A media spotlight shines
on Weston's biology work
and Bell's controversies
By Debbie Howlett
of tht Emerald
James Weston calls it the “cascade effect.”
Weston, a biology professor at the University
who was featured a few weeks ago in Newsweek,
says his sudden popularity is something of a fluke
Holding a copy of Mosaic, a research
magazine, Weston says that the Newsweek
Science Editor probably ran across an article
about his work in that magazine and decided
Weston might be a good source
Derrick Bell, dean of the University law school
has a similar explanation of his new-found "no
toriety ”
Oregon magazine named Bell one of
Oregon’s "rising stars,” a title Bell laughs at and
compares to the ten “worst dressed" women list
"Those women are not necessarily the worst
dressed," Bell says
He adds that the brouhaha surrounding the
Pacific Northwest Resource Center reported in
most of the Oregon newspapers, added to the
attention
Media men Both seem to wear the title with
more than a little modesty and disdain
In his cubicle office, shelves jammed with
books, Weston, whose hair is slightly mussed,
looks through his thick, frameless glasses Asked
if he would consider himself a "leader” in his field
of embryonic biology, Weston says "I wouldn’t.”
He adds that he doesn't consider himself to
be an exceptionally modest man but he's not sure
why he was singled out from his lab
“I was involved, certainly But my major role
is to act as coordinator and supply an idea or
two "
Derrick Bell
±
James Weston
His work is often too complex for the layman,
but Weston explains his ideas and theories easily
with a good measure of patience. In fact, Weston
seems more interested in explaining his work than
in talking about the Newsweek article.
Weston's lab researches cells and extracel
lular materials, which he explains as “the neigh
borhood ." In his lab, Weston trys to find out if one
cell will transform into another, similar type of cell,
if given the proper extracellular situation.
To both Weston and Bell, their media expo
sure is secondary to their work.
Bell says he didn’t even know of the article
until one of his son's teachers sent it home with
him.
"My positions in civil rights tends to be
controversial I'm a black man in a mostly white
situation," Bell says, in an effort to explain the
Oregon article.
Bell, a Harvard law professor for 11 years
before coming to the University, is an easy media
mark
The Oregon article mentions that Bell oc
cupies the position once held by Wayne Morris,
but Bell says he isn’t trying for anything more than
what he has now
"That’s dangerous," he says, "you can
become trapped."
Bell's work at the law school has been a chain
of controversy and tough times, first came the
PNRC and charges that the University was re
sponding more to private timber interests instead
of students
Then came complaints that FBI recruiters at
the law school discriminated against homosex
uals
Bell’s sent a letter to the FBI informing them
that if the complaint were true, they wouldn't be
permitted to recruit at the law school To date, the
FBI hasn't recruited at the law school.
But does he deserve the title "rising star?"
Bell says "I don't think so not really."
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