College News Briefs

Penn Student Arrested for Alleged Underwear Robbery
A student at the University of Pennsylvania was arrested last week for allegedly stealing women’s underwear, CBS3 Philadelphia reported.

Diexia Wang, a senior at Penn, was charged with burglary, criminal trespassing, harassment, and theft.

Wang is accused of stalking several girls and stealing high-end purses in addition to various women’s undergarments. He was arrested when residents of a dorm called the police after they found him in a girl’s room with a stolen key. Wang had told them that he was “waiting for a friend.”

Local police believe Wang is also responsible for several other “bizarre incidents” on campus.

Wang was freed after his parents posted 10 percent of the $200,000 bail.

Intelligent Design May Have Swayed Tenure Case of Iowa State Prof

Iowa State University assistant professor of astronomy Guillermo Gonzales’ belief in intelligent design may have damaged his tenure case long before he was officially denied, raising concerns about academic freedom on university campuses, the Des Moines Register reported.

According to e-mails acquired by the Register, other professors in the department expressed concern about Gonzales’s advocacy of intelligent design at least a year before the tenure vote

Iowa State officials stressed the fact that while Gonzales’ support for intelligent design was discussed, his academic activity and publishing record, which had trailed off significantly in recent years, were the main factors in the decision.

Gonzales has the second most citations in the physics department, but most came from his postdoctoral days, a fact that officials noted when emphasizing the importance of “recent” scholarly work.

Former Penn Prof Admits to Fatally Beating Wife
Former University of Pennsylvania professor of economics Rafael Robb pleaded guilty last week to beating his wife to death last year, CNN reported.

According to CNN, Robb faces between four and seven years in prison for bludgeoning his wife with a metal chin-up bar as she was wrapping Christmas presents, to such an extent that investigators initially thought she was shot with a shotgun at close range. Robb told the judge that he “just lost it” during an argument.

Robb initially tried to make the crime seem like a burglary, throwing away the weapon in a downtown trash can in Philadelphia.

Robb was convicted of voluntary manslaughter after prosecutors felt unsure they had enough evidence to convict him on a first-degree murder charge.

Montgomery County prosecutor Bruce Castor called the case “a classic heat-of-passion killing.”

—Chris Lim