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Merits of Being a Good Samaritan
Tweet Share on Facebook November 26, 2007 CommentThe University of Maryland is considering a Good Samaritan policy that would exonerate students from alcohol-related infractions after calling 911 for a sick friend, the Diamondback reports. On the one hand, the school would prefer that students remain unafraid to call emergency services in the case of alcohol poisoning, but it also doesn't want to implement a policy that condones heavy drinking. Ever since Cornell University implemented a generous Samaritan policy, the number of emergency calls has more than doubled. Assuming the number of alcoholic Cornell students hasn't grown twofold, school officials are calling the program a "success."
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Bruce Lee Course Karate Chops Its Way to Relevance
Tweet Share on Facebook November 26, 2007 Comment (44)Did you know Bruce Lee went to the University of Washington? Apparently, neither do many Huskies—a "crime" the school's comparative history department is trying to solve. An upper-level credit/no credit course called the "Bruce Lee Dedication" is working to elevate the martial arts master's status on campus, persuade the school to construct some sort of memorial (which could potentially be the best statue ever), and ultimately spark discussion about the Asian-American experience on campus.
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Even Bloggers Need Time to Eat Stuffing
Tweet Share on Facebook November 21, 2007 Comment (97)No school means no college newspapers, which means Paper Trail gets its own vacation. Check back Monday, when students return to class, we hope 5 pounds heavier. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Trail Mix
Tweet Share on Facebook November 20, 2007 Comment (97)*In an effort to better study its most prolific minority applicant group and respond to systemwide student protest, the University of California system will now allow Asian and Pacific Islander students to self-identify by choosing from 23 ethnic categories—up from eight—for its undergraduate application, UC-Berkeley's Daily Californian reports.
*While the University of North Carolina's O-Day was mostly met with glee, Cornell University's standing-room-only sexual awareness event (with a name too racy to print) was greeted by a handful of College Republican protesters, angry that part of their student fee was used for the lecture, the Cornell Daily Sun reports.
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No Thai! for You
Tweet Share on Facebook November 19, 2007 Comment (21)The University of Michigan's No Thai! restaurant has earned the ire of the school's Thai Student Association, which claims the unwelcoming name is offensive to customers of Thai descent and has asked the establishment to change its name. The restaurant's owner, Noerung Hang—whose nickname is "No"—has offered to post a letter explaining the context of the name but balked at the idea of a new moniker, calling a change "unrealistic."
Students have formed the "No Taste Campaign," complete with Facebook group, to raise awareness of the "issue," and have already discussed their concerns at a multicultural campus forum. In related news, university officials are considering increasing the workload of all students—some clearly have way too much time on their hands.
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It's the Morning After at UNC
Tweet Share on Facebook November 19, 2007 CommentHow comfortable are you with your own sexuality? If you're a student at the University of North Carolina, you probably know by now. The Daily Tarheel has the highlights from the school's third annual "O-day," an event designed to educate students about sexual empowerment. Among the empowering activities were a condom application race and a best orgasm noise contest.
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With Great Football Comes Great Responsibility
Tweet Share on Facebook November 19, 2007 CommentBecause the Rutgers football team's fortunes have blossomed and attendance at games has roughly doubled, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security now consider Rutgers Stadium on game days to be a plausible terrorist target, the Daily Targum reports. Welcome to the big leagues, Rutgers! Sort of.
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Nooses: A Nationwide Epidemic
Tweet Share on Facebook November 16, 2007 Comment*Central Michigan University Police are offering a $500 reward for information on the four nooses found in a classroom.
*Unhappy with their school's response, students at North Carolina State University organized a discussion after a student discovered a toilet paper noose two weeks ago.
*Vassar College and Purdue University are investigating their own incidents, while Miami University is debating what to do about an art project with "noose-like ropes" and a tire swing.
*Yale University is dealing with its own racially charged expressionism, looking into who scrawled a vulgar racial epithet outside a prominent school building. "Hate speech or hate writing violate the core values of Yale," said a school official. "These issues unfortunately just don't go away. They require eternal vigilance."
*Lastly, a newspaper editor from Minneapolis Community and Technical College was fired last month after hanging a noose from the ceiling as a joke threat to writers who missed deadlines. Since then, campus leaders have argued that the college's response to the incident was slow and less than transparent. The news editor who was fired said he was unaware of the historical implications of the noose and also oblivious to the controversy in Jena, La., around the same time. "I heard about something to do with a noose, but I didn't even think of it," he said. "I don't watch the news."
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Hunger Strike Garners Support, Scorn, and Snark
Tweet Share on Facebook November 16, 2007 CommentMore than a week has passed since the start of a Columbia University hunger strike, which is being staged to protest parts of an expansion plan, lobby for more support for a race and ethnicity center, and call for a stronger administrative response to recent bias incidents on campus. Since then, 70 supporters have gathered for a candlelight vigil, one striker has been hospitalized, hunger strike alumni and local residents have voiced support, professors have joined in, and the administration actually has made some concessions.
The reaction, though, has not been entirely positive. The student government condemned the strike as a "show of sensationalism," while the College Republicans took a more passive-aggressive route, holding signs asking the protesters a question with an obvious answer: "Hungry?"
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Trail Mix
Tweet Share on Facebook November 16, 2007 Comment*Two Nicholls State University students admitted to stealing bundles of the student newspaper, the Nicholls Worth, because of a front-page story about a fraternity brother who was charged with rape, the publication reported. In the inevitable backfire part of this plan: The paper re-reported the assault incident along with the theft.
*Using one of the best mash-up names ever, Cuban and Jewish student groups at Harvard University hosted the "Juban Celebration," the Harvard Crimson reports.
*Because Washington State students have fought on so long without a TV Guide-type channel and they have to spend all of their time studying, housing services will now offer TiVo to interested parties, the Daily Evergreen reports.
*A "True Gentlemen" plaque, valued at $16,000, was stolen from a Kansas State University fraternity, the Kansas State Collegian reports. $16,000? Didn't know plaques could be made of diamond-encrusted platinum.