(I'm not friends with anyone who went on this trip myself but I've heard a lot about it through the grapevine so just read this knowing it's all second hand knowledge.)

Professor Ben Marwick (archaeology) took a group of students to Vietnam over the summer for an archaeological field school. This was run through UW and technically a summer quarter class so they had to pay for tuition, airfare, accommodations, etc. After they got there, Marwick informed them that they would not, in fact, be allowed to dig. This is because the students each needed a special permit that had to be picked up individually in San Francisco - but no one was told they needed it.

The kicker is Marwick had gone down to get his, but neglected to tell everyone they needed to as well, apparently because he figured people would think it was too much of a hassle to go all that way and if they knew no one would sign up for his field school. Apparently he tried to convince (/maybe bribe but I'm not sure if that was the case, I've heard this part from the rumor-mill) the archaeological governing body in Vietnam to let them dig anyway. They refused.

So basically about 15-20 20-somethings were stuck in Vietnam for 4 weeks doing tourist stuff and not getting the dig experience they were promised and expected and sending the world's most RANCID vibes towards Marwick the whole time.