Entries for May 24, 2007

A new twist in the Duke Fuqua School of Business cheating scandal: Many of the accused are Asian international students and have been in the country for less than a year, the Chronicle reports.

The lawyer representing 16 students who are appealing the school's sanctions, which range from failing grades to expulsion, said his clients did not completely understand the Honor Code or judicial proceedings. "There is something else going on here, something that needs to be explained before we go forward with this, because it doesn't look right," he said.

He also said that many of the students wrote letters of confession when pressured by faculty, accelerating the trial process and leaving them little time to defend themselves. International students who are expelled would lose their student visas and would be deported. --Alison Go

If you can't get into Stanford, then do like Azia Kim and fake it. For eight months, using excuses and explanations ranging from housing mix-ups to "roommate" issues, Kim was able to dupe at least two unsuspecting (and legit) sophomores into thinking she was a full-time student for the fall and winter quarters, the Stanford Daily reports. Kim bought books, attended classes, and even broke into a roommate's E-mail account to cover her tracks. She was eventually busted after several resident advisers finally started wondering what was up.

Without a Stanford ID or a key, she was forced to sneak into meals and enter her room through its window. Spending much of her time at her boyfriend's, Kim's roommate never noticed. "She took off the screen and always left one of the windows wide open and the blinds up," the roommate said. "I just guessed she always wanted a breezy room."--Christina Mueller and A.G.

• A year and a half of demonstrations and two cancelled commencement speakers later, the University of California system and union officials reached agreement yesterday over a custodial worker wage dispute, the Daily Californian writes. The agreement will increase hourly wages at Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and Santa Barbara by $1.75, and by 50 cents at the other UC campuses, affecting about 3,000 custodians.
• The "Women of UW" calendar, awash with scantily clad University of Washington students, has been pulled from university bookstore shelves after an E-mail campaign charged the calendar with objectifying women, the Seattle Times reports. The calendar features 13 women because, as the Times points out, "one month shows twins."
• More than 100 Iowa State faculty members signed a petition opposing a chaplain for the football team, according to the Iowa State Daily.
• The Daily Barometer writes about the "barefoot man," an Oregon State sophomore who isn't much a fan of shoes. With long hair and beard, he is often described as looking like Jesus. He also carves garden gnomes. --A.G.