We have updated on a RABIES Alert we posted earlier. The lawsuit of Blake J. Robbins v. Lower Merion School District over allegations that the Harriton High school was using cameras and laptops to spy on students at home continues. Originally, the school claimed that the camera and tracking systems on the laptops are used as a method to detect lost or stolen laptops. As the media scrutiny and time passes on, the school’s position has continued to grow more erratic and incredulous-almost as much as Heidi Hurd’s ever-changing testimony during the admission scandal.

At first the school had no comment, and a sizable time after claimed it [the tracking system and camera] was just for locating stolen laptops.

The plaintiffs have said that the school used video capture to punish the suing student for drug use (later to be revealed as Mike and Ike candy). The administrator has now been named as vice principal Lindy Matsko. The suit specifically names her and alleges she told Blake on Nov. 11 that the school thought he was “engaged in improper behavior in his home.” She allegedly cited as evidence a photograph “embedded” in his school-issued laptop.

Also, it appears that the school new of parental concern over two years ago.

The school’s response is a classic educationalist response: attack the student.

The school , rather than address the charges, has gone on an ad hominem spree, ranging from accusing the student for having a personal grudge against the administrator in question, to accusing the family filing suit for using the lawsuit as a means of extorting money from the district to pay off debts. [N.B.: The school did not level this accusation. It has merely repeated the suggestion put forth here. The source in itself is highly questionable-including burying at the article's bottom that Mr. Robbins' current lawsuit is not about debt, but an attempt to recoup withheld commissions.]

The family’s attorney has since denied this (who, in fact, himself has indeed taken the Robbins to court for delinquent debt. and has said that the payment of the laptop use was never a previous issue. Also, the family has moved to turn the suit to class action status.

Joining the family are free speech and civil rights groups, inclding th ACLU, the SPLC, and others.

The FBI is also currently involved in the investigation of the school for possible privacy violations.

We will continue to monitor this very alarming case.

Posted by Hound No. 4

Update

As of this point, the DI made no mention of Laura Frerichs' salary in this catalog that we could find. Nor did it print the reason for Ghosh's removal as Dean of the College of Business.

Posted by No. 9

[Update 3/29/2010 by user: Alpha Hound]

Per the Alpha Hound's request, this post rectifies the above posting. The DI's expose did indeed post Frerichs' salary. It was under UIUC Research Park, not under administration as we thought it should be, Her posted salary is $121,500. We apologize for the oversight and the incorrect implication.

Posted by No. 9

Porking over the Names

The DI included in its Tuesday publication (and updated on Wednesday for corrections) a copy of the salaries of almost every University Employee from Maintenance to the president. The DI's commitment to transparency and honesty is hardly anything to crow about, but in this case they did manage to come through. This revelation to the public has made some unhappy, as this poll suggests. Seems the faculty are none-too-pleased that their usual TASSer sycophants ousted them in this manner.

The analysis required for this information cannot be inserted in just one post here. As I type, No. 5, No. 6 No. 7 and No. 9 are pouring over the long list of names and searching for patterns for related stories. We look forward to posting more once that task has been completed.

Posted by Alpha Hound

Duke under Watch

Last week we noticed an interesting little tidbit coming from Wonderland: although buried (intentional?) in the bottom of the Chronicle story, Duke has been put on monitoring status by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

From the Story:

it [Duke] has not “demonstrated that its institutional effectiveness, with regard to student learning outcomes, have occurred broadly in undergraduate and graduate programs [emphasis added],” according to a letter written to Duke by SACS.

Though the accreditation process has been approved already, those of with noses keener than others can sniff between the lines.

While not directly, the Lacrosse Hoax is still having a subliminal effect on Duke. The revelation during the case that many of the involved faculty had little or no claim to academic prominence (of meaning, that is. Just because, for example, Michael Hardt consorts with criminals such as Antonio Negri, or Eduardo Bonna-Silva becomes well known for MEChA-nized hate speech, does not vault them into the annals of legitimate academics). This scrutiny on major institutions demonstrates a far more reaching concern on what qualifies as legitimate research, a mantra originally limited to observers of the case and education reform groups,

Interesting.

Posted by Hound No. 2

From Russia with Laptops

RABIES Alert! A school over in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania now faces lawsuits over allegations that the school was using cameras and laptops to spy on students at home. Though the school claims that the camera and tracking systems on the laptops are used as a method to detect lost or stolen laptops, the claim falls short for a couple of reasons.

1) If the school is loaning out laptops to students to use, it surly has some sort of sign-out procedure that keeps track of which computer is in the hands of which student, and would thus negate any need for the spy system. If the school however, is foolish enough not to use this method, it really has itself to blame, and should implement it immediately.

2)The school did not release this explanation well until after twenty-four hours after the story broke national news (we can assume that the suit was filed well even before this, though his is yet to be verified). If the school’s explanation were truly as benign as it claimed, surely it could have said so from the start. The time lapse points to a PR scramble, like the Thomas Paine Elementary cover-up , to come up with some plausible explanation now that they have been caught.

Of further interest to us is the name and type of class that would be using the laptops, and the teacher involved. What is their union status and affiliation? We shall be watching.

Posted by Hound No. 4

Bathroom Brawl!

We travel back to Wonderland-but this time it is not 610 N. Buchanan.

Media reports reported early Thursday morning that Crystal Mangum has been arrested on charges of assault, arson, and child endangerment to follow. The “serial fabricator,” as Professor K.C. Johnson has referred to her in the past was fighting with her boyfriend of the time, and attempted to set fire to his clothes. According to the police reports released so far, one of Mangum’s daughters called 911 to report that altercations.

This revelation is interesting for several reasons. First it dispels the image of a innocent, maligned, and over-scrutinized young mother,, that the Mangum Celebrity Tour tried to espouse during her promotion for hr completely negligible book. Rather it further reveals, or rather, adds to the criminal figure that is C.G.M. As the 2006 Lacrosse Case unfolded, Mangum’s criminal record surfaced , and with it a history of armed robbery, false rape accusations, prostitution, drug (both legal and illegal) use, and mental instability.

From K.C. Johnson:

'This case will work its way through the system, and it is premature to suggest
guilt or innocence at this stage. Perhaps Mangum’s new boyfriend (whom she
allegedly assaulted and attempted to kill) and one of her children (who
apparently called 911) were lying about what occurred; perhaps the police report
was flawed. And as the police investigation is continuing, perhaps new
information will come to light about the incident."

Johnson’s Durham in Wonderland writes, a bit more forgiving than we, suggesting that even a serial fabricator and criminal as her deserves the presumption of innocence (though a second read through may suggest some small level of sarcasm) . Fair enough to her, but unfortunately we are not talking about some parable about tax collectors. It is quite crystal clear to we Hounds that where there is smoke, there is fire. And where there is fire, there is Mangum setting fire to another person’s clothing and her arrest on arson charges. No, we say “fool us once or twice, shame on you. Fool us three or more times, shame on us.”

Johnson points out that the Herald-Sun and New York Times both were loathe to point the finger too much at Mangum, which comes as no surprise Looking for honest reporting from either would be comparable to looking for ethics in Richard Herman, sanity at Northwestern, or a legitimate death certificate from Easter Michigan University. What was disappointing was how the Duke Chronicle did not get around to its “breaking news” concerning Mangum until well after 5pm. The story had been on Fox and ABC. since at least 10 am. [Update a check of both Newsbusters and Media Matters result in nothing].

In other duke news, Larry Moneta has returned from beyond the iron curtain to reign in some more control over student lives. Considering that the Water Buffalo cannot even be trusted to run student affairs, either at Duke or Penn, without garnering civil rights lawsuits, we Hounds are quite surprised that he should be given even more control over student lives. Lest we forget, this was the same man who authorized illegal access to residence hall security information. Now he is in charge of the program? Given the Water Buffalo's track record, be prepared to see U Delaware "ResLife"-style indoctrination.

Posted by Hound No. 2

Students for Chief Illiniwek, the post-factum support group for the now-removed Chief of the University of ILL, has posted on its site disturbing emails of disgraced, ex-Chancellor Herman, Renee Romano, Stephen Kaufman, Robert Warrior, and Anna Gonzalez.



Whatever one's opinion is on the Chief, the lack of transparency and willful attempt (though Romano will probably claim it, misquote seems unlikely given their track record-see below)to prevent a student group by administrators reveals a frightening trend that has been creeping at the UI for awhile now.



To be fair, this decent into darkness (or at least, lack of transparency) originates even before Richard Herman, the criminal actions of whom we have heavily documented here. We must go back to Nancy Cantor, who brokered behind-her-office door-deals with Bill Cook and the Progressive-Resource Coalition after taking university buildings hostage. At the time (and even today) the instances were ignored and celebrated by the TASSers at the DI.



Also writing in the emails, is Stephen Kaufman, in attempt to not only stop the "Next Dance" event but to revoke SFCI entirely. Lest we forget, this is the same Stephen Kaufman, who has since spent his emeritus, and hopefully, declining years grousing about his failure to be politically appointed to the BOT, due to his monolithic fixation on the Chief issue at the expense of all others. This was the same man who sued Michael Aiken on free speech ground for simply declaring NCAA policy, and won, and now seeks to deny the same rights to another group, echoing the "free speech for me but not thee" mantra practiced by faculty and administrators nationally in many colleges and universities. By the way, Kaufman has recently authored letters posted at the IMC (which, contrary to the name is financed in part by the Campus Faculty Association ), which publishes the Public, a four-page hate rant, where he bizarrely equates Chief support to murdering Kiwame Carrington.



In addition, this is not the first time Herman has run afoul of First Amendment rights. This is the same Richard Herman, who (similar to the tone of Romano in her emails), felt that criticism of Islam has no place in the public print.



With budget issues and furloughs, a good start the university can me is to flush the "Diversity" office. Indeed, Anna Gonzalez's* bio brags about a sixty-million slush of dubious use at UC-Irvine. Tightening the belt, yeah right.



*As your unofficial ombudogs, we should point out to you, DI, that you tagged her twice.



Posted by Hound No. 7 and Hound No. 9 [who was courteous enough to post under 7's color :) ]