Entries for October 30, 2006

A homecoming weekend that began with allegations of racism ended in bloodshed at the University of Alabama. An 8-year-old girl who was chasing after a piece of candy was run over by an 18-wheeler carrying a float during Saturday morning's parade, and the night before, a freshman and Iraq war veteran was shot and killed on his way back from the homecoming concert. That concert had already come under fire after administrators decided to split it into two venues: one for the country artist Neal McCoy and another for the rappers the Ying Yang Twins, the Crimson White reports .

Jane Fernandes will not head Gallaudet University, the school's board announced yesterday, in a decision it called "a necessity at this point." Fernandes's appointment had caused weeks of protests that put regular university operations on hold, the Daily Colonial reports. The board's announcement has led those protesters to start partying, reports one blogger who advocated against Fernandes.

Thirty-three percent of 2006 grads took jobs in either finance or consulting, up from just 19 percent two years ago, the MIT Tech reports. A cool chart shows exactly which firms are to blame. Goldman Sachs is high on the list of most improved players--but so is another suspect: MIT.

Democratic candidate Phil Angelides visited the University of California-Los Angeles's campus for the second time in just over two weeks last Thursday, hammering a point he's been focusing on since he took on the famous California governor: college affordability. Angelides advocates lowering state fees, the Daily Bruin reports.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kenyon College President S. Georgia Nugent told a parent at a town hall meeting last week, after the man said he subscribes to the Kenyon Collegian. Nugent, the Collegian dutifully reports, "said the Collegian has taken a particularly negative stance toward the Kenyon administration this year and has not sufficiently reflected positive events on campus."

After a petition stoked controversy, Auburn's student government association held two open forums and created one committee. Eleven months later, the ceremony formerly known as the "Holiday Tree Lighting" will now be called the "Holiday Celebration Featuring the Lighting of the Christmas Tree," the Plainsman reports.

After exposing a fellow student last year by reporting plagiarism allegations that led Kaavya Viswanathan's book and movie deals to die, the Harvard Crimson has taken its critical eye to a new location: its own staff. Last week, the paper announced it was cutting a columnist who borrowed examples from a Slate magazine story without attribution. Today, the paper airs allegations that one of its editorial cartoonists may also be stealing ideas. But no word yet on whether it will ax her, too.

• A video game competition hosted by San Jose State's student union lasted 10 1 /2 hours, the Spartan Daily reports.
• Lots of Michigan faculty, including both the university president and her husband, are giving lots of money to oppose the affirmative action ban on the ballot this November--and very few are giving money to support it, says the Michigan Daily.
• New York University's College of Dentistry will offer free dental care to underserved city kids, in a program that begins tomorrow, the Washington Square News reports.