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Saturday, June 24, 2006
Chancellor Kills HerselfSAN FRANCISCO — An embattled University of California chancellor who was criticized for helping her partner secure a top-paying university job died Saturday morning after apparently jumping from a downtown hotel, authorities said. ---------------------- Update, via kentucky.com: 'Denton was noticeably absent from the university commencement exercises earlier this month, and some employees said she had not been at work for at least two weeks. When asked about her absence, university officials told them she was ill.' ----------------------- Reactions begin: From a blogger: You haven't heard the last of this story. Denice Denton's financial situation was becoming news. (I don’t know whether he’s talking about the old news of her questionable use of funds, or something new.) Comments from a UCSC live journal: It's pride weekend in San Francisco! If there was any time to be a happy, rich, lesbian chancellor, it would be now. From a similar live journal: it's so surreal, i don't want to believe it Yet another student's live journal: chancellor denice denton committed suicide in san francisco today. A comment from another live journal: Ripped from the pages of a naturalist novel. He’s right. There’s a Theodore Dreiser sadness to the story, at least at this early stage. Jumping from a place called “The Paramount” on a summer morning in San Francisco. And what could possibly have been enough to prompt it? That’s a naturalist element too -- the way the act suggests a world of causeless malignity. --------------------- The San Francisco Chronicle describes her as having been “despondent over work and personal issues.” 'She had been on medical leave from the university since June 15 and was expected to return to work this week, said UC Santa Cruz spokesman Jim Burns. …Denton's mother, Carolyn Mabee, was in the building at the time of her death, police said. She told authorities that her daughter was "very depressed" about her professional and personal life.' --------------------- UPDATE: An example of life sounding like a naturalist novel: 'Denton's maternal uncle, Gilbert Drab, of Gun Barrel City, Texas, said …"It's a real tragedy. That's what happens when you get really bright people -- too much on their mind."' |