Wheaton College professor Kent Gramm thought that divorcing his wife of 30 years was bad enough. Yet, he probably did not expect that the one asset that neither he nor his wife Lynelle would share is his income. He was fired by the college after 20 years, which viewed his divorce to be immoral. Continue reading “Matthew 19: Thou Shall Not Teach if Divorced — At Least at Wheaton College”
Category: Academia
In Memphis, Tenn., people are shaking their heads over the decision of Daphne Beasley, the principal of Hollis F. Price Middle College High School in South Memphis, who published the names of gay students who were “couples” on a list with heterosexual couples. The result was to “out” the students — a potentially dangerous course. Continue reading “Public Affection (No), Public Beating (Yes): Memphis Prinicipal Outs Two Gay Students”
A Dartmouth lecturer Priya Venkatesan appears to have some unresolved teaching issues with her Winter ’08 Writing 5 class. Most professors deal with a rude class with stern lectures, implied grading threats, and more homework. Venkatesan reportedly took a different tack: she informed the class that she is going to sue them for discrimination under Title VII. This appears genuine, though it remains hard to believe that any rationale academic would threaten such legal action. Continue reading “Dartmouth Professor Announces Intention to Sue Students for Being Mean to Her”
Once again, one has to wonder where we find some of the bureaucrats who run agencies like child protective services. University of Michigan Christopher Ratte, 47, made an innocent and understandable mistake at a Detroit Tiger’s game at Comerica Park. He bought his 7-year-old son a lemonade without understanding that it had alcohol. The result? The boy was taken from his parents for two days and Ratte had to move out of the home as subintelligent bureaucrats debated the matter. Continue reading “Michigan Professor Temporarily Loses Custody of Son Over Oversight at Baseball Game”
Paradise Valley Community College psychology professor Michael Todd, 51, is suspended after a student, Andria Ziegler, 19, was found dead from a drug overdose in his Phoenix condo.
Continue reading “Student Found Dead in Professor’s Condo”
The controversy at Yale continues over the claims of senior art major Aliza Shvarts that she artificially inseminated herself and then induced miscarriages as part of an art project. Yale issued a statement that the claims were false and merely part of her “creative fiction.” She now says the university is lying and that she did use the miscarriages for art. Continue reading “Yale’s “Abortion Artist” Denies the Denial of Yale University Over the Authenticity of Art”
Nico Marquardt is 13 years old but he was still apparently smarter than NASA in calculating the chances of a killer asteroid colliding with Earth. Germany’s own Jimmy Neutron not only corrected NASA’s math on the collision of the Apophis asteroid, but it turns out a lot more likely than we thought. Continue reading “Jaime Neutron: 13-Year-Old Kid Corrects NASA’s Calculation on Earth Destroying Asteroid Hit”
There is a wide amount of latitude given to academic freedom in a classroom but destruction of a student’s computer falls a bit outside of the norm. For Professor Justin Leroux, of the HEC Montreal (Institute of Applied Economics), however, it appears part of the lesson plan — though the question is whether this was staged or serious. Continue reading “Socratic vs. Sadistic Method: Video Shows Canadian Professor Destroying Student’s Computer”
Michigan fifth-grader Kenton Stufflebeam can now claim something few academics can muster: finding an error in a Smithsonian display. The 11-year-old spotted the error on the museum’s Tower of Time, a display involving prehistoric time, which refers to the Precambrian as an era. Continue reading “Post-Cambrian Fifth Grader Corrects Smithsonian on Pre-Cambrian Error”
Walter L. Wagner and Luis Sancho have literally filed to save the world in a federal court in Hawaii. The men claim that a giant particle accelerator called the Large Hadron Collider (located outside of Geneva) will produce a little black hole or even a “stranglet” that will destroy not just the Earth but possibly the universe. While some details have to be worked out, the benefit of such a claim is that it guarantees standing and offers a pretty wide jurisdictional footprint. There is still some question of what the contingency fee would be in such a case. Continue reading “Doomsday Lawsuit: Dr. Stranglet Files for Injunction to Save World”
A case in Fayetteville, Arkansas could prove very interesting as a family has sued a high school bully and may soon sue the school district over a prolonged and dangerous pattern of bullying directed against 15-year-old Billy Wolfe. It appears that the school district left this family few choices other than litigation after their son was repeatedly attacked as a type of collective sport for bullies in this high school — and school officials seemed remarkably passive and unsympathetic in the face of the resulting injuries (even after viewing the video below). Notably, the Wolfes are not alone in seeking legal action when school official fail to act. Continue reading “Billy and the Bullies: Family Sues High School Bully and May Soon Sue an Arkansas School District”
This last week, I had the pleasure of teaching 150 second grade students from the Kent Gardens Elementary School in McLean Virginia. This was the final three such field trip to the law school by the second, third, and sixth grade class to learn about the Constitution and the law. They sat as the jury in a trial of the Big Bad Wolf (“B.B. Wolf”). What my students and I heard from the students was hilarious, particularly their understanding of the Constitution. Continue reading “Second Grade Constitutional Law”
It is hard to express the anger that comes with the following story. It appears that after refusing to cut billions in pork and wasteful earmarks, Congress and President Bush have cut the NASA’s budget and forced scientists to curtail their research on Mars. Scientists planned to put one of the twin Mars rovers to sleep and to try to meet the shortfall. Now, after a public outcry, NASA has rescinded the order. Continue reading “Congress and the President Force Mars Rovers to Be Shutdown Temporarily Due to Budget Cuts”
There were many objections to arming pilots after 9-11 — not the least with the danger of intentionally adding a gun to flights that could be taken by terrorists or mishandled by pilots. For those critics, a US Airways flight from Denver will likely be cited often: a pilot accidentally discharged his weapon in the cockpit during the flight.
Continue reading “Pilot’s Gun Goes Off in Cockpit on US Airways Flight”
A very disturbing story is emerging from New York where the principal of the city’s first Arabic-language school (the Khalil Gibran International Academy) said that she was forced to resign over mild statements regarding a tee-shirt sold by an outside group. Debbie Almontaser was the target of a concerted campaign to get the administration of Mayor Bloomberg to fire her. Continue reading “Arabic Public School Principal Forced to Resign Over Tee-Shirt Comment”