Entries for January 09, 2007

"They always start with the family members first," the attorney of a University of Pennsylvania professor told the Daily Pennsylvanian, after a local district attorney announced the professor is the prime suspect in his wife's murder. "Nevertheless," the DP writes, economics Prof. "Rafael Robb, 56, will not be returning to teach at Penn this semester, university spokeswoman Lori Doyle said." No papers to grade for now. Instead, Robb yesterday got handed an arrest warrant--for charges of first and third degree murder, the DP reports.

After "a mathematically improbable run of 207 consecutive losses," the Beavers broke their streak this weekend, the AP reports. More newsworthy, perhaps, for the Cal Tech athletic program, is that the AP paid attention at all. And it wasn't alone! "National Public Radio, KNBC in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times, and the college basketball website D3hoops.com" also covered the basketball win--and, the press office continues, "A story about the victory will also appear in the January 15 issue of Sports Illustrated." That ends the most likely even longer run of consecutive weeks in which math nerds did not appear in the sports magazine.

The good ship Democracy has finally landed. Your votes will decide who tops the first annual Best College Newspapers of 2006 rankings and who doesn't: whether the Ivy League tops these rankings like it tops the others or whether it doesn't; whether Aleksey Vayner gets even more famous or whether he doesn't . . .

The rules are pretty simple: Each category's poll is in a separate post below. Only your first vote counts. Voting ends January 23 at midnight. Winners will be alerted, awarded, and publicly congratulated January 24. Losers will feel bad at first, then later realize the experience has only made them stronger.

Story of the Year: What was the big campus story in 2006?

Newsmaker of the Year: Which nominee was the Britney Spears/Brangelina of the college media in 2006?

Best College Paper Columnist: Whose column kept you coming back for more?

Best Alternative Media Outlet: Which was the best of 2006?

Sometimes the news at one college is so big, campuses all over the country (and the mainstream media, too) are talking about it. What was that story in 2006?

These nominees were the Britney Spears/Brangelina of the college media in 2006. Who dominated the campus coverage most?