Front Page  news  state

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

NMSU Associate Dean Resigns After E-Mail Scandal


Associated Press
      LAS CRUCES — A New Mexico State University associate dean accused of e-mailing pornography to others at the school has resigned from the administrative post and has been placed on leave from his faculty duties.
    NMSU officials said Tuesday that Larry Olsen stepped down as dean of the College of Health and Social Services. Olsen earlier voluntarily stepped aside while the university investigated the e-mail allegations.
    Olsen declined to comment.
    "NMSU will not tolerate discriminatory behavior of any kind," Provost Waded Cruzado said in a statement. "The institution cannot condone such activities. In particular, our administrators are expected to exercise good judgment, exhibit the highest ethical standards and impeccable conduct."
    Two e-mails from 2007 and 2008 from Olsen's administrative e-mail address, which were provided to the media, showed explicit pictures of male and female nudity.
    Faculty member John Moraros has said that shortly before he and his wife were told in February that their contracts would not be renewed, he confronted an NMSU official and asked him to stop sending pornographic images. Moraros said the official told him he'd make Moraros disappear from NMSU.
    Olsen later was identified as sending the images.
    The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that Olsen apologized in a March 31 confidential memo and acknowledged sending "a bad attempt at humor."
    The university's statement said a determination that Olsen violated university policy concludes the first part of an investigation into a complaint filed with NMSU's Office of Institutional Equity. The statement said the determination "is in no way related" to the dismissal of Moraros and Yelena Bird.
    Olsen has five days to appeal the decision.

Copyright ©2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.