Oddly Enough

Our money or your life: Police using teargas freed Niger's ambassador to Ivory Coast last week after around 200 of his country's students took him hostage. The ambassador was unhurt in the incident and embassy staff said that the two sides were meeting to try to resolve their differences over three months of unpaid grants. The incident was not related to unrest among Ivorian students themselves, whose demands cover grants and study conditions. Impoverished Niger has had trouble raising cash to pay for its students learning abroad. One Niger student said that seven others had been hurt trying to escape from the embassy. There were no arrests. Students briefly detained the ambassador on 22 May to press the same demands.

The Full Monty: A college instructor was fired and his course abruptly cancelled after he persuaded almost two dozen students to take off their clothes during a class on shamanism. Lennart Aastrup, an instructor at Langara College in Vancouver, asked the students to strip to better understand energy patterns in the body. The class was held in April in a rented room in a building owned by Vancouver General Hospital, but action was only taken recently, after program manager Ruth Lamb heard about the nudity. None of the 23 adults enrolled had filed a complaint, but there were reports that a few students were uncomfortable with the nudity. A college spokeswoman said the students were happy with the course and wanted it to continue, although they agreed that probably the method of delivery was "not appropriate for a community college". She added that Aastrup's lesson is a legitimate part of the course, but said the college expects students to remain clothed.