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NCAA Tournament Expansion ‘Probable’
Tweet Share on Facebook March 31, 2010 Comment (9)Because the NCAA is all about ruining a good thing (in Paper Trail's humble opinion), it seems as if the NCAA Tournament is headed for expansion. Yes, the marvelous three-weekend event that warms our hearts, fills our minds, and slashes our production seems to be headed toward some form of growth and extension.
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany says the famed tournament's bloating from 65 to 96 teams is "probable," USA Today reports. With the push to expand gaining some serious steam, the tournament field—and its schedule—will drastically change.
The NCAA plans to discuss the matter in late April. The NCAA has an 11-year, $6 billion television contract with CBS, but an opt-out clause allows the NCAA to explore its options and possibly break the deal. With networks like ESPN and others happy to show the approximately 7,000 games that would come out of expansion, it makes financial sense for the NCAA to expand.
Oregon State University President Ed Ray, who is on the committee that will discuss expansion, wasn't as eager to address expansion's likelihood.
"Conventional wisdom must be that it's not impossible. Otherwise, I don't know why we'd have it scheduled for discussion," Ray tells the USA Today. "But I have absolutely no sense (of) whether it's probable or not."
[See our March Madness coverage.]
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Popular Student News Wire Returns
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2010 CommentWhen UWire surprisingly went silent six months ago, it sent shock waves through the college media community. The content-sharing site served as the go-to place for student journalism from around the country. Without UWire, there wasn't exactly a college news wire that people could trust. That's why UWire's decision to come back has people talking.
UWire will be back up and running sometime later this week or early next week, the college journalism blog College Media Matters reports. As pointed out in the CMM blog post, UWire hit a snag in its relationship with Fox, prompting the unexpected and abrupt shutdown. UWire's Tom Orr acknowledged to CMM that the sudden closing of UWire alienated a lot of student journalists, but Orr hopes that the same journalists will give UWire a chance to redeem itself.
"I completely understand why people feel burned by it," Orr tells CMM. "I would absolutely feel that way if I was in their position. We are very, very sorry for the way everything happened last fall .... There were significant elements that were out of our control. We got quite a shock, and that, in turn, caused some real serious ripples that affected our members and a lot of people's livelihoods. We really are intent on making this right and restoring UWire's place as the leader in this field."
In the time since UWire's shutdown, two major competitors popped up: the Huffington Post and College News Network. Both have had success in the early going, but UWire doesn't seem worried about the challenge. Expect the college news aggregation fight to heat up soon.
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Now Sponsoring an Obesity-Related Research Fellowship: Pepsi?
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2010 Comment (4)Pepsi tastes better cold, but the soda giant is catching some hot, hot heat at Yale University.
Critics at Yale are wondering why their school has accepted a $250,000 gift from Pepsi, spread over five years, that will sponsor a research fellowship at the Yale School of Medicine. The fellowship, which will be run through the school's M.D.-Ph.D. program, will be for students interested in nutrition and obesity-related diseases. Critics want to know what the school is thinking, saying that the company's influence on the research could taint findings about Pepsi products' nutritional values, the Yale Daily News reports.
Yale School of Public Health graduate Michele Simon, a public-health lawyer, tells the Daily News that Pepsi is being disingenuous about its "desire to research nutrition to improve its products," the report says.
"They make some healthier things, but the profit drivers of their portfolio include Pepsi, Gatorade, and a whole litany of unhealthy beverages," she said. "They own Cheetos, for God's sake."
Despite the torrid criticism from both inside and outside the Yale community, Yale School of Medicine Dean Robert Alpern says Yale did nothing wrong in accepting the fellowship money.
"We don't see PepsiCo as an evil company," Alpern tells the Daily News. "We feel [the gift] is perfectly ethical .... A good analogy is the opinion that tobacco companies giving schools grants may promote cigarette smoking. A lot of schools won't take tobacco money, [but] we don't have a ban against taking money from anyone in the food industry."
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Student Arrest in Classroom Caught on Tape
Tweet Share on Facebook March 29, 2010 Comment (1)We can't believe we missed this story here at Paper Trail. But it is so viral (how viral is it?) that we have to talk about it. It's already been mentioned by the Chronicle of Higher Ed and the Washington Post's great college news blog, Campus Overload. And, of course, the hometown paper has at least a blog post about it.
A student at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee was arrested—in class—last week. And the ordeal was caught on tape and posted on YouTube. The video has more than 465,000 views. (Don't say we didn't warn you: The video contains strong language.)
The incident started when the student, identified by the Milwaukee Sentinel as Robyn Foster, argued with her professor over an exam question. Multiple reports say the student refused to leave the classroom at the professor's request. Things escalated, and she allegedly threw a water bottle at a classmate. The video on YouTube picks up the tail end of the argument and the student's arrest by three campus police officers.
It's a shame that it happened. As the Milwaukee Sentinel's coverage says, cooler heads could have prevailed. We're just glad a "Don't tase me, bro" incident was averted.
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Conservative Oregon State University Student Newspaper Loses Court Case
Tweet Share on Facebook March 26, 2010 Comment (5)The Liberty is a conservative, student-run publication at Oregon State University. Because it is not distributed as widely as the sanctioned student newspaper, the Daily Barometer, editors at the Liberty complained to school officials that it was being treated unfairly. The case ended up in court.
A judge dismissed all claims against the university brought by Liberty Executive Editor William Rogers and the OSU Student Alliance, the Corvallis (Ore.) Gazette-Times reports (hat tip to College Media Matters). The decision is based on the Daily Barometer's place in the OSU community as the student newspaper, which means it is granted an exemption from the school's informal distribution policy, according to reports.
The case received national attention for its juicy plot: a large, public university against a small, conservative publication.
"The opinion made it really clear that there was no basis" for a discrimination complaint, Todd Simmons, director of news and communications at Oregon State, tells the Gazette-Times. "I think they wanted a ruling, in my opinion, that the Liberty needs to be treated exactly like the Barometer."
If that was the case, the Liberty didn't get the ruling it wanted. As the Liberty's new editor, Whitney Hopple, put it, the student publication will move on and keep fighting the news fight against the Daily Barometer.
"It's really time to move forward," Hopple tells the Gazette-Times. "As for me, I really (want) to put the lawsuit behind us."
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Ole Miss Community Stocks Up on Colonel Reb Gear
Tweet Share on Facebook March 26, 2010 Comment (3)After August, wholesalers will no longer manufacture anything that features the University of Mississippi's former mascot, Colonel Reb. And with a new mascot on its way sometime in the future (c'mon, Admiral Ackbar!), apparel buyers have just a few months to capture Colonel Reb's banned likeness.
So, the Ole Miss community is flocking to stores and stocking up on shirts, hats, and anything else that has Colonel Reb on it, the Daily Mississippian reports. "Colonel Reb items are selling at three to four times more than they ever have," Terry Warren tells the paper. Warren owns Rebel Rags, an Oxford, Miss., store that sells all kinds of Ole Miss gear.
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University of Cincinnati Offers Belated Graduation
Tweet Share on Facebook March 25, 2010 Comment (1)The shootings of students at Kent State University during a Vietnam War protest will never be forgotten—almost every U.S. history textbook on the planet at least mentions the May 4, 1970, incident. But in the chaos and outcry that followed the shootings, which killed four students and injured nine more, many colleges and universities, including the University of Cincinnati, canceled classes, and a lot of folks missed their graduation.
Cincinnati is offering a do-over, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. The school has invited 3,200 students from the class of 1970 back to the campus for a special commencement anniversary ceremony. The event will take place at Cincinnati's Fifth Third Arena the day before the class of 2010's ceremony on June 12.
Many students had moved on or simply left campus by the time Cincinnati reconvened in June 1970. The school had a graduation ceremony that month, but an unknown number of students missed it. Some 140 graduates have expressed interest in the anniversary commencement, the report says.
"I think it's terrific," Gus Perdikakis, a graduate who walked in the June 1970 ceremony but doesn't recall much of it, tells the Enquirer. "I was excited when I heard about it."
Paper Trail has a feeling this year's ceremony won't be so easy to forget.
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Cornell Responds to Alarming Surge of Apparent Suicides
Tweet Share on Facebook March 25, 2010 Comment (1)Cornell University is taking significant steps to combat suicide on its Ithaca, N.Y., campus. Three students have died in recent weeks in apparent suicides, prompting the school to take new measures to ensure its students' safety and well-being.
The Ivy League school sent officials throughout campus—knocking on every student's door—stationed staff on campus bridges, and widely publicized its mental-health services, the Cornell Daily Sun reports. Student leaders at Cornell are also planning events and actions to help the school, the report says.
"I think everybody's kind of shaken. I know I am," one student tells the New York Times. "I wanted to go home."
According to the Daily Sun, the university took a far more urgent tone following the third death, a junior who was found dead on March 12. Efforts include a new website, caringcommunity.cornell.edu, which features links, advice, and resource information for students and Cornell community members. Cornell President David Skorton sent an E-mail to students and took out a full-page ad in the Daily Sun.
"Your well being is the foundation on which your success is built. You are not alone," Skorton says in the message. "Your friends, your family, your teachers, your colleagues, and an array of counselors and advisors are ready to listen and help you through whatever you are facing. If you learn anything at Cornell, please learn to ask for help. It is a sign of wisdom and strength."
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Coulter's Speech at Canadian College Canceled
Tweet Share on Facebook March 24, 2010 Comment (10)Paper Trail rarely ventures north of the border, but this story is too juicy to pass up. Controversial conservative commentator Ann Coulter is in the news (again) after her speech at a Canadian university was canceled because of security concerns.
Facing disruptions from students and local protesters, Coulter's bodyguard and the on-site security staff agreed that her speech couldn't go on as planned Tuesday at the University of Ottawa, the Fulcrum reports. Ezra Levant, a Canadian conservative who was slated to speak before Coulter and introduce her to the crowd, called the cancellation embarrassing.
"It is an embarrassing day for the University of Ottawa and their student body that [they] couldn't debate Ann Coulter and chose to silence her," Levant says. "Never in my whole life [have] I thought I would have to tell people how to get out of a university safely."
The speech was part of a series of talks Coulter planned to give in Canada. Levant said students and local residents made it impossible for the event to proceed. A fire alarm was pulled. Doors entering the auditorium were crowded. Protesters countered that police crowded the doors, not the protesters. Either way, it all amounted to a circus, which has sort of become the norm for any Coulter speaking event.
"We support a positive space on campus. We don't tolerate hate speech," one student, who helped organize the protest, tells the Fulcrum.
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Corzine to Join Princeton Ranks
Tweet Share on Facebook March 24, 2010 Comment (1)Former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine may have suffered a crushing defeat in his 2009 re-election campaign, but the accomplished politician and businessman has landed on his feet.
Corzine, who was also a senator and the chairman and co-CEO of Goldman Sachs, will be a visiting fellow at Princeton University for the 2010–2011 school year. The 63-year-old University of Illinois alum will teach a graduate course on state and local policy in the spring semester of 2011, the Daily Princetonian reports. (In addition to his previous government and finance experience, Corzine was recently named CEO of MF Global Holdings, a Wall Street options and futures firm.)
"I was attracted to having him visit the school because of his expertise in both finance and government," Christina Paxson, dean of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, tells the Daily Princetonian.
The other part of Corzine's fellowship will include hosting a speaker series in the fall. The series will focus on financial regulation, the report says.
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