Persinger asked to vacate animal testing rooms

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN

A Laurentian University professor who has had his share of battles with his bosses is being asked to vacate three testing rooms at the school's animal care facility by Feb. 16.

Dr. Michael Persinger said he has been asked to give up the rooms because there is a major shortage of research space on campus.

“I think the problem is the university is really over-extended. They hired all these people for the medical school and they knew more space was required. Now guess who gets kicked out?” said Persinger.

Persinger and his students have not been able to use any of the rooms at the animal care facility for almost a year because of a dispute with the the university.

“We can't get to the space because we're locked out,” he said. “But the point is if we lose the space, we'll never get to it again.”

Persinger said he received an e-mail request Jan. 19 from Laurentian vice-president of francophone academic affairs Harley d'Entremont asking him to vacate the rooms.

The professor replied to the letter, and said taking away the research space would destroy students' future research projects, and it was not his responsibility to supply his colleagues with research space.

Persinger asked where he should store the research equipment and if space adjacent to the neuroscience laboratories would be provided to make up for the space they were giving up.

“I have no idea where we're going to put this equipment,” he said. “They've given us no location to store it. To say to us that we have to have it moved out by Friday is really impossible.”

Persinger said he and his students are currently sharing three rooms at the university because they've been locked out of the animal care facility. They can't do any active research, he said.

Students from the medical school, psychology and kinesiology programs are allowed to use the animal care facility, he said.

When contacted by Northern Life, d'Entremont said Persinger isn't the only faculty member being asked to give up space.

Even senior administrators are having their office space cut in half, he said.

Persinger has among the highest amount of space of all Laurentian faculty, he said.

D'Entremont said the ban on Persinger using the animal care facility is “a separate issue.”

The administrator said the university may provide “resources” for Persinger as he looks for space to store the research equipment.

Some of Persinger's students filed a lawsuit against the university in April on the grounds that the decision to lock them out of the research facility has damaged their academic careers.

Before Christmas, the university initially refused to allow a film crew from the Discovery Channel to film Persinger's research, but eventually relented and allowed the shoot.