Officials at the California Science Center in Exposition Park are reportedly miffed about an email from a top doctor at the UCLA Medical School, putting down the museum's skills as a host and slamming the neighborhood. Dr. Peter Butler sent the email to a Mayo Clinic doctor who was being brought to town jointly by UCLA and the museum to speak at a conference. Butler, shockingly, cc'd the email to a few folks. Mysteriously, but predictably, it got out. Excerpts:

By way of excuses and apologies, this visit is complicated by several factors. One, your real host is the California Science museum. They asked us to find them a speaker, I foolishly said we would pay a part of the expenses and then they have been nickel and diming us ever since. I do not think they have much sophistication in visiting speakers and will not get this favor from me again, ever!

Second, organization of your visit from UCLA has coincided with matters of some administrative adventure in the endocrine division at UCLA that have been something of a distraction from the more pleasurable and traditional responsibilities such as hosting a visit, and again this has been shared with an inexperienced team over at the science museum.

[skip]

You have elected to stay in a hotel near the Science museum, a soulless area of the city that you will not want to explore on foot unless well armed! I had instructed Farah/Norma to arrange accommodation for you in Tiverton House at UCLA here in Westwood (which we can pay for directly and can include services) so you could enjoy strolling around Westwood in the evenings and be convenient to UCLA. They arranged this accordingly and believe they communicated this to you. Now for purposes of getting you to and from the hotel by the science center we will need to arrange some rather long taxi rides. Also you will now need to await the birth of your grandchildren to see reimbursement of your hotel accomodation [sic] (and there will be restrictions...no room service, no alcohol, no movies, no phone calls.)

I'm told that incensed Science Center organizers feared the worst when they discovered the visiting doctor had checked out of his hotel early. But he hadn't fled town — he had gone to tour the park's museums, and apparently raved about them in his speech. Now let's hope his expenses get covered. Meanwhile, CSC and UCLA won't be collaborating again for awhile, it seems.