democrat, said in a written statement that aides who examined the videos think they are copies. INVESTIGATION Lawmaker gets Planned Parenthood videos | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2015 8 A