RENO, Nev. (AP) - A group of citizen activists rallied Saturday to protest the firing of a University of Nevada, Reno professor who
complained about the school's treatment of research animals.

About 40 demonstrators waved placards during the two-hour campus
rally held on behalf of Hussein S. Hussein, an internationally renowned animal nutritionist who was fired April 11 by UNR President Milton Glick.

Demonstrators called for Hussein's immediate reinstatement as a
professor, and pressed Gov. Jim Gibbons and the Nevada Board of
Regents for a full investigation of UNR's treatment of research animals.

Protester Rich Schweickert, a university geology professor, also
complained about the 2007 firing of UNR women's soccer coach Terri
Patraw after she alleged violations in the school's athletic program.

"Universities are supposed to be the one place where there's academic freedom and freedom of speech but not at UNR," Schweickert said. "They've stood up for the truth and their lives are destroyed. You don't see a lot of faculty out here because they're afraid."

University spokeswoman Jane Tors was en route by plane to Atlanta and not immediately available for comment.

Ben Kieckhefer, a spokesman for the governor, said he was not
prepared to comment on the request for the investigation concerning
research animals.

"We don't have enough information to decide whether or not an
investigation is warranted at this point," he said.

A federal investigation sparked by Hussein's complaints about UNR's animal farm and labs resulted in the U.S. Department of Agriculture citing the university for 46 violations of federal animal welfare regulations from May 2004 to March 2005. The school agreed to pay an $11,400 fine.

"They fired him for essentially blowing the whistle, and they're trying to cover up and don't want him to speak out. That's wrong," said Angelica Lacroix, a UNR freshman and animal rights advocate.

Glick fired Hussein after a disciplinary hearing based on claims that Hussein plagiarized his graduate students' work and misrepresented money given to support his research to improve his laboratory instead of sharing it with the university to pay overhead costs.

Hussein's wife, Jane, joined the demonstration, saying she just wanted to express her appreciation for protesters' support. Her husband has been banned from campus by Glick.

"I've always stood behind him all the way," she said. "It's obvious his firing was just in retaliation. He always had excellent performance ratings."

Patraw also took part in the protest, waving a placard that read "UNR Fired Animal Abuse Whistleblower."

"They promote abusers and fire the ethical people," Patraw said. "It's going to take an outside investigation by the Nevada Attorney General's Office or the FBI to clean it up."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-05-10-08 1815EDT