Three pieces of UC flak in search of a headline
Robert Dynes, appointed by the Regents of the University of California as UC president on June 11, 2003, is stepping down. Love is the reason UC flaksters have confected. It being UC, the new bride was immediately appointed an Associate of the President, an honorific promotion from legal counsel at UCSD for which it is unimaginable there was not some nuptual emolument of public funds. The president would have known we the Californians would have settled for nothing less.
We consulted the gutter press of San Francisco that had tastelessly reported on various compensation packages Dynes approved, on account of which several state senators most uncharactistically called for his resignation. Then we covered the equally venal LA Times, which had followed the San Francisco Chronicle and then added some of their own about exorbitant pay packages to UC administrators and star researchers. They did not have headlines, reading: UC president gives it up for love.
The Project on Government Oversight, a national watchdog group that pays particular close attention to the two national laboratories where nuclear weapons are designed, redesigned and tested, both managed by UC (now in partnership with Bechtel and several other war contractors), was too polite to lead with: Dynes resigns; leaks go on.
Badlands, known to its readers to be a venal, gutter blog, suffused with bad taste, suggests another headline:
He didn't bring home the hoof and mouth:
Dynes resigns in wake of failure of Livermore Lab's bid for a level-4 biowarfare lab in radioactive Valley bombing range.
Badlands editorial board
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8-14-07
San Francisco Chronicle
Dynes quitting as head of UC - presided over compensation scandal...Carolyn Jones
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/14/MNVNRHPJA.DT...
Saying he wants to spend more time with his new wife, UC President Robert Dynes announced Monday that he is resigning, capping an often tumultuous four-year tenure as head of the nation's top public university system. "I'm in love with my wife, and it's time for me to spend time with her before we no longer have time to spend together," said Dynes, 64. "I've thought long and hard about what my accomplishments have been and where and when is the time to step down." A former chancellor at UC San Diego and a physics professor, Dynes oversaw dramatic changes within the university system. Drastic budget cuts, uncertainty over UC management of two national nuclear weapons laboratories, scandals over executive compensation, the opening of a 10th campus and skyrocketing student fees are among the challenges Dynes grappled with. Dynes said his departure is not related to the compensation scandal, nor was he asked to leave. His resignation is also unrelated to a pending management review of his office by the Monitor Group consulting firm, he said.
4 years at the top: Dynes' achievements overshadowed by executive pay controversy...Charles Burress
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/08/14/MN2VRHSHI...
Robert Dynes could have another academic year as UC president, but if his legacy were written today after nearly four years at the helm, he probably would be remembered most for the university's executive pay scandal...public attention and political heat focused largely on revelations - brought to light by The Chronicle beginning in November 2005 - of millions of dollars in hidden perks and benefits for some of the university's highest paid employees at a time when students fees were rising and campus services declining. UC policies on compensation often were ignored or circumvented, at times without the required approval or even knowledge of the governing Board of Regents.The revelations were followed by three audits last year - conducted by the state, the university and an outside firm - substantiating abuses and improper payments. Three state senators called for Dynes' resignation, but the regents expressed their confidence in him. Another cloud over Dynes' administration was a series of mismanagement revelations and security breaches at the two university-run national laboratories that develop nuclear weapons, in addition to other research. Many of the problems at Los Alamos and Livermore national labs, which had been managed by UC... Another source of headlines for Dynes was his effort to stop the financial hemorrhaging of the university in 2004
Los Angeles Times
UC president announces resignation...Richard C. Paddock
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-dynes14aug14,1,1996310,print...
University of California President Robert C. Dynes, whose four years in office have been marked by dwindling budgets and a scandal over compensation for top officials, announced Monday that he will step down by June. Though praised by associates for his "extraordinary intellect," Dynes appears to have lost the support of key members of the UC Board of Regents who believe the 10-campus system must act more aggressively to maintain its excellence. In the end, it was the university's compensation practices, including quietly awarding millions of dollars in perks to top executives without the regents' approval, that appear to have hurt him the most. Dynes, a native of Canada, took over as UC's 18th president in October 2003 as the system was reeling from a series of budget cuts -- and facing even more. The most damaging period for Dynes came last year with revelations that UC had given top administrators millions of dollars in perks and bonuses even as it raised student fees. Many of the payments were not disclosed publicly or approved by the regents, in violation of university policy. Dynes accepted responsibility for the payments and apologized repeatedly. But the scandal left its mark.
7-12-07
Tracy Press
Tracy dropped from bio-lab list…Rob L. Wagner
http://tracypress.com/content/view/10137/2242/
Tracy didn’t make the cut to host a $450 million national lab where killer germs like anthrax, avian flu and foot-and-mouth disease will be studied, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday…the federal government has selected finalists from five other states for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. The decision eliminates the potential to bring hundreds of highly skilled jobs to the city but is considered a victory by many residents who were troubled by the secrecy and possible threat posed by the project.
8-06-07
Project on Government Oversight
Another Security Breach at Los Alamos...Contact: Danielle Brian or Peter Stockton (202) 347-1122
An incident involving the unauthorized release of classified data via email occurred last week at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The incident, which has been confirmed by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), is rated among “the most serious threats to national security.”
The incident follows the Department of Energy’s (DOE) July decision to slap the Lab with a $3.3 million fine, and to threaten the Lab with another fine if it failed to comply with security rules. The fine was levied because of the October 2006 incident in which classified information was discovered during a methamphetamine drug bust. The discovery was originally revealed by POGO. Last week’s breach follows a series of other incidents in recent months (see links below).
This most recent breach was originally rated an Impact Measurement Index-1 (IMI-1), which is the most serious level security violation. In an attempt to minimize the problem, the breach was downgraded to a less severe category of IMI-4. After another review, however, it was elevated back to IMI-1.
“LANL has been fined, lab officials have been fired, and the lab was even closed for a number of months so that it could get its act together,” said POGO Senior Investigator Peter Stockton. “It’s clear that it just can’t.”
According to LANL, an IMI-1 rated incident is defined as:
“Actions, inactions, or events that pose the most serious threats to national security interests and/or critical DOE assets, create serious security situations, or could result in deaths in the workforce or general public. IMI-1 includes, but is not limited to, (1) confirmed or suspected loss, theft, or diversion of a nuclear device or components or weapon data; (2) confirmed or suspected intrusions, hackings, or break-ins into DOE computer systems containing Top Secret, SAP [Special Access Programs] information, or Secret Compartmented information; and (3) confirmed or suspected acts or attempts of terrorist actions.”
Below is a list of security incidents at the Los Alamos National Laboratory since the Wen Ho Lee scandal in 1999.
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Los Alamos Security Incidents Since the Wen Ho Lee Controversy
http://www.pogo.org/p/homeland/ha-070806-lanl.html
July 2007 – Los Alamos lab worker with “highest possible security clearance” arrested in cocaine drug bust. July 6, 2007. SOURCE: KRQE
June 2007 – Los Alamos board member sends highly classified email message unsecured, comprising “the most serious breach of U.S. national security.” SOURCE: Time Magazine
May/June 2007 – Los Alamos staffer takes lab laptop containing “government documents of a sensitive nature” with him on vacation to Ireland , where it is stolen. Los Alamos scientist sends highly classified email over unclassified networks to the Nevada Test Site. SOURCE: Newsweek
October 2006 – Classified information from Los Alamos found during methamphetamine drug raid. SOURCE: POGO
June 2006 – NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks informs Congress that computer hackers got access to detailed personal information, including Social Security numbers for about 1,500 DOE contract workers in September 2005. Yet neither the workers whose personal information was compromised, nor the DOE’s cyber-security head were notified about the incident. SOURCE: Associated Press
July 2004 – POGO reports that 17 incidents of classified information from Los Alamos were sent over unclassified networks. On July 23, 2004, DOE shuts down operations involving Classified Removable Electronic Media (CREM) across the entire nuclear weapons complex. SOURCE: POGO
May 2004 – Classified computer media goes missing at Los Alamos . Lab claims it is “a single accounting discrepancy.” SOURCE: POGO
December 2003 – Los Alamos confirms that computer disks were identified as lost during an “inventory of classified computer media.” In total, ten disks were lost. SOURCE: POGO, LANL