Boston University has found evidence that a well-known geologist sexually harassed a graduate student almost two decades ago while on an isolated field expedition in Antarctica and could fire him for the violations.
The allegations against David Marchant, which came to light last month, stunned the university’s earth and environment department, where he was a well-known and popular professor. It has also triggered a congressional investigation and increased calls from the university’s graduate students for more protections against sexual harassment.
After a 13-month investigation, university officials uncovered enough evidence that Marchant’s “sexual harassment was sufficiently severe and pervasive so as to create a hostile learning and living environment,” according to a letter BU Provost Jean Morrison sent to faculty on Friday.
Marchant, a tenured professor who was until recently a department chair, plans to appeal the investigation’s findings, according to his lawyer, Jeffrey Sankey. However, if he is unsuccessful, BU said it will begin the process to “terminate his faculty appointment.”
“Dr. Marchant is extremely disappointed in the findings and continues to maintain that he did not engage in any sexually harassing behavior in 1999 or at another time,” Sankey said.
Since the allegations have been made public, former students have defended Marchant and said that they never witnessed him treating women inappropriately.
But several women alleged that Marchant hurled rocks at them, shoved them, used sexual slurs, and berated them about their bodies and their work in the late 1990s and early 2000 while conducting research in small groups in Antarctica. Their accusations were detailed in a story in the magazine Science last month.
One of the women, Jane Willenbring, an associate professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, filed a Title IX sex discrimination complaint with BU last year. Willenbring alleged that Marchant subjected her to verbal and physical harassment while she was a 22-year-old graduate student and he was her thesis adviser.
In her letter to the school, Willenbring said that Marchant repeatedly urged her to have sex with his brother, who was also on the trip. One week, she alleged, Marchant threw rocks at her every time she urinated in the field, so she limited her water consumption during the day and drank liters at night, triggering a urinary tract infection and urinary incontinence, according to the complaint.
Willenbring said she was only comfortable bringing the complaint forward after she herself achieved tenure and felt professionally secure.
Willenbring said she is pleased with the results.
BU said investigators found evidence that Marchant made derogatory comments to Willenbring and used sexual slurs during the trips. However, the university did not find credible evidence that Marchant directly physically attacked her or subjected her to physical and psychological abuse, according to the faculty letter.
Two other women also made allegations against Marchant in the Science article. An unnamed former graduate student said Marchant began making derogatory comments about her ability and intelligence while on campus, and when they got to Antarctica that treatment escalated. He used slurs and threatened that he would ensure she never received National Science Foundation funding, according to Science.
An Illinois high school teacher who also participated in an Antarctic expedition described to Science that she was taunted by Marchant about her breast size and her age. She was in her 40s at the time.
Marchant has been placed on paid administrative leave and is not allowed on campus.....
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Now don't get any ideas..... name a building after them or something.
Related: Teen arrested after bringing loaded gun to West Roxbury High School
Was a 16-year-old girl, and she did it to defend herself from being harassed.
Also see: “It’s a crazy scene but as of now no one’s hurt seriously. I think it’s shocking. It’s scary as hell to be quite honest with you.”
Like Frankenstein?
President Trump’s response on Al Franken draws fire
They spend more time talking about Trump's transgressions, and I get the message.
"Warren blasts tax bill but is uncertain it can be stopped" by Michael Levenson Globe Staff November 17, 2017
She was “angry, in an interview with the Globe editorial board, waving her fist in the air, and she was not sure Democrats can find the three Republican votes needed to defeat the bill.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren’s interview with the Globe touched on a variety of topics, including the controversy surrounding Senator Al Franken, a legislative measure inspired by Boston Marathon bombing victims Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, and President Trump’s attacks against her.
Boasting of a legislative success, Warren said she was proud that a massive defense bill that passed Congress this week included a provision that will make it easier for civilians injured in terrorist attacks to receive care in military hospitals. The measure was named for Kensky and Downes, who were newlyweds watching the Boston Marathon when the bombs exploded in 2013.
Haven't heard much about that in the swirl of sex and taxes, other than it will put Kaspersky out of business.
Downes lost one leg, and Kensky lost one and later had the other amputated. Both received treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center but only after receiving permission directly from the secretary of defense, Warren said.
“That takes time, and time matters when doctors have to make critical decisions about whether to amputate and, if so, where, and how,” Warren said. “So Jessica and Patrick, during their rehab . . . started talking about whether or not it would be possible to change the law so any future civilian victims of terrorism would have access to the military hospitals for specialized care.”
The amendment, Warren said, would allow civilians access to the hospitals only if space is available. Kensky and Downes “were clear they didn’t want to crowd out any soldiers over this, any military who need access,” Warren said.....
She said Franken should be given a chance to explain himself to the Senate Ethics Committee.
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Related:
"Some former female staffers of Franken came out in his defense, saying that he had treated women with respect while they worked in his office. Eight former Franken staffers who worked for him in Minnesota and Washington after he was elected to the Senate in 2008 signed a statement of support. ‘‘In our time working for the Senator, he treated us with the utmost respect,’’ it reads. “He valued our work and our opinions and was a champion for women both in the legislation he supported and in promoting women to leadership roles in our offices.’’
Now gimme a kiss.
"Stephen Bittel, the Florida Democrat Party chairman, resigned Friday after a report of anonymous allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior, a decision he made after four of his party’s candidates for governor said he should step down. The party released a statement from Bittel, who had held the job since January. ‘‘I apologize for all who have felt uncomfortable during my tenure at the Democratic Party,’’ he said, in response to a Politico report quoting women it did not identify saying Bittel would leer at them, make comments about their appearances or breasts, and exhibit other behavior that made them uncomfortable....."
"Several leading Ohio women condemned Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill, a Democratic candidate for governor, for writing a Facebook post that has details of his sexual past with ‘‘approximately 50’’ women. Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, the first woman to lead the state’s high court, immediately condemned the post. ‘‘No words can convey my shock,’’ she said. ‘‘This gross disrespect for women shakes the public’s confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.’’ All other Democrats seeking the governorship called for O'Neill to resign, saying he trivialized the issue. O'Neill, 70, said the post grew out of frustration over Democrats’ calls to remove Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, from the Senate over sexual misconduct allegations and his belief that the story line was taking accounts of people’s ‘‘sexual indiscretions’’ too far.....
Oh, in other developments..... more witch hunts!
Time to move on.
(FLIP)
"Wayfair needs a home for the 10,000 workers it plans to hire" by Tim Logan Globe Staff November 18, 2017
In preparation for hiring as many as 10,000 workers in the coming years, Internet retailer Wayfair Inc. is on a massive hunt for office space, an expansion that could make it one of Boston’s largest business tenants.
The Boston-based company — which sells furniture and household goods — said Friday that it is looking for up to 1 million square feet of space, which is about three-quarters the size of the Prudential Center and nearly three times the room it has at its headquarters in Copley Place, where about 3,500 people work today.
“At the rate we’re growing, we’ll need a lot more space,” said Wayfair spokeswoman Jane Carpenter.
Wayfair’s sales are rising rapidly, pushing revenue up 37 percent to $3.3 billion in the first nine months of the year. But the company has failed to turn a profit since it went public in 2014 as it spends to expand inventory, marketing, and distribution in the United States and Europe. Investors remain bullish, however, pushing its stock up almost 90 percent in 2017, in part on speculation that the company might be acquired by Walmart.
Brendan Carroll, director of intelligence at real estate firm Perry Brokerage, said, “The Internet era is creating this class of big, big winners, and the winners are huge.”
And the losers?
See: "Investors have liked what they’ve seen from retailers the last two days. Invesco Global Market Strategist Kristina Hooper said the companies are giving a double dose of good news. Consumers are spending more, and there are signs some companies are figuring out how to survive in a world where more and more sales are made online....."
It's a retail rally!
Wayfair has made its name with free, fast, delivery of a wide range of home furnishings from more than 10,000 suppliers. It doesn’t have the massive distribution centers of online retail giant Amazon, but has opened about 15 warehouses across the country and invests heavily in marketing.
The television ads with the catchy jingles are ubiquitous.
The company added more than 800 jobs in the three months ending Sept. 30, giving it about 6,900 employees — roughly half in Boston and half at its distribution centers and international offices. They plan to accelerate that pace, chief financial officer Michael D. Fleisher told analysts earlier this month.
“We are continuing to ramp up our hiring,” he said. “We’re excited to be adding great people.”
I'll keep an eye on them for you.
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The football game has been cancelled?
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"Tax fight gets personal as senators spar over bill" by Alan Rappeport New York Times November 17, 2017
NEW YORK — The angry exchange between the more fiery Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, and the usually staid Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, the committee chairman, appeared to awaken a hearing room in the Senate’s Hart Building that had been overtaken by exhaustion after nearly 12 hours of talk about taxes.
Defending his position, Brown said that he could not stand silent in the face of Republican talking points about trickle-down economics that he found to be false. “I get sick of the richest people in this country getting richer and richer and richer,” Brown said.
Hatch then raised his gavel and slammed it against the dais nine times to silence the Ohio senator.
An aide to Brown said that while he and Hatch did not get a chance to speak afterward, there was no personal animosity between the senators and described the exchange as “a passionate argument about the policies in the bill.”
The Senate now begins its Thanksgiving recess, during which Republican leaders will try to sell reluctant senators within their own party on the legislation so that they can have a successful vote in early December.
And what do they have planned this holiday season?
Days before Thanksgiving, Plimoth Plantation workers to picket
Umm, they didn't have unions in those days, so if you are living the dream.....
Big differences still remain between the House and Senate bills, and at least four Republican senators have openly expressed trepidations about the bill over its potential impact on the national debt and whether it does enough to help the middle class.
The exchange highlighted the degree to which Democrats have found themselves outboxed in the most sweeping tax rewrite in generations.
While Republicans in both chambers have allowed Democrats to offer amendments to the legislation, they have universally rejected those provisions. That has left Democrats with little recourse other than publicly pillorying the bill.
What a bunch of pathetic impotents.
Before the House vote Thursday, Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, the minority leader, accused Republicans of passing the bill in the cloak of darkness.
“With straight faces and with the speed of light — I have to give them credit — they raced this thing through in the dark of night,” she said. “They’re trying to sell a bill of goods.”
I'm shocked that she said that after the health law was shoved through the same way, and after she famously said they had to pass bill to see what's in it.
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"Woman at center of State Police scandal pleads guilty to drunken driving charge" by Travis Andersen Globe Staff November 17, 2017
FRAMINGHAM — The woman at the center of a State Police scandal over an altered arrest report admitted Friday to driving drunk during an October crash that sparked the controversy.
Alli E. Bibaud, 30, the daughter of a Dudley District Court judge, pleaded guilty to drunken driving and negligent operation of a motor vehicle in Framingham District Court.
Judge James Sullivan sentenced her to a total of 14 months of probation, suspended her license for a year, and ordered her to complete a residential treatment program.
She is a judge's daughter.
The fallout from Bibaud’s arrest prompted two federal lawsuits, forced the head of the State Police and his top deputy to abruptly retire, and placed Bibaud’s father, Judge Timothy Bibaud, under scrutiny.
According to court records and officials, Trooper Ryan Sceviour initially noted in his report that Bibaud admitted performing sex acts to support her addiction and also offered him sex in exchange for leniency.
Sceviour wrote that Bibaud said her father was a judge and that “he’s going to kill me.”
State Police Colonel Richard McKeon later ordered Sceviour to remove any reference to Bibaud’s salacious comments in the report, asserting they weren’t relevant to the arrest, and a lawyer in Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early’s office, where Alli Bibaud worked previously as a victim witness advocate, later requested that the original report be redacted.
Sceviour and another trooper have since filed suit against the state, alleging they were improperly pressured to alter their reports.
The new State Police colonel, Kerry Gilpin, has ordered an internal review of the matter. Attorney General Maura Healey’s office is also investigating.
Sceviour wrote in his report that Alli Bibaud reeked of alcohol when she exited her Toyota Corolla after the crash, and her eyes were nearly shut. She failed sobriety tests, admitted to using heroin and drinking from nips that day, and said she was sick and a heroin addict, Sceviour wrote.
She had fresh track marks on her inner elbows and told Sceviour she became upset when her passenger and boyfriend, John Mclean, tried to use their entire heroin supply during the car ride instead of splitting it, the report said. Sceviour also noted the presence of a “heroin kit” in the vehicle that contained about a dozen hypodermic needles.
First I've seen of him.
Bibaud continued to make lewd comments during booking at the State Police barracks in Holden and lapsed in and out of consciousness before falling asleep, according to the report. She was released on recognizance, and her father picked her up at the barracks.....
Get in the car, young lady!
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Also see: Two Brockton residents arrested for violent home invasion in North End
They took 'em over to the courthouse.
All out in the open now:
"Legislative panel to look at expanding public records law has never met" by Laura Crimaldi Globe Staff November 17, 2017
A legislative report due at the end of the year on whether the state’s new public records law should also be applied to the Legislature, the governor’s office, and the judiciary is unlikely to get done.
Why? The group of lawmakers charged with preparing the report has never met.
“That is a little troubling,” said state Representative Mathew Muratore, a Plymouth Republican who is a member of the public records commission. The group’s leaders, he said, have never convened a meeting.
“I’m going to start asking around,” he said this week.
Yeah, you do that.
Massachusetts is the only state where those offices all claim to be exempt from public records laws.
Which flies in the face of the illusion regarding the deep-blue liberal bastion that is Ma$$achu$etts.
On Friday, state Attorney General Maura Healey sided with Baker in a legal dispute over whether he had to provide the Globe records about constituent calls. The current public records law, Healey found, doesn’t cover Baker’s office.
Advocates for stronger public records laws said they were disappointed that the group hasn’t met. Some seats on the commission also remain vacant.
Their expectations were to high.
“If you promise to do something, then follow through on it,” said Robert J. Ambrogi, executive director of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association. “It shows they’re not serious.”
We already knew that.
State Senator Walter F. Timilty was named chairman of the Senate committee in February. State Representative Jennifer Benson took over the House committee in July.
After the Globe began making inquiries, spokesmen for Senate President Stanley C. Rosenberg and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo issued a statement suggesting that Timilty and Benson hadn’t had enough time to organize the commission because they are new to the committee and had to address other business first.
The statement also said Rosenberg and DeLeo intend to fill the vacant seats in the coming weeks and will seek to extend the Dec. 30 deadline for the commission to complete its work.
State Senator Joan Lovely, who previously led the Senate Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, said she was out of that position when the new legislative session began earlier this year. The public records panel, she said, couldn’t convene until the new law took effect Jan. 1.
Are you tired of the lame-ass excuses for why they don't do certain things yet?
Got that pay raise through right quick to start the year though (because of the new committee assignments, which begs the question of whether they are being paid for meetings that have never happened) -- after they got a 4.19 percent bump at the end of last year!
Lovely, who helped spearhead public records reform, said she was recently appointed to the commission. Even though it’s not required by law, she said some documents maintained by her office are publicly available.
Lawmakers are serious about studying whether more records should be considered public, she said.
“We took it very seriously because we put it in the law,” said Lovely, a Salem Democrat.
How farcical!
And think about this: they rewrote the bailout initiative regarding recreational pot in the interim. That's how "seriously" they take the law.
Timilty’s spokeswoman didn’t respond to a question about why the public records commission hadn’t met. Benson was at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, and couldn’t be reached.
Are you f***ing kidding?
What is she doing over in Bonn, other than spewing more greenhouse gases?
Then she will come back and blame my driving the car for the fart mist.
Pam Wilmot, executive director of the good government group Common Cause Massachusetts, said it’s not uncommon for legislative commissions to never convene.
“I thought that this one would be different and I’m disappointed that this wasn’t taken more seriously,” she said. “This is something that deserves more attention and I think the commission would have been a good venue for it.”
The state Supreme Judicial Court also had an opportunity to decide whether the public records law applies to the judiciary’s administrative records, but sidestepped the issue earlier this month.....
Send it to the Ethics Committee.
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Can we at least get the documents covering the sexual harassment payments and problem at the State House that the Globe never discusses anymore?
Also see:
"Actor Tom Sizemore denied allegations that he groped an 11-year-old Utah girl during a 2003 photo shoot. Sizemore, in a statement late Thursday, lamented his history of drug abuse and domestic violence arrests, but says he would never inappropriately touch a child....."
Have you noticed how elite pedophilia is getting lost in the discussion regarding consenting adults?
Would any sexual abuse revelation be surprising anymore?
Answer: The Rev. Jesse Jackson
What is your corrupt son and daughter-in-law up to these days anyway?
There is no sense extending this post, sorry.
