Martin Odemena, a former law student at the Massachusetts School of Law, has taken the school to court over a D that he received in contracts. Odemena maintains that Professor Joseph Devlin clearly stated in his syllabus that a quiz would not count toward the final grade and then counted the score. It is an ironic position for Devlin (left) who specializes in drafting contracts. The result was that Odemena was suspended for academic performance and was unable to transfer to another school. He is suing for more than $100,000. The case is Odemena v. Devlin et al.
Category: Academia
There is an interesting case at my alma mater, Northwestern University School of Law, where a former student is suing over his expulsion shortly before his graduation. The student is Mauricio Celis, 42, and he was expelled for not disclosing that he is a former felon in Texas who was convicted for falsely holding himself out as a lawyer as well as a misdemeanor conviction of portraying himself as a police officer in a bizarre case involving a woman who wandered nude from his hot tub and walked into a convenience store. Celis objects that Northwestern expelled him for the failure to disclose but that it never asked him to disclose any criminal history when he applied for his master of laws. After suing Northwestern, Celis and Northwestern agreed to a voluntary dismissal of the suit.
I have a good friend who has often reminded me that his home state of Kansas has been proven to be “flatter than a pancake.” Jerome Dobson, a University of Kansas geographer, has released the result of a study that indicates that rival Illinois (my home state) is in fact flatter and even Illinois is not as flat as . . . Florida. To add insult to injury, Kansas actually comes in a measly seventh in flattest.
Continue reading “Study: Illinois Is Flatter Than Kansas . . . Which Is Really Not That Flat At All”
We have been discussing the trend toward suspending and expelling students (and teachers) for comments that they make on social media (here and here and here and here and here and here) Minnesota high school student Reid Sagehorn has the added problem of not just suspension but a police investigation after posting two words in a tweet. He is now suing both the Elk River District and the local police.
There is an exciting discovery by British scientists that could significantly decrease tooth surgeries and extractions. The technique is known as Electrically Accelerated and Enhanced Remineralization and it has been found to repair tooth decay by using electrical current to boost the tooth’s natural repair process. It is being called a “time warp” for teeth.
Continue reading “Tooth “Time Warp”: British Researchers Discover Method To Reverse Tooth Decay”
We have all cursed the weather man on occasion but North Korean forecasters are facing a more tangible threat this week. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has turned his menacing eye on meteorologists and warned that there are “many incorrect forecasts.” Since reports state that Kim Jong Un had his wife’s former musical group executed, forecasters are understandably concerned that one unpredicted rain shower could bring lead showers. If Al Roker gets a call with a job offer from Pyongyang he might want to read the fine print.
There is an interesting study out of the University of Southern California on fasting. The study is fascinating in what it found to be benefits from three-day fasts. The researchers found that such fasts could protect against immune system damage and actually induces immune system regeneration. I was so intrigued by the study, I decided to give it a try. I am on my third day of only water.
Continue reading “Study: Three Day Fast May Reboot Immune System And Produce Other Benefits”
There is an interesting ruling in California where Los Angeles County Judge Rolf Treu has issued a decision that is a condemnation of teacher tenure. Treu found that the tenure laws violate the right to equal protection guaranteed by the California Constitution because they make it so difficult to remove substandard teachers that students are being denied equality of education. Regardless of whether this novel decision will be upheld on appeal, it is an indictment of tenure rules where school districts have little ability to fire teachers who then end up being moved around to the harm of students. In reviewing the poor teachers and the inability to get rid of them, Treu called the system something that truly “shocks the conscience.” He struck down the tenure rules as unconstitutional, a decision which should face a determined challenge on appeal and one that breaks new ground in the area.
Prof. Mohammed Dajani, head of the American Studies Department and director of the library at Al Quds University, sought to bridge the gulf between Palestinians and Israelis by organizing a trip to Auschwitz with 27 Palestinian students. This colleagues responded by calling him a “traitor” and “collaborator” while joining campus riots against him. Now he has resigned from the school rather than continue to receive threats and protests.
There is a controversy in Massachusetts where two high school seniors have been kicked off their lacrosse team (and will be barred from the state championship) because they were photographed smoking victory cigars at their graduation ceremony. Here is the interesting twist. The school acknowledges that players were not in violation of state law, but will be barred under a Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association rule on drugs and alcohol.
I remember some bad school lunches but this is ridiculous. Parents in New Hanover, Pa., are outraged over the news that a recess aide at New Hanover Upper Frederick Elementary School served dog treats to the grade school students. The aide actually joked with the kids that the snacks were in fact dog treats and then told them he or she was kidding and that they were really snacks. The school says that the kids will be just fine since the treats would only harm those with allegories, though we have been reading how Chinese-made treats are being avoided by pet owners due to illnesses around the country being reported by pet owners. Some 75 fourth grade students received the dog treats. Some ate three or more of the “cookies” though it is not clear were told not to beg and to yield to commands.
Continue reading “In the Dog House: Pennsylvania School Gave Fourth Graders Dog Treats At Recess”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor
It is an agonizing story, and a book has been written about it and a movie was also recently made about it. The story I am referring to is the story of Philomena Lee who at the age of 19 gave birth to a baby boy, out-of-wedlock, at the Sean Ross Abbey in County Tipperary, in Ireland. If you are unfamiliar with the story, Philomena became pregnant out-of-wedlock after being raised in a convent after her mother died at the age of 6. Her father kept 3 boys at home and put Philomena and her two sisters in the convent because he was unable to care of all of them.
After she left the convent at age 18, she became pregnant and was sent to the Sean Ross Abbey where her son was born and three years later, was adopted and moved to America. If you have seen the movie or read the book you know what happened to her son, who she never saw alive again. But the story of Philomena is not the main focus of this article. Philomena was one of thousands of Irish women who were forced by religious beliefs and societal pressures to hide their “sin”. However, what happened to some of the children who did not get adopted? Continue reading “How Many Children Died to Protect the Honor of the Catholic Church?”
Every once in a while, we will get a poll that is truly unnerving like the percentage of Americans who entirely reject evolution or think that the Earth is only a few thousand years old. However, a University of Chicago study on conspiracy theories is enough for you to put on your tinfoil hat and look yourself in your underground shelter. Eric Oliver and Thomas Wood at the University of Chicago found that half of the country holds these conspiracy theories and some are just plain wacky.
Gallup has released a new poll that shows that Americans still reject the concept of evolution of humans in high numbers. Indeed, twice the number of Americans believe that humans were created by God in their current image than there are those who believe in natural evolution. Indeed, those 42 percent believe that man was created by God in the last 10,000 years. That is a considerable difference even if you focus only on anatomically modern humans which appeared in the Middle Paleolithic period about 200,000 years ago. For those who believe in the science behind evolution, the news is not all bad. Nineteen percent believe in evolution without divine involvement while another 31 percent believe that there was evolution from “less advanced forms of life” but that God directed that process. That is fifty percent. Of course, that does appear to leave eight percent that is still . . . well . . . evolving.
Continue reading “Gallup: Forty-Two Percent Of Americans Reject The Concept Of Evolution In Humans”
I have previously written about my concerns over the elimination of basic rights of due process at universities for students accused of sexual assault or harassment under pressure from the Obama Administration. That pressure continues to build this year with the Obama Administration investigating dozens of universities and threatening to take away federal funds if they do not remove certain protections under their rules of adjudication. Now a North Carolina judge has issued a rare order enjoining Duke University from expelling a male student, Lewis McLeod, who was accused of raping a female freshman. The concern over the lack of due process afforded the accused is of course a continuation of the criticism of Duke over its handling of the infamous Duke lacrosse team case. I have previously written about my view that Duke abandoned not just those students but any sense of due process or fairness in joining the mob accusing them of raping a stripper.