Instantly after the publication of the Columbia School of Journalism report (everyone’s calling it “scathing”) about the University of Virginia rape article in Rolling Stone, the fraternity announces a defamation suit against RS.

If you want to get a sense of what their odds of winning are, here’s Eugene Volokh.

UD‘s buddy Carl Elliott does not mince words in the matter of the University of Minnesota and the death under its care of Dan Markingson.

There’s simply too much pharma money at stake for anything like true remorse, much less meaningful change.

But expressions of pride in the university in these circumstances are … UD has no words for that.

… to believe the original Rolling Stone article on the University of Virginia rape. She simply had a confidence in that publication that she of course no longer has.

RS has now retracted the story, following a Columbia Journalism School investigation that found the article full of elementary journalistic errors.

One neighbor who was fed up with the noise went to the house to address the problem. A police officer said he saw five men assaulting him, according to an arrest affidavit.

This time at the University of Texas.

Which wouldn’t think of suspending it, since “officers have been to the SAE house 40 times in the last 12 months when parties got out of control.” Has to be around 80.

UD first heard about Mount Auburn Cemetery from her mother, a gardener who loved to visit its famous arboretum. UD‘s sister-in-law recently attended Stanislaw Baranczak’s burial there.

This afternoon, she and others visited a Soltan grave on a Mount Auburn hillside overlooking a pond. A rafter of wild turkeys paraded by as they neared the hill, and they stopped their car and gawked. The tom displayed his brilliant various featherings.

Several males ran into the bathroom and were arguing about whether to call the police, and after another partygoer called 911 the males agreed to move [the fraternity pledge] outside so police wouldn’t have to come into the residence …

Another statement from student Alyson Alonzo to the university describes a similar scene. Alonzo, a trained lifeguard, said someone pushed Duffy’s stomach and he vomited. She tried to perform CPR on him but was dragged outside.

And bury the brass knuckles.

There’s a crackdown on beach toys this year.

… were. So what if UD has lived here most of her life. Walking to her first class yesterday (Modern British Poetry), skirting the Mall and the cherry blossoms, she was amazed at the spring, and she couldn’t imagine any students would show up to her class.

As she said to them a moment later (they all showed up):

Are you kidding me? [Looks out the windows.] No contest!

Let’s have class outside, one of them said, and others took up the cry.

I have, UD explained, an extremely long list of reasons why I don’t teach outside.

Such as? They wanted to know.

Such as even if this is in absolute urban terms a small well-mannered city it is still loud. There will be incessant airplanes taking off and landing. There will be sirens galore. Traffic will consist of groaning FedEx trucks and honking limos. If we go to the outdoor classroom (GW has an outdoor classroom, complete with podium and seating) we will almost certainly displace many innocents who have just set up their laptops in the sun. Groups of students and groups of kiddies from the childcare centers all around will drift noisily about. There are simply too many distractions.

*****************

So we went.

*****************

My students crowded into elevators, then followed, sheeplike, UD the shepherdess, past twelve or thirteen Starbucks. We tried our luck with the designated outdoor classroom, and there it was, glistening in the mild spring sun and – as anticipated – populated by various students. I felt guilty – but then I noticed a sign just under the podium asking students to please give way if a class wants the space, so okay.

UD made her voice louder than usual (UD has a very loud voice already – something about which Mr UD often has occasion to complain – but UD just as often explains that she grew up in a large loud Jewish family and then became a singer so what do you expect) as she talked about “Notes from Dialysis,” one of the many wonderful dreary British poems we’re studying. I thought of Hugo Williams inside inside inside, hour after hour after hour, so many days of the week, and sometimes gazing past the clinic’s windows at a world like this one – full sun, the flowers already coming up, and everyone milling about amazed… And within UD‘s view there were few people older than twenty-two…

***************

On her way to this poetry class (before she allowed herself to be persuaded to go outside), UD overheard the following conversation between two guys, two GW students, who were walking close behind her.

You know there’s not enough food here for the birds, right?

Well, we’re talking about the negotiations.

A town debates spring break.

Because we are all drawn into the world of the Internet, someone needs to step in and break that distraction. That responsibility falls on the shoulders of Saint Joseph’s University and its faculty. Many of my professors do not allow laptops and make that clear in the syllabus, but many others allow students free rein. These professors that allow laptops, however, often scold people for being on their cellphones. Why? Because they’re distracting. Then why not ban the laptop, a device that not only distracts the user, but also those around them?

More and more, American university students are forced to point out the obvious to their professors. Stop doing this.

It’s pretty unseemly – students having to tell their professors how to be responsible.

And responsible professors have, for the most part, stopped it.

What’s mainly left are the proprietors of what UD calls the morgue classroom, professors who keen over a PowerPoint while their students nod off to Netflix.

Everybody all tucked in and ready for bed.

… work very hard?

Do we have to produce people like Yiwei Zheng, who apparently don’t have time to do much teaching because their business activities take up so much of their day?

Although Zheng’s philosophy writings feature deep thought about morality, he himself appears to be a liar, a smuggler, and a member of an organized crime group responsible for the killing of endangered wildlife.

Zheng, a naturalized U.S. citizen who grew up in Shanghai, China, has operated an online sales business out of his St. Cloud home called “Crouching Dragon Antiques” since 2010. On the site, Zheng has offered wildlife specimen parts for sale under the description that the items were made from “ox bone,” when they were actually suspected of being elephant ivory that was being smuggled to China, according to a federal search warrant.

There are no records of Zheng or the business ever obtaining an import-export license, or declaring any wildlife specimens upon import from any foreign country, according to the warrant.

Zheng’s business activities in buying and selling artifacts has drawn the interest of federal authorities dating back to at least 2011, when a libation cup made from Javan rhino horn was confiscated from him. Agents were alerted because the package did not have the proper documentation for import-export purposes, records show. An agent found that Zheng had illegally shipped the cup…

It’s only when you read all 83 Rate My Professors comments on Zheng that you realize how a professor could pull off running various legitimate and illegitimate businesses, traveling the world constantly, and teaching full-time. Let’s listen to his students.

Very easy course… attendance not required… easy A for sure… very easy… you can cheat on test… such an easy A… beyond easy with this prof. Take this class if you don’t want to take philosophy, no studying involved… Class said it was from 5-745 and we usually got out 615. Gave test study guide that was extremely similar to actual test. Tests were easy if you attend class. Take him if you don’t care about philosophy… Easiest class. Had him for a night class, we always finished in an hour and half AT MOST. Can use books, notes, and practice test on the actual test. No homework ever. No outside work required…. NO FINAL!… He let us out an hour and a half early EVERY TIME WE HAD CLASS… It is impossible not to pass because you get to use all your notes on the tests. I didn’t buy the book and am glad because all you need to know are in the notes you take in lecture. The course sucks, but he is the best Prof to take for it… you never have to go to class. dont buy the book- you never use it. I only went every few weeks and still got an A. He gives review before the ridiculously easy tests. kinda a waste though, i didnt learn much… Class was supposed to be 5-8 and we were always out no later than 6:30… If you’re taking this class just to get it out of the way, take him. The night class was cool because you got out an hour or two early each time… More than likely the easiest philosophy teacher possible… This class is so easy and the professor is cool as anything! =) The tests are easy, hes easy, its great. And you dont have to go to class! Ever….. . he doesn’t even notice if you’re talking on your cell phone during a test… pretty easy class get to cheat on the tests really easy to do. doesnt say anything at all when the whole class is talking. Not too much homework. doesnt want to be there anymore than you do so he makes it fast… He grades on a curve, and he adds bonus points to the tests for no reason. He is sort of a waste of time but you get an easy A. If you want that take this class!!!!…

UD doesn’t want to be unfair. Everyone has ratings they don’t like. But if you go to the trouble to read all of Zheng’s ratings over a number of years, you really have to ask why St. Cloud State University cares so little about the quality of the teaching there. Maybe if they’d put a little pressure on Zheng (doesn’t anyone there read RMP?) he wouldn’t have had time to get in all the trouble he’s now in with the federal government. Plus maybe some of their students would have learned some philosophy.

And a very professional outfit it is.

Morris Talansky: Yet another glorious chapter in the history of the board of trustees whose members include Bernard Madoff, Ezra Merkin, and Zygi Wilf (Wilf remains a board member).

Embarrassing. But at least Yeshiva’s finances are in order.

Whoops. I’m sorry. Original sentence reads:

At what point does a head coach get held accountable for signing players with known criminal backgrounds who get arrested again for similar behavior?