NU dean cleared of plagiarism

Northwestern University's provost says he's found no violation of school policy in connection with a column written by the dean of the Medill School of Journalism. Provost Daniel Linzer says in an letter sent to an alumni e-mail group that he had appointed a committee to review journalism dean John Lavine's citations of unnamed students in two letters written for an alumni magazine last year. Earlier this month, 16 Medill journalism professors, lecturers and the former dean signed a statement saying the "matter has become a crisis for the school." A group of journalism students also had circulated a petition calling on Lavine to provide notes or sources for his letters.