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UC-Davis Students Evacuated After Bomb Scare
Tweet Share on Facebook March 6, 2008 Comment (2)Police at UC-Davis evacuated more than 450 people from their dorm rooms Wednesday night after receiving a tip that a resident was in possession of explosives, the California Aggie reports. Police found two partially assembled pipe bombs in the room of a freshman, who was later arrested. According to the Associated Press, authorities have assured students that there was no imminent danger of explosions and no evidence of terrorism—likely little comfort to the students who spent the night in the dorm's dining hall. Maybe they got free food and drinks?
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Arizona State Cops Will Be Armed With Semiautomatic Rifles
Tweet Share on Facebook March 6, 2008 Comment (1)Arizona State University police officers will now be armed with high-powered, assault-style rifles, the State Press reports. The school so far has bought four semiautomatic rifles costing $700 each and hopes to have its entire force armed with the rifles by the summer. Officers will be required to undergo around 40 hours of training, and the weapons will be kept in patrol cars. Police say the guns will allow officers to better respond to sniper scenarios or situations like the Virginia Tech assault, although the police commander points out the plan to buy the weapons had been in the works before the 2007 shootings.
The University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University police departments soon will be following suit; several other police departments in the University of California and California State University systems already are armed with similar weaponry, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports.
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Penn State Water Too Dirty to Drink
Tweet Share on Facebook March 6, 2008 CommentPenn State has warned its students against drinking tap water, a problem that will be resolved "hopefully in a couple of days," the Daily Collegian reports. Officials suspect heavy rainfall affected the clarity of Penn State's water supply, and the school has told its students to use boiled or bottled water for "drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation until further notice."
To make matters worse, bottled water was selling quickly in campus stores, and dining halls were quickly running out of milk (because students could not drink fountain soda). No word yet on what the campus beer supply looks like.
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Jewish Students Upset Over Ad
Tweet Share on Facebook March 6, 2008 CommentA Hebrew word in an advertisement for an interfaith dialogue event has drawn criticism from members of UC-Santa Barbara's Jewish community, the Daily Nexus reports. The advertisement featured one form of the word God in Hebrew that is typically not printed. The flier was shown to a professor and members of Hillel before it was distributed, said the president of the Lebanese Club, which hosted the event meant to discuss the relationships between the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths.
"This event [was] supposed to show how these three religions are related to one another and the way that these communities are acting together in the Middle East," said the event's organizer. "You have to look at the fact that there was no intention to offend anybody. This is trying to promote peace."
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South Carolina Stages Condom Fashion Show
Tweet Share on Facebook March 6, 2008 Comment
Yup, you bet those are dozens of rubbery prophylactics attached to her body. Hundreds of University of South Carolina students attended the Project Condom fashion show to see outfits just like this, the Daily Gamecock reports. The event—which challenged designers to turn birth control into stylish and wearable works of art—was designed to promote healthy sexual decisions, such as condom usage or abstinence.
(Sarah Langdon/Daily Gamecock)
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Students at UNC and Auburn Killed in Shootings
Tweet Share on Facebook March 6, 2008 Comment (10)The University of North Carolina student body president was found dead early Wednesday morning, while police at Auburn University are investigating a student's Tuesday murder just outside of campus. Authorities do not think the two murders are connected. Eve Carson, a senior at UNC from Athens, Ga., apparently was shot multiple times around 5 a.m. Wednesday, the Daily Tar Heel reports. Her body was left in the middle of an intersection about a mile away from her home. Police have no suspects in the case and are still looking for her blue 2005 Toyota Highlander, which they believe was stolen during the attack.
At Auburn, freshman Lauren Burk, 18, of Marietta, Ga., was found shot along a highway 5 miles north of campus around 9 p.m. Tuesday, the Auburn Plainsman reports. She was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound. Soon after finding her body, Auburn police also discovered her car set afire back on campus. Police have interviewed several "persons of interest" but have made no arrests. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley has announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the woman's killer.
More than 100 students attended a vigil for Burk Wednesday night, while a memorial service will be held for Carson tonight at UNC. Both schools have increased their police presence since the incidents.
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Appalachian State Gunman Scare Was a Hoax
Tweet Share on Facebook March 5, 2008 CommentThe report of a gunman at Appalachian State University in North Carolina—which sent the entire campus into lockdown—has turned out to be a hoax, the Appalachian reports. On Monday afternoon, a senior reported to the Boone Police Department that a masked man holding a gun had entered his apartment. The school then locked down the campus for more than an hour. "There's no question that all of us in these positions on college campuses are beyond concerned about what's going on right now," said a university official. "The confirmation of a gun made us believe that we needed to act the way we did, and I hope people view that as a prudent way to respond."
Turns out, the prudence was unnecessary since the "victim" eventually told police he had made up that bit about the gunman. The student said his apartment had been broken into but admitted he had embellished the part about walking in on a masked man. The Appalachian says the student is soon expected to be charged with filing a false police report.
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Nebraska Bans 'Live Free or Neihardt' Game
Tweet Share on Facebook March 4, 2008 Comment (5)University of Nebraska's Residence Hall Association has officially condemned the school's ban on its "Live Free or Neihardt" game, where students in the honors college use foam dart guns to "assassinate" each other all over Neihardt Residence Hall, the Daily Nebraskan reports. "We represent students of residence halls, and if students of residence halls want to play this game, we don't want it to be banned," said one RHA member.
The game was called off last month after police responded to a report of a masked gunman on campus. The "gunman" was carrying a foam dart gun, and as a result, the university—citing security concerns—canceled the game, taking down signs advertising the event and confiscating the foam guns. "You're all college students, living in a post-Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University world," said a university official, "I think all of us can understand the sensitivity of the time we live in."
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Maryland 'Cuddler' Attacks Two Women
Tweet Share on Facebook March 4, 2008 Comment (5)Two women were assaulted by the city "cuddler" near the University of Maryland campus this weekend, the Diamondback reports. In both cases, a man got into bed with the women—and in one case, got in bed with the woman and her boyfriend—and proceeded to kiss or cuddle with his victims. The police have no leads in the case, but suspect these incidents are related to at least 12 other sexual assaults and peeping Tom incidents from the past year.
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Pitt Investigates Obama Rally Hoax
Tweet Share on Facebook March 3, 2008 Comment (1)With the help of mild Facebook identity theft and a ton of fake fliers, someone has been spreading the rumor that Sen. Barack Obama would be visiting the University of Pittsburgh for a rally, the Pitt News reports. The Obama campaign has called reports of a rally "unfounded"—leaving behind the mystery of who would go through all the trouble to get everyone so worked up.
The prolific fliers and Obama websites have helped perpetuate the rumor, but perhaps most strange is the Obama supporter who has had his Facebook identity coopted to advertise the "event." On Facebook, there are now two people named "Dan Gore" with identical profile pictures. The real Gore, a Pitt sophomore and head of the Students for Barack Obama Pitt chapter, is part of the university's network on Facebook and has an active friend network and profile. The other Dan Gore—who created the fake event announcement on the social networking site—is in the Pittsburgh network and has no Facebook friends as of last night. The good people at the Pitt News even tried to friend him, to no avail.
"This is absolutely fictitious. It's subverting my name," Gore said. "This is scandalous."
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