The Crimson, in a staff editorial, sums up the case so far and then wonders about the "troubling implications" for students in the Ivy Leagues who may wish to abuse and harass inexperienced professors in the future. You might get sued!

The litigious threats are among a recent spate of well-publicized incidents in which conflicts that have failed to find mediation in the classroom have spilled into other realms, like the Internet or the courthouse. Like the Horace Mann case, featuring vicious Facebook groups aimed at high school teachers, Venkatesan's move to a lawsuit and book deal represent a failure of reconciliation within the classroom. Student-teacher arguments are nothing new, of course, but these escalated clashes still suggest a lack of mutual respect and an inability to resolve disagreements amicably. Venkatesan would have done well to bring her grievances to a university administrator before searching for an attorney.

Well, considering that she's also suing the University for sending her secret racist codes while spelling Gattaca or something, that might not have worked out so well. But, as in the Horace Mann case, the important lesson here is that if you're a rich little brat you can still get away with being a dick to authority figures and generally come out fine.

1) If she teaches here... don't take this course. Period. She defines a terrible prof, she is offended when people ask questions about her lectures and does not grade/give feedback on papers. Grade based solely on if she likes you/ you writing reflects her "sophisticated" ideas.

2) WORST CLASS EVER horrible professor, doesn't know what the heck she is doing, can't lecture, can't grade, can't give her students feedback on their essays....

I you were interested in this class because it is about global warming( like i was)... think again, we spent maybe two classes on the subject and the prof. didn't even know how to properly explain the green house effect!!!

i think she is gonna get fired

3) interesting topic, boring prof The course material was not as interesting as its ORC description said, and Prof Venkatesan is a boring lecturer, the assigned reading is ridiculously long and dense, but the course is ok in terms of workload,

4) Do NOT take this course Aside from the fact that I learnt nothing of value in this class besides the repeated use of the word "postmodernism" in all contexts (whether appropriate or not) and the fact that Professor Venkatesan is the most confusing/nonsensical lecturer ever, the main problem with this class is the personal attacks launched in class. Almost every member of the class was personally attacked in some form in the class by either intimidation or ignoring your questions/comments/concerns. If you decide to take this class, prepare to NOT be allowed to express your own opinions in class because you have "yet to obtain your Ph.D/masters/bachelors degree". We were forced to write an in-class essay on "respect" (and how we lacked it) because we expressed our views on controversial topics and some did not agree with the views of "established scholars" who have their degrees.

Additionally, your essays will (at most) receive 2 lines worth of feedback, along with a miserable letter grade.

All in all, there are much better ways to understand science, technology, and society than to suffer through ten weeks of emotional battering.

5) HORRIBLE This was the worst class I have ever taken. The professor was rude and a horrible teacher...don't take this class.! hopefully she will get fired

6) insecurity, ego, and more Professor Venkatesan should not be a professor... here or anywhere.

Questions arose as to our ability to block Prof. Venkatesan's emails. Whether that ability exists or not, it would not likely stop her emails from reaching your inbox given the dearth and ready availability of other free email systems such as hotmail, gmail, and yahoo.

Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:56:35
From: Priya Venkatesan
Subject: WRIT.005.17.18-WI08: Possible lawsuit

Dear former class members of Science, Technology and Society:

I tried to send an email through my server but got undelivered messages. I regret to inform you that I am pursuing a lawsuit in which I am accusing some of you (whom shall go unmentioned in this email) of violating Title VII of anti-federal discrimination laws.

The feeling that I am getting from the outside world is that Dartmouth is considered a bigoted place, so this may not be news and I may be successful in this lawsuit. I am also writing a book detailing my eperiences as your instructor, which will "name names" so to speak. I have all of your evaluation and these will be reproduced in the book.

Have a nice day.

Anti-federal discrimination laws? That's serious business. Or whatever the exact opposite of serious business is.

The details of the discrimination and harassment? Students didn't pay attention to her, complained about her to her boss, and accused her of not "accepting opinions contrary to her own" and said she would "lower the grades of students her disagreed with her." In other words, the exact smarmy complaints all entitled college students level against inexperienced teachers.

From the Dartmouth News:

As an example of Venkatesan's rejection of views different from her own, the student highlighted Venkatesan's cancelation of class for a week after the class applauded a student who contradicted Venkatesan's opinions about post-modernism.

Venkatesan said the incident occurred when she was lecturing about "The Death of Nature," a book by Carolyne Merchant, and the witch trials of the Renaissance. The student went on a "diatribe" about the inappropriate nature of challenging patriarchal authority, Venkatesan said. Vakatesan respected the student's right to express this opinion, she said, but the manner in which he vocalized his views and the applause afterward were disrespectful and offensive.

"I was horrified," Venkatesan said. "My responsibility is not to stifle them, but when they clapped at his comment, I thought that crossed the line ... I was facing intolerance of ideas and intolerance of freedom of expression."

She was horrified! Horrified that an Ivy League undergrad bitched about hearing some academic nonsense about the entrenched power structures that got them where they are today! (No winners in this story, folks.)

The emails apparently started last Friday, when Venkatesan emailed seven or more students to warn of a "possible lawsuit" against them.

From: Priya Venkatesan
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008
Subject: Class Action Suit

Dear Student:

As a courtesy, you are being notified that you are being named in a potential class action suit that is being brought against Dartmouth College, which is being accused of violating federal anti-discrimination laws. Please do not respond to this email because it will be potentially used against you in a court of law.

Priya Venkatesan, PhD

From: Priya Venkatesan
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008
Subject: Class Action Suit

Dear Student:

Please disregard the previous email sent by Priya Venkatesan. This is to officially inform you that you are being accused of violating Title VII pertaining to federal anti-discrimination laws, by the plaintiff, Priya Venkatesan. You are being specifically accused of, but not limited to, harassment. Please do not respond to this email as it will be used against you in a court of law.

Priya Venkatesan, PhD

In a statement to Dartblog, Venkatesan reveals that she's retained an attorney from New Hampshire, and that she has absolutely no clue what a class-action suit is or how it works.

The students I am naming in this suit were mostly from Winter 08 term with a few from Fall. Essentially, I am pursuing litigation to see if I have a legal claim, that is, if the inappropriate and unprofessional behavior I was subjected to as a Research Associate and Lecturer at Dartmouth constitutes discrimination and harrassment [sic] on the basis of ethnicity, race and gender. This includes not just students, but a few faculty members that I worked with.

Possibly on the advice of her lawyer, Venkatesan is now making it more clear that she's suing Dartmouth for harassment by her superior in the writing program, but she won't let go of her brilliant idea to also sue the students who didn't like her very much.

According to her Dartmouth bio, Venkatesan's "current position is as Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School, which will form the basis of [her] latest manuscript, A Postmodernist in the Laboratory." We can't believe her bio leaves out the fact that this manuscript will "name names" (so to speak).

Putting the "Class" in Class Action. Also, the "Ligitious and Passive-Aggressive Book-Peddler" in Professor. [IvyGate]

"Tired of potatoes and fearful of eviction, I am waiting to see whether Borders thinks I'm qualified to work as a cashier. Next on the list are Starbucks and McDonald's. The next time you are craving fast food, keep in mind that an Ivy Leaguer might be asking, 'Would you like fries with that?'"

Not quite!

"where is the love for the trannies?"

"There's hoes in teh parking lot."

"i don't think you realize that calling me a whore doesn't faze me."

"are senior societies really a big deal"

"there must be a ridiculous curve coming in that class, since 80% of the football team is in it and on SA the median grade was an A-"

"meeting people for random consensual fun isn't toolish"

BO-RING. Back to Craigslist!

During yesterday's show above, Whoopi Goldberg looked like she was seriously contemplating decking Ingraham. We can't say that we particularly blame her! We especially enjoyed the moment when Ingraham asks, "Do you want to win in Iraq, Barbara?" to which Walters answers "Now, come on," while looking at Ingraham as though she's a teenager whose reason has been hormone-hijacked.

During Ingraham's career at Dartmouth College, which we know a little about, Ingraham routinely avoided patronizing restaurants she suspected employed gay waiters, for fear one of them might breathe on her food, thereby infecting her with AIDS. An awkward habit to explain later, when her brother Curtis came out to her!

While working for the conservative campus paper The Dartmouth Review during the 1980s, Ingraham sent an undercover reporter to secretly tape a meeting of gay and lesbian students, under the auspices of pursuing a follow-the-money story on where a mandatory $100-per-student activities fee went. "The View's" latest guest co-host then went on to print the names of those students, who had not been made aware a reporter was present.

The piece she then ran denounced the group as "cheerleaders for latent campus sodomites."

In 1997, Ingraham wrote a piece for The Washington Post lamenting that people continue to judge her for her "deeds and misdeeds in college," and explained the Review story by noting that "The group received college funding but, unlike every other student group receiving a college grant, refused to make public its membership or budget. We wanted to find out how student funds were being spent and to demonstrate the double standard Dartmouth had created by funding the group."

She also apologized for the Review's "callous rhetoric," explaining that since learning of her brother's sexuality, "my views and rhetoric about homosexuality have been tempered—not because Curtis proselytizes on gay rights, but because I have seen him and his companion, Richard, lead their lives with dignity, fidelity and courage."

Hmmm. Okay! Standing up for your rights bad! Courageous (and quiet) dignity good! Embedded homophobic tendencies aside, we're more disturbed by her continual appearance in fraternity basements during Dartmouth's Homecoming, where she has been known to frighten more than a few frat brothers by out-drinking and out-Republican-ing them into the wee hours.

The iPod, of course. AdAge cites a study of college students' preferred brands — the iPod is a 65 percent favorite, which actually seems low to us. The iPod has been touted as having a "halo effect," reminding users of Apple's other products. You buy an iPod and like it so much that when it comes time to buy a new computer, you pick up a MacBook instead of a Dell. The third calendar quarter for student purchases ended last week. We'll see if the trend makes a difference when Apple reports earnings on October 15.

Feb. 24, "I can't believe it's not frat, Friday!":

Being the host might be a big job, but the endeavor is compensated by a little thing called The Home-Court Advantage.

When you're the one behind the bar, you can force that cute dude to hang out right next to you for just about as long as you want (while he waits for you to give him a drink). When he finally looks like he's totally frustrated and ready to leave, you can nonchalantly hand a beer his way, wink, and say: "Hang on a second, let me get a wingman over here." (You've only got about 40 lying around the basement, so you'll find one without a problem.) Once a partner-in-seduction is summoned to schmooze with Cute Dude's buddy, you can (again, nonchalantly) offer him a pong game on the, a-hem, V-I-P table. Throughout the game, you can woo him with heart-wrenching stories about how you painted these basement walls with your own, bare hands. Once the game is over you can warn him of the ferocious blizzard hindering his journey home, and offer him a bed (just upstairs!) as an alternative place-to-crash. When he eventually breaks up with you for prioritizing your sisters over him, you can retaliate by removing his name from your gatekeeper's "Guest List" (permanently, or, at least until you recover from your heartbreak). It will be slightly reassuring to know that his friends will have no choice but to ditch him every weekend, after all, you are a sister at their favorite house on campus."

Dartmouth certainly has an Animal House-induced "booze-or-lose" reputation and, up until yesterday, I was one of those losers. Yes, nine out of ten rocket scientists agree that frats are only fun when you're wasted — but don't be deceived! That doesn't mean you need alcohol to have a good time. As underage, law-abiding, problem-solving individuals, many Dartmouth students survive weekends by turning to various (legal) remedies to sobriety, including: (a) sleep deprivation, (b) extreme malnourishment and (c) Red Bull/Nail Polish Remover lattes. Although these solutions have never failed to dizzy-me-up sufficiently, I always looked forward to the day that I could simply accept a drink from that charming frat dude without landing his house on double-secret probation.

Novack, Wednesday, 9:15 a.m.: Ladies and gentlemen, it has already been one of those weeks. I'm sure you understand. Rush has totally hijacked my brain (or whatever's left of it after two years of membership at Delta Delta Destruction). I'm over-committed, under-caffeinated and I have about one hour to write this column — one hour dissected into tiny five-minute fragments and scattered across my so-busy/so-important/so-sorority-rushed schedule.

Earlier: Dartmouth Gal To Not Spurn Well-Paid Future

Yes, fuck corporate America indeed. Let's free Dartmouth and her peers from the TimesSelect moat!.

When we were kids, my friends and I played a game called MASH. This game forecast whether we would grow up to live in Mansions, Apartments, Shacks, or Houses, what our jobs would be, where in the world we would live, which of our celebrity crushes we would marry, and most importantly, what kind of pet we would have. All we had to do was pick a number 1 through 10 and our destinies would unfold before our eyes. If we didn't like these destinies, we could just play the game again.

Back in our MASH days, our dream jobs were firefighting, I-banking, sales and trading, consulting, wealth management, mergers and acquisitions, and real estate finance. We wanted to live in the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side, Greenwich or Great Neck. We understood that if we failed to find true love after the first shot, we could marry/divorce every crush on our lists. The pet issue was the only one that was really up for grabs. (I'm still crossing my fingers for that designer Labradoodle.)

My class is graduating into a world that is changing faster than ever before. We're living in a weird society today that will most assuredly be weirder tomorrow. By the time my generation takes over the reins, we'll be steering an entirely different pony. Probably a robotic pony. (Oops! That Labradoodle just got bucked off my wish list.)

I Is For Immortality [The Graduates]