Two weeks after he approved an editorial using obscenity to criticize President George Bush, the editor in chief of the student newspaper at Colorado State University was told on Friday that he could keep his job.
Don’t fire me, bro
The entire text of the editorial, published Sept. 21, was “Taser This: Fuck Bush.” The exact meaning of the piece remains unclear, though editors have claimed it was intended to show their freedom to publish unpopular opinions.
Although CSU officials decided that the editorial was protected by the First Amendment, they scolded top editor J. David McSwane for his decision to publish it.
Oral Examination
Three former professors at Oral Roberts University sued the college on Tuesday, claiming that they were fired after exposing corrupt practices by President Richard Roberts and his family, The Associated Press reported. Roberts is the son of evangelist Oral Roberts, who founded the college in 1963.
Richard Roberts allegedly spent money from donations to the college on, among other things, 11 renovations to his home and two luxury cars for his wife, Lindsay. His wife is accused of spending thousands of dollars in university funding on clothes, giving scholarships to her children’s friends and exchanging hundreds of dollars in late-night text messages each month with “underage males,” whom she had given university cell phones.
Way Too Much Free Time
The Ig Nobel Awards, an annual ceremony honoring bizarre scientific research, were held Thursday at Harvard University.
Among the winners was a scientist who discovered that using a bowl that refills itself can make people eat more soup but report feeling as full as they did after eating from a normal bowl. Other awards honored research on the side effects of sword swallowing, a compendium of problems that arise when using the word “the” and a paper on how to extract vanilla from cow dung, The Harvard Crimson reported.
The awards are given by the Annals of Improbable Research, a bimonthly scientific satire magazine produced at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Protection From The Man
Soon, Missouri State University students who think their political or religious views have led to discrimination by a professor will be able to file a grievance to special ombudsmen for investigation.
The creation of the program follows a lawsuit by Emily Brooker, a student at Missouri State University who accused a professor of treating her unfairly because she wouldn’t sign a letter that supported the right of gay people to adopt children.