When the Cuckoo has no nest
Business Times - 15 Jan 2011 When the Cuckoo has no nest The effort to protect the rights of the mentally ill has reached a point where an attempt to cure a problem ends up creating unintended costly consequences By LEON HADAR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT IN 2007, Georgia's Valdosta State University (VSU) expelled a student for posting a Microsoft Paint collage in Facebook mocking a parking garage that the school president had referred to as part of his 'legacy'. According to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a nonprofit organisation dedicated to protecting the rights of students and faculty, VSU claimed that the collage's reference to the 'President Zacari Memorial Parking Garage', was an actionable threat upon the president's life. The student, a decorated medical technician and a Buddhist, was expelled via a note slipped under his room door. I recalled these and other incidents detailed by FIRE that involve the expulsion of students ac...