Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Was Failing Many College Courses

[DonViejo]

TOM KLUDT 4:52 PM EDT, FRIDAY APRIL 19, 2013

Although he received an academic scholarship in high school, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was failing several of the university courses he took in 2012 and 2013, according to the New York Times.

Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old at large suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, won a $2,500 scholarship awarded to promising high school students in Cambridge, Mass., but his academic excellence did not extend to the university level. From the Times:

Dzhokhar might have done well academically in high school, but according to a university transcript reviewed by The New York Times, he was failing many of his college classes. The transcript shows him receiving seven failing grades over two semesters in 2012 and 2013, including F’s in Principles of Modern Chemistry, Intro American Politics, and Chemistry and the Environment. According to the transcript, Dzhokhar received a B in Critical Writing and a D and D-plus in two other courses.

UMass Dartmouth confirmed that Tsarnaev is registered at the school, but it is unclear if he was attending classes there. The school ordered a campus-wide evacuation on Friday after confirming the suspect's ties to the university.

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http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-was-failing-many-college-courses

[Floyd_Gondolli]

1. Sounds like he had his mind on other things

Wonder how they got the transcript anyway? That's more interesting than what's in it.

[gordianot]

18. Not surprised they got it, I am more surprised someone released they got it.

In these situations not much Federal law enforcement cannot get in the name of Homeland security in spite of FERPA there are loopholes.

[Floyd_Gondolli]

21. Yeah, that's what I meant

Most likely was leaked from a govt. source to the media, not directly to the media from the university. Still, interesting.

[HereSince1628]

22. fasfa violation if a school released it to the public

though it isn't as if some family member will file a law suit

[undeterred]

2. Since when do colleges release grades to the news media?

[cali]

5. I doubt they did but someone evidently leaked his transcripts

[DonViejo]

12. I'm guessing they didn't release it to the Times...

but it was leaked to them by a source, e.g., an investigator. Massachusetts has very stringent (I'm not complaining) privacy rules.

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. It's a violation of federal law...you can't release grades to a student's PARENTS without say so

FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

[LisaL]

17. Yes, I am sure that is the biggest concern now.

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. It is obviously of no concern; nevertheless, it is against the law

I'm not the least bit concerned with the outright FERPA violation. I was merely answering the previous poster's question. Whoever released those grades to the Times was not supposed to do so.

[snagglepuss]

3. .

[cali]

7. that's the brother

[undeterred]

8. I think that report was for the older brother who was married

and not for the 19 year old who was at college.

[LisaL]

10. No, he was a US citizen. He got his citizenship recently.

The older brother was the one denied citizenship.

[nolabear]

16. OOPS! Sorry! Deleting.

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. This is a pretty severe FERPA violation...whoever supplied that to the Times is

going to be fired.

This looks to have been planned for a good while. He becomes a US citizen on 9/11/12? Come on. He's failing his classes, presumably Spring Semester 12, Fall Semester 12? Seven of them? He was going to be separated from the university. This guy had checked out by this time last year.

He became a citizen to buy guns, period.

[riderinthestorm]

30. Agreed. Motivated high school student suddenly loses interest in college after brother returns from

6 months abroad in an area rife with Islamic Chechen radicalism.

He became a citizen to buy guns.

I'm now more convinced than ever that there's an organization behind these two. This was planned for a very long time

[mikeysnot]

9. He also lost a gold glove match to a Chicago boxer

who past last December...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-boxer-faced-marathon-suspect-in-the-ring-and-won-20130419,0,3136286.story

The decision was with controversy, so he might have had a chip on his shoulder...

m

[LisaL]

15. That is not the 19 year old.

Older brother was a boxer.

[mikeysnot]

19. My bad, but it seems they were both distracted..

[kestrel91316]

11. Probably was too busy studying The Anarchist's Cookbook to bother with his coursework.

[JI7]

13. because he was too busy planning up Terror Attacks

[HereSince1628]

23. it's all part of demonizing the bad guy

And that is what our psycho-social cognitive motivators are demanding

[Gin]

24. Read the article about his wife.....she left him and moved back home to RI and her parents

With the kid......bet she has a good story to tell

[Bucky]

26. Reading about Marina Oswald, who was in a similar position in 1963...

it seems that the media and the public generally agreed by concensus to leave her and her kids alone and not scorn her for her husband's acts. And this was a Russian emigre at the hottest peak of the Cold War. I hope today society shows the same level of class & courtesy. I doubt it, but I do hope.

[Mass]

25. And they got the transcript how?

Even if the college had given the transcript to reporters, it has been closed for most of the day.

[d_r]

27. banner

different colleges do different things, but it is pretty common that faculty and advisers can pull it up with a web browser. I'm guessing this came from the investigators though, they were probably gathering as much info as they could and someone got sloppy with it in all the confusion.

[Mass]

28. And, with the success the media have had these last few days and in December,

I guess we have to trust them and accept what they say as facts.

Guys, I will wait until our gov tells us the story. I believe him. I dont believe the media any more.

[d_r]

29. yeah

this is a time when information is moving at a speed faster than we have systems in place to handle.

[FarCenter]

31. College IT systems are generally pretty insecure.