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(12/06/07 4:49am)
LINCOLN, Neb. – Although many students don’t think of their finances in terms of being healthy or sick, debt can be as debilitating as depression and a bad credit score just as worrisome.\nThe 2007 College Student Health Survey, conducted by several universities in Minnesota, found one-third of surveyed students carried some debt from the prior month. The amount totaled more than $1,000 for almost 58 percent of those who carried a balance.\nKathleen Prochaska-Cue, an associate professor and extension family economist, said she thinks the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s figures are in the ballpark of the survey’s findings. \nIn college, there are three types of credit users, she said. \n“The first use credit to live beyond their income. The second handle credit responsibly and they don’t have a great deal of debt,” she said. “The third have a great deal of debt to buy the things they need.” \nWhile extravagant spending becomes an expensive, credit-based lifestyle for some students, other students use plastic to purchase necessities like a college education, she said. \nTo professor Gordon Karels, credit cards are “a modern fact of life.” Karels is the chairman of the finance department and the Nebraska Bankers Association college professor of banking. \n“Students get (credit cards),” he said. “It’s clear that they’re issued under much more relaxed conditions than in the past.” \nEasily accessible credit makes understanding its liability of high interest rates and risky debt all the more imperative, he said. The trouble for college students is a lot of financial lessons are learned the hard way, Karels said. \n“The age group between 20 and 30 (years old) make incredibly big financial decisions based on their future earning power and don’t necessarily have the experience and maturity that helps make wise decisions,” he said. \nWhen students find themselves in serious debt, the solution is theoretically simple, though its application can be a challenge. \n“Students get out of debt just like everyone else: quit using credit and develop a plan for paying off debt,” Prochaska-Cue said. \nDebtors must put as much money as possible toward credit balances, she said, by either increasing income or decreasing expenses. Prochaska-Cue said she recommends cardholders make minimum payments on all cards while applying the remainder of the available income toward paying off one card at a time. \n“The trick is, once you get the credit cards paid off, put them away and don’t use them,” she said. \nProchaska-Cue is careful to point out that a few bad credit apples ruin the bushel of card holders. \n“Most Americans and students handle cards responsibly,” she said. “It’s a minority that has significant trouble with them, and it’s because of that minority that we hear about credit card debt being as high as it is.”
(12/06/07 2:01am)
IU Police Department officials met with a subject affiliated with the IU Athletics Department Monday morning in reference to a stolen John Deere Gator, according to an IUPD report.\nThe athletics department said it first noticed the Gator was missing Nov. 26, said IUPD Capt. Jerry Minger. The Gator was last seen on the west side of Armstrong Stadium, Minger said. The key to the Gator was kept in an office.\nA large sticker with the letters PFTSM identifies the Gator. The front left quarter panel is cracked, Minger said.\nAnyone with information should contact IUPD at 855-4111.
(12/06/07 2:01am)
CINCINNATI – Two college students said the high cost of tuition led them to rob a bank.\nThe men pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated robbery and six charges of kidnapping. They face 20 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 27.\nAndrew Butler, 20, a theater major at the University of Toledo, told Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steve Martin on Monday that tuition increases outpaced his scholarships and financial aid.\nChristopher Avery, 22, who was studying engineering at the University of Cincinnati, said he could not pay for summer classes after an internship at a grocery store fell through.\n“I was strapped for cash,” Avery said. “I thought I had nothing to lose.”\nTuition at the University of Cincinnati runs about $9,400 a year; University of Toledo costs about $7,000 a year.\nArmed with guns and wearing masks, Butler and Avery made off with $130,000 from a crowded Valley Central Savings Bank in suburban Reading on July 17, said Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Brian Goodyear.\nAn attempt to rob a check-cashing business a day earlier was thwarted when the students couldn’t get through the business’ security system despite firing four shots at the bullet-resistant glass, Goodyear said.\nThe men were caught after trying to switch cars. A witness who thought they were acting suspiciously called police.\nBoth were being held in a county jail without bond.
(12/04/07 2:27pm)
A female resident of Briscoe Quad told IU Police Department officers Saturday that she was raped, according to a police report.\nIUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said officers responded to a call shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday. A female Briscoe resident told officers she had been smoking a cigarette in the Briscoe circle drive when a group of males called her by name and asked her to “hang out with them.” According to the police report, the victim told police she had consumed alcohol before the incident.\n“Eventually she was left alone in the room with the suspect, a white male, five feet ten inches tall, with brown hair described as ‘buzzed,’” Minger said. “The subject didn’t indicate that she had passed out, but said he began kissing her, holding her hand, and the next thing she knew he was on top of her and they were having sexual intercourse.”\nThe woman could not remember where the room was, other than that it was near the end of a hallway and it had an inflatable Santa in the corner of the room, Minger said. The victim told police she did not know any of the men in the room. \nThe victim was taken to Bloomington Hospital where a rape kit was administered, Minger said.
(11/30/07 4:32am)
LINCOLN, Neb. – With tests, projects and jobs, students are often pressed for time. This can leave little time for things like sleep, television and reading for pleasure. \nIn fact, many Americans don’t read for pleasure, according to a report issued by the National Endowment for the Arts. The group compiled surveys from various agencies and analyzed the results. \nThe 98-page report compared the writing abilities, incomes and cultural and social involvement of proficient, average and below-average readers. The report found that nearly half of college-aged individuals read no books for pleasure. Having a college education no longer translates into being an active reader. One-third of college seniors read nothing for pleasure; that figure doubles for college freshmen.\nTime is a limited commodity for full-time college students, and reading for pleasure is regularly set aside for schoolwork, jobs and friends. Moreover most students choose to spend their free time doing other things. Average readers spend about seven to 10 minutes a day reading for pleasure, compared to watching up to 2 1/2 hours of television. \nEven when time is made for pleasure reading, it is rarely undivided. Fifty-eight percent of readers listen to music, do homework, watch television, play computer or video games or use the Internet while reading. This can result in less comprehension of and engagement with a text, according to study findings. \nChris Gallagher, an associate English professor at the University of Nebraska Lincoln and the coordinator of the department’s composition program, passes some of the blame from students onto educators. \n“Sometimes, at the college level, we don’t offer students enough rich reading material. They’re reading textbooks with a sort of prose we would never want our students to write,” he said. “It is one of our responsibilities; if we want students to write well, we need to show them examples of good writing.” \nThe report’s findings may be a bit misleading as well, Gallagher said.\nFor one, the report defines “literature” as a novels, short stories, plays or poems but excludes newspapers, magazines and Web sites. \n“I think today’s students are really smart and thoughtful people. There are lots of constraints on time availability and they don’t have time to read for pleasure,” Gallagher said.\nGallagher knows the marks of a strong pleasure reader because the person can demonstrate control over items such as grammar and paragraph structure.\n“Students who read for pleasure, on their own initiative, tend to be stronger writers because they learn through their reading,” he said. “They notice how writers do thing with words on paper and absorb it without conscious attention.” \nOn the other hand, he said, students who don’t read for pleasure often struggle to understand pacing and punctuation use. \nCollege requires students to read complex texts that require flexible reading styles, Gallagher said. When students don’t read often, they sometimes lack the knowledge to navigate through literature. \n“This also carries over to their writing experiences; they’re not able to thoughtfully or agilely move readers,” he said. If a student lacks immersion in language as a reader, it can become more difficult to become a successful writer, he said. \nNancy Busch, the associate dean of University of Nebraska-Lincoln libraries, said reading for pleasure is important because of the experiences it offers. \n“It expands my understanding of different people, ideas and ways of looking at things,” Busch said. “It’s relaxing to read when you’re engaged in a good story and the way good writers use language.”
(11/29/07 5:00am)
Lately, Hollywood studios have had so much trouble coming up with ideas that they've made many films based off of video games. "House of the Dead," "Doom" and "BloodRayne" are a few of the standout bombs, with the "Resident Evil" series being the lone semi-success. Sadly, no one has learned their lesson, and thus "Hitman" exists. \nThe film follows a contract killer known only as Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant), who was bred by a mysterious outfit known as "The Organization" to become an unstoppable killing machine. Agent 47 is hired to take out the Russian prime minister, but instead finds himself entrenched in a government conspiracy and on the run from other assassins.\nIt's obvious from its beginning that "Hitman" is a terrible film. The opening credits include a montage of Agent 47's origins, but the information provided is nothing more than him getting his head shaved and barcoded as a 15-year-old. More of his background is included in a dreadful voice-over.\nAnd then the film takes off and, well, limps. Ten minutes in, the entire plot is laid out for the viewer. It's as if there's not even a first act, and the picture doesn't get any clearer as it moves forward. Supposedly the prime minister who 47 kills isn't the real one, but a dubious double who has had his face taken off. It's never explained, however, who the impersonator really is.\nOlyphant is fairly strong as the title character, but he never quite seems like the total badass the film wants him to be. He has to deliver some awful lines but does the best with what he has. The rest of the performances are wafer-thin, but only because every character is nothing but a stereotype -- worn-out cop, arms dealer who does too much cocaine, etc. \nThe action sequences, though, are pretty good. There's not a lot of CGI explosions, and it's nice to see old-fashioned shoot-outs with a bunch of blood. The sequence in which 47 destroys the police at the hotel while he is barefoot is definitely the highlight.\n"Hitman" takes itself way too seriously, lacks a plot and includes caricature-like performances from most of the cast. Bloody action sequences and a quality performance from Olyphant fail to save it from being anything more than entertainment for the 13-year-olds who play the video game.
(11/29/07 5:00am)
Since 2004, The Killers has been one of the biggest bands in rock music. A band always criticized by its peers, The Killers has still been able to land both mainstream and indie acclaim. Sawdust is a collection of rarities, new material, covers and b-sides from its first two albums, and it is composed of both good and bad cutouts. \nThe album's selling point and opening track "Tranquilize," its collaboration with Lou Reed, serves as a possible look into the new Killers. "Tranquilize" is a rocker that is quite a bit darker than the rest of the band's work but is a great track. "Under the Gun" was a song performed plenty on the band's Hot Fuss tour, and it's nice to see it's found a home on an album, since it's one of The Killers' most infectious songs. "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf" is the third and final part of a murder trilogy that started with the Hot Fuss songs "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" and "Midnight Show." While those two are straightforward rockers, "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf" is the dramatic finale with a great slowed-down Springsteen-esque finish. \nBut with the good comes the bad. "Show You How" is a mid-tempo bore-fest, with no memorable qualities. "Who Let You Go?" has some of Brandon Flowers' simplest and worst lyrics to date, and the Lu Cont's Thin White Duke Mix of "Mr. Brightside" is a horrible eight-minute dance version of the band's best single. \nThe album's covers fall short of its originals but still present something new in their approach. The cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay" doesn't have the original's raw hypnotic quality, but instead becomes brighter and harder. The take on Dire Straits' "Romeo and Juliet" loses its understated beauty with Brandon Flowers' dramatic vocals, but it's still a decent version of an undeniably great song. \nWhile Sawdust has its fair share of strong points, it lacks the overall quality to make it worth purchasing. Unless you are a Killers fan looking to collect all the band's rarities on one disc, I suggest just downloading "Tranquilize" and "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf"
(11/29/07 5:00am)
No longer anyone's prodigy, Alicia Keys has solidified into a confident musician in every respect: writing without regret and singing without apology. Even her production has eased into a groove of older R&B and soul classics, steering away from the hip-hop overtones of her last album. Yet all this confidence makes me wonder whether a little more vulnerability could do her some good, especially since Keys' poise seems misplaced at times behind clunky lyrics and mid-tempo snoozers.\nYou can see some of these highs and lows on Keys' first single "No One," which rings like a true pop single should, with a straight, uncomplicated beat and simple pop lyrics ("I don't worry 'cause everything's gonna be all right"). But beneath the technical perfection of each hyper-enunciated word, I wonder whether the song could have been something more. For a songwriter who has tacked her autobiography so close to her work, such a song feels less like a creative work and more like a meticulous copy of a 1970s Stax single. \nI don't mean to put down the album too heavily. There are plenty of highs, like the smoky funk throwback "Where Do We Go From Here?" and the anthemic belting of "Go Ahead," the album's raucous opener. I just wonder whether all that talent and praise (along with those shout-outs in Bob Dylan songs) have hampered Keys' development. Gone are the humor of Diary of Alicia Keys and the white-hot passion of Songs in A Minor, replaced by a hyper-produced smooth automaton declaring, with no irony, "I'm a Superwoman!" It's not a raw feminist ballad; it's star-glorifying schlock, and Keys can do better.\nPerhaps most telling of the over-polished Keys is "Lesson Learned," her collaboration with Tiger Beat guitar idol John Mayer, whose talent (and ego) seems comparable to hers. Instead of following her proper muse, Keys' voice drowns beneath the lame descending riff, while Mayer adds a frightening double-track of his own bland voice (Multiple John Mayers? Shudder). At this point, both artists are so sure of themselves that it's hard to find humanity in their colorless tune.\nNext time, Alicia should stop trying to be Aretha or Janis and just be herself, as she is.
(11/28/07 2:39am)
PHILADELPHIA – To Dawn Burke, Facebook had only been a simple Web site where her children used to post funny pictures and chat with friends. But when her daughter died, it became a way for her to reconnect with her child and begin the long, uncertain process of healing. \nDawn Burke’s daughter, Dana, a sophomore pre-pharmacy major at Temple University, died last March of a brain stem glioma – a brain tumor – at the age of 20. She was diagnosed in October 2005 when she began experiencing double vision. \nAfter appointments with an eye doctor failed to improve the situation, an MRI revealed the tumor. \nAfter extensive radiation and chemotherapy, mostly while still attending classes at Temple, Dana passed away on March 28. \n“I started using Dana’s laptop,” Burke said. “I went on her e-mail to see what she had and forwarded information to people who didn’t know she had passed away.” \nBurke began to notice that many Facebook e-mail notifications were arriving. She clicked on the links and found dozens of comments and wall posts from her friends. \n“I was a bit tearful at first,” Burke said. “I was happy to see they were still keeping her in their hearts and prayers.” \nBurke is one of many people across the nation who began utilizing social networking sites like Facebook to grieve a deceased loved one. \nJust 19 days after Temple University students began remembering Dana Burke on her Facebook wall, the students at Virginia Tech University started doing the same. A shooting at the school on April 16 left 32 dead. Maxine Turner was one of them. \nTina Diranian, 22, a recent graduate from George Mason University, was working on the day of the shootings. A news alert came across her e-mail reporting a shooting at Virginia Tech. Her mind immediately jumped to Turner, her close friend since kindergarten and a Virginia Tech student. Diranian took off work to go home. After watching the TV for almost 20 hours, Diranian received confirmation that Turner was in the German classroom and did not survive. \nOn April 17, Diranian created a memorial group for Turner on Facebook. Diranian is close with Turner’s parents and spent a lot of her childhood in their house.\n“I wanted to be the one to support them. It helped her parents in the coming days,” Diranian said. “We could all support each other this way. We were all scattered around the country, but this was a way we could be together.” \nDr. Sara Corse, a grief counselor at Philadelphia’s Council for Relationships, said the live nature of the Internet and new media like Facebook provide healthy avenues for people to grieve. \n“What the Internet does for people is it allows, at any time or place that suits the person’s emotional schedule, access to information and other people’s feelings about something,” Corse said. “It’s a way people can move out of social isolation.” \nCorse said someone grieving might not be able to move past the fact that a loved one is gone, but that the idea of a Facebook page can help curb that obstacle. \n“Facebook is organic,” Corse said. “It’s alive; it’s not dead.”
(11/27/07 6:12pm)
MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Minnesota and the Metropolitan Council recently partnered to explore whether the large amounts of algae that come through the council’s wastewater treatment plants could one day be used as a fuel source for metro buses. \nBeginning a little more than a year ago, the council and the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment at the University of Minnesota discussed specific areas where the two might be able to collaborate. \nDick Hemmingsen, director of the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment, said many concepts surfaced while the two parties were in informal talks, but the algae project was one that stood out. \n“It’s really sort of an intriguing idea,” Hemmingsen said. “Obviously the potential is pretty significant if this has the (possibility) to make commercial and technological sense.” \nPaul Chen, a senior research associate and program director for the Center for Biorefining at the University has been involved in the research side of the project since the council and the University each invested $40,000 in initial funding earlier this year. \nThe concept of harvesting algae as a potential biofuel is not a new one, he said. \nIn 1979, the Department of Energy began a 16-year study on the subject, which ultimately identified some 20 algae species with high oil contents. \nChen said a typical strain of algae might have 4 percent oil content, while these 20 “super” strains had oil contents ranging from 20 percent to 60 percent. \nAt the time the Department of Energy study was completed, it was concluded that mass production was not economically feasible, Chen said. \nNow, given the current energy crisis and the high price of crude oil, there’s a renewed interest in the idea. \nAlgae can have more than 100 times the yield per unit of soy beans, which Chen said “right now, is almost the only source for biodiesel commercially.” \nRoger Ruan, who manages the project at the University, is working with several research assistants to find a strain of algae that grows quickly in wastewater and produces lots of oil. \nBob Polta, research and development manager at Metropolitan Council Environmental Services, said the project is geared toward algae growth in wastewater conditions specifically. \n“The goal here is to see if algae with high oil content will grow in our effluent,” Polta said. \nIn addition to potentially creating a new source of bio oils, the process of growing algae in treated effluent could help lower carbon dioxide emissions from the wastewater treatment process – an important step in controlling greenhouse gases. \nPolta said such a measure could help the council’s wastewater plants keep up with stricter environmental regulations in the future. \nThe research is addressing two problems simultaneously, Chen said. \nAccording to IREE, the current funding for the algae project will run out at the end of this year. \nThe Metropolitan Council has already requested nearly $1 million from the state to fund continued research on a larger scale. \nAt this point, it’s not clear whether the additional funding will be included in Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s 2008 legislative requests, but Metropolitan Council spokeswoman Bonnie Kollodge said the council is confident about the project’s future. \n“I think the council is going to remain pretty hopeful about continued funding,” she said. \nPolta said at this point, the council has had discussions with other potential funders, but that to his knowledge, they had not yet received a firm commitment from anyone. \n“Without any substantial additional funding, it’s going to move along at a very slow pace,” Polta said.
(11/27/07 6:11pm)
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Mike Guzman and thousands of other students say the best way to prevent campus bloodshed is more guns.\nGuzman, an economics major at Texas State University-San Marcos, is among 8,000 students nationwide who have joined the nonpartisan Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, arguing that students and faculty already licensed to carry concealed weapons should be allowed to pack heat along with their textbooks.\n“It’s the basic right of self defense,” said Guzman, a 23-year-old former Marine. “Here on campus, we don’t have that right, that right of self defense.”\nEvery state except Illinois and Wisconsin allow residents some form of concealed handgun carrying rights, with 36 states issuing permits to most everyone who meets licensing criteria. The precise standards vary from state to state, but most require an applicant to be at least 21 and to complete formal instruction on use of force.\nMany states forbid license-holders from carrying weapons on school campuses, while in states where the decision is left to the universities, schools nearly always prohibit it. Utah is the only state that expressly allows students to carry concealed weapons on campus.\nW. Gerald Massengill, the chairman of the independent panel that investigated the Virginia Tech shooting, said those concerns outweigh the argument that gun-carrying students could have reduced the number of fatalities inflicted by someone like Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho.\n“I’m a strong supporter of the Second Amendment,” said Massengill, a former head of the Virginia state police. “But our society has changed, and there are some environments where common sense tells us that it’s just not a good idea to have guns available.”\nHis view is echoed by Peter Hamm, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, who says campus safety concerns cannot be addressed by adding more guns to campuses.\n“If there’s more we need to do, we certainly need to do that, but introducing random access to firearms is not the solution,” said Hamm. “You have more victims, not fewer victims.”\nStudents for Concealed Carry on Campus gathered momentum after the April killings at Virginia Tech, where the gunman shot 32 people dead before killing himself.\nWith the help of the social networking Web site Facebook, the group mushroomed and organized its first nationwide protest in October. The group says it is not affiliated with the National Rifle Association, a political party or any other organization.\nLike the students at TSU-San Marcos who were pushing Monday for a student government resolution on the issue, students at more than 110 colleges and universities went to class wearing empty holsters, said Scott Lewis, the national group’s spokesman.\n“We’re not proposing to arm every student. We’re not proposing that every freshmen get a handbook and a Glock,” he said.\nBut he said students who are licensed to carry concealed firearms to movie theaters, public parks and other places should be allowed to take them on campus as well.\nCandace Soya, a 20-year-old student at TSU-San Marcos, said she fears chaotic shootouts. If someone decided to open fire on the tree-lined quad in the middle of her campus, armed students would likely make matters worse, she said.\n“It’s not a situation where you can fight fire with fire,” Soya said. \nBut advocates pushing for the campus concealed carry right say it’s not just incidents like the one at Virginia Tech that create concern.\nCampuses in higher-crime urban neighborhoods also pose risks for students, said Michael Flitcraft, a 23-year-old mechanical engineering student at the University of Cincinnati.\nHe argues, like most gun rights advocates, that weapons-free regulations only deter law-abiding students, not thugs or mentally ill shooters.\n“Laws only affect the people who voluntarily abide by them,” Flitcraft said.
(11/27/07 4:40am)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Microsoft’s revamped Word program is leaving some students griping about the new bells and whistles. \nSome users complain that Word 2007, which is installed in Harvard University’s computer labs, has created incompatibility problems and is difficult to navigate. \nDocuments are now saved as “.docx” files instead of the traditional “.doc” format, making it difficult to open newer files on older versions of the software. \nFreshman Chioma J. Madubata said she found it frustrating that her freshman seminar professor was unable to open a paper she had written in Word 2007 because the professor’s version of the program was incompatible with the new version’s saved files. \nMicrosoft recently released a compatibility update that converts Word 2007 documents into a format that can be opened in older versions. \nMadubata also complained about the program’s new interface, which includes the font Calibri instead of the traditional Times New Roman. \n“When I opened (Word) I was just really surprised – why do they have to change it like this?” Madubata said. \nTina Tanhehco, a representative for Microsoft, said that Word 2007 underwent a dramatic facelift to accommodate the program’s 1,500 commands, up from 100 in the first version of Word. \nKathryn Chadbourne, who teaches Expository Writing classes, said that the new Word presents only a minor inconvenience. \nChadbourne said her class focuses on content rather than form, but that she was concerned about readability issues with fonts other than Times New Roman. \n“I do ask for Times New Roman in my syllabus,” she said, “but people disregard that sometimes, and it’s the last thing I want to fuss about.” \nChadbourne also raised another concern about the new Word font, recalling that one of her students submitted an essay in Calibri size 11, but saw the paper become two pages longer when the font was changed to Times New Roman size 12. \n“I don’t want to be a stickler, but I do believe that tailoring an essay’s length to the assignment is a skill in itself,” she said. “It’s good for all of us to keep in mind the ways technology affects our work.”
(11/27/07 4:38am)
A group of IU physicians has been named some of the “best in their field” by “America’s Top Doctors for Cancer,” a book published by medical company Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.\nThe doctors, who work at the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis, were named among the nation’s best doctors for diagnosing and treating various types of cancer in children and adults.\n“The IU Simon Cancer Center strives to excel in patient care and treatment with dedicated physicians who are recognized nationally for their expertise,” said IU School of Medicine Dean D. Craig Brater in an IU press release. “This expertise reflects both our culture and our environment – a culture of always trying to generate new knowledge and apply that to patient care, and an environment of collaboration and team work among all health professionals.”\nThe book profiles more than 2,200 cancer specialists from across the country. The doctors were selected based on criteria including medical education, board certification, academic and other professional titles and personality, among others.\nThe IU doctors included in the book are Dennis Blom, John J. Coleman III, Lawrence H. Einhorn, Robert J. Fallon, Richard S. Foster, Robert J. Goulet Jr., Jay L. Grosfeld, Valerie P. Jackson, Keith D. Lillemoe, Patrick J. Loehrer, Sr., Katherine Look, Scott Shapiro, George W. Sledge Jr., Frederick B. Stehman, Allan Thornton Jr., Thomas M. Ulbright, Terry A. Vik, and Stephen D. Williams.\nThe Simon Cancer Center will open a new outpatient center in 2008.
(11/21/07 1:20am)
CLEMSON, S.C. – For those feeling the stress of finding a ride home for upcoming holidays, a new Facebook application may help relieve those worries. The application, called Carpool, allows users to post where they plan to travel so others without a means of transportation can find rides home. \nThe Carpool application is functional in the United States, Canada and England and can be accessed through MySpace accounts as well. \nEven though the application launched just this past summer, it has already reached the status of most popular online ride sharing service in North America, according to zimride.com, the Web site of Carpool’s origination. \nCollege campuses have embraced the application, where it has begun to replace traditional “ride boards” that students used to post paper destination requests in search of a carpool. \nLogan Green, the creator of Carpool and recent graduate of University of California at Santa Barbara, is pleased with how the application has been received by the college community. Green calls the growth “unprecedented.” \n“It shows that not all popular Facebook applications have to involve ninjas and vampires,” Green said. “An application like Carpool helps students find safe rides in addition to cutting their gas expenses and reducing (carbon dioxide). And it’s clear students value that.” \nWith Facebook filling the role of virtual social epicenter of college students’ lives, creators of Carpool could not have chosen a better means by which to promote the application. \nIn fact, more than 10,000 rides have been posted on Carpool in less than four months. \nIn addition to finding a ride home, students can conduct a mock “background check” on the person offering the ride. Personal information can also be regulated using security controls on the Facebook Web site. \nCarpool will also facilitate communication between those wishing to ride with one another, allowing people to even set a price to charge for gas and other transportation expenses. \nThe application works with other Facebook applications so people can search for rides to an event. \nTo ensure accurate destination descriptions, Carpool uses Google Maps technology to match students traveling with the same destination in mind. After carpooling, users are recommended to leave feedback, describing their experience to inform future riders. The application aims to make ride sharing a more social and accessible experience. \n“It really feels like I’m part of a community,” said Meredith Hoffman, a junior at Cornell University and a user of Carpool. “Using Carpool on Facebook, I can choose to ride with people in my school who I know I can trust.”
(11/19/07 3:03am)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Students might want to think twice the next time they mix a Jaeger bomb. Students who mix energy drinks with alcohol are putting themselves in twice as much physical danger and doubling the likelihood they might be involved in a sexual assault as those who drink only alcohol, according to a recent study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. \nMary Claire O’Brien, associate professor of emergency medicine and public health sciences at Wake Forest, led the team of researchers in studying the risks of combining alcohol and energy drinks. \nAccording to a Nov. 1 Newswise article, O’Brien and her team discovered that students who drink alcohol with energy drinks rather than just alcohol were twice as likely to be injured, twice as likely to require medical attention and twice as likely either to take advantage of someone sexually or to be taken advantage of sexually. \nThe study was conducted by polling 4,271 college students from 10 schools via the Internet, according to the Newswise article. Of the students polled, 2,886 had consumed alcohol within the past 30 days, and of those, 24 percent had also consumed alcohol with energy drinks, O’Brien told The Herald. \n“I think people (drink alcohol with energy drinks) because it allows them to drink longer without feeling the effects of the alcohol,” O’Brien said. She said that when people drink alcohol in conjunction with energy drinks, all of the normal changes associated with drinking alcohol – such as an increased blood alcohol content level – occur, but people are able to drink more alcohol without realizing the extent of their intoxication. \nBrown University junior Adam Robbins, who is a campus representative for Rockstar energy drinks, agreed with O’Brien’s description. \n“The body’s defense against alcohol is for it to get tired so you can’t drink any more,” Robbins said. “If your body’s being stimulated (while drinking alcohol) ... it’s not healthy.” \nAs a campus representative for Rockstar, Robbins said he is supplied by the company with energy drinks. Robbins, a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, often brings drinks to fraternity parties and other events. Though some partygoers will use the energy drinks to mix with their alcohol, others will drink the energy drinks as an alternative to alcohol, he said. \n“It’s an alternative to alcohol or smoking which is still socially acceptable or cool,” he said. \nO’Brien said she was prompted to perform the study while treating a comatose student who had been drinking alcohol and energy drinks. \n“I found out it’s a huge trend. It’s not just in the U.S. – it’s all over the world,” she said. \nRobbins said he first heard about mixing alcohol and energy drinks together about four or five years ago. He attributes the growing popularity of mixing energy drinks with alcohol to the rising popularity of energy drinks themselves. \n“Five or six years ago you might be able to find an energy drink at a convenience store. Now it seems like you can find it at a bookstore,” Robbins said. \nSome students said they were skeptical of parts of the study. \n“If anything, you get the best of both worlds,” Brown University senior Jeff Wardyga said. “You get the traditional alcohol buzz, but you also get the sports drink, which also pumps a little more into you. But ... alcohol (by itself) can be dangerous.” \nWardyga said he had not experienced any mishaps as a result of drinking Jaeger bombs that he would not have experienced as a result of drinking alcohol alone.
(11/16/07 4:07am)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Status update: Facebook is ... the social-networking site of choice for white students.\nA new Northwestern University study suggests that students’ choice of social networking sites is connected to race, ethnicity and parents’ educational background.\nAfter studying the usage habits of 1,060 freshmen at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Eszter Hargittai, a sociology professor at Northwestern, found that each racial group had distinct social networking preferences.\nWhite students were more likely to use Facebook than any other social-networking site. Latino students were less likely to use Facebook than MySpace.com by a margin of 13 percentage points. Asian students, too, were heavy Facebook users but shied away from MySpace and gravitated to Xanga.com and Friendster.com in larger numbers than any other ethnic groups. Black students showed no statistical preference.\nThough the likelihood of a student using Facebook increased with his or her parents’ level of education, Hargittai said she found this did not alter racial tendencies.\nArt Cockfield, a Queen’s University law professor and member of its Internet watchdog group, The Surveillance Project in Kingston, Ontario, acknowledged that there might be some truth to Hargittai’s research.\n“The stereotype may be that the flashier social networking sites like MySpace may be attracting, culturally, people that are predisposed to those types of sites,” Cockfield said. “I think it’s very controversial, and it’s probably too soon to try to analyze why this is taking place.”\nCommunity Connect, a New York-based social-networking company, uses culture to attract its members, with sites like BlackPlanet, AsianAve.com, MiGente.com and the GLBT-focused Glee.com. The company “banks on” Facebook and MySpace ignoring the desire of ethnic groups to connect online, said Kay Madati, the company’s vice president of marketing.\n“It’s our core business proposition that people will center around culturally relevant issues and dialogue about things that connect them,” Madati said. “If MySpace or Facebook began to emphasize cultural relevance, we’d be out of business, but for whatever reason, that’s not part of their business plan.”\nFacebook, Friendster and Xanga did not return calls by press time. MySpace declined to comment about the study’s findings.
(11/16/07 4:06am)
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Many know that drinking water is essential to maintaining good health, but does anyone ever stop to think about the quality of the water? \nIn today’s health-conscious society, most people prefer to drink bottled water because of its supposedly higher quality.\n“I wouldn’t drink tap water from Long Beach,” said California State University at Long Beach senior Alicia Everetts. “It’s not very clean.” \nLike Everetts, more and more students on campus are purchasing water bottles or carrying around refillable bottles of their own. \nSenior Robert Hernandez said he prefers bottled water to tap. However, several studies published in recent years have questioned whether bottled water is safer to drink than tap. \nWhile not many students know of these reports, Hernandez said he remembers hearing a few years ago that bottled water is actually the same quality as tap water. \nAccording to the Sierra Club, an environmental protection organization, “Coca-Cola’s Dasani and Pepsi’s Aquafina are tap water coming from places like Queens, N.Y., and Jacksonville, Fla., with some additional treatment.” \nThe concern is that bottled water is not as well-monitored as tap water. The Environmental Protection Agency sets standards for public drinking water, while the Food and Drug Administration sets the standards for bottled water based on Environmental Protection Agency’s criteria, according to the Web site. However, neither agency guarantees the quality of bottled water. \nResearchers and consumers have also expressed worry over possible bacterial contamination that could develop from reusing plastic bottles. \n“Used water battles become susceptible to developing dangerous levels of fungi and mold when they are refilled, cleaned \nimproperly, or sit at room temperature for too long,” reported one study conducted by the University of Calgary in Canada in 2002. \nTo prevent such bacterial contamination, the University of Minnesota Extension Service recommends cleaning used water bottles thoroughly with soap and hot water and allowing them to air-dry completely before reuse. \nThe most recent water bottle scare claims that the plastic used to make the bottles leaches dangerous chemicals into the water, which could cause cancer. \nPolyethylene terephthalate, or PET, is the plastic of choice for most bottled beverages because of its durability, translucent quality and ability to hold both hot and cold liquids without leaking, according to the American Chemistry Council. \nCirculating rumors have claimed that PET contains contaminants such as bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that mimics estrogen, and diethylhydroxylamine (DEHA), an additive used to make some plastics more flexible, according to the ACC. \nHowever, recent research conducted by the American Chemistry Council and the National Association for PET Container Resources has shown that these claims are simply not true. \n“Contrary to this hoax, PET bottles are not made with DEHA,” one American Chemistry Council Web site claims. \n“Bisphenol A is not used in the production of PET material, nor is it used as a chemical building block for any of the materials used in the manufacture of PET,” said a report released last month by the association. \nThe report also dismissed rumors that PET leaches dangerous chemicals.\n“I think the research shows that it is perfectly safe to drink bottled water,” said Tom Gufrey, a chemistry professor at California State University at Long Beach. \nWhile it is important to remain a conscious consumer, no one should be afraid to drink water. \n“Unless you are drinking really bad water, you are more likely to suffer from the adverse effects of dehydration than from the minuscule amounts of chemical contaminants present in your water supply,” said Rolf Halden, a professor and researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
(11/16/07 4:05am)
A program that helps disadvantaged high school students prepare for college will receive $2 million in grants.\nIU-Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Upward Bound program is slated to receive two four-year grants for $250,000 each from the U.S. Department of Education. One grant is a renewal of the original grant initially awarded in 2003. The other is a new grant to expand the program.\nChancellor Michael Wartell announced the grants Wednesday.\nUpward Bound aims to help disadvantaged students enroll in and graduate from college. Students, who are required to be freshmen or sophomores when they enter the program, must meet income guidelines and must be the first person in their families with the potential to receive a bachelor’s degree. The program is free to students.\n“It really adds to our community,” said program director Roxanne Gregg. “We really believe here that Upward Bound can help students get to college, and nothing is beyond their reach. Anyone can get a college education with the right assistance and help.”\nThe students attend classes on the IPFW campus for supplemental math, language arts and science instruction and receive help with college applications, essays, financial aid and scholarship forms. They also visit colleges and take summer courses at college for high school credit.\nThe program initially served 50 students from three Fort Wayne high schools. The additional funding will allow 100 students at those schools and three others to participate.
(11/15/07 5:00am)
Ever since Tom DeLonge destroyed Blink-182, something has been wrong in his head. \nDeLonge had this to say about Angels&Airwaves' new album I-Empire: "It reflects an idea that the world is yours for the taking, and all that exists, exists inside you." \nAnd while that statement is as heavy-handed as you can get -- and whether or not DeLonge is actually serious -- the one thing DeLonge is right about is that I-Empire is much better than the band's debut. \nThe problem with AVA's debut We Don't Need To Whisper was that DeLonge overhyped the quality of the record. It was full of U2-esque guitar work that dragged on and included laughable lyrics. The band has brought much of the same this time around, but it for some reason, it's more enjoyable. \nThe appropriately titled opener "Call To Arms" starts off with the aforementioned riffs ripped from U2 and a somewhat interesting sound, both of which are nothing new. However, the album's major improvement is its soaring hooks. \nIt seems DeLonge remembered that the reason Blink was so popular was because he and Mark Hoppus wrote great pop songs, and he's figured out how to integrate that into AVA's formula. The lyrics aren't anything special, but when DeLonge belts out, "I'd like to say that you're my only fear / And when I dream, it slowly disappears / And when I wake, I'm right here by your side / To feel your heart," he really means it.\nThe single "Everything's Magic" includes some cheesy hand-claps, but Atom Willard's drums and different guitar work make it extremely enjoyable. It's definitely the quickest song the band's written and induces its listeners to jump around their bedrooms with their significant others.\n"Sirens" is faster than anything on Whisper, and its new-wave-esque-sound would be considered a bad track in The Police's catalog, but works for AVA. However, painfully earnest lyrics almost ruin the song: "I like your eyes wide / I've been knocking at your back door / Nervous like a knife fight."\nThankfully DeLonge has accepted that his biggest strength is writing catchy songs, added to by better technical work from the rest of the band. I-Empire is an improvement. However, the droning-on of the album's latter tracks and the sketchy, elementary lyrics from a guy in his 30s prevent it from helping DeLonge conquer the world, or whatever the hell he has dreamed up in that warped mind of his.
(11/14/07 4:07am)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Doug Strahler is only 24 years old. Yet the Syracuse University alumnus has two big responsibilities. He co-owns a graphic and Web design company and teaches once a week at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications – his alma mater. \n“Some students may not like adjuncts and would prefer a professor with a doctorate degree,” Strahler said. “I just say give them a chance. They are there teaching for a reason, and it is usually because they have a specialty in the field they are teaching.” \nAdjunct faculty members are generally individuals who have a full-time job outside of the university, but they teach a course or two within their expertise. They are more cost-effective than full-time, tenure-track professors and do not perform academic research in addition to their teaching duties. SU has decided it prefers the term “non-tenure track faculty” for its adjunct members. \n“These individuals continue full-time employment elsewhere, but bring professional expertise in a field to the classroom,” said Kal Alston, associate provost of academic administration at Syracuse.\nSyracuse currently has 900 tenured faculty members and about 550 adjunct teachers. \nAlston said using skilled professionals to teach in their field of expertise “has a lot of positive effects.” She added that tapping into the pool of professionals also helps to meet the needs of the students. \nEach year the student population fluctuates, creating an unanticipated demand for faculty to instruct a larger student body. \n“A few years ago, we had more students than we had expected, so we had to increase the instructional (side) in a quick manner,” Alston said. She said the tenured population generally doesn’t grow from year to year, so the need for teachers has to be supplemented by part-time faculty. \nSophomore Courtney Pew also took a class instructed by an adjunct who owned a graphics company. \n“I found that to be beneficial to our class because he provided us with the insight as to what employers look for in potential candidates,” she said. \nPew said the inside view will help her become more marketable in the work force. \nDespite the recent surge in adjunct professors, the need for full-time tenured faculty is not going away either. \n“We aren’t trying to replace the tenure-track positions,” Alston said. “It is more about balancing the use of both tenured and non-tenured positions to better the curriculum as a whole.”