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Faculty member under review

By Saba Riazati

April 4, 2005 9:00 p.m.

A tenured professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine is
currently under investigation by the Academic Senate for charges
that could result in her dismissal, a senior UCLA official
said.

The professor under investigation, Dr. Sally Blower, is in the
biomathematics department of the School of Medicine.

David Meyer, an associate dean of the School of Medicine,
declined to comment on the specifics of the investigation. But he
did say the case has been heard by the Charges Committee of the
Academic Senate and is now being heard by the Committee on
Privilege and Tenure.

The Academic Senate is in charge of determining whether there is
probable cause in the charges, or if there was a violation of the
faculty code of conduct.

University officials declined to discuss the specifics of the
charges against Blower. Roxanne Moster, spokeswoman for UCLA health
sciences, said because Blower had not signed a release form, they
were unable to discuss the list of charges.

Science Magazine reported in an April 1 article that the charges
against Blower include “failure … to hold examinations as
scheduled …, use of the position or powers of a faculty member to
coerce the judgment or conscience of a student …, verbal abuse,
false statements, disparagement and harassment of
faculty.”

Blower denied most of the charges, calling them
“ridiculous.” But according to Science Magazine,
regarding the charge of verbal abuse, she admitted “to
sending “˜rude e-mails’ to members of her
department” because they had not “responded to her
inquiries.”

Blower told The Bruin that she postponed one exam in September
2002 to attend the funeral of a close friend. She also cited
comments by Emily Kajita, then the only graduate student under her
advisement, that appeared in Science Magazine as a testament to her
character. Kajita called Blower “the best adviser you could
ever have.”

A comprehensive document that cited the charges against her
first surfaced in June 2004, Blower said, adding she was asked to
submit a written response in rebuttal within 10 days.

Blower said she has filed countercharges against Meyer, William
Friedman, an associate dean of the School of Medicine, and Elliot
Landaw, the chairman of the biomathematics department. She declined
to discuss the specifics of the charges, but said they were filed
because she felt she was not included in the department’s
graduate program and was being ignored altogether.

“(The investigation) has just been really
stressful,” Blower said.

Blower came to UCLA in 2000 after resigning from the University
of California, San Francisco due to what she said was gender
discrimination that left her “powerless.”

Concurrent with the controversy at UCSF, Blower’s husband,
Nelson Freimer, was offered a position at UCLA and both Blower and
Freimer saw it as a good opportunity to leave.

Blower said the School of Medicine initially wanted to hire her
as an associate professor, but her husband said he would join UCLA
on the condition that Blower was also offered a full-time
position.

Blower said senior administrators first denied the request to
offer her a full-time position, but a few weeks after the first
proposal, the School of Medicine offered Blower a full
professorship and both she and her husband began their UCLA
careers.

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Saba Riazati
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