Category: Academia

Academia, Criminal law, Justice, Media, Society

Down In the Valley I: Penn State – What Did They Know and When Did They Know it

Submitted By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Who Are Penn State?

That ultimate question uttered by Senator Howard Baker encapsulated the Watergate Era as Congress grappled with assessing culpability of President Richard Nixon, who was then at the zenith of his presidency. Now almost forty years later, the nation is again captured by a fall from grace as steep and as fast as Nixon’s. And again that question has to be asked of “America’s Football Coach.”

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Academia, Society

University of Illinois Admits To Publishing Inaccurate Admissions Data For Six Out Of The Last Ten Years

The University of Illinois law school has been fighting to regain its footing after a scandal over the admission of students due to their political connections. Now, the school is reeling from a new controversy: the disclosure that the school has published misleading data on admissions in six out of the last ten years.

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Academia, Bizarre, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

ABA Journal Under Fire For Coverage Of Survey Of Legal Secretaries

I often read ABA Journal as a great source of legal stories. The journal however has been the center of controversy this month after reporting on the results of a study on the preference of secretaries vis-a-vis male and female partners. The study by Professor Felice Batlan interviewed 142 secretaries at larger law firms and produced a surprising result: not a single secretary preferred female partners. When the ABA Journal reported that surprising fact, professors accused it of fostering gender stereotypes, misrepresenting the results of the study, and displaying a sexist view of the work. Some demanded a retraction and apology from the ABA Journal.
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Academia, Science

Rock of Ages: Scientists Determine Mars Once Had Mild Surface Temperature

This is a very cool story. Scientists have discovered that Mars once had a mild temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit. They deduced the temperature from a rock found in Antarctica that had a wild ride starting four billion years ago. (Of course, the scientists again ignore the “creation science” account and misjudge the age of the rock by just short of four billion years).

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Academia, Bizarre

School Horrors: Teacher in France Lights Herself On Fire on Playground While A Teacher in Illinois Hangs Herself in Her Classroom

This week proved rather gruesome for teachers and students alike. In Illinois, Linda Walker (shown here) decided not only to hang herself but to do it in her kindergarten class. In France, a high school math teacher set herself on fire in the playground during the recreation period full of children.
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Academia, Bizarre, Society

Georgia Court Rules Against Teacher Who Lost Job After Posting Facebook Pictures Drinking in Europe

A Georgia teacher, Ashley Payne, has lost her lawsuit seeking damages after she said she was forced out due to a Facebook picture taken of her drinking in Europe. A teacher or parent had filed an anonymous complaint against Payne for photos showing her holding drinks in Europe — not normally a shocking image.
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Academia, Politics, Science, Society

Florida Governor Campaigns Against . . . Anthropologists

Florida Governor Rick Scott is messing with the wrong people. Recently, Scott used anthropologists as an example of the type of degree that the state could do without. Anthropologists have reacted across the country, suggesting that Scott should be re-classified as a Homo Moronus. I would be careful before you tick off people (in the case of forensic anthropologists) who dig up bodies for a living. In the academy, we have long viewed our anthropologist colleagues with a certain fear and intimidation. When you confront one of these guys at a faculty senate meeting, they make it clear that there are “a lot of still active tar pits around the country where mammals can disappear for thousands of years.” When a critic for another department disappears, they just shrug and say, “Louie, is sleeping with the aquatic vertebrate.”
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Academia, Environment, Politics, Science, Uncategorized

The Mercatus Center: A Tentacle of the Deregulation-Loving Kochtopus Helping in the Effort to Deny Climate Change and Eviscerate the EPA

Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

From Climate Science Watch (March 18, 2010): To the libertarians, the widely-shared scientific assessment that human-caused climate change will likely produce major harmful consequences — and the communication of this evidence to the public by the leading climate scientists — poses a particularly serious threat. An informed public concerned about the likelihood of harmful impacts of unchecked global climatic disruption is more likely to call for significant government action to curb greenhouse gas emissions. In order to block proactive government policymaking and keep corporate interests unregulated, libertarian groups have focused a significant part of their efforts on climate change on distorting the science to confuse public opinion, denying the seriousness of the problem, and, most recently, impugning the integrity of the climate science community. The Koch brothers have stepped forward with deep pockets to bankroll such efforts.
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