- There is now one less reason to be a Harvard professor. No,
not the revocation of tenure. Not a slashing of salary or a major academic
scandal putting a serious dent in the sterling reputation of one of the world’s
finest institutions of higher learning. Sadly, all of those would be more
palatable than an imbecilic new policy robbing the school’s educators of one of
the true privileges of being a learned academic molding the minds of attractive
young people – yes, the right to hit it with some hottie in your economics or
ethics class. Late last week, Harvard officials adopted a new policy this week
that prohibits romantic relationships between undergraduates and professors.
It’s much stricter than the previous policy, which banned only relationships
between professors and students they taught. That rule, while logical, obviously
didn’t prevent such relationships as long as both professor and student were
discreet enough to keep their bedroom feats quiet. Harvard released a statement
saying a specially appointed committee "determined that the existing
language on relationships of unequal status did not
explicitly reflect the faculty's expectations of what
constituted an appropriate relationship between
undergraduate students and faculty members ... therefore, the committee revised
the policy to include a clear prohibition to better accord with these
expectations." How very pedantic and wordy of you, Harvard committee.
Specifically, this new policy is allegedly aimed at preventing sexual misconduct
on campus, which is a noble aim, but hardly in focus here. If some gold-digging
sophomore sorority girl wants to hook up with a bespectacled,
sweater-vest-wearing geology professor when she’s not in any of his classes,
then who cares? Being able to take advantage of impressionable young ladies (or
guys) is part of the reason a man or woman dreams of someday becoming a tenured
professor at a top-notch school………
- With a litany of governing bodies and a glut of champions
across a seemingly endless array of weight classes, it can be tough to remember
who’s king in boxing. Just know that Jermain Taylor is no longer on that list
and the story behind him losing his title belt is both ridiculous and downright
criminal. As in, Taylor is no longer the IBF middleweight world title holder because he’s an accused criminal. See,
the IBF stripped Jermain Taylor of his belt hours before he was originally
scheduled to make his first defense because he’s facing numerous felony charges
stemming from two gun-related incidents -- the alleged shooting of his cousin
in August, and an incident last month in which he allegedly discharged a gun
and threatened to shoot a family during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in
his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. It was the second incident that led to
Taylor’s title defense against former junior middleweight titleholder Sergio
Mora being canceled and that incident came while he was out on bail following
the August incident. Making matter crazier, in the middle of all of this,
Taylor scored four knockdowns in a unanimous decision victory against Sam
Soliman on Oct. 8 to win the 160-pound belt. It was nine years after he beat
Bernard Hopkins to win the undisputed championship in 2005, but it was also
fool’s gold for Taylor because even though he has pleaded not guilty to all of
the charges in both incidents, his actions of late raise serious questions.
He’s due in court for a hearing Tuesday, with results from a mental evaluation
to be presented to the court April 27. In stripping Taylor of the title, the
IBF invoked its rule 5.C., which covers any boxer “who is ill, injured, under a
legal impediment which would prevent the bout from taking place.” He would have
lost the title anyhow because he is in police custody and unavailable to fight,
but this is a true hot mess for the ex-champ……….
- Does anyone need the Japanese army for anything? Now feels
like a pertinent time to ask because its soldiers seem to have an excessive
amount of free time on their hands any might need some sort of peacekeeping or
training mission to keep them busy. If they’re erecting a 50-foot-tall Disney-sponsored
tribute to iconic “Star Wars” villain Darth Video in snow and ice, then clearly
there are not enough entries on the to-do list for these fine military men and
women. The soldiers built their wintry tribute to the Dark Side as part of the
more than 200 snow and ice sculptures for the Sapporo Snow Festival, which opened
Feb. 5. Sapporo, which hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, is now home to a
marketing ploy for the next movie in the Star Wars franchise, set for release
later this year. The design was approved by LucasFilm and eatures Darth Vader
wielding an icy light saber, flanked by a posse of three Storm Troopers. It was
built by the Hokkaido-based 11th Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
over the course of a month with help from a virtual army of bulldozers. Despite
its ridiculousness, the finished sculpture is extremely impressive, especially
when it is illuminated by a battery of lights at night. The Japanese military
has participated in the Sapporo Snow Festival since 1955 and in order to
justify that continued participation, deems the process of building sculptures
up to 50 feet tall a training exercise. At least the soldiers’ work of art will
be appreciated by an estimated 2 million people expected to flow through the
exhibit during the week it is open. After that, it will melt back to nothing
and the world will be no worse for its disappearance………
- Cartoons finally toppled a sniper. “The
SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” won the weekend in its debut, banking $56
million to wrest the earnings crown from “American Sniper.” After nearly a
month in first place, “Sniper” slid to second with $24.2 million and has
brought in $282.3 million domestically in seven weeks. The second new movie in
the top 10 was “Jupiter Ascending,” which was panned critically and made just
$19 million against a hulking $176 million budget. It was followed by fellow
new film “Seventh Son,” with a $7.1 million debut of its own. “Paddington” made
it two animated movies in the top five, dropping two spots to fifth but still
accruing $5.4 million for the frame, good for a four-week domestic bank roll of
$57.3 million. That left sixth place for “Project Almanac,” which declined four
places and earned $5.3 million to up its two-week take to $15.8 million. “The
Imitation Game” rode Benedict Cumberbatch’s infinitely punchable face to
seventh place and $4.9 million for the weekend, giving the World War II drama
$74.7 million in 11 productive weeks. On its heels was “The Wedding Ringer,”
which amassed $4.8 million this time around and has $55.1 million total in one
month of release. The penultimate top 10 spot went to “Black or White,” which
fell five slots in its second weekend and made just $4.5 million to increase
its total domestic earnings to $13.1 million. “The Boy Next Door” continued to
be a terrible movie and made $4.1 million, giving it $30.8 million after three
weeks. “Taken 3” (No. 11), “Selma” (No. 12) and “The Loft” (No. 13) all dropped
out from last weekend’s top 10………..
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