Professors and Fauxfessors behaving badly

When one thinks of scandalous lifestyles, university professors probably don't come to mind. But little did you know that once those books and thick-lensed glasses are put away, the real fun begins. In the past few weeks, Beijing University has been hit with two scandals involving both real and not-so-real professors.

First off, a legitimate Beida professor was convicted of soliciting a foreign prostitute on Monday. Despite attempts at portraying the tryst as a romantic one-night stand, the court wasn't convinced that there was sufficient evidence of "emotional factors" in the coupling, especially in light of the 1,500 yuan paid for services rendered. Professor Zhu's appeal was dismissed and is now serving a fourteen day administrative detention awaiting further sentencing.

Then, last week, a Henan farmer was convicted of scamming unwitting teachers and students by convincing them he was a professor at Beida. Chen Hui, 41, would pose outside the Shanghai train station carrying foreign language books and speaking in English on a cell phone, props he then used to convince others that he was an English professor.

Once he gained their trust, he would scam them out of money: He stole one victim's bank card, replacing it with a fake, and withdrew money from her account. Another victim was convinced that his professorial status would help her get into the prestigious university, and sent him money for his "services." According to the court, Chen stole 13,600 yuan in total. He was fined 6,000 yuan and sentenced to a five year jail sentence.

We guess these sordid stories from Beijing's premier university prove that you can't judge a bookworm by its cover.

Photo from Sina.com.cn