Agree- it's hard to know. But the misconduct was probably not black and white (catching somebody gluing extra tails on a rat). It may be more fuzzy, especiall

Agree- it's hard to know. But the misconduct was probably not black and white (catching somebody gluing extra tails on a rat). It may be more fuzzy, especially to a student, who may have undergone training in ethics and had some issues identified as "bad" that maybe aren't obvious. In this (contorted and invented) scenario, I can see it. Like there are "gray areas" in sexual harassment that department training clarifies and says "this is (or is not) sexual harassment." What stood out to me was the fact that he was accused his own advisor BEFORE GETTING HIS PH.D. There is just something wrong here- especially if it's gray area. It's almost like it's not your place at that time (not to mention realizing you are throwing everything away- it's not like somebody is going to pick you up). So, yeah. Weird story.