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Police Raid of James Madison Newspaper Offices Rattles Student Journalists
Tweet Share on Facebook April 20, 2010 CommentThere was a riot near James Madison University on April 10. What started as an off-campus party degenerated into a throng of violent partygoers. Dozens were injured and arrested, and police reported significant amounts of damage to neighborhood houses, cars, and even dumpsters in Harrisonburg, Va.
The Breeze, James Madison's student newspaper, collected photographs of the incident and published some in the newspaper and on its website. In the process of investigating the incident, Harrisonburg and James Madison University police wanted to see more of the pictures, so they contacted The Breeze on Thursday and asked to see the unpublished photos. The Breeze Editor-in-Chief Katie Thisdell told investigators that her newspaper's policy only allowed the release of published photos, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
Then, on Friday morning, police and Rockingham County Commonwealth's Attorney Marsha Garst arrived at The Breeze's offices with a search warrant and demanded to see the photos. Thisdell, who originally cited the Privacy Protection Act, which says it's illegal to collect unpublished material from a newsgathering outlet, eventually agreed to copy the photos for the police after the investigators threatened to take The Breeze's cameras, computers, and other documents. The investigators confiscated 926 photos, according to The Breeze.
The Breeze says the search wasn't conducted properly. In these circumstances, the Student Press Law Center says, police usually allow media outlets some time to respond to warrants demanding the release of information.
In response to the fiasco, The Breeze has sought legal counsel, and the photos will be sealed until Garst and the student newspaper agree on how to handle the situation, The Breeze reports. The attorneys on both sides agreed to have a third party hold the photos until further notice, the student newspaper says.
"To intimidate student journalists with a massive show of force and with no time to consult with legal counsel is grossly improper," Student Press Law Center Executive Director Frank LoMonte tells the Times-Dispatch in a statement.
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Student President Stabbed at California University
Tweet Share on Facebook April 20, 2010 CommentCalifornia State University—Chico Student President Joseph Igbineweka was walking home on Sunday night when two men allegedly approached him with malicious intentions. Igbineweka says the duo started shouting racial slurs at him and harassed him as he tried to walk away.
That's when an altercation broke out. Igbineweka says he fought off one of the men, but the other assailant attacked Igbineweka with a knife. The 23-year-old student president, born in Nigeria, was stabbed multiple times, the Orion reports. Igbineweka suffered wounds on his neck, chest, abdomen, and arm, but he is expected to be OK.
Police and Igbineweka's university, which is in northern California, are calling the attack a hate crime. A suspect was arrested a few blocks away and charged with attempted murder and a hate crime. The incident has stirred the community and caught national attention.
"While violent crimes happen in this and other communities, this is very disturbing," Chico State Spokesman Joe Wills tells CNN. Igbineweka "is very well known in the local community. This is a hate crime and a very big deal."
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Frostburg State Student-Athlete Killed
Tweet Share on Facebook April 19, 2010 CommentA double shooting at Frostburg State University has the small Maryland school in shock.
Two basketball players, Brandon Carroll, 20, and Ellis Hartridge Jr., 21, were shot in an altercation early Sunday morning, the Baltimore Sun reports. Carroll, 20, suffered a fatal gunshot wound; the 21-year-old Hartridge is expected to survive, the report says.
The duo was part of a group that confronted the shooter, a s Frostburg State student named Tyrone Hall, at Hall's apartment around 4 a.m. after Hall had allegedly assaulted a woman at an earlier party.
Hall, 21, is in police custody. Frostburg State will have a candlelight march and vigil on Tuesday night in memory of Carroll, and the school has also made counseling services available to students.
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Condom Thieves Strike Again at George Mason
Tweet Share on Facebook April 19, 2010 CommentThere must be some kind of condom black market that we don't know about. Otherwise, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that, for the second time this year, students stole hundreds of condoms from the free condom basket at George Mason University's Office of Alcohol, Drug, and Health Education.
Two male students made away with hundreds of condoms last Tuesday, Connect2Mason.com reports. A similar event took place in the fall, when at least 700 contraceptives were stolen.
"I have no idea [why this happened]," Danielle Lapierre, assistant director of the OADHE, tells Connect2Mason. "[The condoms] are free."
And yes, you are probably thinking that 700 condoms seems like a lot. Lapierre isn't sure what someone's doing with that many condoms, either.
"Come on, 700?" Lapierre questioned. "Nobody needs that many."
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Our Best Graduate Schools Rankings Are Out
Tweet Share on Facebook April 16, 2010 Comment (10)A lot of Paper Trail's readers are college students. Many college students, particularly juniors and seniors, have thought about going to graduate school after finishing up their bachelor's degrees. Well, we just put out our expansive America's Best Graduate Schools rankings on Thursday.
(And if you're wondering if the Best Graduate Schools rankings launch has anything to do with the lack of updates from your favorite blogger, the answer is yes. Paper Trail will be back, running on all cylinders now, I promise.)
The rankings are great because they give prospective students insights into all kinds of relevant information that can help inform students' decisions. But don't take Paper Trail's word for it; follow this guide to using the rankings wisely.
We rank the best graduate programs in countless disciplines, including business, law, medical, education, and engineering. You can find out what's new in this year's rankings here. So click around and enjoy.
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Video Shows Police Hitting Maryland Student During Postgame Celebration
Tweet Share on Facebook April 13, 2010 Comment (3)Back in early March, the University of Maryland beat eventual national champion Duke University in a thrilling hoops contest in College Park, Md. What happened after the game caught national press attention, including a short post on Paper Trail. And we got a lot of disappointed and angry comments from Maryland students, who were dismayed by the reports of a raucous riot on campus.
Video that emerged on Monday appears to indicate that the students, who said police were overreacting to the students' celebration, had a point. In the video, three police officers attack a Maryland student with night sticks and beat him to the ground. You can watch the Washington Post's video of the incident here. (Don't say we didn't warn you about the violence in the video.)
Prince George's County in Maryland has initiated a criminal investigation of the three police officers seen in the video, the Post and The Diamondback report. The Post report also says an investigation of an officer who filed "official charging documents that are contradicted by the video" is under way.
It's pretty shocking stuff—extremely disappointing and disturbing, too.
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William and Mary Picks Its Mascot, and It's Got Wings
Tweet Share on Facebook April 7, 2010 Comment (3)Finally! A mascot William and Mary students can believe in.
The College of William and Mary unveiled its official mascot on Tuesday, the Flat Hat reports. It's a griffin, a mythical creature with a lion's body and an eagle's head. The William and Mary griffin has a white-feathered head with a yellow beak, a white belly, green wings, some yellow on a green tail, and orange lion legs. The toenails are green. Don't worry, William and Mary sports teams are still called the Tribe.
"[The mascot] says a lot about how we feel about our athletic teams," William and Mary Athletics Director Terry Driscoll tells the Flat Hat. "Our athletes go to school in a tough academic environment and still perform on the field."
The William and Mary community showed up in droves to see the new mascot at the school's Kaplan Arena on Tuesday. It was a happy finale to a 16-month process that saw some 800 ideas pitched by students, athletes, and others. The other four finalists were a pug, a wren, a king and queen and a phoenix, the Flat Hat says. We're glad they picked the griffin.
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Small Indiana University Soaks Up Spotlight
Tweet Share on Facebook April 5, 2010 Comment (5)They started the season among the top teams in the country. They beat college basketball powers like Ohio State University and Xavier University in December. And they have won 47,000 games in a row (more like 25). So, it shouldn't have surprised anyone when the Butler University Bulldogs beat Syracuse University, Kansas State University, and Michigan State University—all teams that were ranked in the top five at some point this season—en route to college basketball's coveted national championship.
But for all the expectations and recognition, it was still—at first glance—surprising to see the tiny Indianapolis school make it all the way to the title game. Admit it. And realizing the magnitude of the situation, Butler is soaking up the attention. Butler's admissions office received 300 new applications the day following the Bulldogs' victory against Kansas State and the admissions website has crashed twice in the last week, the Chronicle of Higher Ed reports.
Inside the athletics department, the basketball team's success was bound to reap the benefits of half a century of support. Butler, which enrolls about 3,500 undergraduates, has focused resources on athletics as far back as World War II, the New York Times reports.
"I think what the little privates figured out in that era was that 15 scholarships and a few pairs of Converse [sneakers] and you could be on the front page," Butler's Associate Athletics Director Tom Crowley tells the Times.
The biggest challenge for the Bulldogs comes tonight: a 9:21 p.m. date with college basketball's most recognizable name—big, bad Duke. But don't expect Butler to feel out of place or undersized. The Bulldogs have been right there with the likes of Duke all year, and they get a chance to win one for little guys everywhere.
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Duke Newspaper Chronicles Changing Admissions at School
Tweet Share on Facebook April 5, 2010 Comment (1)Duke University's intrepid student newspaper has done a marvelous job examining the private university's admissions process. And a new series by the Chronicle only adds to the extensive amount of admissions and financial aid-related coverage.
Among the findings in the third and most recent part of the series, the Chronicle discovered that while Duke grants admissions to an ethnically diverse group, there is little socioeconomic diversity among accepted students. The initial report in the series explained the growing strain on Duke's unique admissions process, which features layers of application reading and reviews, because of a colossal rise in the number of applicants. The second edition of the series looks at Duke's ability to accept students on more than just a simple definition of merit, but rather on specific goals the school hopes to reach.
[Check out our Guide to Admissions.]
The Chronicle finds that the number of enrolled white students has decreased by a quarter. Yet the number of enrolled students who report family income in the lower half of the U.S. income distribution bracket has remained relatively constant, the report says.
"Where the biggest work that needs to be done is convincing low-income students to apply," Duke's Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag tells the Chronicle. "The idea of applying to a college that costs twice as much as your annual income is a very strong psychological barrier to overcome."
[Do Colleges Prefer Rich Applicants?]
Check out all three parts in order here: Part I | Part II | Part III. It's not required Paper Trail reading, but it's recommended.
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University of Michigan Elects First Openly Gay Student President
Tweet Share on Facebook April 2, 2010 Comment (2)Thanks to a landslide and a sense of history, the University of Michigan's student body did something on Tuesday it had never done before—elect an openly gay student president.
LGBT Commission Chairman Chris Armstrong took over the reins of the student government, hoping that his new role meant a new time of change for the campus's LGBT community, the Michigan Daily reports. Armstrong said that his presidency shows the "spirit of Michigan," the report says.
"I think that personally, it's a big accomplishment for the LGBT community on campus," Armstrong tells the Daily. "Regardless of what community you are from, you can become a student leader that is leading 40,000 students."
But with his historical victory aside, Armstrong said he doesn't want to focus on his sexual orientation during his presidency. It'll take a back seat to what he wants done as president. Still, it's hard to ignore the obvious.
"Hopefully individuals will feel comfortable coming out at U of M and know that it's a comfortable environment despite fears and inhibitions," Armstrong says.
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