College Shorts

Author: Andrea Gissing

WSU Student Arrested for Pornography

Washington State University (WSU) police arrested an 18-year old WSU student on Friday on suspicion of possessing child pornography. The student has also been accused of "dealing in depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct."
A resident of Gannon Hall found the pornography while searching the network for music files in a shared file from the suspect's computer. The student notified Catherine Marriott, a resident adviser at Gannon Hall, who then filed a complaint with the campus police.
After being arrested, the suspect was taken to Whitman County Jail. He has been released on his own recognizance.
Officials at the university and jail are hesitant about releasing the specifics of the incident until a final decision is made. Whitman County prosecutors said that it might take until midweek to decide if the suspect will be charged with a crime.

Source: U-Wire

President of Hamilton College Resigns Over Speech

Hamilton College President Eugene M. Tobin resigned on Tuesday after admitting that he failed to properly cite sources used in his Sept. 1 convocation speech to the freshman class. Tobin has worked at Hamilton for 22 years and has been president for the past nine. His resignation will take effect on June 30.
Tobin apologized for the incident Sept. 30, which he was made aware of after Professor of Music G. Roberts Kolb expressed interest in one of the books Tobin had mentioned in his speech. After being directed to the Amazon Books Web site, Kolb found that a reviewer's comments about the book were similar to comments made in Tobin's speech.
In a memorandum to the Hamilton College community explaining the similarities, Tobin apologized for the "omissions that resulted from the way [he developed and presented his] speeches."
"Because of my deep affection for this college and my unwavering support for its tradition and values, I have anguished over the embarrassment my speech-writing process has brought to our community," Tobin said in a statement.
Since two historians were recently accused of using other people's information without acknowledgement, plagiarism has become an increasingly prominent issue in academia.
"Everyone has moments that he wishes he could take back," Stuart L. Scott, chairman of Hamilton College's board of trustees, said in an e-mail message announcing the president's decision to parents and alumni. "It's a tragedy that this flaw in the way the president prepares his speeches has led to this action."

Source: The New York Times

Unidentified Body Found in U. New Mexico Dorm

University of New Mexico Police Department Officials (UNMPD) and the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator are still trying to identify a body discovered Friday inside a UNM Student Residence Center. Due to the amount of decomposition of the body that had taken place prior to discovery, police have to use alternative methods of investigation.
The body was discovered Friday morning when a housing crew entered the dorm room.
UNMPD Commander James Daniels that the biggest problem now is identifying the body so that next of kin can be notified.
The victim was a UNM student, about 40 years of age. Officials had a good idea of who the man was, but were waiting for a positive identification before drawing any official conclusions.
For precautionary measures, the death is being investigated as a homicide, said Daniels, because the death was "unattended." The cause of death is unknown and the investigation could potentially take weeks to resolve if the Office of the Medical Investigator orders toxicology tests performed.
Though officials from the state's Office of the Medical Investigator and the District Attorney's office were at the Student Residence Center on Friday, the UNM Police Department is in control of the investigation.

Source: U-Wire