Professor Will Stop Asking Students to Drink Fake Urine

An assistant professor of physiology at Brigham Young University has been told to stop asking students to drink what they think is urine during a class demonstration, the Associated Press reported. The professor, Jason Hansen, told the AP that he has on multiple occasions asked students to drink a secret mixture of water, vinegar and food coloring during a lesson on hydration. "This is usually a fun way to teach this concept to the class," he said. But a student reportedly complained to a local TV news station, saying she didn’t know the mixture was fake and that the lesson went too far.

Dixon Woodbury, Hansen’s department chair, said in a statement that Hansen has been told to skip the demo next time he teaches the lesson, but that no disciplinary action will be taken. "The apparent requirement of drinking someone else's urine is inappropriate, but it was neither required nor actually urine, so was considered a learning opportunity," Woodbury said.