Women who was denied teaching degree because of Myspace picture sues university

[mandy]

A woman denied a teaching degree on the eve of graduation because of a MySpace photo has sued the university.

Millersville University instead granted Stacy Snyder a degree in English last year after learning of her Web-published picture, which bore the caption “Drunken Pirate.”...

The photo, taken at a 2005 Halloween party, shows Snyder wearing a pirate hat while drinking from a plastic “Mr. Goodbar” cup. It was posted on her own MySpace site...

Jane S. Bray, dean of the School of Education, accused Snyder of promoting underage drinking, the suit states...

full article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18372103/

The woman was 25 at the time the photo was taken.

[mandy]

Update:

In what may be one of the most frightening rulings regarding social networks and privacy to date, a federal judge has ruled against a former student of Millersville University of Pennsylvania who was denied her college degree because of an unseemly online photo and its accompanying caption found on her social network profile...

full article: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/soc...degree.php

Today, a circuit court judge who heard the case decided in favor of the school.

Snyder's attorney Mark Voigt said the court essentially ruled that his client was an employee of the school because part of her program required the student-teaching assignment at a local school. However, he said, she was neither was paid for the work nor had signed a contract.

"Because she was some sort of de facto employee, she got fewer rights than would be afforded the average student," Voigt said. "If they treated her as a student, [the university] would have had to demonstrate that her online speech substantially disrupted classroom activities."...

full article: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securit...er_in.html