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Gates to Speak at University of Georgia's Fall Graduation
Tweet Share on Facebook November 12, 2009 CommentCommencement season always heats up in April and May, and the big speaking announcements don't usually pop up in November. Nonetheless, the University of Georgia snagged an impressive speaker for its fall graduation.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will speak to the fall graduates of the University of Georgia at their commencement ceremony on December 18, exactly three years after he was named secretary, the Red and Black reports. Gates, who was the president of Texas A&M prior to becoming George W. Bush's defense secretary in 2006, is a close friend of University of Georgia President Michael Adams.
"There will be great benefit to the university having this guy come to speak," Matt Winston, assistant to the president, tells the Red and Black. "This is a commencement speaker who very well may draw a lot of people in the community."
Gates is the latest addition to an impressive list of Georgia commencement speakers. According to the Red and Black, Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy spoke to Georgia graduates before they became president, and Franklin Roosevelt did so during his administration.
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Female Student Wants to Be Mr. Yale
Tweet Share on Facebook November 12, 2009 Comment (4)Amelia Earhart, Sally Ride, and . . . Jen Ivers?
Ivers is a senior Spanish major at Yale University who is making waves at the 308-year-old Ivy League institution. In February, she will be the first-ever female student to participate in the Mr. Yale contest, the Yale Daily News reports.
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Stanford Athletics Sweat Budget Woes
Tweet Share on Facebook November 11, 2009 CommentWhen experts discuss the best athletics departments in the country, Stanford University almost always comes up. The Cardinal produce winners in numerous sports—from men's cross-country, tennis, and water polo to women's cross-country, rowing, and volleyball—not to mention top-flight men's and women's basketball teams.
But amid economic turmoil that has crept up on even the best-endowed athletics programs, Stanford is facing some big decisions. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based university is evaluating whether it can continue to support 35 sports teams, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports. The athletics department already made about $8 million in budget cuts and laid off workers, but with the department's endowment slipping, more cuts may come.
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Minnesota Students Slipping Through Healthcare Cracks
Tweet Share on Facebook November 11, 2009 CommentAt the University of Minnesota, you have to have healthcare. Period.
Yet some students are uninsured, the Minnesota Daily reports.
A loophole in the school's healthcare registration system allows students to give false information to avoid the school's Student Health Benefit Plan. The plan costs $151, the Daily says, but students can opt out of the plan by filling out a private insurance form. Because only about 25 percent of the private insurance forms are audited (for budget reasons), many students are slipping through the cracks.
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Police Raid Boston Green Party
Tweet Share on Facebook November 10, 2009 Comment (3)Boston police raided tents on Boston Common early Monday morning and handed out scores of citations for trespassing. A group of more than 200 students, citizens, and clergy gathered Sunday night on the massive green space in front of the Massachusetts State House to draw attention to climate change. The group does the same "sleep-out" every Sunday, but this one caught the attention of the wrong group—the police.
The sleep-outs, led by Harvard University students, are part of the Leadership Campaign, a monthlong, student-led effort to raise awareness of climate change, the Harvard Crimson reports. The outdoors sleeping events are intended to draw attention and decrease electricity use. The group behind the campaign wants Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to introduce a bill that would power Massachusetts with 100 percent renewable energy, the report says.
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Florida Air Force ROTC Wins National Award
Tweet Share on Facebook November 10, 2009 CommentAs the country celebrates its military veterans this week, the University of Florida has some future veterans to appreciate. The school's Air Force ROTC won the national Right of Line Award, given to the program judged best of its size, the Independent Florida Alligator reports.
Some 50 schools were up for the award, which is based on training, education, and recruitment, the Alligator says. The University of Florida's Air Force ROTC program has its student members participate in field training, leadership forums, and career fairs with current Air Force officers. The program won the same award in 2007 but was ineligible for the award in 2008 because of contest rules.
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Fire at Pitt Displaces 12 Students
Tweet Share on Facebook November 9, 2009 CommentA dozen University of Pittsburgh students will be forced to stay in alternative housing after a fire on Saturday night damaged a university-owned, off-campus apartment building, the Pitt News reports.
Pitt spokesman John Fedele told the Pitt News that the school is looking for housing for 12 displaced students. The apartment building, called Centre Plaza Apartments, holds 197 students and is almost 2 miles northeast of campus.
Fedele had not heard of any injuries in the fire as of Saturday night, according to the Pitt News.
Students told the Pitt News that the south side of the building received the most damage. Two students told the newspaper that 2 inches of water had collected in their third-floor apartment before they evacuated the building.
According to firefighters responding to the scene, the fire was already out by the time they arrived. Students were allowed back into the building to see if their property was salvageable, the report says.
A restoration crew was sent to the building on Saturday, but no further details have been released yet from Pittsburgh.
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Howard University Research Center to Stay Open
Tweet Share on Facebook November 9, 2009 Comment (1)After outcry from the Howard University community, it looks as if a long-standing pillar of research will remain open at the Washington, D.C., university.
Howard University's Chief Academic Office released a statement saying that it would keep the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center open, the Hilltop reports.
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University of Akron Reconsiders Controversial Hiring Policy
Tweet Share on Facebook November 9, 2009 CommentIf you get hired by the University of Akron, you may not have to provide fingerprints or a DNA sample anymore. The school is reconsidering its controversial criminal background check policy, the Chronicle of Higher Ed reports.
The general counsel at the university, Ted Mallo, will propose new language in the policy at a Board of Trustees meeting on November 20, the report says. Mallo wants to change the policy to say that information from law enforcement about new hires may be provided for the criminal background checks, and he wants to strike the DNA sampling from the policy altogether.
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Segregationist Tells Ole Miss President to Back Off Student Body
Tweet Share on Facebook November 6, 2009 Comment (12)As if the University of Mississippi needs more attention given to the subject, a segregationist has chimed in on the recent controversy surrounding a student chant.
The chant, sung by some students at sporting events, includes the phrase "The South will rise again." School administrators, faculty, alumni, donors, and coaches have asked that the chant no longer be used, but Richard Barrett, whom the Southern Poverty Law Center calls a "white supremacist," told University of Mississippi President Dan Jones to back off, the Daily Mississippian reports.
Barrett took on a previous University of Mississippi president, Robert Khayat, in 2000 over a ban on waving the Confederate flag at Ole Miss's stadium, the report says. Barrett says students should have the right to say whatever they want.
"Democracy is offensive to tyrants, but I am glad it is," Barrett tells the Daily Mississippian. "Mississippi is the most democratic state in the union. It is our legacy from the post-Reconstruction era. We have more people elected, we have second primaries and runoffs to prevent pluralities from ruling and minorities from lording over the majority. What a virtue of being a Mississippian, and what a lesson to America."
The SPLC says Barrett's stance on the issue is no surprise.
"Barrett's been around forever, and he's been involved in lots of protests in support of racist ideals," Heidi Beirich of SPLC tells the Daily Mississippian.
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