Schools for Scandal

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August 2008
- Suit Stops Hackers From Showing Subway Flaw
  
  Boston Globe | Aug 10, 08 7:28 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Boston’s mass transit system has blocked three MIT students from revealing a flaw in its electronic fare system, the Boston Globe reports. Most Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority customers use the CharlieCard, which allows them to store fares. By cracking it, the students vowed to give attendees at a Las Vegas computer conference “free subway rides for life." More »
July 2008
- Oprah School Matron Pleads Not Guilty
  
  Reuters | Jul 29, 08 10:22 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The former dorm matron at Oprah Winfrey’s $40 million Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa pleaded not guilty to abuse charges today, Reuters reports. Virginia Mokgoba, 27, was charged in November with assault, harassment, soliciting a minor to perform indecent acts, and verbal abuse. Testimony from six teenage victims is expected Friday via closed video. More »
- SAT, ACT Cheats Get Off Easy
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jul 15, 08 10:44 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - College hopefuls caught cheating on their ACT or SAT exams are likely to face few consequences, the Los Angeles Times reports, due to policies under which the administering agencies simply cancel suspicious scores on the college-admission exams. High schools and colleges are kept in the dark about potential wrongdoing, and students are generally allowed to retake the exams. More »
June 2008
- Big Pharma Sickens Universities
  
  Chronicle of Higher Education | Jun 22, 08 6:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Weak legislation allows professors to collect huge under-the-table payments from Big Pharma, and it’s time to fight back, Dan Greenberg writes in the Chronicle of Higher Education . Pharmaceutical companies pay professors to shill drugs and lend their names to industry research, and the only oversight is an honor-system mechanism requiring profs to report outside income to the university—not to a federal agency. More »
- Teacher Who Branded Students Fired
  
  Associated Press | Jun 21, 08 8:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An Ohio school board has voted unanimously to fire a science teacher who used an electrostatic device to brand 8th-graders with a cross, the AP reports. Science teacher John Freshwater, who says the marks were simply Xs, had been in trouble with the board before for teaching creationism, slamming evolution and other scientific theories, and keeping a Bible on his desk. More »
- High School Test Cheat Could Face 38 Years
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jun 18, 08 4:21 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A student at an Orange County high school faces 69 felony charges and a possible 38 years in prison for a scheme to alter grades, the Los Angeles Times reports. The locked-up 18-year-old is accused of breaking into his school repeatedly, hacking into computers, and changing test scores and records for himself and 12 other students. Prosecutors say he emailed copies of tests to dozens of others. More »
May 2008
- Frat Boys Busted for Third-Degree Burn 'Hazing'
  
  CNN | May 8, 08 4:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Ten Tulane University frat boys face battery charges after taking "Hell Night" hazing way too far and severely burning two pledges, CNN reports. The Pi Kappa Alpha members poured boiling water with pepper spray in it and "crab boil" seasoning mix onto the backs of pledges to see who could withstand the most pain. The two who held out the longest before screaming were hospitalized. More »
- 96 Arrested in San Diego State Drug Bust
  
  CNN | May 6, 08 5:09 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Ninety-six people were arrested today in a massive drug bust at San Diego State University. Seventy-five of those nabbed were students, many of them studying for criminal-justice or homeland-security degrees, CNN reports. Cocaine, marijuana, and ecstasy were being dealt, largely by fraternity members, during a 5-month undercover DEA operation, the agency said. More »
- Dorm Rooms Go Coed
  
  Associated Press | May 3, 08 2:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Parents who schooled in same-sex dorms are surprised to hear that their kids are sharing coed college rooms, the AP reports. About two dozen schools—including Brown, Penn, and Oberlin—allow the practice, and more are following suit this year, including Stanford. Schools say coed dorm users are usually heterosexual and happen to like living with a friend of the opposite sex. More »
- Mich. Lax Team Suspended After Bum Invite
  
  Michigan Live | May 1, 08 12:12 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Michigan high school student thought up a novel way to ask for a prom date. He and 12 lacrosse teammates spelled out "Will You Go to the Prom With Me?" on their butts and mooned the girl at a match, reports the Ann Arbor News . The girl said yes—but unamused school officials have suspended the boys for inappropriate behavior. More »
March 2008
- New 'University' Goes to Pot
  
  NPR | Mar 10, 08 3:21 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - It's sort of a slacker's med school: An Oakland activist started Oaksterdam University to train students to work in the medical marijuana industry, reports NPR. Oaksterdam offers a single $75 course, which teaches students about pot's political and legal history as well as the botany of the much-loved herb. "You don't want seeds in your cannabis," says the founder. "It's like seedless grapes." More »
February 2008
- Kids' Clothes Give Teacher a Real Headache
  
  The Local (Sweden) | Feb 15, 08 12:55 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Bad news for Pippi Longstocking wannabes—a Swedish preschool has banned striped and polka-dotted children's clothing because the patterns trigger one teacher's migraine headaches. The ban is driving some fashion-conscious parents dotty, but the school's principal defends the teacher's right to "an appropriate work environment," reports the Local of Sweden. More »
December 2007
- Teen Sex Teacher Busted Again
  
  St. Petersburg Times | Dec 5, 07 3:44 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Former middle school teacher Debra LaFave, who was convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old male student, was arrested yesterday in Florida for violating her probation by having unsupervised contact with a minor, police said. LaFave had been working as a waitress, and is accused of repeatedly discussing personal problems, boyfriends and sex in private conversations with a 17-year-old female coworker. More »
October 2007
- Scandal Rocks Oral Roberts U.
  
  Associated Press | Oct 5, 07 5:53 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Oral Roberts University is embroiled in allegations of financial misdeeds by president Richard Roberts, who stands accused of going on spending sprees with donors' money and illegally using university resources to aid a political campaign, the AP reports. Three former professors who filed suit this week say they were fired for attempting to expose the indulgences. More »
July 2007
- N-Word Just 'Slipped Out,' Says Former University Chair
  
  Providence Journal | Jul 17, 07 6:49 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The chairman of a Rhode Island university who recently resigned after 40 years acknowledged that he used the N-word at a meeting in May, saying it just "slipped out." Ralph Papitto insisted in a radio interview that his resignation was unrelated to the resulting scandal, and that he's never used the slur before, the Providence Journal reports. More »
- College Prez Fired Over Rape, Murder Cover-Up
  
  ABC News | Jul 17, 07 5:22 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The president of Eastern Michigan University has been fired for his role in covering up the rape and murder of a 22-year-old old student in a campus dorm last year, ABC News reports. The school's vice president and public safety director were also ousted. The parents of the slain student, Laura Dickinson, were initially told there was no sign of foul play. More »
June 2007
- Duke Settles With Lacrosse Players
  
  Associated Press | Jun 18, 07 3:50 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Duke University has reached a settlement with the three lacrosse players falsely accused of rape last year. Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and Dave Evans, who were suspended last year, will receive an undisclosed amount from the university, which admitted with surprising directness that the deal is intended to close the door on future lawsuits. More »
May 2007
- Phony Student Nabbed at Stanford
  
  Stanford Daily | May 25, 07 10:02 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Stanford University officials evicted an 18-year old student this week after discovering she was not enrolled at the school—despite living in several dorms, buying textbooks, and appearing to study for exams, the Stanford Daily reports. Azia Kim masqueraded as a sophomore majoring in human biology for eight months before a suspicious RA alerted the housing office. More »
- German Students Do Full Monty
  
  Der Spiegel | May 9, 07 5:44 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - German students are capitalizing on their assets—nude calendars, raising money for charities and better conditions on campus, are all the rage. While some of the calendars have a whimsical feel, professional photographers have gotten in on the action, too. But "they work primarily with sports students, who tend to have somewhat more toned physique," Der Spiegel reports. More »
- California Student Shoots Three in Video Game Row
  
  Fresno Bee | May 8, 07 4:44 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A California college student is under arrest after an argument over a video game console left one man dead and two others wounded. Jonquel Brooks opened fire late Monday night in a Fresno apartment building, after an argument over a Sony Playstation escalated. Brooks, on leave from Fresno State, turned himself in late this morning. More »