Graduate student Megan Thode wasn’t happy about the C-plus she received for one class, saying the mediocre grade kept her from getting her desired degree and becoming a licensed therapist — and, as a result, cost her $1.3 million in lost earnings, the Associated Press reports. Now Thode is suing her professor and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, claiming monetary damages and seeking a grade change. A judge is hearing testimony in the case this week in Northampton County Court. Lehigh and the professor contend her lawsuit is without merit. Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano declined to dismiss the suit Wednesday, ruling that there was enough evidence for the suit to proceed, according to The (Easton) Express-Times (http://bit.ly/Ye2Aj1). Thode took the class in the fall of 2009. Her instructor, Amanda Eckhardt, testified this week that she stood by the grade, saying Thode failed to behave professionally and thus earned zero out of 25 points in class participation, bumping her down a full letter grade…
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Lehigh loses in NCAA tournament, but scores big on Google
Across the nation, a single question formed in the minds of tens of thousands of college basketball fans last Thursday at 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, reports the Morning Call of Allentown, Pa.: What’s this ”Lehigh University”? Google was flooded with searches about Lehigh just as its men’s basketball team squared off against No. 1-ranked University of Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City. Google listed ”Lehigh University” as its No. 2 ”Hot Search” for Thursday, with a spike in searches that peaked at tip-off time. For comparison, searches about Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock’s rumored problems with husband Jesse James ranked eighth on Google’s list. ”Yeah? That’s impressive,” said senior guard Marquis Hall Friday on learning of his team’s internet fame. ”It’s great exposure for the school to have your name out there when you’re in the tournament.” Despite taking a lead in the game’s early moments, 16th-seeded Lehigh fell to Kansas, 90-74. But in terms of publicity, Lehigh officials see the televised game and its online popularity as a huge win. The game was aired on TV in at least 44 percent of the nation, and that percentage increased as other games wrapped up and the Kansas-Lehigh game got tighter, said university spokesman Bill Doherty. At the same time, internet traffic to the university’s web site jumped more than 65 percent…
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