From Canada to Bosnia, there's been plenty of academic controversies swirling around in the past few weeks, but few ethical discussions have got quite so out of hand as the student, the thong and the screaming professor, writes David Cohen.
In South Africa, a first-year student at the University of Stellenbosch is facing disciplinary action after traumatising an ethics discussion by turning up for class wearing a G-string and "a fun appendage", according to local media reports.
The incident began when Lodi Gouws, a first year student in actuarial science, arrived wearing his unorthodox garb for a session run by Anton van Niekerk, the head of the university's centre for applied ethics.
The joke was intended to add zest to Wilgenhof's "leap-year celebrations" on February 28.
[A] fifth-year theology student, was quoted by the media as saying: "The idea was that students would upset classes by asking funny questions. It was my idea.
"The philosophy class was ideal for this."
Well, perhaps not. The joke turned sour when Dr Van Niekerk failed to regard Mr Gouws's outfit as a laughing matter. According to the student, the professor "screamed" at him to leave the class.
The university was now investigating the incident, and had started disciplinary steps against the professor, Mr Gouws and four other attendees - one of whom had argued for the university to create positions for male cheerleaders, another who allegedly pointed a water pistol at the professor during the ethics discussion, and somebody else on crutches who allegedly "fell to the floor" while this was taking place.
