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Police Officer Crashes Cruiser While Giving Ball State Students a Ride
Tweet Share on Facebook August 31, 2007 CommentA Muncie, Ind., police officer crashed his patrol car after taking three Ball State University freshmen on a "joy ride," the Daily News reports. "He was driving like an idiot, and it's unfathomable about what he was thinking," said the police chief. One of the students suffered a 1-inch cut on her head and was treated and released from the hospital.
The Indianapolis Star reports that the officer was exceeding speeds of 55 MPH early Tuesday morning and subsequently crashed into a light pole and tree.
The Muncie police said that alcohol, drugs, or sex was not involved in the incident, and the officer was placed on administrative leave pending disciplinary action by the Muncie Police Merit Commission. The officer could not be reached for comment. —Alison Go
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Free Speech Victory at Tufts, Yet Still, No One's Happy
Tweet Share on Facebook August 31, 2007 CommentTwo articles in the student-run magazine The Primary Source at Tufts University irked a student and faculty committee enough for it to call for the censorship of campus publications and force the magazine to use bylines on all its pieces last year. Tufts officials, however, reversed that decision this week—a move free-speech activists call a victory, the Boston Globe reports. Tufts did not reverse all the committee's findings, however, and maintained that the stories in question—which sparked cries of racism—did indeed constitute harassment against blacks and Muslims. —Alison Go
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A Cappella Group Has No Comedic Timing
Tweet Share on Facebook August 31, 2007 Comment (79)After a vicious knife attack sent a University of Colorado freshman to the hospital with a slashed neck, a campus acappella group decided to make light of the event, according to the Campus Press. On an audition questionnaire, the group wrote:
The recent stabbing on campus leaves you feeling:
A. Confused
B. Dazed and confused
C. Mad someone got that guy before you did
The joke was lost on almost everybody, and the group (the appropriately named Buffoons) issued a formal apology. —Alison Go
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Trail Mix
Tweet Share on Facebook August 31, 2007 Comment (4)*A new study shows that Hispanic students tend to avoid large state schools, the Daily Collegian writes. Penn State's Hispanic population is about 4.5 percent, while the national makeup is around 14.5 percent.
*A copy of the world's largest published book has arrived in Oxford, Ohio, on Miami University's campus, the Miami Student reports. Weighing 133 pounds, and measuring 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall when opened, the book is, well, really big. —Alison Go
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Penn State Logo: Too Cool for Your School
Tweet Share on Facebook August 30, 2007 Comment (2)Penn State lightly tussled with a North Carolina high school over trademark infringement after the school unveiled a logo that was "confusingly similar" to PSU's sleek Nittany Lion, the Daily Collegian reports. The high school was able to replace or prohibit the logos on jerseys and other paraphernalia, but the potentially felonious feline already was plastered over the gym floor. Because PSU is so nice, it agreed to a phase-out period for the logo, which will be replaced in the gym in five years during a scheduled resurfacing. —Alison Go
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More Inquiry Into Multiple Bomb Threats
Tweet Share on Facebook August 30, 2007 Comment (64)The FBI is investigating the string of bomb threats that have been dogging universities across the country, Inside Higher Ed writes. Aside from the three reported threats at Iowa, threats have been arriving in spamlike succession at schools such as Oregon State. Federal authorities are looking into whether many of these threats are related. —Alison Go
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Bomb Threats Plague Iowa
Tweet Share on Facebook August 29, 2007 CommentThe University of Iowa yesterday received its third bomb threat in a month, the Daily Iowan reports. Other schools that have recently received threats are the University of Alaska, Middle Tennessee State, Oregon State University, Princeton University, and Carnegie Mellon University.
At Iowa, the latest scare has officials on alert. "This is the first time I can recall we've had this many in the 20 years I've been at the university," said one university administrator. "And we've never had this many in a short period of time."
What's going on? Best-case scenario: some punk kids with too much time on their hands. Worst-case scenario: The influx of threats is being used to lull officials to sleep. "Then you have an actual bomb." —Alison Go
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The Great Porn Debate, Featuring Ron Jeremy and Some Other Guy
Tweet Share on Facebook August 29, 2007 Comment (32)Pastor and founder of xxxchurch.com Craig Gross and prolific porn star Ron Jeremy went head to head at "The Porn Debate" on the University of Georgia campus, reports the Red & Black. Not surprisingly, the free event was filled to capacity, making it possible for students to indulge in another sin: ticket scalping.
For those who did attend, they were treated to a condemnation of porn by Gross for "degrading women, being easily accessible for minors, and creating unrealistic expectations." Jeremy defended his industry, but the great debate took back seat to the presence of a "living legend." Said one student: "He's had sex with more women than I've met in my entire life." —Alison Go
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Trail Mix
Tweet Share on Facebook August 29, 2007 Comment*Arkansas State University has begun looking for a new mascot in lieu of the NCAA ban of American Indian imagery and nicknames by schools, the Herald writes. The chair of the Mascot Review Committee (really) recommended retiring the names "Indian" and "Indian Family" from the ASU lexicon in July.
*Winner for most cringeworthy headline of the week: "Gonorrhea is nothing to 'clap' about," from Washington State University's Daily Evergreen.
*According to Penn State's Daily Collegian, one study shows that "course shopping," or repeatedly dropping and adding courses during the drop/add period of the semester, can be tied to lower grades.
*Because of budget cuts, University of Florida political science courses will no longer hand out paper syllabi, the Independent Florida Alligator reports.
—Alison Go
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Flea Market Buy Lands Student in Russian Detention
Tweet Share on Facebook August 28, 2007 Comment (1)A University of Missouri-St. Louis student has been detained by Russian officials after allegedly trying to fly home with Soviet-era war medals and old Russian currency in her luggage, the Current reports. The bizarre tale involves the Chilean consulate (the woman is a citizen of Chile), possible jail time, a short-lived letter-writing campaign, involvement from Missouri bigwigs (governor, U.S. representatives, etc.), several dedicated Facebook groups (of course), and some pretty atrocious spelling errors by Russian law enforcement. Does anyone else smell a book deal brewing? —Alison Go