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Tibet Tops This Week's Protesting Schedule
Tweet Share on Facebook April 11, 2008 Comment (11)This week, students demonstrated against sweatshops, sex trafficking, the Iraq war, and meal plan rollover. But, most of all, students across the nation have caught the "Free Tibet" bug—holding rallies and vigils to protest human-rights abuses in Tibet. At East Carolina University, the religious studies department held a teach-in, while the Amnesty International chapter at the University of Southern Mississippi led a candlelight vigil Tuesday. In New York, Columbia and New York University students flooded Union Square to join a larger mob of protesters. And at Duke University, a quiet vigil turned into a large pro-Tibet march, which then spawned an equally large pro-China counterprotest—a tumult filled with anthems, chants, flags, high-minded rhetoric, and lots and lots of wasted paper (aka fliers).
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Bear Stearns Rescinds Student Job Offers
Tweet Share on Facebook April 10, 2008 CommentThe Bear Stearns collapse has finally trickled down to the college set: JPMorgan, which acquired the flailing investment firm last month, has begun rescinding about half of Bear Stearns job and internship offers made last fall, the Daily Pennsylvanian reports.
Certain branches such as investment banking—which overlaps heavily with JPMorgan's existing operations—will see heavy cuts, while other areas with "little to no overlap with JPMorgan," like commodity and prime brokerage, are most likely safe.
JPMorgan, benevolent organization that it is, isn't completely leaving students out to dry, though. Those losing internships have been offered others at nonprofit organizations with salaries equal to those negotiated with Bear Stearns. For those losing full-time positions, the firm has offered free career help, with signing bonuses and relocation fees.
"Obviously, it's a lousy situation," said the University of Pennsylvania 's career services director. "No one wants to accept a job in October and find out in April that they don't have it."
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Michigan State Continues Riot Damage Control
Tweet Share on Facebook April 9, 2008 Comment (1)East Lansing police and Michigan State officials continue to sort out the aftermath of Saturday's block party turned melee. According to the State News, police have charged one student with misdemeanor disorderly conduct while the school looks into whether it will suspend students involved in the riot.
Meanwhile, the school looks to repair its damaged reputation. "[We] try to show the people of the state of Michigan what they can expect with their tax money," said one trustee. "It takes a long time to put the ship back on the right course when students do this."
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Kansas Fans (Mostly) Keep It Together After Big Win
Tweet Share on Facebook April 8, 2008 Comment (1)Classes were cancelled at the University of Kansas Tuesday, a day after its men's basketball team won the NCAA Championship. The day off will give over-the-moon Jayhawks fans a chance to recover from their alcohol- and/or joy-induced hangovers—a result of the 40,000-person celebration that burst onto the streets of Lawrence after the team's overtime win against Memphis.
The 10,000 students watching the game at Allen Fieldhouse rushed the court at the end of the overtime—even though the game was being played almost 800 miles away in San Antonio. They cheered, chanted, sang, hugged, and cried. Then many of them left to join the celebration downtown.
Despite the massive throng of fans, the festivities went mostly without serious incident. Three people were arrested, and police received reports of small fires, including one couch set ablaze. Fans praised police for being "very relaxed," turning a mostly blind eye to alcohol violations and concentrating on more serious concerns such as keeping students from climbing atop light poles and store signs, stopping fights, and preventing criminal damage of property.
Thunderstorms eventually dispersed the mob, but from the sounds of fans' hyperbolic response, the excitement is sticking around. "I am the happiest person in the world right now," an alumnus shouted after the game. "I am not going to work tomorrow and this celebration does not end until I say it does."
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Michigan State Party Turns Into Riot
Tweet Share on Facebook April 7, 2008 Comment (2)Revelers became rioters at Michigan State early Sunday morning, when Cedar Fest, a massive block party, got so rowdy it prompted campus and East Lansing police to release smoke and flash-bang grenades and tear gas to dissipate the 4,000-person crowd, the State News reports. Fifty-two people were arrested, and 48 were issued tickets; about half of those were MSU students. Many of those arrested were cited for drunken and disorderly behavior, and several women were apprehended for exposing themselves.
The party started going south early in the night around 11 p.m., when revelers began throwing beer bottles at police. Fireworks hit an officer after midnight, and by 1:30 a.m., law enforcement was asking the mob to disperse over a loudspeaker. After several unsuccessful requests, police used flash and smoke grenades at 2:07 a.m. and, nine minutes later—after a handful of people chanted for the use of tear gas—law enforcement released the gas rounds.
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Kansas Win Inspires Streakers
Tweet Share on Facebook April 7, 2008 CommentUnlike at Michigan State, where all sense of decorum and civility was lost, University of Kansas basketball fans just shed their clothes, the University Daily Kansan reports. In celebration of their team's Final Four win, Jayhawk fans poured onto the streets of Lawrence—stopping traffic, attacking vehicles, and dancing atop cars naked. One onlooker called the bare bums "not cool," but others at least appreciated the enthusiasm. "I think it shows their spirit," said a sophomore. "I'm not going to look, but whatever they wanna do."
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Study Says Sports Success Equals Rise in Applicants
Tweet Share on Facebook April 7, 2008 CommentGood news for Davidson College: Success in high-profile sports is linked to a boost in student applications, a study confirms. Putting numbers to a notion we all already assumed, two researchers found an NCAA football or men's basketball championship corresponded to an increase of about 8 percent in applications the next year, the Gonzaga Bulletin reports. Small private schools—like Gonzaga and Davidson—seem to reap the most benefits of the "Flutie Effect," named after Boston College's newfound high profile following Doug Flutie's game-winning Hail Mary pass in 1984.
Case in point, a Gonzaga sophomore: "In sixth grade, I fell in love with Gonzaga's basketball team. That's when I knew Gonzaga was my No. 1 choice."
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Trail Mix: Protest Edition
Tweet Share on Facebook April 7, 2008 CommentThe Ann Arbor Pow Wow—the largest of its kind in the Midwest— drew protesters who not only were celebrating American Indian culture but were also demanding the University of Michigan hand over ancestral remains and tribal objects they claim belong to Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe of Michigan, the Michigan Daily reports. At the event, 1,428 seats were sectioned off to represent the number of artifacts the tribe is requesting returned. The university maintains that the remains are "culturally unidentifiable."
SUNY-Geneseo students dressed up as polar bears to rally against global warming last week, the Lamron writes. Organizers also handed out awards to "proponents of environmental degradation," which included the Bank of America and the Bush administration.
Penn State students protested the Guantánamo Bay prison with a rally and demonstration, which featured two students dressed in orange jumpsuits and black masks holding cardboard slats as a faux prison cell, the Daily Collegian reports. The 10-person rally was organized by the school's Amnesty International chapter.
Die-ins continue their popularity. Utah students held one on Friday as they sprawled on the ground to bring awareness to the Darfur genocide, the Daily Utah Chronicle writes.
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Wisconsin Goes Mad for 'Jeopardy!'
Tweet Share on Facebook April 4, 2008 CommentUniversity of Wisconsin nerds, rejoice! The Jeopardy! Brain Bus rolled into Madison Thursday to find one Badger to compete in the show's College Championship, which will be taped next week at the nearby Kohl Center, the Badger Herald reports.
Students arrived more than an hour before the start of tryouts—the first 1,000 of whom took a 10-question test to qualify for the second round. After a 50-question test, a mock game, and a one-on-one interview, Jeopardy! recruiters will choose one lucky student to represent Wisconsin. Devotion and excitement was the general tenor of the event. "I love Alex Trebek," said one student. "I would kick myself if I didn't [try]," added another. "I mean, Jeopardy! is on campus!"
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Ban on Alcohol Ads Lifted off Virginia Student Papers
Tweet Share on Facebook April 3, 2008 CommentAlcohol and drink special ads will return to the pages of Virginia student newspapers, the Cavalier Daily reports. A federal judge overturned the state's decades-old ban on alcohol-related advertising in college publications—a law designed to curb binge and underage drinking.
The ACLU filed suit almost two years ago on behalf of the University of Virginia 's Cavalier Daily and the parent company of Virginia Tech's Collegiate Times. It argued the ban violated the papers' free speech rights, unfairly singled out student publications while other unaffiliated papers in the region could still advertise freely, and ultimately cost the publications around $30,000 in ad revenue. The judge agreed that the ban did indeed infringe on First Amendment rights, adding the state government did not prove the ban had any tangible effect on college drinking.
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