Who's been a naughty boy then. Prof. Geoff Marcy & the sexual harassment scandal.

[Suzy]

Geoff Marcy, professor of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a top leader in exoplanet research, has been accused of repeated sexual harassment. UC Berkeley is currently under federal investigation for its handling of dozens of sexual violence complaints on campus.

BuzzFeed did the investigation and broke the news on October 9th. *THIS* is the article that you should read (gives more info than others I've read IMO).

Yesterday 14th October, UC Berkley announced Marcy's resignation. Here's their statement

Will he still be able to carry on this important science I wonder .
I truly hope so. He just needs to keep his hands to himself .

[Kunama]

Being 'allowed to resign' by the University in itself speaks of their lack of action/concern on the matter. The investigations should have been referred to Police and the Courts, if and when proven, the man should have been sacked.

Who knows how many brilliant researchers have been prompted to leave the field of Astronomy by sexual harassment and subsequent pressure to not report it.

[leon]

Will he still be able to carry on this important science I wonder .
I truly hope so. He just needs to keep his hands to himself .

If he is guilty of the said allegations then he should have given thought to that before he harassed others.

If his work is to suffer so be it, there cant be any special favors for those who do important work.

Leon

[Eden (Brett)]

Really disappointing. Marcy is one of the true pioneers of exoplanetary science and his conduct is far from acceptable. Astronomy needs both men AND women, and people like Marcy are making it difficult if not impossible for women to enjoy the same opportunities as men in this field.

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

This has been all over my Twitter and Facebook feed for the last week. I would like to make the following observations:

1. It took a week for this important topic to be raised in this forum (and I visit every day, even if I don't post)

2. It took a woman to post it.

3. When I first saw it 202 people had looked at it, but only 3 men had commented.

The silence is deafening. I hope that's because you're all having a good think about it, rather than pretending the issue doesn't exist here in Australia or that you're all above it. But you never listen to anything I say, anyway, so it wont matter, I suppose.

[blink138 (Pat)]

...................... erm........ nice cloudless day in perth today!
pat

[astroboof (Steve McN)]

Plenty of other brilliant people out there to replace him. Perhaps even, one of them, could even be... a Woman!

Lets hope so. That'd be fine with the majority of men these days, myself included.

[Kunama]

Originally Posted by Blue Skies

This has been all over my Twitter and Facebook feed for the last week. I would like to make the following observations:

1. It took a week for this important topic to be raised in this forum (and I visit every day, even if I don't post)

2. It took a woman to post it.

3. When I first saw it 202 people had looked at it, but only 3 men had commented.

The silence is deafening. I hope that's because you're all having a good think about it, rather than pretending the issue doesn't exist here in Australia or that you're all above it. But you never listen to anything I say, anyway, so it wont matter, I suppose.

Sorry Jacquie, I don't know what Twitter is and have deleted my Facebok account, but I too am surprised that a trolling post about moon landings being a hoax attracts far more attention than something as serious and as wrong as this.
It is a pity and a shame (on society) that these women felt they could not report these incidents contemporaneously as their suffering may have been less and others may not have become victims.

I could not care less how many exoplanets this person has found, for all we know those whom his actions caused to leave the field of astronomy may well have surpassed his endeavors had they been able to continue in the field.

A mere slap on the wrist by the University is a disgustingly inadequate gesture if the facts are as stated by the victims.

[Terry B]

Sadly this isn't unique to astronomers.

This is a post from a theatre nurse put on facebook recently

"There is a surgeon at work that we all universally agree is a total a-hole. He screams at staff, is rude, impatient and arrogant. He treats anaesthetists like they are disposable, and heaven forbid if a med student accidentally comes into his theatre!!!! He has been known to make nurses so nervous they vomit, and made a registrar (who WASN'T on call) come in and do a case when he (the registrar) was having colonoscopy prep!!
But all his patients say he's sooooo lovely, charming, has a wonderful bedside manner, is so thoughtful."

As a medico I think this is disgraceful and should be stopped. The same with the Prof in the US. Different crime but same arrogance.
It can not be condoned just because they are good at their job as clearly both of them are.

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Originally Posted by Kunama

It is a pity and a shame (on society) that these women felt they could not report these incidents contemporaneously as their suffering may have been less and others may not have become victims.

The women did report this - and they lost their jobs. Some of them were sacked the second they opened their mouths. They knew, everyone knew, there was even an underground whisper network about this, and nothing was done until Buzzfeed broke it as a major news item.

A mere slap on the wrist by the University is a disgustingly inadequate gesture if the facts are as stated by the victims.

Apparently the University was bound by its charter or tenets (I forget the correct term) and had to go through some long investigative process that would actually tip the favour towards the perpetrator to sack him! But so many people expressed so much disgust at this the uni was forced to act or look even badder than they already did, so he was encouraged to resign, I understand. And there are others beside him, too, who haven't been named yet. I really hope this is a radical shake out and real change occurs.

[Suzy]

Hi Jacqui

Yes, spot on. It seemed the only way to get some action was for a group of women to band together along with the BuzzFeed's investigation/reporting.



This is part of the statement from Berkley Uni. You've probably already read it though.

It is important to understand that as Berkeley’s leadership considered disciplinary options, we did not have the authority, as per University of California policy, to unilaterally impose any disciplinary sanctions, including termination. Discipline of a faculty member is a lengthy and uncertain process. It would include a full hearing where the standards of evidence that would be used are higher than those that are applied by the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD) in the course of its investigations. The process would also be subject to a three-year statute of limitations.
Our objective was to protect our students by immediately preventing any re-occurrence of the behavior described in the investigative report.


An fb buddy of mine - she's studying astronomy at university - made this interesting comment to me:

"It was interesting to read the different reactions of female and male researchers on Twitter. Most of the guys I follow were like "WHAT??? Outrageous!" And most of the women were like "Oh this sh*t again? What a shock."

When I posted it on our IIS facebook page, it had a reach of over 1,600 people (meaning it hit that many peoples fb timelines), yet only one person "Liked" it and zero comments. The worst performing post I think I've done in the nearly 3 years I've been running the page. Interesting. They either don't know who he is or didn't care or... I don't know !

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

[/COLOR][/COLOR]"It was interesting to read the different reactions of female and male researchers on Twitter. Most of the guys I follow were like "WHAT??? Outrageous!" And most of the women were like "Oh this sh*t again? What a shock."

I don't get it.

No doubt predators pick their victims well - the tiny pool of women of a certain disposition who'll take such treatment.

But this isn't the 50s, 60s, 70s or early 80s - where women had no recourse but to take it or quit their jobs or courses (or who told their boyfriends/husbands. and the perpetrator got a black eye).

These alleged events took place in the USA in the 2000s.
Why would most women NOW not be shocked like most men are?

Regards,
Renato

[Kunama]

Originally Posted by Suzy

......When I posted it on our IIS facebook page, it had a reach of over 1,600 people (meaning it hit that many peoples fb timelines), yet only one person "Liked" it and zero comments. The worst performing post I think I've done in the nearly 3 years I've been running the page. Interesting. They either don't know who he is or didn't care or... I don't know !

That is rather telling, I certainly hope that it is not because people did not see the harm of what this creep has done or that they don't care. These events are not just harassment, they are crimes and should be treated as such. Regardless of how many planets he might have found, he belongs in prison, not behind a telescope funded by the people.

I see that the useless trolling thread about conspiracy theories is still going strong with 5 times as many views and six times as many posts.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by Blue Skies

This has been all over my Twitter and Facebook feed for the last week. I would like to make the following observations:

1. It took a week for this important topic to be raised in this forum (and I visit every day, even if I don't post)

2. It took a woman to post it.

3. When I first saw it 202 people had looked at it, but only 3 men had commented.

The silence is deafening. I hope that's because you're all having a good think about it, rather than pretending the issue doesn't exist here in Australia or that you're all above it. But you never listen to anything I say, anyway, so it wont matter, I suppose.

1/ I don't do twit-er, or facebook.
2/Why should the gender of the person posting it matter?
3/ Don't assume because people aren't ranting, they don't care. Believe it or not 99.99999999% of males aren't like this and would happily punch the creeps that harass women in the face, (me included and for the same and other reasons posted here, by men)

Frankly, we don't know the facts and there are plenty of cases where men have had their careers wrecked by false claims, entrapment and sheer bloody malice. I'm pretty sick of men being demonised as a group. There are some really "delightful" females out there as well and the treatment they, and their victims, get for similar behaviour is usually VERY VERY different! Women are not complete angels.

I've been on the receiving end of a claim by several female students who didn't like the fact that I insisted they did their work. It took a very powerful female teacher to face the little darlings down and get the truth out of them. My career and reputation were dead in the water for 24 hours, they got a weeks detention. You have NO IDEA how horrifying that experience was and I can detail many more examples with not so nice outcomes.

Lets stick to astronomy please.

[N1 (Mirko)]

Originally Posted by Kunama

I see that the useless trolling thread about conspiracy theories is still going strong with 5 times as many views and six times as many posts.

Matt, put 2 or more people who agree 100% in a room and see what happens in terms of a lengthy, heated debate. This topic here does not lend itself to trolling. There is such a wide consensus about what happened here that even the (potential) trolls agree that this guy is human garbage (assuming the allegations are correct!) - exoplanet discoverer or not. And in the absence of fuel provided by trolls the thread is shorter. This is a good sign, don't you think?

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Originally Posted by el_draco

You have NO IDEA how horrifying that experience was and I can detail many more examples with not so nice outcomes.

Lets stick to astronomy please.

Oh. Yes. I. Do.

I am a survivor of sexual abuse, assault and harassment. I have EVERY idea what its like, and to be blunt, its has ruined my life. You don't get over it, it insinuates itself into your entire life, for the rest of your life.

The lack of response to this thread mirrors the response that I see society at large doing. "Oh, that can't be happening, can it? Oh, how horrible, but I don't do it, I can't understand it, I'm going to look away and put my hands over my ears, la, la, la!" Every time silence is kept the action of the perpetrator is being condoned.

I would like to speak out more about this issue at large but I have had so many people turn their backs to me and walk away and not listen, its been heartbreaking. I could rant a bit more but I don't think it would be constructive here, so I wont comment anymore either. But I'm still disappointed with the response.

[Hans Tucker (Hans)]

Originally Posted by Blue Skies

Oh. Yes. I. Do.

I am a survivor of sexual abuse, assault and harassment. I have EVERY idea what its like, and to be blunt, its has ruined my life. You don't get over it, it insinuates itself into your entire life, for the rest of your life.

The lack of response to this thread mirrors the response that I see society at large doing. "Oh, that can't be happening, can it? Oh, how horrible, but I don't do it, I can't understand it, I'm going to look away and put my hands over my ears, la, la, la!" Every time silence is kept the action of the perpetrator is being condoned.

I would like to speak out more about this issue at large but I have had so many people turn their backs to me and walk away and not listen, its been heartbreaking. I could rant a bit more but I don't think it would be constructive here, so I wont comment anymore either. But I'm still disappointed with the response.

This is an Astronomy site....people come here to discuss Astronomy related topics hence why the majority possibly gloss over this topic. If you are so passionate about this topic find a forum group on another site but stop criticising the IIS members for what you perceive is a lack of care.

[Octane (Humayun)]

That's what I was thinking, Hans.

This is a left field topic and people don't know how to respond, but, they do know how horrible it is. I hope the justice system takes its course, deals with the perp and the victims are given the support they need.

Please don't take a lack of response as some kind of inaction.

There is more that I could say, but, I'll keep it at that.

H

[RB (Andrew)]

I've been watching this thread from the start.
I don't think you'll find anyone on here that isn't disgusted by this type of behaviour towards women, when its proven true.
I also am a bit disturbed at the assumption that 'a lack of response' may be seen as condoning this behaviour.

My heart goes out to anyone who is a victim of sexual harassment and abuse.
I bet there are even grown men (and women) on here the were sexually abussed as children, it's something that's usually too painful to talk about in an open forum like this, especially when this forum is geared towards astronomy.

This thread was allowed to run and for people to express their views on the OP initial post but now it seems we're getting responses which are very personal and its time to leave it there.

I do feel for everyone who has suffered this dreadful experience and I hope that healing can eventually take place.

RB