The Raging Bull of Berkeley

Anthropologist Vince Sarich thinks genes explain a lot about some very complex human behavior-and that makes some people so mad they think he shouldn't be teaching

"IF YOU CAN BELIEVE THAT INDIVIDUALS OF clock" that measured evolutionary changes cal devastation ofhaving to listen to Sarich." recent African ancestry are not genetically on a firm foundation. Sarich then used that Sarich and those who defend him ac- advantaged over those of European and work to postulate that human beings, chimps, knowledge that he teaches an advocacy Asian ancestry in certain athletic endeavors, and gorillas diverged much more recently in course. Indeed, he says in his lecture that "at then you probably could be led to believe evolutionary terms than most researchers had some point one gets tired of arguing with just about anything." believed-enraging many paleoanthropol- one's closed-minded colleagues. Instead it So begins a provocative lecture on race by ogists. Most ofthe recent evidence indicates might be better to inject these types of the outspoken anthropologist Vincent he was right-chimps and human beings are thoughts into young and impressionable Sarich. His audience consists of about 400 much more closely related in evolutionary minds so they can turn around and ask freshmen and sophomores, students in his terms than the old model held. But those various other people (professors, for ex- introductory course on physical anthropol- disputes were on Sarich's own scientific turf. ample) what they think." But Sarich ogy at the University ofCalifornia at Berke- The recent controversy touches on areas such claims-with some justification-that he ley. For many ofthem, the course is far more as race, sex, intelligence, and the genetic basis does cover opposing points ofview. What is than an intellectual luxury: They take it to of contemporary human behavior, where more, he and his defenders claim, others fulfill the university's science requirement. Sarich is hardly an expert. Indeed, except for teach advocacy courses too. Yet because "The distributions with respect to a few papers on schizophrenia, he has never those courses fit better with the prevailing- klutziness and jumping ability differ among published in this field. largely liberal-political orthodoxy on the groups," Sarich continues. "There is no That's part ofthe problem say the critics. Berkeley campus, they don't come under white Michael Jordan, one of the best bas- They argue that Sarich is teaching an out- attack. Sarich is being attacked, they say, ketball players ever to play the game, nor has and-out advocacy course in areas he doesn't simply because he is willing to discuss sub- there ever been one." know much about. As a result, he's not jects-such as race, gender difference, and Race, sex, and science-or is it pseudo- preparing students for advanced anthropol- intelligence-that have been rendered ta- science?-have been the subject of intense ogy courses-only subjecting them to his boo by a conformist mentality at Berkeley. controversy on the Berkeley campus since last own controversial opinions. Furthermore, The current uproar didn't actually start in November, when more than fifty students some say that Sarich is brutalizing the black, Sarich's class. It started in the pages of the disrupted Sarich's course, accusing him of gay, and even female students in his courses, September issue of the Berkeley alumni teaching homophobic, sexist, and racist ma- and that other teachers must help undo the magazine, in which Sarich published an ar- terial. After that, some students demanded trauma he causes. Percy Hintzen, professor ticle with the guaranteed-to-offend title that Sarich-a tenured professor-be fired. of Afro-American studies, says his own "Making Racism Official at Cal." In the In the aftermath of the disruption, the an- course on race and ideology "acted as a article Sarich argued that whites were being thropology de- release mechanism for the discriminated against in admission and that partment con- "One gets tired ofarIguing with emotional and psychologi- efforts to culturally diversify the student vened two com- one 's closed-minded col- body were creating "tribalization" on cam- mittees, one to pus. A two-tier system was forming, he said, review Sarich's leagues.... Itmight be better with whites and Asians in the first tier and course material, to injectthese types ofthoughts blacks and Hispanics in the bottom. The the other to deal and questions into young and costs of such a policy, he said "are obvious with student com- impressionable minds... " and large; the benefits, if any, difficult to plaints. Even the perceive, and certainly undocumented." university's chan- -VINCENT SARICH The article provoked an intense and acri- cellor, while con- monious debate at Berkeley and in the San demning the disruption, stated that a "careful Francisco newspapers. In California, which investigation" would follow if allegations of will soon have a nonwhite majority, affirma- discriminatory remarks in the course were tive action is a touchy subject. Competition brought forth. to get into Berkeley, the premier state uni- Just who is Vincent Sarich, and why are so versity, is fierce: Last year, 2,300 high school many people mad at him? First ofall, Sarich students with 4.0 grade point averages were is an eminent physical anthropologist whose turned away, and until recently minorities work-done with his colleague Allan Wilson haven't had much access (90% of the fac- ofBerkeley's biochemistry department-has ulty-the slowest segment to change on led to fundamental changes in our under- campus-is white). In addition, minorities standing of human evolution. Sarich, Wil- felt singled out by Sarich's article, because son, and others put the idea ofa "molecular although the affirmative action program in- 368 SCIENCE, VOL. 251 Is Vincent Sarich Part of a National Trend? Berkeley sociologist Troy Duster thinks Vincent Sarich's of genetics and biology or biochemistry." controversial Antropology 1 course is part of a national trend "We're almost back to the idea of preformation," adds toward explanation of complex human behaviors in genetic Berkeley biochemist Richard Strohman, referring to the 18th- terms that began in the 1960s and is now reaching fever pitch. century notion that a little person was tucked inside each sperm. And Duster isn't alone in that view. "The lay public is under the impression that DNA controls Duster, who specializes in studying shifts in the nature/ everything." nurture controversy over time, thinks those shifts are often The debate over genetics and intelligence, along with other correlated with societal complex human traits, isn't limited to the lay press. It's also changes. After World War II_ penetrating academic campuses, where it gets caught up in debates and the Holocaust-Duster over academic freedom and responsibility. says, there was a rapid move At the City College of New York, in March 1990, students away from the "nature" side of disrupted the introductory philosophy class of Michael Levin. the ledger. But social develop- The reason? Levin's views on race and genetics. "It has been ments and technical advances- amply confirmed over the last several decades," he wrote in a in particular, the advent of letter to The American Philosophical Association Proceedings, molecular biology-sent the "that, on average, blacks are significantly less intelligent than pendulum swinging back the whites." Ironically, at City College Levin has an opposite number: other way by the '60s. Leonard Jefflies, Jr., chairman of the African-American studies But it isn't geneticists who department, who thinks the additional melanin blacks have gives are leading the latest trend, them both physical and neurological advantages over whites. Duster argues, it's psychologists And last year, at the annual meet- and other social scientists. Edu- You suddenly had a folk logic ing of the American Psychological cational psychologist Arthur emern Jensen of Berkeley has become 7ing.. [thati if sickle-cell Association, J. Philippe Rushton of Anei race-specii c the University of well known for his claims about the genetics of ia is peg then ~~said blacks have smallerWestembrainsOntariothan intelligence and race; psychologist Richard Herrnstein maybee criminality or Intel- whites,"whichmayunderliesomeof of Harvard is noted for arguing the genetic basis of llgencse is. the differences among the races in intelligence, crime, even unemployment. -TRoy DUSTER educational performance." As hu- The trend acquired its current impetus, Duster man beings entered the colder cli- claims, from the remarkable success of molecular genetics in mates of Europe from Africa, says Rushton, "they encountered identifying the basis of single gene diseases. "Once you found environments thatselected for increased social organizational skills and Tay-Sachs in the Jews, sickle cell anemia in blacks, beta- sexual and personal restraint, with a trade-offloccurring between brain thalassemia in Mediterraneans, cystic fibrosis in north Europe- size and reproductive potency." ans, you suddenly had a folk logic emerging in both the scientific In spite of the exaggerated claims, Duster says, it would be community and those who knew about these developments. If wrong to reject all claims of genetic influence on behavior. He sickle cell anemia is race-specific, then maybe criminality or cites, for instance, autism, where twin studies provide overpow- intelligence is." ering evidence that the condition is genetically based. Yet he These ideas have gained considerable credence on the border- warns against sliding down what he calls "a slippery slope of line between science and popular opinion, says Duster. "There logic" [that] could quickly conflate the molecular genetics of has been an explosion of articles in both the popular literature sickle cell anemia with an extraordinarily complex issue called and also some scientific journals which explain behavior in terms crime." a P.S. cludes many, nonracial categories (rural ver- in the name of academic freedom." In an cess that he savs makes males intrinsically sus urban, for example), Sarich focused ex- op-ed piece, one faculty member accused greater risk-takers than females. Males can clusively on race. In a widely quoted Sarich of "attempting to destrov the self- sire many more children than females, so they statement, he wrote: "Unfortunately, the esteem of black students in his classes." will "play a higher risk game because there is levels of qualification, preparation, or mo- All of this naturally focused microscopic a greater ultimate potential gain." Higher tivation are not randomly distributed with attention on the content of Sarich's An- risks means both winning and losing more respect to race and ethnicity." thropology 1 course. In the course Sarich often. A month after the article appeared, the teaches that human behaviors including In contemporary society, Sarich argues, protesters disrupted Sarich's anthropology those as complex as crime, college perfor- this translates into a male predisposition course. None ofthem was a current student mance, gender roles, athletic ability, even toward crime, "the ultimate risk behavior," in the course, although some had taken it career choice, can be understood in terms of and also means males end up most often at before, and others claimed they had read the our genetic makeup, which is in turn formed the top and the bottom ofcollege classes. verbatim transcript of the lectures Sarich bv evolutionary forces. The most masculine men are rewarded with offers as a study guide. The protesters at- Sarich lectures a good deal about both women and the most feminine are more tacked Sarich's stand on affirmative action racial and sexual differences. The starting likely to become homosexuals. The homo- and the content of his course. Posters ap- point of the course is what Sarich calls the sexuals tend to enter, among other careers peared on campus: "No more racist bullshit "reproductive game," an evolutionary pro- professions such as hair-dressing, where they

25 JANUARY 1991 NEWS & COMMENT 369 are "advantaged in dealing with female more discussion of... social, cultural, and free tion on the midterm exam. choice and psyche." will influences on human behavior in my class But even his critics acknowledge that Sarich Yet Sarich says genes don't have the final than there is of biological influences of hu- does cover some of the basic material in say; there is also free will-on which he puts man behavior in any one else's." Other classes introductory anthropology. Says Margaret his own spin. "It is neither nature nor nurture denigrate evolutionary biology, either ex- Conkey, another departmental colleague: which is determining behavior but it is the plicitly or by omission, he says. "You can do "He's not teaching English literature." And effects ofnature and nurture filtered through that with impunity because [the influence of the teaching assistants who run the discus- you as an individual-and it is you as an the environment on human behavior] is the sion sections fill in some ofthe gaps. Conkey individual that has final control over those ruling idea in the field." thinks students are getting perhaps a third of effects." In that form, Furthermore, Sarich argues, the information needed to go on to higher many researchers can _ those who accuse him of ge- level anthropology courses. agree with the prop- © netic determinism are missing Sherwood Washburn, the eminent Berke- osition. But Sarich _ a major theme of his course: ley physical anthropologist who hired Sar- takes it to extremes. J that genes influence-but do ich-but who has since soured on him- Schizophrenics, he _ not determine-behavior. thinks the basic problem is simply that Vincent says, are responsible _, "The most frustrating aspect Sarich "likes to raise hell. He purposefully for their condition of discussing causation of hu- picks topics that will get the students mad." because they haven't man behavior is: as soon as To this charge, Sarich pleads guilty. "Of "resisted" the dis- one raises genes, the students course I like to raise hell," he says. "I like to ease, and homosexu- A append determinism. It's not illustrate points by dealing with subjects that als "choose" their what I do, it's what people are as controversial as possible." He argues sexual orientation. come in with." that such choices make his class both intellec- Culture, while tually exciting and philosophically relevant. generally de-empha- "It's notgoodscience, it's not "I don't think anyone's ever accused my sized in Sarich's class of being boring." He carries around a course, does play bad science, it's not science stack of complimentary letters from students some role there. -atall. S - attesting to that fact. That blacks and -NANCY SCHEPER-HUGHES But the flamboyant personality of Hispanics perform less well than whites in Vincent Sarich aside, the imbroglio he's at our educational system, he says, "is not a As to the charge of intellectual heavy- the center of raises important questions for racial thing. In fact, very little of it is racial- handedness-a charge that's been made by the academic research community. First of that is, genetic." It's cultural, Sarich argues: some other faculty members-Sarich says all, is he being treated fairly? Even his critics These ethnic groups don't stress education. that's off-base too. He says students are only admit few professors could withstand the Some of Sarich's colleagues say many of required to understand, not accept, the course kind of scrutiny Sarich is getting. Says his arguments don't hold water scientifi- material and that balance comes in when Stephen Smale, a Fields prize winner in math- cally. "It's not good science, it's not bad students take other courses. He adds that he ematics and 1960s free-speech activist who science, it's not science at all," says Nancy holds an optional, open-ended discussion ran into plenty ofcriticism himselfon campus Scheper-Hughes, a colleague and vehement session where students can bring up any topic during the Vietnam era: "I don't mean to Sarich critic who does research in a number they wish, and their comments are often defend Sarich by any means, but I'm some- of the areas covered in his course. Sarich's brought up in subsequent lectures. Further- times more upset that people hold him to lectures, says Scheper-Hughes, rely prima- more, an examination ofthe course transcript different standards." Smale cites sociology, rily on anecdotal evidence rather than on shows that Sarich does bring up opposing energy and resources, even physics, as sub- scholarly studies. views-although often in a critical fashion. jects where advocacy courses-with a liberal Stanford population geneticist Marcus Nevertheless, Berkeley anthropologist bent-are taught. "I see this huge attack on Feldman describes Sarich's analysis as a se- Laura Nader refers to Sarich's course as "in- him tending toward a more conformist cam- ries ofopinions that don't have any evidence doctrination," pointing to the fact that there pus.... I find it interesting to have someone to back them up. "These kinds of simplistic is no textbook (the course reader is 138 like this on campus, saying things that are statements take no account of cultural evo- pages-slender compared to those in some very much against the prevailing views." lution and the interaction of cultural and courses) and no questions allowed in lecture. Tom White, an evolutionary biologist biological phenomenon." Adds Scheper-Hughes: "I don't want to say who is familiar with Sarich, some of the Among geneticists, says Berkeley molecu- there's mind control going on, but the infor- critics, and the much thumbed Sarich lec- lar and cell biology professor Richard mation is extremely restricted." There is, for ture notes, thinks the critics have some Strohman, "Those of us who have followed example, minimal attention in lectures and biases themselves. "I think that some of his Sarich's [teaching] are amused-that you readings devoted to basic genetics. critics quote only the lecture material they can explain large swathes of behavior by a There is also no lecture or readings on basic find objectionable when Sarich is actually simple genetic paradigm....We don't even human evolution, which is among the lacu- giving opposing arguments in order to chal- understand the genetic basis of develop- nae that have led some faculty to contend that lenge the students to think about and form ment in the worm, let alone humans." Sarich simply doesn't do an adequate job of their own conclusions on these subjects." Sarich, however, contends that he is sim- preparing students for upper-division courses "Sarich is almost unique in that depart- ply providing a counterbalance to what is in the field. "It's a question ofcompetence," ment in having a molecular or genetic per- taught in many other campus courses- says Nader. According to Michael Nunley, spective," say White. "You'd hate to elimi- courses that slight the genetic contribution current teaching assistant in the course, a nate that which is necessary for getting edu- to human behavior. "The wrong person is great majority of students couldn't give a cated in anthropology today." White faults being challenged here," he says. "There is far brief, satisfactory definition of natural selec- Sarich for presenting opinions, including ste- 370 SCIENCE, VOL. 251 reotypes, as scientific theories, but says that the last third of the course, in which Sarich talks about the primate fossil record and U.S. Backing for Fusion Project Seen molecular evolution (Sarich's areas of exper- tise), "is a credit to the department." In the next few weeks, the Bush Administra- the planning for the second phase has been Beyond the issue of fairness lurk deeper- tion is expected to announce that the United worked out through unofficial discussions. and much more difficult-questions of how States will continue its participation in a ma- Another positive signal for ITER is an to handle the case ofan eminent scientist who jor multinational effort to design a fusion announcement by DOE last week that it has teaches material others object to. One ofthe energy test reactor. The first phase of the chosen San Diego, California, as the U.S. few things most members of the faculty and project, involving preliminary design work on candidate for a site for the project. The Euro- administration agree on in this case is that the the machine, the International Thermonu- pean Community and Japan are expected to disruption of Sarich's course was wrong. "If clear Experimental Reactor (ITER), was offer their own candidates next month, and a you don't like what a person is saying or completed in December. The next stage- final selection would come later in the year. teaching, you cannot silence him by closing advanced design and R&D-is expected to "Right now things are looking pretty good his class by violence," says vice-chancellor cost $1 billion, and the Department of En- for ITER," comments John Clarke, the John Heilbron, who is in charge ofacademic ergy has been keeping fusion researchers former director of the Office of Fusion En- issues at Berkeley. Indeed, the Academic guessing about its willingness to ante up. ergy and, until recently, chairman of the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom There are now signs, however, that the Ad- ITER Council, which has been overseeing condemned the disruption, and disciplinary ministration has decided to back the effort. phase one. A total of $200 million has been action is proceeding against the protesters The strongest evidence of the Admin- spent over the past 3 years to produce the who have been identified. istration's intent is that some $40 million for conceptual design for the reactor. There is no But the issue of academic responsibility- the undertaking, sources say, is included in commitment on the part of any country at ofwhat should be taught in science courses the fiscal year 1992 budget that President this point, however, to actually build the $6- and who should decide-is tougher to settle. Bush will present to Congress in early Febru- billion device. That decision will not come for Perhaps because it might have a chilling ary. In addition, although formal negotia- 5 or 6 years, when the final design is com- effect on academic freedom, there is no well- tions have not yet begun with the other pleted and better cost estimates are in hand. established procedure for monitoring the partners in the venture-the European Com- E MARK CRAWFORD content of courses at Berkeley. The review munity, Japan, and the Soviet Union-gov- Mark Crawford is a reporter with New established by the anthropology department ernment and industry officials say most of Technology Week. was one such effort, but that ended after the Vice-chancellor "suggested" that the Aca- demic Senate's Committee on Courses was High Noon in Utah the appropriate forum for a review. Yet Fiona Doyle, chair of that committee, Utah officials seem to be running out of To solve the problem, the university con- says that authority over curricula is delegated patience with Stanley Pons, the chemist who vinced Pons and his lawyer to agree to turn to the department, which has the expertise to claimed to have discovered cold fusion nearly over Pons' raw data to Wilford Hansen, a judge course content. To make matters worse, 2 years ago. The University of Utah, Pons' physicist at Utah State University and a the anthropology department at Berkeley-a employer, has given him until 1 February to member of the advisory council. According hotbed offractious debates and personal ani- hand over the raw data from experiments to the written agreement, Pons promised to mosities-is so splintered that it has no chair- that Pons claims prove the existence ofcold give Hansen part of the data by 14 January person. "Nobody is really in a position of fusion. And the Fusion Energy Advisory and the rest ofit by 1 February. Hansen says authority," says Stanley Brandes, head ofthe Council, which oversees the $5-million in- that Pons met the first deadline. department's executive committee. vestment that the state legislature made in But the advisory council is not waiting. It Although no one on the faculty takes very cold fusion research at the university, may has given the university until 22 January to seriously the protesters' demands that the withhold the rest of Pons' share of those announce how it proposes to spend the rest tenured Sarich be fired, some have floated the funds if they are not satisfied with his data. ofthe funds. IfPons' data are unconvincing, idea that he not teach the introductory The state has already spent $4.1 million, the council may not approve any spending course, but only courses relevant to his says Randy Moon, Utah state science adviser plan that includes support for Pons. And, specific expertise or electives. If the depart- and a member of the advisory council. The Moon adds, unsatisfactory data from Pons ment does decide to take that step, Sarich council is now deciding whether to release could endanger the whole effort. "The thing could appeal to the university's Committee the rest to the university, which in turn that got everybody excited was the excess on Privilege or its Committee on Academic would give about 20% ofthe money to Pons energy from Dr. Pons' experiments and, Freedom. and the remainder to the National Cold darn it, that's what we invested in." For the administration, the controversy Fusion Institute in Salt Lake City. The prob- Meanwhile, Pons has quit his tenured has been unsettling. "We're in a land where lem, Moon says, is that the university has not professor position at the university and ac- we haven't many guideposts," laments vice- provided the council with complete infor- cepted an 18-month contract as a research chancellor Heilbron. Sarich is going on sab- mation about results from cold fusion re- professor. Three months ago, Pons re- batical next semester, and is not scheduled search conducted so far. The university, in quested a sabbatical from the university, to teach Anthropology 1 next year. "The turn, blames Pons. John Morris, associate saying he wished to concentrate on research, span of attention at Berkeley may not last a vice president for academic affairs, says the but that fell through. Morris gave no details year and a half," says Heilbron, "but the work from the cold fusion institute is "fun- on the negotiations that led to Pons' new issues are perennial." a PAUL SELVIN damentally sound," but the university has relation with the university, but did say that Paul Selvin is apostdoctoral researcher in not been able to evaluate Pons' work be- the university did not force him out. biophysics at UC Berkeley. cause it "didn't have the details." * ROBERT POOL

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