3/26/00

Well, the shit has hit the fan here at UCSF. Sally Blower, a departing female faculty member has taken a job at UCLA leaving some pretty strong accusations of sex discrimination in her wake. I first learned of these accusations a couple of weeks ago when Dr. Blower sent e-mail to all the women faculty at UCSF detailing her complaints (she also told her story to the San Francisco Examiner, where the linked article was published today). Most of these complaints are referred to in the article linked above, but the original e-mail named a few additional names. Then this evening, Dr. Blower sent e-mail to all of the faculty and staff in my graduate program with the text of the article.

I don't know Dr. Blower personally, and only know a couple of the faculty members with whom she had problems, so I really have no idea about the validity of her story. However, we had discussed the case in my lab, and the woman who heads the lab felt that Dr. Blower's story was probably basically accurate, but that it really was more just a case of her getting jerked around than actual sex discrimination. A lot of people in the sciences just don't have very good people skills, and it's a very competitive environment, so I don't think Dr. Blower's case was necessarily particularly unusual. But on the other hand, she's married to another highly esteemed UCSF faculty member, and the fact that her field of research didn't really fit in here probably led to the perception that her position was not based on her merits, but rather on her marriage, and people may have treated her according to that assumption. In fact, in the article, the Dean of the Medical School actually states that she was given special treatment because the school was hoping to keep her husband on.

Anyway, I have mixed feelings about the article. On the one hand, it's good to have increased awareness of the challenges faced by women in science. On the other hand, the fact that Dr. Blower's credibility is somewhat suspect provides ammunition for those who say that sexual discrimination claims can be used recklessly by professional women with an axe to grind. And in addition, I think it gives UCSF an undeserved reputation as an institution which is especially hostile towards women, which may be an obstacle in future recruitment of women scientists to the institution.

As for my life, things have been pretty quiet. I've been taking it easy since my exams ended, and even took a couple of days off from the lab. I've been spending my days reading (still plugging through The Magic Mountain), cleaning (I even cleaned out my closet!), and shopping--I bought a shirt, two skirts, two pairs of shoes and a new mouse pad. Of these, I am by far the most excited about the mouse pad. My old one was, I think, at least 6 years old, and completely cruddy and disgusting. The new mouse pad is black and sleek-looking and has a little cushion for my wrist to sit on. I actually didn't really care about the cushion, but it was the only kind they had without a "Comp U.S.A." logo on it.

I also saw three good movies this weekend: "Topsy-Turvy" (a bit on the long side, but fascinating), "Romeo Must Die" (excellent for what it is--I highly recommend it if you like violent action movies) and "Ghost Dog" (very typically Jim Jarmusch--funny and understated).

I guess tomorrow I'm starting in my new lab. Classes start up for real, too. But I haven't really been thinking much about that stuff. I've spent a lot of mental energy worrying about my party. I've been having the usual worries: that nobody will show up, that people won't have a good time, that some crucial element (the locale, the DJ, etc.) will fall through at the last minute, and I'll end up looking foolish and incompetent. But I guess if I didn't worry about things, I would be foolish and incompetent.

In the forum: Seen any good movies lately? Hey, that reminds me, the Oscars were on tonight, huh? I completely forgot.