It's no secret that research involving primates at the
UW-Madison is highly controversial. That's due in part to the
fact that it's (slightly) easier for people in Wisconsin to
get information on what research is being done here than in
some other places. In fact, in recent years, activists opposed
to animal research have tried to use the state's open records
law to force the release of videotapes of experiments
involving primates. One such battle has concerned videotapes
of an experiments described in a paper published in 2000.The
UW-Madison has denied requests for these tapes in the past.
More recently, it gave a different answer, which is recounted
in an article in the Aug. 11 issue of Isthmus.
Records regarding the destruction of the videotapes
1. The Isthmus article
UW-MADISON
Primate tapes get
trashed
Accident cited in decision to destroy
coveted research records
By Bill Lueders
The UW-Madison has destroyed videotapes of primate
experiments long sought by animal rights activists, saying the
tapes were damaged in an accident early last year. But these
records were destroyed more than a year after this accident,
and just two months after the university rejected a request
for them on unrelated policy grounds.
A record provided by the UW shows that 60 boxes of
videotapes where shredded on Feb. 13, 2006. Among them were
tapes produced by UW researchers including Ruth Benca and Ned
Kalin and described in a paper published in the journal Brain
Research in 2000. The paper says rhesus monkeys were
videotaped while restrained in an experiment regarding the
effects of brain lesions on sleep patterns.
Activists have made several attempts to obtain these tapes,
dating back to 2002. In April 2005, Madison resident Jeremy
Beckham requested them under the state's open records law.
When the UW did not release the tapes or provide a definitive
response, attorney Leslie Hamilton of Animal Law Associates of
Wisconsin asked the state Justice Department to prosecute; the
office declined, saying it represented the UW on other legal
matters. Shortly thereafter, in a letter dated Dec. 13, 2005,
senior UW legal counsel John Dowling formally denied Beckham's
request.
Dowling said the videotapes did not constitute a record but
were rather "primary data from the ongoing investigations of
university researchers." He also said "the public interest in
nondisclosure outweighs the interest in disclosure" because of
the tapes' value as primary data.
"It is extremely important to that research that the data
remain under the control of the researchers, or otherwise it
would be susceptible to misappropriation and/or
misinterpretation," Dowling wrote. No mention is made of any
damage to these tapes.
On May 15, 2006, Isthmus made a fresh request for these
tapes, with an eye to perhaps testing the law regarding their
(non)availability. In mid-June, Dowling told the paper that,
besides the public policy concerns, there was some question as
to whether the tapes still existed: "They may have been
damaged in a plumbing accident."
This was confirmed in a letter from Dowling dated July 6,
2006: "The videotapes and photographs in question were
damaged, along with other data, when a steam valve broke on
1/18/05 releasing water and steam into the storage area. After
the required time to keep these data had elapsed, they were
destroyed."
Isthmus followed up with a request for records regarding
the steam-valve accident. The UW, in response, has released
several documents, including a statement from an unnamed
primate lab building manager dated July 13, 2005, six months
after the purported accident. It says large amounts of high
pressure steam were released into a storage area, causing
"considerable damage." (For referenced records, see Document
Feed at thedailypage.com.)
But the UW provided no information as to what was damaged,
or how badly. "I don't know," says Dowling, when asked if the
damage made it impossible to view the tapes. He also doesn't
know what his own letter means in saying the tapes were
destroyed "after the required time." He assumes this language,
provided by others, refers to some records retention
schedule.
Beckham, in his April 2005 request, noted that the open
records law prohibits the destruction of a requested record
until at least 60 days after access is denied. The tapes were
shredded 62 days after Dowling's denial.
2. Documents regarding Jeremy Beckham's records
request
CLICK HERE [pdf]
3. Isthmus' records request of May 2006 and the UW's
response
CLICK HERE [pdf]
4. Records regarding the destruction of the
videotapes
CLICK HERE [pdf]
