Professor Says UNM No Help After Flood

By Copyright 2007 Albuquerque Journal BY MARTIN SALAZAR Journal Staff Writer

An internationally known University of New Mexico anthropology professor contends the school has ignored her pleas for help after her research and teaching materials were destroyed in a laboratory flood in July.

Debra Komar, a forensic anthropologist whose research involves genocide and other governmentsponsored mass killings, has submitted her resignation and is threatening to sue the university.

“My biggest fear is I’m slated to testify in The Hague in February, and a significant portion of what was lost relates to that,” Komar said during a telephone interview this week.

She said she couldn’t go into detail about the testimony, but it relates to Srebrenica, the site of a massacre in Bosnia. Six defendants are on trial, she said.

She has sent UNM a list of requests, including three rounds of travel so she can go to places like The Hague and Bosnia to replace her research, assistants to help re-create her databases, a paid leave of absence and the hiring of a visiting professor to fill in while she re-creates her work.

Komar lost 17 years of research — notes, slides, photographs, negatives, manu- scripts, papers — and her professional library when a water main in the Anthropology Building burst July 25, flooding her basement laboratory. Komar’s was the only lab in the basement.

“This has put me professionally in an untenable situation, and UNM’s lack of response only exacerbates that. I may literally watch my career end in February,” she said.

Michael Graves, chairman of the anthropology department, and the rest of the anthropology faculty sent a letter to President David Schmidly, urging the new president to resolve the “debacle.”

“In our view, the university’s response thus far to the destruction of Komar’s research capacity has been wanting …,” the Oct. 7 letter states. “She is unable to fulfill her teaching and research obligations to us or to advance her professional career. This outcome is morally unacceptable and sends a chilling message to all faculty at UNM, any one of whom could be in Komar’s situation.”

UNM officials issued a written statement, stating that they were limited in what they could say because of the legal threat and a continuing investigation into the matter.

“The university has responded to the Graves letter and we continue to work on this issue with the Anthropology Department and with Dr. Komar to help support her as she rebuilds her research capabilities,” the statement reads.

Schmidly on Monday responded: “I am anxious to resolve and repair the research capability of Dr. Komar as soon as possible. I am willing to work with the provost and the vice president of administration to address many of the issues mentioned in your letter. … The provost will work with the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences to work out the 2008 funding details.”

Komar said UNM has failed to respond to the list she provided outlining what she needs to recover her research.

“I would hate to see her go,” Graves said. “Our department is better for having her here. She has an international reputation in terms of her research.”

Komar — who has worked at UNM since 2000 and won tenure and a promotion earlier this year — has a joint appointment with the Office of the Medical Investigator. She said she has a separate office for her OMI work and no OMI physical evidence was destroyed in the flood.

Komar said that since the flood, she’s received job offers from institutions in Canada, Australia and England.

“It’s not an easy decision for me to walk away based on the people I work with every day and what they have been willing to do,” she said. “It’s just, I can’t allow UNM to treat me this way. I just can’t.”

(c) 2007 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.