A Northwestern student is aiming for $50,000 worth of compensation from the university, which prevented him from gaining his biology degree this year because of allegations of cheating. The story that Yahoo News tell is just...weird:
Anton Rozenbaum had a B-plus average and was set to graduate from Northwestern University in 2002 until he was accused of cheating [on a final exam in biology], according to a suit filed last month in Cook County Circuit Court...
After receiving a B-plus on the test, Rozenbaum went to the professor to dispute how he graded the exam. [ok, there's his first mistake. With a B+, what was there to complain about?] During the meeting, he took notes on the exam and the two got into an argument, according to the suit. [So, he's writing notes on his exam as Professor Sontheimer explains his grading scheme, then starts arguing with him.]
Sontheimer claimed the notes on the exam paper were Rozenbaum's attempt to change his answers and get a higher grade, the suit states. He responded by reducing Rozenbaum's grade to an F.
Say what? Rozenbaum was stupid enough to change his answers in front of the professor, and then flip the exam around and claim, "But I did write that on here! See?"? If so, that's just pathetic.
Rozenbaum counters that that he never asked for his grade to be changed. The suit also claims that the university did not properly investigate the claim of student misconduct before upholding the reduced grade.
If the university requires such investigation before exam grades can be changed, and didn't do so, then Rozenbaum might have a leg to stand on. Otherwise, he's learned a valuable lesson or two here. One, don't bitch and moan about a B+. Two, don't try to change answers on your exam after the fact, on the assumption that the prof will never remember what you wrote the first time.
(Nick of Twilight of the Idols has another take on the situation here. Let me just add that he's right to say that I was quick to take the teacher's story as fact, instead of the student's. Perhaps too quick.)
While we're on the topic, is this officially Stupid Lawsuit Week? This woman obviously has the same greedy impulses as Rozenbaum, and you can insert your own joke about "sensitive palates" here. Oh, and why is everyone quoted in this article hailing the decision as a victory against discrimination? If I read this carefully, the woman was drinking for several hours in a bar before deciding to breastfeed her child - in the bar. With alcohol in her system. And yet it's the bar's manager who's the bad guy for trying to enforce the rule that kids can't be in the bar, and for trying to ensure the comfort and enjoyment of his other customers?
Posted by kswygert at October 22, 2003 08:08 AM