AltSpec: Let's Play a Game

Match the quote to the speaker. To give you a break from problem sets, it should be pretty easy, but answers after the jump anyway. Good luck!

Quotes

Speakers

"[I]t was like a national day of protest. There was a counterculture dimension to it." Roberta Balstad, Center for Research on Environmental Decisions
"...hardly principles on which normal market economics is based." Barack Obama, CC '83
"They basically set her up." Steve Cohen, Executive Director of the Earth Institute
"It's one of those events that is of low probability but high consequence. The consequences could be extreme." Joseph Stiglitz, Professor and Nobel Prize winner
"[Colleges need] to put affordability front and center as they chart a path forward." Paul Giacomo Jr., Attorney

Answers after the jump!


QuickSpec: Brave New World Edition

Madonna Constantine sues TC, drama proves to be as eternal as Columbus' legacy...oh wait...

Farewell, evil Columbus Day! Hello, Indigenous Peoples Day!

New Yorkers pay a lot of money for food; seem "more than willing to enjoy a bit of gastronomic luxury."

The economy, Columbia's endowment are "mildly disheartening": Spec-er has "vague impression" that "theoretically things could go very wrong."

Students can't be sick all the time in order to do well at school.


Madonna Constantine, the Saga Continues

It's time for another chapter in the sorry tale of Madonna Constantine, the TC psychology professor who found a noose on her door and later found herself the subject of a plagiarism investigation.

Anyway, she's back, and she's suing Columbia for wrongful termination. She had planned to appeal her termination, but that having apparently not turned out in her favor, she's now looking to the State Supreme Court to reverse her firing. She's arguing that her being let-go was "arbitrary, irrational and unauthorized."

Columbia's not commenting.


QuickSpec: Other News Edition

Everybody will read today's issue for some forum. But there is other news, apparently:

Madonna Constantine refuses to go away.

How quickly could you construct a "Vag?"

Professors aren't gods? Whaaat?

Already tired of New York clubs? Some months-old options.


The Village Voice's Madonna Constantine Cliffhanger: Part 2

Good morning, Columbia, hope you're all set for some more Madonna Constantine updates. Oh good, let's get started. First, according to last night's AP report, Constantine has decided to appeal her termination, claiming that she was fired because of the noose incident and that the plagiarism charges are "baseless."

And speaking of nooses, it's finally time for the Village Voice's sequel to its exciting series on "Knotty Noose Problems". When we last left off, a bunch of people accussed Madonna Constantine of plagiarism, so she made one of them organize some stuff in her office over winter break, which was mean. Meanwhile, Darlene Bailey, VP of Academic Affairs at TC, launched counter-investigations against a women who wanted to look into the allegations against Constantine.

So now that we're all caught up, on to this week's article, and we've once again distilled everything you need to know in reader-friendly bulletpoints.


Madonna Constantine: The Definitive Account (Part 1)

Today, the Village Voice ran the first part of a billion part article that's something like the definitive account of everything that happened surrounding Madonna Constantine. You might recall October's noose-hanging incident and the whole multiple charges of plagiarism thing, for example. Anyway, we've distilled everything that's new and important in the article in easy-to-digest bullet points below (Spoiler Alert: She plagiarized.)

  • "As many as 10 people complained about Constantine over several years, and these sources say the college did little to intervene."
  • "Constantine attempted to silence her accusers in the spring of 2007 by sending them letters threatening to sue unless they dropped their claims. She used college stationery and the college mailing account."
  • "Despite [former student Karen Cort's] accusation [of plagiarism], Constantine never pursued official sanctions. Instead, as punishment, she ordered Cort to cancel plans for the January break and come to her office. Constantine had her mark each book in her office with the professor's stamp. The shelves in the office held hundreds of books. The job took several days to complete."
  • This particular plagiarized text was a second-year research paper written by the aforementioned former student, Karen Cort. Constantine told Cort to list Constantine's name as the primary researcher, despite Cort actually writing and researching the paper. For whatever reason, Cort agreed.

Madonna Constantine Suspended Indefinitely from TC

Conn Corrigan, a J-School grad writing for the New York Sun, is reporting that Madonna Constantine, she of noose-hanging incident and now-confirmed plagiarism fame, is being suspended indefinitely from Teachers College after an investigation concluded that despite her claims to the contrary, she did, in fact, plagiarize the works of two former doctoral candidates and a former colleague. Letter sent to TC faculty and obtained by the Sun after the jump.


75 °F, Fair

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