UMD students request hearing
One of the 12 University of Maryland students accused of cheating on an accounting final using text messaging will fight the charges with the help of the school’s director of Student Legal Aid, James Jones. The Student Honor Council will now decide the case, the UMD Diamondback reported.
The case has raised controversy because the professor administering the test knew students were attempting to cheat, a possible case of entrapment. The council consists of five students and two faculty members.
Six of the students have admitted to receiving answers to the test via text messaging on their cell phones. The answers were provided by other students who waited until the test began and relayed a posted answer key from the class Web site. However, suspecting that students were cheating in this manner, the professor had posted a false answer key to catch potential cheaters.
Jones called posting the answer key “ethically wrong,” according to the Diamondback.
Snow storm hits D.C.
The year’s most powerful snowstorm hit the East Coast Sunday, paralyzing the city with as much as 18 inches of snow.
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich both declared a state of emergency in their respective states, a step that allows the National Guard to be mobilized if necessary.
Reagan National and Baltimore Washington International airports were closed Sunday and officials said they were trying to keep Dulles airport at least partly open. School districts that had hoped to use the holiday on Monday to make up for lost snow days from earlier this year announced Sunday that they would keep schools in Prince William and Fairfax County schools closed, the Washington Post reported.
Congress to scrap “Ghost Fleet”
Congress passed a spending bill that will allow $11 million to scrap a fleet of mothballed ships sitting in the James River.
The funding to clean up the so-called “ghost fleet” will be added to the $20 million allocated last year to remove the James River Reserve Fleet. Authorities fear that the ships will leak toxic chemicals into the surrounding ecosystem, WJLA reported.
The station reported that each ship will cost about $2.5 million to destroy.
Parents sentenced for serving beer
A Charlottesville, Va., judge sentenced a husband and wife to eight years in jail for serving alcohol to teenagers at a birthday party for their son, the Associated Press reported.
Elisa and George Robinson of Earlysville, Va., were charged after an Aug. 16 party held at their home at which 60-80 high school students were served up to $360 worth of alcohol, the AP reported.
Though prosecutors had requested a sentence of 90 days, the judge ruled that the two will serve 16 consecutive six-month sentences. In his ruling, the judge referenced the death of Brittany Bishop, 16, who was killed by a drunken driver last year.
The AP reported the judge called the Robinsons “a danger to the community.”
-Alex Kingsbury
