News Cut: June 6, 2011 Archive

Appeals Court upholds U of M's right to flunk a student

Posted at 12:00 PM on June 6, 2011 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Schools

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of a graduate student's lawsuit against the University of Minnesota for not refunding her tuition after flunking out of a course required for her master's degree.

Linda Zinter claimed breach of contract in her suit against the U of M, saying the university had an obligation to grant her a master's degree when she completed the degree requirements. But, she claimed, the university later required her to take two other courses for her final project.

But the Court of Appeals said wading into the claim would "require analysis of the goals of the MLS (Master of Liberal Studies) program. This is not something that courts are equipped to do."

Under Minnesota law, people can't sue educational institutions for educational malpractice. "When (Zinter) asked the district court to evaluate the method of teaching that required her to take additional courses before enrolling in the final project seminar, she was mading, under other names, educational malpractice claims," the court said.

Zinter did not complete one of the courses the U required of her to enter the "final project seminar," so she received an "F" grade. In today's ruling, the Court of Appeals rejected her request that the university remove the grade from her record.

Read the court's opinion here.

How do you spell 'spelling bee?' E-v-i-l

Posted at 12:45 PM on June 6, 2011 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Schools

That was a heck of a blast against spelling bees from professor Anatoly Liberman at the University of Minnesota on MPR's Midmorning today.

"It's an unmitigated evil," Liberman told MPR's Kerri Miller. He is the author of Etymology for Everyone: Word Origins and How We Know Them. "The whole thing is wrong from beginning to end. I would not allow any child to come close to the competition, let alone win it."

Liberman said the words in the championship rounds of the spelling bee are useless. "They're invented," he said. "They exist, but they have a shadow existence. They exist for the sake of failing students, those who want to partake in the spelling bee."

"Not a single of them has anything to do with the English language. They are German, Spanish, sometimes architectural terms from France," he said. "Knowing how to spell them is absolutely a useless accomplishment."