Professor gets $750,000 after a fire destroyed his Einstein papers

A Northern California family must pay $750,000 for a massive 2007 wildfire that destroyed papers written by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein, a jury decided, reports the Huffington Post. The Santa Clara County jury came to its verdict last week against Margaret Pavese, her husband, Lawrence, and her father-in-law, Ernest, in a negligence lawsuit filed by San Jose State University chemistry professor Dan Straus, the San Jose Mercury News reported Tuesday…

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Cornell student’s mother files suit in fraternity hazing death

The mother of a 19-year-old Cornell University student who died during an alcohol-related fraternity hazing ritual has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the national fraternity, the Huffington Post reports. Marie Lourdes Andre filed the lawsuit Monday in Brooklyn against the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. The suit seeks at least $25 million in damages…

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4 reject probation deals in Columbia U. drug case

Four of five Columbia University students arrested in what authorities described as a major crackdown on drug dealing on the Ivy League campus rejected no-jail plea deals Tuesday in hopes of wiping the legal slate clean by getting drug treatment instead, reports the Associated Press. Noting the students’ previously clean records, the city Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s office said it would agree to probation if Christopher Coles, Adam Klein, Jose Stephan Perez and Michael Wymbs pleaded guilty to felony charges. But defense lawyers said their clients were drug users and would be better rehabilitated through a treatment program…

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Supreme Court gives Microsoft small victory, say patent experts

Although the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected Microsoft’s appeal of a four-year-old patent dispute, the company’s efforts were not wasted, legal experts said today, reports ComputerWorld. In an 8-0 ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed lower court decisions that forced Microsoft to modify its popular Word program and put it on the hook for a $300 million payment to a small Canadian developer…

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Yale lab technician sentenced in killing of graduate student

A former animal research technician was sentenced yesterday to 44 years in prison for killing a Yale University graduate student days before her wedding in 2009, the Associated Press reports. Before the sentence, anguished relatives described how plans to celebrate her marriage suddenly turned to unimaginable grief as they returned home with her body in a coffin…

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Feds offer more guidance on eReader accessibility in college

Arizona State University was among the schools that violated federal rules for eReader use.

Federal rules for how eReaders can legally be used by colleges and universities were clarified by the U.S. Education Department (ED) May 26 after advocates for blind and low-vision students criticized eReader pilot programs on several campuses in 2010.

ED’s latest list of guidelines, published online in a “frequently asked questions” format, reiterate that students who are blind “must be afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as sighted students” when campus officials launch initiatives that put eReaders in students’ hands.

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Dharun Ravi pleads not guilty in Tyler Clementi webcam case

A former Rutgers student accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate’s same-sex encounter pleaded not guilty Monday to 15 charges including bias intimidation, invasion of privacy and evidence tampering, the Associated Press reports. It was the first court appearance for 19-year-old Dharun Ravi, the main suspect in the crimes allegedly committed against Tyler Clementi, a fellow Rutgers freshman who killed himself days after the alleged spying. His death sparked a nationwide conversation about bullying against young gays…

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‘Trump University’ being investigated by NY AG

A for-profit university operated by real estate mogul Donald Trump is being investigated by the New York Attorney General’s office, the Associated Press reports. A spokesman for the Trump Entrepreneurial Initiative acknowledged receiving an inquiry from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office and said the organization would cooperate with the probe. A person familiar with the situation tells the Associated Press that Schneiderman’s office is looking into clams that the developer and TV host exaggerated Trump University’s success. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe hasn’t yet been made public. The person says Schneiderman is investigating four other for-profit schools in a case looking at deceptive business practices. He’s found more than a dozen credible complaints…

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3 more teens in Mass. bullying case head to court

Three more Massachusetts teenagers accused of driving a classmate to suicide with their bullying are expected to agree to deals in the case, the Associated Press reports. The deals for Ashley Longe, Flannery Mullins and Sharon Velazquez are expected to be finalized Thursday in Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court. Two other teens agreed to deals on Wednesday and sentenced to a year of probation…

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Plea deal in Mass. bullying case

One of six teens charged in the notorious Massachusetts bullying case of a 15-year-old Irish immigrant who committed suicide has struck a plea agreement with prosecutors, according to new court documents, the Associated Press reports. If accepted by a judge, 17-year-old Sharon Chanon Velazquez’s plea deal would be the first criminal case resolved in connection with South Hadley High School freshman Phoebe Prince’s suicide…

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