Entries for November 2006

A statewide ban on affirmative action has focused University of Michigan students' attention on racial tensions on campus--and they're starting to fight back, with a diversity push from an unexpected player: the fraternity and sorority scene. Self-segregation long plagued fraternities and sororities, but they've now launched an "unprecedented" move to reverse that, the Michigan Daily reports. Last month, a historically black fraternity hosted a party with an integrated guest list, and this spring, historically black and Latino groups plan to join the majority-white ones in the school's Greek Week, the Daily reports. Michigan's vice president of the historically black National Pan-Hellenic Council told the paper that the affirmative action ban accelerated the efforts. "It's crunch time now, game time," he said.

An environmental plan at Southern Methodist University is saving its southwest Texas locale from 3 million pounds of pollution from power plants, according to the EPA. It's the equivalent of building a 390-acre forest, but this move just required switching energy sources to make at least 3 percent of the university's energy "green." SMU is the first large university in the Southwest to go green--and a student-led environmental campaign, launched last year, gets the credit for that, the Daily Campus reports.

The sleeping pill Ambien might be used as a date rape tool, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the Diamondback reports. The University of Maryland has filled 140 prescriptions for the drug already this year, a university health services official told the paper.

Princeton University has pushed aside decades of mistrust to enter a deal with its eating clubs, which have long been the de facto dining halls for upperclassmen. The deal aims to make the clubs more financially accessible to all students by providing those who can't afford membership with financial aid of up to $2,000 a year. The new partnership shows Princeton has "yielded to pressure from students and alumni who refuse to relent in their support" of the clubs, writes the Daily Princetonian.

• University of Alabama football players were "shocked" by their coach's firing, the Crimson White reports .
• A movement of frustrated students that started at Howard University last year with a "Declaration of Student Frustration" has resuscitated itself, the Hilltop reports.
• A book about a fictional fraternity raises real-life issues of homophobia and racial tension, the Baylor Lariat reports.

After they're elected by their staff, editors in chief of the University of Southern California's Daily Trojan must also receive the recommendation of the school's vice president of student affairs. In the paper's history, no student has ever been denied--until now, reports the Daily Trojan. Present editor-in-chief Zach Fox sought substantial changes to the paper, including more student budgetary control. Calling those changes too much, the V.P. of student affairs has decided not to recommend Fox for approval next semester. In response, Fox resigned last night.

After her state voted in favor of an affirmative action ban the school had opposed, University of Michigan President Sue Coleman vowed to fight for diversity anyway--maybe even with a legal challenge. But now her tough talk seems to be more talk than tough, according to a report from the Michigan Daily. The university "has yet to file any lawsuit," and on Monday, the school's provost said the admissions office will stop taking race and gender into account--"if the amendment goes into effect on December 22 as planned," the Daily article says.

The 12 Ball State University architecture students, who came together to use an Environmental Protection Agency grant to build a house from straw, have not yet been visited by the Big Bad Wolf.

The University of Maryland's East Asian Studies center--once housed in plush offices in the school's Preinkert Field House--now has only "a few empty desks stuffed into corners with unplugged telephones and computer parts scattered across them," and no books, says the Diamondback. Behind the change: the growth of the school's Arabic program, which took over the East Asian Studies' office space after a government grant encouraged rapid expansion.

As other colleges expand their recruiting of black and minority students, historically black colleges in Maryland--such as Bowie State University, Coppin State University, and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore--are having to step up their recruitment efforts too, reports the Diamondback.

• The CIA wants you to work for it--but don't expect a James Bond lifestyle, says the Arizona State Press.
• At the University of North Texas, drunk students don't just cab it home--they can get a limo ride with a Christian driver ("Limo Don") who sees shuttling them as his mission, the NT Daily says.
• University of Pennsylvania frat members convicted on hazing charges could see job prospects dwindle, reports the Daily Pennsylvanian.

A Wisconsin animal rights group wanted to build a museum that showcases "the history and current use of monkeys and apes in publicly funded experimentation," so it bought a piece of land right between two research centers that conduct publicly funded experiments on monkeys, the Daily Cardinal reports. When the University of Wisconsin-Madison learned about the plan, it tried to outbid the group, topping its offer of $675,000 with a promise of $1 million. But a circuit court ruled yesterday the first sale should be final, though the property's original owner is expected to appeal that ruling.

It took seven months, one density-measuring machine, and two radar technicians, but the University of Utah has finally recovered a time capsule buried inside a student union building almost 50 years ago. Technicians measured the density of red bricks around the union's fireplace until they found a spot with a large air hole--and then, a rusty box, the Daily Utah Chronicle reports. The contents of the box won't be revealed until the union celebrates its 50th anniversary in January. Luckily, radar technology should not be required to open it.

Students at the University of Minnesota law school are signing a petition to protest the school's choice of a constitutional law professor for next semester. Before he came to Minnesota, Robert Delahunty—who also teaches at the University of St. Thomas law school—worked in the Bush administration's Office of Legal Counsel, where he coauthored a memo on the military's treatment of detainees, according to the Minnesota Daily.

• Thieves at the University of Michigan seem to have simple needs. After raiding 17 rooms over Thanksgiving, the Michigan Daily reports they stole only two iPods and a few rolls of quarters.
• A robber near the University of Massachusetts-Amherst may need some remedial thieving classes as well. After allegedly attempting to break into and enter a home, the suspect ran away--but left a book bag with a name on it at the scene, the Daily Collegian reports.