Better Believe It......Because They Actually Happen(ed) Collection 71 |
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School rips out mirrors to get kids back in class By Sarah-May Buccieri  Headteacher Grant Edgar says students often gather in "large groups" in toilets A school has removed all mirrors from its toilets because pupils are spending too much time in them. Grant Edgar, headteacher of William Farr Comprehensive School in Welton, near Lincoln, said: "Mirrors can encourage students to spend too much time in toilets often in large groups". Mr Edgar added this can make some children feel "uncomfortable". However, one parent said the decision was "silly" and "a bit extreme" while another said it was "strange".  Messages demanding the return of the mirrors have appeared on the walls Mr Edgar said the academy faced "some issues at transition times" and this could "affect punctuality to lessons". Mirrors, according to Mr Edgar, "encourage" students to spend too much time in toilets and students often gathered there in "large groups". "This can make it uncomfortable for some students to use the toilets," he said. If students require a mirror "for a medical purpose", they can ask for one at reception. Full story at BBC News (March 2025) |
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Seedy teacher QUITS after watching porn while laptop was hooked to projector…but school wanted to KEEP him By Nadia Sayed And Will Stewart A teacher has quit after admitting to watching porn during a Physics lesson full of 13 and 14 year old pupils, despite saying it was "unintentional". Shocking footage showed Razif Nurgaliev, 62, who has been a teacher at the school in Bashkortostan for around 40 years, smirking while watching porn after setting work for his physics class.  Razif Nurgaliev was filmed watching porn while teaching a physics lesson. Credit: East2West
 Razif Nurgaliev was filmed watching porn while teaching a Physics lesson. Credit: East2West He "unknowingly" displayed the X-rated footage to his class, after he forgot his laptop was connected to the main screen in the classroom. The footage was filmed by one of the pupils from behind his Physics textbook and went viral in Russia. But the school, which is in Tashkinovo village, near Neftekamsk city, initially refused to suspend Nurgaliev. Instead, a school source tried to blame the pupils for playing a prank on the veteran teacher. Nurgaliev said he had been trying to open an online journal and did not intend to watch the explicit material. However, he finally admitted: “I clicked on something, and some website opened.” Full story at The Sun US (March 2025) |
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Terminally ill Stanford professor teaches class about dying from cancer By Elizabeth Cooki  Stanford professor Dr. Bryant Lin teaching a class on dying from lung cancer as he battles a terminal diagnosis of the disease A Stanford University professor's new curriculum explores the multiple aspects and phases of a person dying of cancer, and it comes from a person with first-hand knowledge. Dr. Bryant Lin has been a professor for almost two decades. He's used to being the teacher, not the subject of his classes. But that all changed in 2024 when he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. "I ended up having stage four, which is the most advanced stage of lung cancer. Which is not considered curable at all," explained Lin. "So, I am going to die from this." The diagnosis was a dose of cruel irony. Lin co-founded the Center for Asian Health Research and Education. One of the priorities for the foundation is researching non-small cell adenocarcinoma, also known as "never-smoker lung cancer," the same cancer diagnosis that Lin received. "Lung cancer in people who have never smoked ... disproportionately affects Asians and particularly Asian women," said Lin. "I have become the poster child for this disease." Within weeks, Lin was in a chemotherapy infusion chair receiving the same treatment as his patients. It was here that he saw an opportunity. "How can I make lemonade from lemons?" said Lin. "When I was a student, if I heard of a class that was taught by somebody who's both a physician and a patient, it would have so much changed my perspective." The class is called "From diagnosis to dialogue: A doctor's real-time battle with cancer." Within minutes of being posted, the class and the waitlist were full. Full story at CBS News (March 2025) |
Trump signs order gutting Department of Education while surrounded by kids  Growing concern over Trump’s dismantling of DOE | Shutting down the department requires congressional approval, but President Donald Trump says it is already the smallest cabinet level agency and nearly half of the staff have already been laid off. By Katherine Faulders, Rachel Scott And Arthur Jones II President Donald Trump, surrounded by schoolchildren sitting at desks, signed an executive order that aims to further gut the Department of Education at the White House on Thursday. The order, titled "Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities," directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take all necessary steps to shrink the Department of Education.  President Donald Trump holds an executive order after signing it alongside US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon (R) in the East Room of the White house in Washington, Mar. 20, 2025. Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images "Today we take a historic action that was 45 years in the making," he said, noting that his order will "begin eliminating the federal Department of Education." The move has been months in the making and will help the president fulfill his campaign promise of returning education power and decisions to the states. "We're going to eliminate it," Trump said. "Everybody knows it's right, and the Democrats know it's right." However, congressional approval is required to abolish a federal agency, and McMahon has acknowledged she would need Congress to carry out the president's vision to close the department she's been tapped to lead. It would take 60 "yes" votes in the Senate to overcome the filibuster and dismantle the department that Congress created. Full story at The ABC News (March 2025) |
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Students wore KKK robes as part of assignment, says UiTM The university says it does not find the stunt religiously offensive.  A screenshot of the video depicting students in KKK robes. PETALING JAYA: Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) today defended a group of students who had worn Ku Klux Klan (KKK) robes on its campus in Dengkil, saying the move was part of an assignment on legal issues. In a statement, UiTM also said it did not find the stunt religiously offensive. According to the university, the students’ presentation centred on discrimination based on skin colour, a practice found in several countries.
“The costumes were part of a visual to help provide a better understanding and appreciation of the topic,” it said. |
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More than 1,000 international students and graduates in the US have had their visas revoked or statuses terminated By Caroll Alvarado, Javon Huynh And Amanda Musa  Students and faculty from the City University of New York (CUNY) hold a rally in in lower Manhattan Friday in support of international students who have had their visas revoked by the Trump administration. Credit:
Michael Nigro/Sipa USA/AP (CNN) — The Trump administration has revoked hundreds of student visas in nearly every corner of the country as part of a vast immigration crackdown – and few universities know why. More than 1,000 international students and recent graduates at more than 130 schools in the US have had their visas or statuses revoked in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System this year, according to university statements and spokespeople. Colleges and universities in 40 states have confirmed the visa and status termination of their students to CNN. At Middle Tennessee State University, six students from countries in Asia, Europe and the Middle East had their visas revoked, according to university spokesperson Jimmy Hart. “The University does not know the specific reason(s) for the visa status changes, only that they were changed within the federal database that monitors them,” Hart said. Several university statements said the government did not provide a reason for its actions. In most cases, universities discovered the visa revocations by checking the system. Only a handful of universities said they knew why their students’ visas or SEVIS accounts were terminated. “In the last few weeks, the US Department of Homeland Security has revoked the visa status of four international students at the UO based on unspecified criminal charges,” said Eric Howald, a spokesperson for the University of Oregon. “The university was not informed in advance and has not been given details about the nature of the criminal charges.” It is unclear if all the students whose visas have been terminated have to immediately leave the country or can stay to continue their education. Full story at CNN (April 2025) |
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Japanese singer flies 4 hours daily to university, gaining admiration for commitment Pop idol’s gruelling daily schedule begins with putting on make-up at 5am before arriving at university around 10am for classes  By Zoey Zhang A pop singer in Japan who wakes up at 5am and makes a four-hour round trip to attend university has earned praise for her commitment to both her education and her career. Yuzuki Nakashima, 22, is a member of the popular Japanese girl group Sakurazaka46. She has gained nearly 100,000 followers on social media thanks to her sweet looks, charming voice and energetic personality. Recently, Nakashima shared a vlog documenting her daily school commute, which quickly attracted attention online. While she lives in Tokyo for her entertainment career, her university is in Fukuoka, about 1,000km away in southwestern Japan.  Japanese singer Yuzuki Nakashima has almost 100,000 followers on social media. Photo: QQ.com In the video, Nakashima reveals that attending this university had been her dream since secondary school. Due to the distance, she flies every day to get to class. Her routine starts at 5am when she applies her make-up, she then heads to Haneda Airport at 6am to catch the first flight. Nakashima arrives in Kitakyushu Airport at around 9.30am, then take a taxi or bus to the campus in Fukuoka. The one-way journey takes more than two hours and costs more than 15,000 yen (US$105) each day. To make use of her time, Nakashima studies and completes her homework during the commute Full story at South China Morning Post (April 2025) |
Harvard files lawsuit against Trump administration  Photo by Grace DuVal By Alvin Powell Filing argues freeze of research funding violates First Amendment, laws, procedures Harvard filed a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration, arguing its freeze on research funding is unconstitutional and “flatly unlawful” and calling on the court to restore more than $2.2 billion in research dollars. The filing, in U.S. District Court in Boston, requests that the court vacate and set aside the funding freeze to allow previously approved funding to flow and halt administration efforts to freeze current or deny future funding without engaging in procedures contained in federal law. In a message to the community Monday, President Alan Garber said the suit was prompted by steps the government took over the last week, after the University rejected administration demands for changes to Harvard’s governance, hiring, and admissions policies, and to ensure “viewpoint diversity” in part through audits of viewpoints of students, faculty, and staff. Garber described those changes — contained in an April 11 letter from the government — as intrusive and said they’d impose “unprecedented and improper control over the University.” Garber noted some Trump administration representatives have said since April 11 that the letter was sent by mistake. But he said other statements and the administration’s actions since don’t bear that out. Within hours of Harvard’s rejection of White House demands, the administration doubled down by announcing a freeze of $2.2 billion in funding and has since said it is considering revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status and threatening the education of international students. In addition, Garber said, the administration is considering freezing an additional $1 billion in funding. “Moments ago, we filed a lawsuit to halt the funding freeze because it is unlawful and beyond the government’s authority,” Garber said. “Before taking punitive action, the law requires that the federal government engage with us about the ways we are fighting and will continue to fight antisemitism. Instead, the government’s April 11 demands seek to control whom we hire and what we teach.” Full story at The Harvard Gazette (April 2025) |
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Teenage girl killed in French school stabbing attack By Maia Davies  Armed French officers were seen outside the school on Thursday after four students were stabbed A teenage girl has been killed and three students were injured in a stabbing at a private school in western France. The attack took place at Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides school in Nantes on Thursday afternoon. The attacker is said to have been arrested at the scene after being restrained by a teacher. A significant police presence and emergency services were sent to the school, with army officers also present. It has since been evacuated. Eye-witness accounts in local media described students running through the site, with some confined to classrooms after an alarm was sounded around lunch time. Families were informed of the knife attack and told students had been immediately held inside the school. Authorities helped students gradually leave the site from 15:30 local time (13:30 GMT), as some parents waited nearby. One father told the Reuters news agency they were "waiting to hold them [our children] in our arms" and "help deal with the stress this will have caused". The school has around 2,000 students and educates pupils from nursery through to high school, according to its website. Full story at BBC News (April 2025) |
