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Michigan Raises $3.1 Billion in Funds
Tweet Share on Facebook November 17, 2008 Comment (40)The University of Michigan's capital campaign has raised $3.1 billion over the course of eight years, the most raised by a public university ever (besting UCLA's 10-year effort that ended in 2006 and earned $3.06 billion), the Michigan Daily reports.
The campaign officially ends Dec. 31, 2008, but the current amount already far exceeds the university's 2004 goal of $2.5 million, thanks to large donations from Stephen M. Ross ($112.5 million for his name on the business school) and Alfred Taubman ($78.6 million), as well as smaller amounts from 364,000 donors.
Although Michigan has raised the most for a public university, a small handful of elite private colleges are also in the midst of capital campaigns with goals that exceed $3.1 billion: Stanford has a five-year $4.3 billion campaign, while Yale is in year two of a five-year $3.5 billion initiative.
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Wisconsin Latest School Struck by Outbreak
Tweet Share on Facebook November 17, 2008 CommentThe University of Wisconsin is now dealing with its own gastrointestinal illness outbreak, with 60 students in one large dorm confirmed sick and at least 70 more suspected ill in two Greek organizations, the Delta Gamma sorority and the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. By the end of last week, the incidents of sickness had already begun subsiding, and dorms and off-campus housing had undergone several rounds of cleaning and sanitation, the Badger Herald reports.
Health officials suspect the norovirus is the cause of the outbreak, but they have not yet officially confirmed its source.
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Berkeley Police to Determine if Fight Was a Hate Crime
Tweet Share on Facebook November 17, 2008 Comment (2)UC-Berkeley police are deciding whether a fight that broke out during a pro-Israel concert last week was a hate crime, the Daily Californian reports. The altercation began after three Palestinian students hung a Palestinian flag from a dorm window overlooking the concert to protest what they perceived as anti-Palestinian lyrics. After Gabe Weiner—a Berkeley alum and concert performer—approached the students, a fight broke out in the dorm.
Weiner was cited with three counts of battery, while two of the three Palestinian students who displayed the flags were each cited with one count of battery. No one was taken into custody. Now, police are looking into whether racial remarks were made during the altercation. "We're looking into the possibility of it being a hate crime, based on the statements (made to police by) Palestinian students," said an assistant chief for campus police. "Clearly, these two groups have some conflict. . . . Both sides did not handle this on the most tasteful or intellectual level."
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Wildfires Scorch Westmont College
Tweet Share on Facebook November 14, 2008 Comment (12)The fast-moving California wildfire that has destroyed 100 homes, scorched 2,500 acres so far, and injured 13 has also struck Westmont College, a small, Christian liberal arts school in Santa Barbara. Officials report that several buildings, including a number of faculty homes, have been "lost or significantly damaged," the Associated Press reports
The Thursday night fire forced the more than 1,000 students to take shelter in the campus gymnasium, where most spent the night.
"I saw flames about 100 feet high in the air shooting up with the wind just howling," said [college spokesman Scott Craig]. "Now when the wind howls and you've got palm trees and eucalyptus trees that are literally exploding with their hot oil, you've got these big, red hot embers that are flying through the sky and are catching anything on fire."
Hundreds of students fled to gym, where they spent the night sleeping on the floor. Some stood in groups praying, others sobbed openly and comforted each other.
Beth Lazor, 18, said she was in her dormitory when the alarm went off. She said she only had time to grab her laptop, phone, a teddy bear, and a debit card before fleeing the burning building.
Her roommate, Catherine Wilson, said she didn't have time to get anything.
"I came out and the whole hill was glowing," Wilson said. "There were embers falling down."
At least one of the school's five dorms was destroyed, and the college's website listed at least four other university buildings partially or completely burnt.
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Another Iowa Professor Commits Suicide
Tweet Share on Facebook November 14, 2008 Comment (11)The University of Iowa is grappling with the suicide of another professor facing accusations of sexual harassment, the Daily Iowan reports. In his closed garage, UI music professor Mark Weiger was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning Wednesday. The death comes one week after a former graduate student filed a lawsuit against Weiger and the university, alleging that he made inappropriate sexual comments toward her, verbally harassed her, and was having a sexual relationship with another student, the Press-Citizen reports. In August, political scientist Arthur Miller shot himself after being charged with four counts of accepting bribes for allegedly trading grades for sexual favors.
Iowa officials are now focused on the campus reaction, providing counseling to students and faculty.
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Stanford Student Leaders Cancel Thursday Bar Outings
Tweet Share on Facebook November 13, 2008 CommentStudent leaders at Stanford have indefinitely canceled "Senior Nights," the Thursday night bar outings that have recently been blamed for multiple hospitalizations and vomiting incidents on buses, the Stanford Daily reports.
According to one senior class president, the total cost of bus cleanup has exceeded the cost of one event, while officials report that at least seven people have been hospitalized with alcohol poisoning and alcohol-related injuries. After one recent outing, a student leader sent an E-mail admonishing seniors for "six incidents ranging from the benign—one classmate decided to take off her top and roll around on the ground in her bra—to the downright dangerous, which included a hospitalization."
Senior Nights have been a tradition for more than a decade now but have only become problematic in the past several years. A spike in similar misconduct occurred for the class of 2007, and the year afterward, seniors were required to sign a waiver to participate. Organizers also increased security on buses and bars.
The measures seemed to help for the class of 2008, but this year's festivities have seen a re-emergence of misbehavior. Now, class leaders are debating whether to cancel the event for the next quarter.
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Vennard College to Close
Tweet Share on Facebook November 13, 2008 Comment (2)Vennard College—an 80-student Christian college in Iowa—will close at the end of the semester, the Des Moines Register reports. Mounting debt and stagnant enrollment are to blame, and officials projected a deficit of $300,000 for the semester, with an even worse outlook for 2009.
The school closed in the mid-'90s over similar financial problems, but officials believe this time, the college will not be coming back.
The school will hold a college fair for other Christian colleges to recruit students, and a final commencement is scheduled for November 22.
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Texas Medical Branch to Lay Off 3,800 Employees
Tweet Share on Facebook November 13, 2008 Comment (4)Devastated by Hurricane Ike, the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston will lay off around 3,800 of its 12,000 employees, the Houston Chronicle reports. Officials said they did not know who would be laid off but did say they would be paid through January.
The September storm caused almost $710 million in losses to UTMB; only about $100 million is covered by insurance, and the program has been unable to make up the difference. "UTMB's current rate of expenditures, including the continuation of wages and benefits for faculty and staff who have not returned to work, exceeds revenues by almost $40 million per month," a statement said. "UTMB will deplete its financial resources and reserves in approximately three months, leaving the institution in the untenable position of having no funds to continue to operate."
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Dartmouth Junior Voted in as County Treasurer
Tweet Share on Facebook November 13, 2008 Comment (1)Armed with a $42 Facebook ad, Dartmouth junior Vanessa Sievers unseated a three-term incumbent for the Grafton County treasurer seat. Meanwhile, Republican Carol Elliott, 66, was, of course, unhappy to say the least. "It was the brainwashed college kids that made the difference," Elliott said. "You've got a teeny-bopper for a treasurer. ...I'm concerned for the citizens of Grafton County."
Sievers—who won by nearly 600 votes out of 42,000 cast—rejects Elliott's doom-and-gloom predictions and points to her relatively long history of political involvement (for a 20-year-old)—working on a local mayoral campaign and Bill Richardson's presidential run.
The part-time job pays $6,408 and involves keeping tabs on all county money, making investments, and making payments ordered by county commissioners.
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Police Say Minnesota Student Lied About Bomb Threat
Tweet Share on Facebook November 12, 2008 CommentA bomb threat that prompted University of Minnesota officials to evacuate one campus building and lock down another was deemed false, and police later concluded that the woman who called in the threat made it up in order to get out of class, the Minnesota Daily reports.
The student called school officials at 7 a.m., saying she had overheard "three Somali males" discussing bombs in the two buildings, and by 8 a.m., one building had been evacuated. After being questioned by police, the suspect said she had lied about the threats, according to the Daily . By 8:30 a.m., police had called off the evacuation and the lockdown, and classes resumed.
No charges against the student have yet been filed. Even if police do not take action, the university could still pursue disciplinary measures.