Odds and ends, 5/7/09

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — It wasn’t Nemo’s habit of sleeping through Bill Palmer’s history lectures at Marshall University that got him kicked out of school.

It was his potential to frighten and make students ill that prompted the Board of Governors to boot the black Labrador and others like him from all campus buildings.

“We’re just trying to err on the side of caution. It’s not worth the risk,” said Marshall University spokesman Bill Bissett.

But the new policy, which took effect this week, doesn’t sit well with Nemo’s owner, who said Nemo had become a sort of mascot for the history department.

“He is not a threat to the department and he contributes to the welcoming atmosphere we like to have in history department,” said Palmer, who has taught at Marshall for 25 years.

Although Nemo isn’t a guide dog or assistance dog or any of the semiofficial service animals that are exempt from the policy, Palmer says the walks to class and between classes helped the dog deal with his own disability.

The 7-year-old Lab needs regular exercise to overcome a physical deformity on his front legs, he said.

Bissett said the board’s decision was guided by complaints from people who are afraid of dogs or allergic to them. He noted that even the most well-behaved dogs like Nemo can become unpredictable or uncontrollable.

I'm guessing that last sentence was the clincher in the decision to ban dogs from class, and to me it was a good decision. One bite and the resulting lawsuit could cost the university a lot of money so, what, a professor could bring his dog to class?

I'm not the comfortable around large dogs I don't know. My youngest, who was knocked down and pinned down by two Great Danes when he was about 4 or 5 years old, doesn't like unfamiliar dogs, either. Dogs have no place in a classroom unless they are pertinent to that specific day's lesson.

Dog lovers may argue, but I don't care. Dogs don't belong in workplaces unless they are needed for the work done there.

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On a totally different (I think) topic, has anyone else noticed that since the recession began, we've heard next to nothing about Paris Hilton?

When I mentioned this to a coworker, she said, "Something good has come of the recession."

I did a search of news items bearing her name, and there have been some recently, but really, no one seems to care. And that's good.

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland became the first state in the nation to extend hate-crimes protection to homeless people under a bill signed Thursday by Gov. Martin O’Malley.

Okay. How many protected classes of people do we need? If one group is protected by a hate crime law, why can't all groups, thus eliminating the need for hate crime legislation?