Category Archives: Legal issues

The Chronicle News Blog: Judge’s Ruling in Copyright Case Lets College Off but Not Lecturer

It’s a case that has some copyright scholars scratching their heads. A judge exonerates a university that is accused of infringing the copyright of a company’s research report. But the judge rules that an employee of the university might be culpable of the same activity.

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The Chronicle News Blog: Fired Professor and Southern Illinois U. Settle Dispute Over Alleged Plagiarism

In 2004, Chris Dussold, an assistant professor of finance, was fired by Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville for copying someone else’s teaching statement. No one would have predicted the fallout from that dismissal, or guessed that the battle would stretch on for four years.

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Seattle Times: Husband, daughter of Spokane diploma mill operator enter pleas

The husband and daughter of a woman who operated a Spokane-based diploma mill have pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

Eastern Washington U.S. Attorney James A. McDevitt says 68-year-old Steven K. Randock Sr. and 39-year-old Heidi Kae Lorhan entered pleas similar to that entered Wednesday by Dixie E. Randock.

An indictment returned in 2005 says the Randocks and others used a string of fictional online universities to sell bogus college degrees and transcripts to more than 8,200 customers around the world.

Investigators allege the operation took in $5 million.

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The Boston Globle: Yale student to serve a year in prison on weapons charges

NEW HAVEN, Conn.—A 22-year-old Yale student has begun serving a one-year prison term after pleading no contest to charges of reckless endangerment and the illegal possession of assault weapons.

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The Houston Chronicle: TSU’s Slade avoids prison with plea deal

A scandal that began in 2006 when a TSU regent complimented Priscilla Slade’s choice of home furnishings ended Wednesday with a deal that lets the ousted leader of Texas’ largest historically black university avoid prison in exchange for paying back $127,672.18.

It is only a fraction of the $500,000 in school money Slade was accused of spending, lavishly and improperly, on herself. Her first trial ended last year in a mistrial, and the former, much-beloved president was scheduled to again face judgment Friday.

Wednesday’s settlement, reached after hours of negotiations and ending with Slade apologizing, brings the saga to an end.

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Seattle Times: Woman found guilty of arson in 2001 University of Washington fire

U.S. attorneys say five people participated in the 2001 arson at the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture:

Briana Waters: Oakland, Calif., served as a lookout and helped rent a car for the team that set the fire. She was found guilty Thursday of two counts of arson, but jurors couldn’t agree on a verdict for three other counts. She faces at least five years in prison for each arson count.

Lacey Phillabaum: Spokane, pleaded guilty to participating in the arson in exchange for assisting in the prosecution of others involved, including Waters. She faces a prison sentence of three to five years.

Jennifer Kolar: Seattle, admitted she used a knife to cut glass so others could get into an office at the horticulture center. She also assisted the government’s prosecution and faces a sentence of five to seven years in prison.

Bill Rodgers: Considered to be one of the top organizers of the Earth Liberation Front who allegedly help set the firebombs inside the horticulture center. Rodgers, a bookstore operator in Prescott, Ariz., was taken into federal custody in December 2005, but later committed suicide in an Arizona jail.

Justin Solondz: Once lived on the Olympic Peninsula, allegedly helped assemble the fire bombs in an Olympia garage and joined Rodgers in setting the devices inside the horticulture center. Solondz is now a fugitive.

TACOMA — A 32-year-old violin teacher from California was found guilty this morning of two counts of arson for the 2001 fire at the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture.

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Mercury News: California State University system to amend conduct code

SAN FRANCISCO—The California State University system has agreed to amend its student conduct code to settle a lawsuit by a conservative Christian legal group that argued that its written expectation that students be “civil” was vague and violated students’ rights.

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Fresno Bee: Fresno State files appeal of award in Johnson-Klein case

Fresno State is appealing the multimillion-dollar judgment from the Stacy Johnson-Klein gender-discrimination trial, but it’s far from certain whether both sides will tangle again in a courtroom.

In a one-paragraph notice filed Wednesday with Fresno County Superior Court, the university said it is appealing to the 5th District Court of Appeal a jury’s $19.1 million award to Johnson-Klein in December. Judge Donald S. Black later cut that amount to $6.6 million.

Fresno State also is appealing the reduced award and Black’s ruling on Feb. 8 to order a new trial only if Johnson-Klein chose not to accept it.

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Newsday: Cuomo widens probe of kickbacks tied to student loans

The state attorney general’s office has widened the scope of its investigation into conflicts of interest in higher education, expanding its probe of kickbacks in the student loan industry to a broad range of companies doing business on college campuses across the nation.

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The State: CSU will pay nearly $4 million in settlement

Charleston Southern University has agreed to pay nearly $4 million to settle allegations it helped a former economist swindle investors out of tens of millions of dollars, according to documents filed Tuesday in federal court.

Al Parish pleaded guilty in October and is awaiting sentencing on charges of fraud and lying to investigators. Prosecutors said the flamboyant economist defrauded hundreds out of more than $90 million. Parish taught economics at Charleston Southern.

Most of the $3.9 million Charleston Southern has agreed to pay is covered under the school’s insurance policy, leaving $160,000 to be paid out of cash reserves, according to the settlement. A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for this month.

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The Chronicle News Blog: Judge Reinstates Lawsuit Against UC-Irvine Professor

The saga of a paper purporting to find that prayer doubles the success rate of fertility treatment continues. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has reinstated a defamation lawsuit that he tossed out two months ago against a professor at the University of California at Irvine who has been the study’s main debunker.

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