Dynes Gets Scoop on New SD Chancellor
UC San Diego – The Guardian
April 5 – University of California President Richard Dynes announced his selection of a finalist for the chancellor position at UC San Diego 10 days before he planned due to a news leak.

Dynes was set to bring his nomination of Marye Anne Fox, currently chancellor at North Carolina State University, before the UC Board of Regents for a vote on April 12 at UCSD. He made the announcement in “unanticipated fashion” on April 2, citing an information leak.

Fox holds a doctorate in organic chemistry from Dartmouth College and serves as an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. She became chancellor at NC State in 1998 after serving as vice president for research at the University of Texas at Austin.

“Dr. Fox is widely regarded as a fine teacher and mentor, a dedicated researcher and a seasoned administrator of a large and active public research institution,” Dynes said in a statement. “In the end, my decision was guided by my belief that Dr. Fox brings the combination of skills needed to build UCSD’s reputation as one of the finest universities in the world.”

UCSD Associated Students Vice President Internal Jenn Pae, who served on the search committee that selected Fox, said the committee was aware of an instance in January 2003 when the NC State Faculty Senate voted 29-6 to censure Fox for her firing of two vice provosts over the objections of provost Frank Abrams. Abrams resigned in protest.

“The committee was well aware of the censure,” Pae said, “and I was impressed by her composure and how she dealt with the situation.”

UCLA Professor Busted for Sending Porn to Teenager
UC Los Angeles – The Daily Bruin
April 5 – A UCLA classics professor was placed on administrative leave after pleading guilty to a felony count of sending harmful matter over the Internet with the intent to seduce a minor. For nine months starting in November 2002, Andrew Dyck sent several e-mails, including links to pornographic websites, to a 13-year-old girl in Simi Valley, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s office.

Dyck is free on $10,000 bail and is scheduled for sentencing by the court on May 20. Dyck originally intended to plead not guilty, but changed his mind when Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Clark offered to consider sentencing Dyck to no more than 180 days in jail and probation, Dyck’s attorney, Donald Etra, said.

“He was given an offer he could not refuse,” Etra said. “This is the one and only mistake he’s ever made in his life. He’s had a distinguished career as a contributor to society.”

Dyck has taught at UCLA since 1978. He tought two undergraduate courses and one graduate course last quarter, and was scheduled to teach one of each this quarter.

Dyck turned himself in to Simi Valley police on Oct. 2 after a warrant was issued for his arrest following a nine-month investigation. The investigation included police posing as the victim, communicating with Dyck and a search of his home computer.

Former Soviet Leader Preaches Peace, the Environment
UC Irvine – The New University
April 5 – Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev appeared at UC Irvine’s Barclay Theater on March 26 to accept the UCI Citizen Peacebuilding Award, which is given annually to someone who promotes reconciliation and peace.

Gorbachev said he believed the world faces three main challenges: poverty; the degradation of the environment; and security, including weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.

Gorbachev criticized the growing global disparity between the rich and the poor.

“The developed countries, which make up 20 percent of the world’s population, manage to consume 80 percent of the world’s resources,” he said.

He said the United States made a mistake by “acting unilaterally” in its decision to enter Iraq without U.N. Security Council approval. He said the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developed nations that the Bush administration has rejected, should be even stronger. It calls for an average reduction of 5 percent.

“This number should be 25 percent,” he said.