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Gay Students Help Recruit Gay Applicants at Penn
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2010 Comment (3)Inside Higher Ed has an interesting story chronicling a new recruiting strategy at the University of Pennsylvania. As the story mentions, it's common for schools to use current students to talk to prospectives who share the same interests. But Penn is one of the first schools to use gay students to recruit gay applicants (Dartmouth is another).
Now, the initial question that arises is: How does Penn know if a student is gay? The school says it doesn't directly ask applicants to identify themselves as gay, but Penn is using other application materials for inferences, like essays and club memberships. There has been some pushing to include a sexual orientation question on the Common Application, the report says. For now, the current strategy seems to be working just fine.
"We are speaking to students on the areas that they are most interested in," Penn's dean of admissions, Eric Furda, tells Inside Higher Ed.
"In just the same way that honors students may like to hear from other honors students, or black students from other black students, gay and lesbian students want to hear what a campus has to offer from the perspective of the gay and lesbian community," says Jack Miner, associate registrar at Ohio State University and the chair of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Caucus of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. "Speaking to someone who knows this firsthand could make a huge difference for students deciding where to go."
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Recession’s Impact on Duke Financial Aid Unclear
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2010 CommentEverywhere you turn, there's a new study about the recession's impact on this or that. The results have become so predictable and depressing that when there's an outlier, it catches your eye. That's why Duke University's recent report that the number of applicants asking for financial aid hasn't changed much in the past three years is surprising.
The Chronicle, Duke's student newspaper, found that the share of applicants seeking financial aid has fluctuated between 62 percent and 66 percent since 2003 (hat tip to the Chronicle's Zach Tracer). Duke has made some major changes in its financial aid policy in recent years, especially because of the economic downturn in 2008 and 2009. And with the sour taste of a poor economy still in everyone's mouth, Duke assumed it would get many more students asking for aid.
[Read about 10 factors affecting your financial aid.]
"It surprised me last year, and it surprised me this year. I would have suspected that the percentage would have increased," Christoph Guttentag, the dean of undergraduate admissions, tells the Chronicle.
An interesting side note to the story: The percentage of financial-aid applicants has remained the same, but it's not clear how much each applicant needs to afford Duke. And that may be where the biggest increase is, the report says. Either way, Duke will continue to encourage its students to apply for aid, no matter how much they need.
"We've always told people that there's no harm to applying for financial aid and that it can only be beneficial," Guttentag says. "That message has come across."
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Star Wars Figure Gains Steam as Ole Miss Mascot
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2010 Comment (27)Four University of Mississippi students joined together for a joke, launching the Ole Miss Rebel Alliance, a group intent on finding a new mascot for the Oxford, Miss., school. The quartet came up with a face for the movement—Admiral Ackbar, a strange-looking figure from Star Wars—and even a website, Facebook group, and Twitter account.
They never expected the admiral to become a dark-horse contender for the students' vote on a new school mascot, the Daily Mississippian reports.
"We started this as sort of a fun thing," one of the alliance's founders, Tyler Craft, tells the Daily Mississippian. "We did it with satire, fun, and a little comedy. Admiral Ackbar represented the people who wanted to move forward, which apparently was a good portion of the campus."
The Rebel Alliance has gained considerable momentum with its push. "Ole Miss Rebel Alliance" was the sixth-most-searched term on Google, according to the Daily Mississippian. But don't be confused by the group's intentions. While Ackbar is the face of the movement, he's not necessarily the founders' ideal mascot. He's just the face of a push to start a fresh mascot search at Ole Miss. But that may be lost on some students, who seem to be attached to the idea that Ackbar could be their mascot.
"From the beginning, we never intended for Admiral Ackbar to be the mascot, and I think now there are people who want him to be the mascot," Craft says. "I think this whole process should be a student-led, nebulous effort. If some people from the group are inspired by this and want to push for it, obviously we're not going to stop them."
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Penn State Warns About Safety at State Patty’s Day
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2010 Comment (1)The fourth annual State Patty's Day party is fast approaching. This weekend, Penn State University students will participate in an unofficial party a few weeks ahead of St. Patrick's Day. When you combine Penn State's No. 1 ranking as a party school with the biggest drinking day in America, it grays the hair of school administrators.
In preparation for the weekend, Penn State wants its students to be careful, the Daily Collegian reports. One dean asked students to "bring no disrepute to yourself or to our institution." Last year, the event generated more alcohol-related trips to the emergency room, arrests for driving under the influence, and other alcohol-related criminal activity than any other weekend at Penn State, the Philadelphia Inquirer adds.
College of Health and Human Development Dean Nan Crouter tells the Daily Collegian that a student's death in the fall played a significant role in her pleading with students to be careful.
"The whole issue of overdrinking has been on my mind this year," Crouter says. "Many of us were saddened to hear about the first-year student that we lost. I've been thinking about him a lot. Maybe that's why I decided to pick up the virtual pencil."
We'll report back after the weekend to let you know how the party unfolded.
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Tulane Students Embrace Service Learning
Tweet Share on Facebook February 24, 2010 CommentHurricane Katrina blasted the city of New Orleans. Tulane University shut down for a semester; by the time it reconvened, it had lost plenty of students. But the students who did return—and the new students arriving on campus—found a university committed to public service, a school clamoring for its students to get involved in rebuilding the city.
Tulane's students have certainly answered the bell, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports. They have to: Service learning has become a central part of Tulane's curriculum, the report says. Ranging from archaeological digs to working in schools, Tulane's kids are soaking up the new aspect of their college education.
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Oregon Football Struggles Through the Off-Season
Tweet Share on Facebook February 23, 2010 Comment (2)It's not exactly rock bottom—see USC athletics—but the University of Oregon's football program is having a rough time this off-season. Hard to believe, I know. The Ducks stormed to the Pac-10 conference championship and a berth in the Rose Bowl. But now, several off-the-field incidents have the program on its heels.
A wide receiver was kicked off the team this past weekend for violating team rules, the Associated Press reports. Jamere Holland's expletive-laced Facebook tirade probably had something to do with it. Holland posted his Facebook status update in response to news that teammate Kristian "Kiko" Alonso had been arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of intoxicants, mistakenly thinking Alonso had been kicked off the team. It wasn't true: Alonso is still on the team. But Holland isn't anymore.
"I won't get into the specifics, but you're smart enough to figure it out," Oregon Coach Chip Kelly tells the Oregonian in response to a question about why Holland was dismissed.
But Holland and Alonso are just the two latest Oregon football players to make the news. Running back LaMichael James is in some hot water after his girlfriend told police that he choked her and slammed her to the ground, the AP reports. Three other players were involved in a street fight, two of whom are headed to court while the third has left the team. Needless to say, there are some long nights in Eugene, Ore.
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Princeton Releases Kindle Data
Tweet Share on Facebook February 22, 2010 CommentTechnological change doesn't happen overnight. At least, at Princeton it doesn't.
The Ivy League school released its first set of survey data following the introduction of the Amazon Kindle on campus, the Daily Princetonian reports. Three courses experimented with the E-reader technology last semester. And while the number of papers printed by students declined, there remained questions and concerns about the Kindle's usability.
"I expected it to be a really useful tool that would enhance my experience, but it has hindered my studies in a lot of different ways," one student who used a Kindle for class tells the Daily Princetonian. "I wasn't able to absorb the material as well as if I had hard copies of the readings, and I had to deal with a lot of technical inconveniences just from the design of the Kindle."
Students given Kindles reported close to or more than 50 percent less printing than classmates who did not use the technology. Reduction of hard paper use was part of the goal for introducing Kindles; the other was finding out whether technology hindered students' ability to absorb information, the report says. Students had trouble citing PDFs and navigating through multiple documents, among other problems. Professors couldn't refer to readings easily in class because of the technology, the report says.
It's safe to say that one student captured the current mentality of the Princetonians who used the Kindles: "It was great to have the experience of using a Kindle, but I think I'll stick with books until they work out the kinks," the student tells the Daily Princetonian.
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Ole Miss Readies for New Mascot Selection Process
Tweet Share on Facebook February 22, 2010 Comment (11)It's been seven years since the University of Mississippi removed its former mascot, Colonel Reb, from use. The school dropped Colonel Reb after years of complaints—some of it from Ole Miss coaches and athletic boosters who said the mascot, along with other old symbols of the Confederacy, hurt the school's image recruiting prospects. Now, the school has a chance to redeem itself with a brand-new mascot, one that catches eyes and makes the Ole Miss community proud.
Because the mascot is a school pride issue, the administration says it will consider a proposal from the student body if students come up with one. The Daily Mississippian published a guide for the student body's vote on whether students want a say in picking the mascot. The vote will take place Tuesday.
The voting starts with a simple question: "Do you support a student-led mascot movement or not?" Now, to be clear, that doesn't mean, "Do you want a new mascot?" It means, "Do you want the student body to be involved in picking a new mascot?"
According to the Daily Mississippian's guide, if students vote yes, then the floor will open up for the entire student body to take part in the decision process, as opposed to just elected student officials. If students vote no, any number of things could happen, the worst of which would be that no mascot would be selected and Ole Miss stays mascotless. It's just a hunch, but I think the students will want a say in their new mascot.
In the meantime, what do you Paper Trailers out there think? What should Ole Miss pick as its mascot?
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California State University System Gives ‘Super Seniors’ a Nudge
Tweet Share on Facebook February 19, 2010 Comment (1)You know the type—the kid who has transferred four times and switched majors twice or the bald guy who looks like he's 35 but hasn't missed a basketball game in years. They're called "super seniors" for a reason. "Senior" implies that a college (or high school) student is in his or her fourth year of education. Throw "super" in front, and there's no telling how long that student has been at the institution or when they plan to finish college. Call it an open-ended commitment.
Well, enough is enough, says the California State University system. CSU officials want to reduce statewide enrollment by 40,000 because of the gigantic budget cuts their system is about to make, and to help the reduction go quickly, they want super seniors to get going, the Sacramento Bee reports.
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Student Publications Back in the Cafeteria at Syracuse
Tweet Share on Facebook February 19, 2010 Comment (2)Syracuse University is a school known for its media education—it's a breeding ground for young journalists. And the student media at Syracuse has one of the better reputations in the United States. But recently, if you wanted to go to a cafeteria, grab some food, and peruse the latest edition of any student publication other than the campus newspaper, you had to bring one with you.
Until now.
Syracuse President Nancy Cantor reversed a long-standing policy banning the distribution of student publications other than the Daily Orange, which was already offered in cafeterias and on-campus eateries, the Daily Orange reports. Cantor made the decision after meeting with Lorraine Branham, the dean of Syracuse's S. I. Newhouse School of Communications. The policy came to light recently when food services told a student magazine staff that it could not distribute copies of its publication freely in any dining areas on campus. One cafeteria manager told Jerk magazine staffers that they couldn't hand out issues because of the magazine's content. Branham told Cantor that the policy violated free speech.