Dr. Sir Paul McCartney Graduates From Yale, Pictures

You may have seen a link to this story in yesterday’s Daily Links, but there are new pictures. SI Campus Clicks said it best, “As if being a member of The Beatles wasn’t enough, Sir Paul McCartney is now Dr. Sir Paul McCartney after receiving an honorary doctor of music degree from Yale University on Monday.”

At the ripe old age of 65, Paul “the cute one” McCartney, still drives the girls bonkers. Good chance the girl in the back never washes her hand again. [SI Campus Clicks]

Harvard Law Prof Argues Marijuana Trial

Most marijuana users who get caught smoking a joint summarily pay a fine, but when an undercover police officer detained Richard E. Cusick and R. Keith Stroup, the two chose instead to challenge the constitutionality of Massachusetts laws banning marijuana for the first time in 30 years.

Arrested for sharing a marijuana cigarette at the annual Boston Freedom Rally in September, Cusick and Stroup turned to Harvard Law School professor Charles R. Nesson (class of 1960) for legal counsel. Nesson and his clients acknowledged that they had used the illegal drug, and decided upon an unusual defense: they argued that the statute outlawing marijuana in Massachusetts has no “rational basis,” and that the jury has the power of jury nullification, or ruling a defendant innocent while recognizing that he or she had violated a law. [The Harvard Crimson]

Students Fail — and Professor Loses Job

Who is to blame when students fail? If many students fail—a majority even—does that demonstrate faculty incompetence, or could it point to a problem with standards?

These are the questions at the center of a dispute that cost Steven D. Aird his job teaching biology at Norfolk State University. Today is his last day of work, but on his way out, he has started to tell his story — one that he suggests points to large educational problems at the university and in society. [Inside Highered]