Despite the carnage like by hurricanes like Katrina, many people still think feminine hurricanes blow like a girl. Researchers at the University of Illinois and Arizona State University have studied hurricanes over the last 60 years and have come to a surprising discovery: feminine named hurricanes are more dangerous because people do not consider them as dangerous and do not take the same precautions as masculine named hurricanes. As a result, they found that female-named hurricanes (like Monica shown left) produced almost double the number of fatalities. The simple difference between naming a hurricane Sam rather than Samantha could be measured in lives.
Category: Academia
We have long discussed the insane evolution of trademark and copyright laws. Now a New York artist Paul Ingrisano, aka “Pi Productions Corp” of New York is claiming that he holds the trademark to symbol π.—pi followed by a period—a design. It is the perfect irrational trademark claim for the ultimate irrational number.
Continue reading “A Piece of The Pi: New York Artist Claims Trademark To Symbol π”
There is a troubling case in Michigan where Alan Barron, a public school teacher at Monroe Middle School, has been suspended for teaching an eighth grade class on racial segregation and discrimination that included a video discussing how white entertainers would once use black face paint. The lesson by Barron, 59, also included discussions of Jim Crow. While the notion of academic freedom is different in elementary and middle schools than on the graduate level, it is still troubling to see such a suspension reportedly based on the simple depiction and discussion of such forms of discrimination. There is no indication that Barron was doing anything more than showing the practices, which are still commonly referenced in books and even contemporary politics. Indeed, we continue to see cases involving black face arise and this lesson gave students background understandings of such controversies. (He has now been reinstated).
There is an interesting controversy out of Wasatch County, Utah where students were surprised when they received their yearbooks and found themselves wearing outfits that they never saw before. The Wasatch High School had altered photos of girls who had too much skin showing, though what was viewed as inappropriate by the local school officials is rather surprising.
Continue reading “Utah High School Under Fire For Airbrushing Yearbook Pictures To Cover Up Girls”
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in Hall v. Florida, an important (though little followed) case involving the standard for intellectual disability. Florida state law imposes a bright-line threshold test in cases of alleged incapacity. If the person has an IQ of 70 or above, the court will not consider such a disability claim. It is an approach that has been widely ridiculed by experts and now, in a 5-4 decision, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has ruled that such a rule violated the Eighth Amendment and runs counter to recognized scientific standards. My Supreme Court class reviewed Hall and reached the same conclusion, though the vote was almost unanimous. The class voted 13-1 to reverse lower court. The class however got it wrong on the prediction. In a close 8-6 vote, the class predicted that the Supreme Court would affirm.
Jessie White finally has her sheep skin. White, 99, was supposed to receive her degree in stenography and bookkeeping in 1939, but she lacked the $5 fee for her transcript. As a result, she never received the diploma until Alan Stehle, the president of Beal College in Bangor, learned of her fate and ponied up the money to release the diploma.
Continue reading “Ninety-Nine-Year-Old Maine Woman Receives Her Diploma After 75 Years”
The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that, after once being banned from classrooms, Scientology is back in California classroom spreading its controversial theories on drug use. The program is run by Narconon, an organization that was created by the Church and founded on the theories of L. Ron Hubbard. Narconon offers the lessons for free, but experts say that the theories are not only unfounded but directly connected to the religious organization that some accused of being a cult or criminal enterprise. Scientology has long objected to what it views as discrimination directed against it while ignoring mainstream religions. It also insists that Narconon is a successful and independent and secular organization.
No professor enjoys poor teaching evaluations but University of Wisconsin-Whitewater communications professor Sally Vogl-Bauer has taken a more aggressive approach. She has sued former student Anthony Llewellyn who took her class last year and wrote a scathing evaluation. She says that the evaluation contains untrue and defamatory statements, but the lawsuit raises troubling questions in the pursuit of a former student for expressing his opinion of a class and a teacher.
The public schools in Washington, D.C. continue to set a record for per pupil costs in the nation. The District has long been the most expensive system in the country and reportedly spends roughly $30,000 per student in a system that continues to produce appalling results in national studies. The latest such study is by the respected National Center for Education Statistics which has found that in 2013 83 percent of the eighth graders in these schools were not “proficient” in reading and 81 percent were not “proficient” in math.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
The mother of a third grade girl attending Mill Plain Elementary School in Vancouver, Washington is demanding changes in a school room program where students are required to pay to use the bathroom. The program was to be a lesson in money management where students received and worked for Monopoly Money to buy items in the classroom but the teacher required a payment of M$50.00 in order to use the bathroom.
Jasmine Al-Ayadhi told reporters her nine year old daughter, Reem, did not want to pay to use the bathroom and ultimately had an accident, causing her both discomfort and having to endure teasing by other children. In agreeing with the need to teach children the value of money Jasmine said, “Work for your money, to earn it, to buy like a little toy or a little squirt gun or a little ball. When it comes to a bathroom issue, when a child has to pay money to use the bathroom – that’s wrong. It’s inhumane. That’s a health issue.”
Continue reading “School Made Third Grade Student Pay To Use Bathroom”
There is an interesting decision out of the Iowa Supreme Court in a case brought by former Drake University law student, Nicole Shumate, who sued over the refusal to allow her to bring a service dog in training into the school. The court ruled that, while state law requires such access, the law does not afford a private right of action to enforce the provisions of the law.
Continue reading “A Right Without A Remedy: Former Drake Law Student Loses Lawsuit Against School Over Alleged Ban On Service Animals”
We recently discussed the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Schuette v. BAMN that states, like Michigan, can prohibit any use of race in admissions in a “color-blind” state entrance system for colleges and universities. Now, a leading school in one of the states with such a color-blind rule is being accused of violating state law by one of its professors. Tim Groseclose, a political science professor at UCLA, has posted data that he was able to obtain from the school that he argues is proof of “cheating” by school officials who refuse to comply with the state law. The question is whether this will be the basis for a post-Schuette challenge in states like California.
There is some very exciting news off of the coast of Haiti where archeologists believe that they have located the sunken wreck of the Santa Maria, the flagship of Christopher Columbus. American expedition leader Barry Clifford announced that they believe that it is in fact the ship that has been missing for five centuries.
Submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor
I was going to write this last weekend on the actual 44th anniversary of a very sad event. For some reason, I had a hard time focusing on what I wanted to say, in light of the many emotions that were going through my head. I don’t want the anniversary to go by without writing about the personal significance that day in May had on my life, and I believe on the lives of many in my generation. The Pulitzer Prize winning photograph by John Filo, included above from Wikipedia, is one that I have never forgotten. Nor should anyone forget it. Continue reading “May 4th, 1970, The Day My Generation Lost Its Innocence”
We previously discussed the lawsuit against Case Western and former dean (and former George Washington law professor) Lawrence Mitchell. Mitchell has been accused of retaliating against his former associate dean Raymond Ku, including suggestions of three-some trysts with students and administrators. Ku’s allegations have been affirmed by a former administrator who came with Mitchell to Case Western from GWU, Daniel Dubé. There are also unnamed faculty and students referenced in the complaint. [For Dubé’s affidavit, click here] Mitchell later resigned but pledged to remain as a faculty member at Case Western. At the time, I discussed Mitchell’s options as limited but suggested that “he would be marketable at corporate law firms where these allegations may be viewed as less of a problem, particularly if he goes to New York.” Well, he has now announced that he is indeed in leaving in a blog posting entitled “Leaving Egypt” . . . for New York.