The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 13

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a great teaching He saidthe hardening of feelings on both sides made it clear to him that the best way for the tradition to continue would be to shift the displays to private property. The votespurred strong responsesfrom both sides. city, on the advice of its city attorney, has abdicated its duty to protect the 1st guarantees of free speech and the free exercise of religion within a traditional public forum, acity said William J. Becker an attorney for Nativity scene proponents. City Council members surrendered to the angry mob and in the process have announced to the world that religious freedom can be sought elsewhere but not in Santa Becker said his clients would consider challenging the ban in court, unless they and the city could reach a suitable compromise.

Annie Laurie Gaylorof the Freedom From Religion Foundationsaid vandals had ripped down the banner her group had hung at the park in December. The banner began: this season of the winter solstice, may reason has she said of the vote, Assistant City Atty. Joseph Lawrence said a dis- play with an attendant might be permitted during daytime park hours as long as it followed no-camping and other relevant rules. For nearly six decades, life-size scenes celebrating have been a seasonal fixture in the park that runs atop the coastal bluffs along Ocean Avenue. In recent years, displays have also celebrated the winter solstice and Hanukkah and have promoted atheism.

InDecember, churches were readying plans to display their Nativity scenes when non-believer groups objected and applied to the city for their own spaces. To keep things fair and legal, officials used a lottery to divvy up spots. The atheists scored big, securing 18 of 21 spaces, where they displayed information that did not celebrate the Christmas story. A Jewish group also won a place for a menorah. Christian churches won two plots, whereas in the past they had occupied 14.

Many Santa Monica residents argued that the traditional Nativity scenes should be preserved. Others said the lottery system was important to ensure neutrality. Then there were people who said they would prefer natural ocean views to any man-made displays. City Atty. Marsha Jones Moutrie told the council that city staffers had received physical and legal threats as they contemplated ways to address the issue.

She said she hadanticipated that the lottery would become increasingly costly and difficult to administer given the rising tensions. martha.groves Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times VIKKI HILL offers a religious message next to an atheist display at Palisades Park in December. Santa Monica curbs displays at city park By Martha Groves UC Davis faculty leaders have declared that medical school administrators there violated the academic freedom of a professor who published a 2010 opinion article criticizing a campus event promoting prostate cancer screening. In a unanimous vote, the faculty Representative Assembly admonished administrators for threatening cuts in job title and funding and possible legal action against medical professor Michael Wilkes after his piece appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. The faculty governing panel last week also called for medical school leaders to apologize and concrete steps to prevent future violations of rights of academic Although disciplinary ac- tionwasnot carried out against Wilkes, raising that possibility violated his rights, according to microbiologist Linda Bisson, who chairs the UC Davis faculty Senate.

not a gray area or even a little cloudy. This is atextbook example of what is protected in academic Bisson said Wednesday. The next step is up to campus Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph Hexter, who in consultation with Chancellor Linda P.B. Kate- hiis expected to decide by fall whether to impose any discipline on the medical school executives, campus officials said. In their co-writtennews- paper article, Wilkes and USC emergency medicine professor Jerome Hoffman wrote about research showing that PSA blood tests for prostate cancer may lead to unnecessary treatments that cause negative side effects.

They suggested that a UC Davis public seminar that promoted such screening might have to do with and that doctors involved could have a conflict of interest. In an email soon after, the medical executive associate dean stated that Wilkes might be removed from his post as director of global health and from some training responsibilities, according to a recent report by afaculty committee. Then, a campus health center attorney wrote to Wilkes about what he alleged were factual mistakes in the article that hurt reputation and were actionable under the law of In an telephone interview Wednesday, Wilkes said he regretted some of the language in his article and wished the matter could have been resolved long before it came to a formal in- vestigation. I want is an apology and a road map to show that, if this happens against other faculty, there are ways to deal with this that do not involve intimidation. And that they rely on the foundation of academics, which is debate and said Wilkes, a prostate cancer expert who moved from UCLA to UC Davis eight years ago.

Two medical school leaders involved said in an email Wednesday that it would be inappropriate to comment in detail on the issue, which was previously reported by the online publication Inside Higher Ed. But school Dean Claire Pomeroy and Executive As- sociate Dean Frederick Meyers also wrote: deeply regret that the handling of this particular personnel matter is perceived by some as a violation of academic We respect and protect the rights of our faculty to pursue their research and teaching as they wish, so long as it is in a manner that is consistent with professional The 2010 health seminar, a free event, was sponsored by the UC Davis Health System in affiliation with the American Urologi- cal Assn.Foundation and the National Football League. larry.gordon@latimes.com UC Davis faculty cite violation of academic freedom By Larry Gordon CMYK.