Students and their advisors

Of an IPBiz post concerning a student (Swenson) accusing a professor (Bender) at Capella University of plagiarism, IPBiz reminds readers that students have been aggressive toward professors, as in the matter of Ted Streleski of Stanford.

In another area, recall the story of "why" the APS accepts any abstract for presentation at the spring meeting. From the geomblog:

While earning his master's degree in American letters at Columbia, Tom worked part-time for the American Physical Society (APS), headquartered at the Pupin Physics Laboratory on the Columbia campus in New York City. Fahey, a 20-year-old secretary, was sitting at her desk reading a letter from her fiancé, a Marine serving in Korea, when Bayard Peakes entered the office and emptied a clip of .22 caliber pistol shots into Fahey, killing her. Peakes then fled the campus.

In the weeks that followed, Tom was among those questioned by police for possible leads and motives. Peakes was finally traced through a letter written to him by Karl K. Darrow, head of Bell Labs and secretary of the APS. Darrow had declined to accept a paper Peakes wanted to present at the next APS meeting. Peakes's paper proposed the non-existence of the electron and Darrow rejected it, suggesting that Peakes might ruin his career in physics with such a theory.

At his arrest, Peakes said he wanted to kill a man at the APS since his rejection letter had come from a male. Fahey was the only person in the office and the shots were directed at her instead. Peakes was tried and sentenced to the Rockland County Asylum for the Criminally Insane.

As another odd item, consider this article from the Stanford Daily (May 25, 07):

For the last four years, Elizabeth Okazaki has attended graduate physics seminars, used the offices reserved for doctoral and post-doctoral physics students and — for all intents and purposes made the Varian Physics Lab her home.

The only problem is that Okazaki appears to have no affiliation with Stanford and, according to physics professors and students, no real reason to be there.

****Separately-->

The original story, in the Pioneer Press, about Swenson has been Sikahema'd (See Vai Sikahema, Rutgers is Wrong)

Wikipedia Review has


Mary Swenson struggled to finish her doctorate at Capella University. So when she found Sharon Bender, it seemed a saving grace.

Article: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/searc...6934?source=rss

Following that link, one reaches:

Thank you for visiting TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press. We are sorry the article that you requested is no longer available. Please search for this article in our archive search.

The Pioneer Press is happy to host community conversations about news and life in the Twin Cities. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary.

It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.

See also omanofass

**May 2011
A graduate student from Saudi Arabia has admitted fatally stabbing a professor at upstate Binghamton University.
Abdulsalam al-Zahrani, 48, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter yesterday, three months after he was sent to a psychiatric center where experts determined he was schizophrenic but mentally competent to stand trial on a murder charge.
Broome County DA Gerald Mollen says al-Zahrani had come to believe Richard Antoun was part of a plot against him and attacked the 77-year-old professor in his office on the suburban Vestal campus in 2009.


link: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/prof_slay_guilty_plea_JoSRkpHOLQ5H6PCcX3Z3yO#ixzz1N0MsPSXR