Yet Another UMDNJ Scandal

This time, it is a hazing scandal involving KKK stylings.

Officials are still investigating the incident -- first reported Friday by The Star-Ledger -- which involves at least three paramedics who were fired this past week over the photos. The images show the alleged hazing last Sunday of two Northeastern University students on a clinical rotation with EMS crews in Newark.

In one photo released by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which operates the hospital and its EMS department, two students are draped in white sheets resembling robes of the Klan. A University Hospital paramedic is adjusting the sheet of one student while the other holds a wooden cross assembled with surgical tape and gauze. None of those involved was a person of color.

UMDNJ president William F. Owen, who disclosed details of the incident on Friday, said investigators who have talked with other paramedics believe the incident was sparked by a racist video downloaded from the website YouTube. He said the students were apparently pressured to participate. They immediately left the campus and returned to the Boston university, Northeastern officials said.

The state medical university said it has been in contact with law enforcement officials, but UMDNJ general counsel Lester Aron yesterday questioned whether the incident could be viewed as a bias crime because it was not directed at anyone.

Prior scandals have included no-show jobs, federal monitors resulting from Medicare fraud, and yet the school plods on.

So far, three people related to the incident have been fired. That's a good start.