'Activist' UCSD professor facing unusual scrutiny

By Eleanor Yang Su, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 9:27 p.m.

UCSD professor Ricardo Dominguez is facing unusual scrutiny from campus police and auditors for his involvement in two divisive projects — one that helps migrants find water stored along the border and another that disrupted the UC president’s Web site through a virtual sit-in.

Dominguez, 50, is a self-described activist and new media artist who is accustomed to stirring up controversy. But he said he’s troubled that his tenured status may be revoked for work that promotes his academic specialty of electronic civil disobedience.

His supporters said Dominguez’s academic freedom is being trampled because he targeted administrators last month over its financial management. The sympathizers include coalitions of more than 50 faculty members at the University of California San Diego.

Others, including three Republican congressmen who have written to UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, said Dominguez should not be using taxpayer money to develop programs that aid illegal immigrants.

Last week, UCSD police questioned Dominguez about whether he committed a crime with the virtual sit-in.

Dominguez had publicized the March 4 event online. About 400 students, faculty and staff participated, each triggering a reloading of the UC system president’s Web site by registering for the sit-in. The computer program that Dominguez helped create also prompted a series of messages to appear, including, “There is no transparency found at the UC Office of the President.â€