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(10/23/07 2:42am)
Two congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives recently proposed a law that could strip federal financial aid from students. If colleges and universities do not follow the proposed methods of preventing illegal file sharing, the federal financial aid could disappear.\nSeveral eyebrows have been raised because of the language of one provision. This clause jeopardizes the federal financial aid that students receive if colleges and universities do not install technology to block illegal file sharing.\nThe issue needs to be dealt with through law enforcement, said Wendy Wigen, a government relations officer with EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit organization composed of 2,000 colleges and universities, adding that the congressmen want the universities to act as an agent for the music and movie industries.\n“It’s not their role,” she said of universities. “They have a real problem with being the gatekeeper.”\nThe language of the bill would require colleges and universities who have received at least 100 illegal file sharing notices during the past year to provide evidence to the Secretary of Education that the institution has plans to use technology-based deterrents to prevent the piracy. Or else, they would no longer be eligible to receive financial aid.
(10/23/07 2:41am)
The IU School of Law will be celebrating Military Justice Week today through Oct. 26 with a military appeals court hearing and talks by IU alumni who have had successful careers as military attorneys. \nIU law graduates Neal Puckett and Major Nicholas Lancaster will work as practioners-in-residence during the week and will give advice to students pursuing legal careers in the military. \nPuckett, who was formerly in the Marine Corps and served as a military judge, now specializes in military law in private practice. Recently, Puckett has represented high-ranking officials convicted of crimes during the Iraq War. Lancaster served as the head prosecutor for the 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan and Iraq.\nPuckett will be giving a lecture titled “Handling High-Profile Cases” today at noon in the Moot Court Room of the law school. \nThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces will hear arguments at the IU School of Law in U.S. v. Daniel Pack. The hearing for the case, which involves alleged indecent acts with a minor, begins at noon on Thursday and is open to the public.
(10/23/07 2:41am)
NEW YORK – Members of Congress have proposed a bill that will help ease the burden of buying college textbooks. \nThe Textbook Affordability Act of 2007, sponsored by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., was introduced March 20 and has yet to be approved by the Senate or House of Representatives, according to the text of the act. The act’s major aim is to ensure that textbooks and supplemental materials are more affordable and accessible for students. The act suggests that the publishers include the ISBN number and the actual retail price of a book on a student’s online schedule. \nSome of the points proposed by the act have already been adopted by the New York University Bookstore, however. \n“We have always made the ISBN numbers and retail prices available on our Web site so that students can shop around,” said Phil \nChristopher, director of NYU Bookstores. Christopher said the bookstore Web site is a great tool for finding the cheapest alternatives for buying textbooks. The bookstore also promotes the buyback program in which students can sell their used textbooks to the bookstore. \n“This robust used book program is a great way to lower the cost of textbooks overall, but it depends on the participation of students and faculty as well,” Christopher said. “We’re trying to make the faculty realize that the earlier we get their textbook requests, the more buyback opportunities we will have.” \nChristopher said he believes if this is promoted to a greater extent, textbook prices will decrease. \nThe act also calls for publishers to include the history of any revisions of the books they are selling, and whether such items are available in cheaper paperback or unbound formats. The bookstore would then purchase these items to sell to students at a lower cost. \nThe act states that if a publisher sells supplemental books along with textbooks in a bundle, they must also give buyers the option of buying them separately. \n“I think that it’s a good idea to separately sell the textbooks,” said NYU freshman Monique East. “For one of my classes, I was required to buy an expensive textbook bundle that my teacher has yet to \neven use.” \nFor some students, textbook prices are so high they are unable to buy them at all. NYU senior Jonathan Reid said books at NYU are so expensive he couldn’t afford textbooks for certain classes in the past. This semester, he has not bought books for either of his two courses. \n“College students are already broke,” he said, “and pricey textbooks only make things worse.”
(10/22/07 2:37am)
Two prominent broadcast journalists will visit the School of Journalism this week. “NBC News” correspondent Bob Dotson and ESPN “First Take” host Dana Jacobson will visit a visual storytelling class today before holding separate lectures.\nJacobson’s lecture, “What It Takes to Get to ESPN and Stay There,” will begin at 7:45 p.m. today in Woodburn Hall Room 120. Dotson’s lecture, “A Survival Kit for Professional Storytellers: How to Compete with Cell Phones and Web Sites,” will begin at 8 p.m. today in Ernie Pyle Hall Room 220.
(10/22/07 2:36am)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The popularity of iPods and other brands of MP3 players might be the cause for an increase in violent crime, according to a report issued by the Urban Institute. \nThe report’s authors found that a time period when Apple sold nearly 90 million iPods correlated with the first national crime rate spike in 12 years. They refer to the spike as an iCrime wave. \n“Both of us thought about this because when crime goes up, it rarely goes up more than one year. If it continues to go up, it signals a new trend,” the study’s co-author Aaron Chalfin said. “We thought that it might make sense that something people are carrying on them (something) that is attractive to robbers might be it.” \nThe report states that from 1993 to 2004, the violent crime rate fell every year – a total decline of 39 percent. \nSince then, the crime rate began to rise as more Americans began “visibly wearing, and being distracted by, expensive electronic gear,” according to the study. The report suggests that “iPods are everywhere and ... one size fits all.” \n“If you walk around with a $100 bill sticking out of your pocket, you increase the likelihood of being targeted by a robber,” Chalfin said. \nCollege students are the largest age demographic of iPod users, Chalfin said. \nAccording to the report, “the device is a lightning rod for criminals.” \nOne reason iPod owners are more susceptible to being robbed is because of a lack of anti-theft protection and the lessened awareness experienced while listening to music, according to the report. \nApple filed a patent in 2005 showing that the company is researching ways to block thieves from stealing iPods. \nAccording to the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Web site, it helps to disable the charger for devices powered by a re-chargeable power supply. Disabling the charger should then deter theft. \nPennsylvania State University senior William Fertsch, he keeps alert while listening to his iPod around campus. \n“[The report] makes sense because, like today, I came to class with my calculator, my iPod, my laptop, my camera and all the cords,” he said. “We carry around a lot of electronics.”
(10/16/07 1:31am)
Colleges and universities raked in money by the billions last year. But their investing success now has a price – a movement in Congress to force the wealthiest schools to spend more of their money to keep tuition down.\nIn recent weeks, a string of colleges and universities have announced enviable investment results. Leading the way was Yale, which earned 28 percent over the year ending June 30, increasing the school’s endowment to $22.5 billion overall.\nHarvard, the world’s wealthiest university with $34.9 billion, beat the market again with a 23 percent return. There also were good returns for smaller schools such as Bowdoin (24.4 percent) and William & Mary (19.2 percent).\nBut while those numbers were coming out, some members of the Senate Finance Committee in Washington were wondering aloud why the rise in endowments isn’t stemming tuition increases. At a hearing last month, lawmakers batted around the idea of forcing at least some of the wealthier colleges to spend more savings on reducing costs.\n“Senators, what would your constituents say if gasoline cost $9.15 a gallon?” Lynne Munson, an adjunct fellow at the Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington told the committee. “Or if the price of milk was over $15? That is how much those items would cost if their price had gone up at the same rate that tuition has since 1980.”\nIn the mid-1990s, a billion-dollar endowment was a mark of the financial elite, a club with just 17 schools in its ranks. By last year, 62 colleges had hit the mark. Within a few years there will likely be 100.\nPrivate foundations are required by law to spend at least 5 percent of their endowments each year on their missions, but public charities – a category that includes colleges – face no such requirement. Holding colleges to the same standard is an idea that clearly interests Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, the minority leader of the Senate Finance Committee and Capitol Hill’s closest scrutinizer of non-profits.\n“It’d be good to see the very elite institutions, with the richest endowments, take the lead and create a ripple effect throughout higher education to make college more affordable for everyone,” he said in a statement.\nIn fact, colleges spent on average 4.6 percent of their endowments last year, according to the latest figures from National Association of College and University Business Officers.\nHigher education officials were angry they weren’t allowed to speak out against the proposal at a hearing last month, but submitted their own testimony last week, arguing they spend plenty on public service and that endowments aren’t simply savings accounts that can be tapped at any time for any reason.\nThe underlying issue is that the proposal would represent a major encroachment by Washington into university affairs. Colleges oppose government involvement in anything from how they teach to the criteria they use in admissions. They would not take kindly to Congress directing them precisely how to spend their own money.\n“We don’t think as a general matter the federal government ought to be telling private philanthropic organizations, that have been around in some cases since before the federal government, how to spend their money,” said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, the main group representing colleges and universities in Washington.\nStill, Hartle acknowledges colleges will have to take seriously the complaints about colleges costs with which constituents are deluging lawmakers.\n“There isn’t a college or university president in the country that doesn’t recognize that federal policy makers in both houses of Congress in both parties are very concerned about rapidly rising prices in higher education,” \nhe said.
(10/16/07 1:30am)
WASHINGTON – Drinking alcohol may be more dangerous than you think, according to research released last month. \nIn a study released on Sept. 27, days before the beginning of October’s national breast cancer awareness month, it was found that women who have one or two alcoholic drinks a day increase their risk of breast cancer by 10 percent. Women who consume three or more alcoholic drinks a day are increasing their risk by 30 percent. \nThe research, which was conducted by Arthur Klatsky, an adjunct investigator in the division of research at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, looked at more than 70,000 multi-ethnic women who had supplied medical information during health examinations between 1978 and 1985. The conclusions found that the risk factor is not specific to any one form of alcohol in particular – wine, beer and spirits all provide an equal risk of developing breast cancer. \nGWU freshman Courtney Keiser said she did not find the new research \nalarming. \n“I don’t drink, so I wouldn’t change my drinking habits but it’s probably just a new statistic that everyone is worrying about,” Keiser said. \nGWU sophomore Laura Maas said she did not think the research was relevant to her life. \n“I think I would be more aware of how much I drink but I probably wouldn’t really change my habits,” Mass said. “I don’t drink as often as the study showed anyway.” \nSusan Haney, associate director of the Student Health Service, said breast cancer is rare in college students and the majority of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer do not have any risk factors. \nHaney said it is important for women to be aware of their family health history. \n“Girls with a family history of breast cancer have a higher risk,” she said. \nAccording to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, there are simple ways for women to prevent breast cancer: exercising, eating a low-fat diet and consuming less alcohol. Exercising for just four or more hours a week can boost the immune system and decrease estrogen levels. Foods with high-fat content can lead to higher estrogen levels. \nHaving annual exams can help women stay aware of their risk based on their lifestyle, genetic background and age. Women should start getting breast exams when they are 20 or 21 years old.\nThough it is rare, breast cancer can develop in men. According to WebMD.com, male cases of breast cancer only make up 1 percent of total cases, generally occur in men between 60 and 70 years old. \nFor GWU freshman Rob Driscoll, breast cancer is not a major concern and he said that he does not plan to change his habits to try to prevent it. \n“It’s unlikely I would get breast cancer,” he said. “I refuse to change my \ndrinking habits.”
(10/16/07 1:30am)
BOSTON – Harrah’s Entertainment pitched a proposed Rhode Island casino to college students as a place “to have fun when they’re taking a break from studying.”\nIn Connecticut, home to two of the world’s largest resort casinos, a minimum age limit of 21 doesn’t deter young people. And colleges in Missouri changed their health center intake forms to include a space for gambling issues, after counselors found the problem was prevalent but not being addressed.\nAs Massachusetts debates a proposal by Gov. Deval Patrick to allow three full-scale casinos, professionals are warning that college students are more susceptible than others to gambling addictions, and that college administrations are not prepared to deal with the \nfallout.\n“There is a steady flow of high school and college students that attempt to get into the casinos,” said Marvin Steinberg, head of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling.\nPatrick’s plan would put poker, roulette, slot machines and the accompanying free drinks within a short drive from many of the state’s more than 100 college campuses. \nAnd if racetrack owners in Boston or Revere win a license, students at Harvard, Boston College, Northeastern University and other schools could ride Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trains to go gambling.\nHarvard researchers peg the rate of college students with a severe gambling problem at 5 percent, with another 7 percent considered “problem” gamblers. Both rates are about double the adult rates.\n“By the time they get to college, most kids have already gambled,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, citing the lottery. \n“However, most have probably not had the opportunity to go to a casino with high stakes and access to credit. It would be exposing them to a new type of gambling.”\nThe governor estimates three resort casinos would generate $450 million in annual tax revenue, which he would spend on repairing roads and property tax credits for homeowners.\nCasino gambling last year generated $57 billion in revenue, and Massachusetts is among just 14 states that still prohibit casinos and slot \nmachines. \nPatrick acknowledged there will be side effects, such as addiction and child neglect, but says they are “manageable” through programs to be funded by casino tax revenue.\nJudyAnn Bigby, the state’s secretary of health and human services, said the casinos will attract an upper-income crowd, not college kids.\n“These are destination resort casinos,” she said. “It’s not designed to attract college students. My understanding of where the students gamble is on the Internet.”\nBigby added that casinos would train workers to identify problem gamblers, and casino operators would be prohibited from advertising to young people.
(10/16/07 1:27am)
WASHINGTON – When George Washington University senior Tom Lotito came home for Christmas from a semester studying abroad in Japan, he found that his mom and sister were wishing for the same Christmas present that he wanted – the newly released Nintendo Wii. For Lotito, the president of the Nintendo Players Union on campus, getting a Wii was a no-brainer, but he was taken aback by the interest of his family members. \n“I was pretty surprised to hear they wanted the Wii,” he said. “Even several of my mom’s friends play it when they’re over, and that’s not really the sort of thing you’d expect to hear.” \nThe expanding list of gamers in Lotito’s family is representative of a greater demographic trend in the gaming world. The introduction of new games such as the “Halo” series and “Guitar Hero,” and consoles such as the Wii, are attracting a wider set of gamers and are bringing games into the social setting. \nA study produced by Pew Internet Research conducted at several colleges and universities in 2002 found that more women play computer and online games than men and about equal amounts of men and women play video games. \nThese statistics do not surprise Geoff Lorgus, who is a proctor for the George Washington University Gaming League. \n“There is no indicating factor for who is a gamer,” he said. “Everyone from geeky pocket-protector nerds to frat boys playing ‘Halo’ to techy girls. It’s nondenominational.” \nWith the growing dimensions and intensity of games comes the worry that games are taking time away from study and class. A study produced by the National Bureau of Economic Research reported that students whose roommates brought a video game console to school studied an average of 40 minutes less per day and had slightly lower first semester grades than their peers.\nLotito and Lorgus both acknowledge that playing games can be a great break from studying, but warn that problems occur when it gets in the way of schoolwork. \n“In high school, I wouldn’t care about homework,” Lorgus said. “Study biology or play ‘Red Alert’? But after one semester at college, I realized I couldn’t do that.” \nThat is not the kind of answer that Christopher Covington would like to hear. Covington, a graduate student at George Washington University, teaches computer game design and programming, which teaches students concepts integral to designing games, such as artificial intelligence, graphics rendering and user interfaces. \nCovington’s class is one of seven courses at George Washington University that teach aspects of game design, and is part of a larger trend of college campuses across the country bringing the fundamentals and ideas behind gaming into \nthe classroom. \n“We are actually seeing the beginning of a paradigm shift in the way that course material is being presented to students,” Covington said. \n“One way to make assignments more fun and engaging is to look at them from a gaming point of view. Video games are a large part of our society, and it makes sense to look upon them for inspiration \nin academia.” \nAt least 50 schools offer some kind of course in video games with some schools incorporating gaming studies into major or minor programs. For James Hahn, chair of the computer science department at GWU, bringing gaming ideas into the classroom is beneficial because it gets students interested and it incorporates a wide-range \nof disciplines. \n“This is in line with what is required to make games now,” said Hahn, who first introduced the design class in 2002. \n“Not just computer graphics and computer science skills but also story-telling, design, human-computer interaction and, since the industry has evolved into the second-largest entertainment industry in the \nworld, business.”
(10/12/07 4:20am)
FRESNO, Calif. – A simple text message could make America’s youth put down their cell phones and sprint for the polls. \nAccording to a new study conducted by researchers from Princeton University and the University of Michigan, “young voters who were sent text message reminders to vote on the eve of Election Day 2006 were significantly more likely to vote than those who didn’t receive a text message reminder.” \nThe study reported that to-the-point reminder texts were most effective and resulted in a 5 percent increase in youth voter turnout. Reaching young people now and encouraging them to vote is important because 18- to 31- year-olds will represent more than one-third of the electorate by 2015, the study said. \nThe study used voter registration data from the Student Public Interest Research Group’s New Voter Project – a non-profit youth voter mobilization drive – and worked in conjunction with Working Assets Wireless, a wireless telephone company. \nCalifornia State University at Fresno political science professor Kurt Cline stressed the importance of the youth vote. \n“The political system only represents those who participate,” Cline said. “If young people don’t vote and participate, they will lose out in the end – especially when it comes to Social Security.” \nCline said he believed there are two reasons people don’t vote. \n“There are systematic things that cause people to not vote, such as voting times not being convenient or a lack of party mobilization,” Cline said. “There are also individual things or personal reasons why people don’t vote, such as low education or lack of interest. Some don’t see the purpose or are just not interested in politics.” \nCline said it couldn’t hurt to send text messages to motivate people to vote. \n“Some people say they don’t vote because they forget,” Cline said. “A text could be a helpful reminder and another kind of media to reach students.” \nMallory Hart, a 21-year-old registered voter, said she didn’t need a reminder to vote. \n“I always know the voting day,” Hart said. “You see a \nmillion commercials on TV around election time and random texts could get just as annoying.” \nNursing major Kaitlen Mills said text messaging to remind people to vote was not a bad idea. \n“If I got a text message saying to go vote, I probably would,” Mills said. “I like voting. I feel more included but I only vote on things I know about.”\nMills, a 21-year-old registered voter, said there could be a downside to sending text reminders to voters. \n“Texting to vote is not a bad idea, but the things that could come along with it could be,” Mills said. “It could turn into a new form of spamming. What could be next? The Pepsi Company texting you to go out and buy Pepsi products?” \nLiberal studies major Sallie Crownover, 18, said a text message reminder to vote would be helpful as long as it wasn’t expensive. \n“I would be worried about what it would cost to receive the text and if there would be an extra fee on my phone bill,” Crownover said.
(10/12/07 4:19am)
STANFORD, Calif. – With more than 45 million active members, social networking giant Facebook.com does not appear to be in need of new users. However, the Web site will soon be gathering even more members with its foreign language translation, part of what developers call “an ambitious overseas \nexpansion.” \nFacebook recently reached sixth place on the U.S. list of most trafficked Web sites – and third place on the global list. The current translation project could potentially bring the company its largest increase in users since its inception three-and-a-half years ago. \n“International growth is one of a few things that we are very focused on right now,” Facebook told the Financial Times in a recent article. \nThe Palo Alto, Calif., company has imposed stringent security around its project to go global. \n“While Facebook is committed to the internationalization of the site by late 2007 [or] early 2008, we have no further plans to share on this topic at this time,” a Facebook spokesperson wrote in an e-mail to The Daily at Stanford. \nAdding to the atmosphere of secrecy around Facebook’s current project are rumors, according to technology news Web site CNET.com, that the company has quietly plastered fliers around campus searching for students to help with translation efforts. However, most language students and professors are still in the dark. \n“I have not heard anything about this project,” said Elizabeth Bernhardt, director of the Stanford University Language Center.\nAccording to Compete.com, which collects data on Web site traffic, Facebook trails social networking rival MySpace.com in unique visitors, total page views, average stay and attention. However, Facebook’s growth in unique visitors from July to August of this year was 10 percent, while MySpace’s growth was only one percent. \nFurthermore, over those two months MySpace declined in average stay and attention rates, including a negative 20 percent growth in total page views, while Facebook’s numbers were up. \nMySpace has already introduced non-English sites, including local features in many foreign markets, but Facebook leads in users in both Canada and the United Kingdom, where it will soon open an office, according to the Financial Times. \nIn addition to new English-speaking offices, Facebook, Inc. is forging ahead with translation efforts. At a conference in New York last month, Mike Murphy, vice-president of media sales, said the company’s largest current challenge is “global expansion and being able to handle it.”
(10/09/07 3:39am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Butler University has received grants of $5.3 million from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation and $5 million from businessman Frank Levinson, a 1975 Butler graduate.\nBoth grants will be used for improvements in Butler’s science program and for the university’s first supercomputer, already nicknamed ‘Big Dawg’ in a word play on the school’s Bulldogs mascot.\nLevinson said that while Big Dawg is already in operation, it will be upgraded in the next few weeks to be eight times as fast.\nA university spokesman said Levinson’s donation is the largest individual gift so far in the $125 million ButlerRising fundraising campaign.
(10/09/07 3:39am)
TERRE HAUTE – A 15-member search committee has been named to help find a new president for Indiana State University.\nThe committee members include Terre Haute Mayor Kevin Burke and ISU trustees Ronald Carpenter and Brooks LaPlante, along with school administrators, professors and the alumni association president.\nThe search committee is to have its first meeting Oct. 18 and will be working with a consulting firm picked by school trustees last month.\nThe new president will succeed Lloyd Benjamin III, who is stepping down next June after seven years as president.\nISU board of trustees President Michael Alley said school officials hope to select the new president by the end of February.
(10/09/07 3:38am)
NEWARK, Del. – Although many students consider Facebook a guilty pleasure, the Web site has now been labeled “guilty” – of allowing sexual predators to go after young users. \nAndrew Cuomo, attorney general of New York, found evidence that sexual predators target young users on Facebook, pornographic content is accessible on the Web site and Facebook does not respond quickly to user and parental complaints. The attorney general is issuing Facebook a subpoena because of these issues. \nReshmy Vasist, deputy press secretary for the New York attorney general’s office, said the Office of the Attorney General set up profiles of 12- to 14-year-old girls on Facebook to test the Web site’s security settings.\n“We had investigators create profiles as underage users,” Vasist said. \nCuomo stated in a letter to Facebook that these underage profiles received numerous sexual solicitations within days, including such messages as “I’d love to get off on cam for you hun.” \nHe said the social-networking site ignored repeated complaints regarding sexual content from undercover investigators posing as users or parents. \nVasist said Facebook’s responses to complaints of sexual solicitation were “very sporadic.” \nUniversity of Delaware junior Jess Beebe said Facebook should respond immediately to any problems with sexual predators. \n“If something gets reported, then definitely it should be instantaneous,” Beebe said, referring to the response. \nIn his letter to Facebook, Cuomo said Facebook claims to “act accordingly” in response to unwanted messages on its “Privacy” Web site. \nVasist said Facebook should provide its users with secure settings and follow through with users’ expectations. \n“They should ensure that it is a safe environment,” she said. \nFacebook spokeswoman Brandee Barker stated in an e-mail message that Facebook is concerned with security on its Web site. \n“We strive to uphold our high standards for privacy on Facebook and are constantly working on processes and technologies that will further improve safety and user control on the site,” Barker said. \nShe said Facebook takes the concerns of the Office of the New York attorney general seriously. \n“We are committed to working closely with all the state attorneys general to maintain a trusted environment for all Facebook users and to demonstrate the efficacy of these efforts,” Barker said.
(10/08/07 1:53am)
Police officers were dispatched shortly before midnight Thursday to Read Center, where they spoke with a freshman girl who said she was sexually assaulted during the hours of 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. between Sept. 21 and Sept. 22. \nShe told officers she went to a house party in the area of Hunter Avenue, IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said, reading from a police \nreport. \nThe girl said she was drinking with three male \nacquaintances. \nShe told officers she drifted in and out of consciousness while lying on a bed, \nMinger said.\nOne of the males then told the girl to close her eyes and go to sleep. \nShortly thereafter, she said she felt one of the males on top of her beginning to have intercourse, Minger said.\nShe asked him to stop, but he again told the girl to just close her eyes and go to sleep. \nMinger said the girl reported hearing two of the other males talking about the sexual assault that was going on. \nShe also told officers she did not know any of the subjects’ names or where they lived, Minger said. \nWhen the officers asked the girl whether she wanted to press charges or pursue the case, she replied that she did not want to press charges; she only wanted the record on file, Minger said. \nOfficers informed the girl of her options and provided her with handouts and numbers for counseling services. \nMinger said police will check back to see if the girl has changed her mind about pursuing the case.
(10/05/07 3:51am)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Two Pennsylvania State University students snuck behind a deserted State College, Pa., strip mall at 10:30 p.m. Sunday and headed straight for the Dumpsters. \nRooting through the garbage and even jumping into a large container, the pair attacked the unwanted contents inside, hoping to find anything from a good meal to a used typewriter inside. Junior Chris Byrnes and sophomore Andy Mazur are “freegans”: Students who free themselves of being wasteful and spending money and instead support themselves by “urban foraging,” better known as Dumpster diving.\nFreegans are “people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources,” according to freegan.info, which is headquartered in New York. \nByrnes and Mazur spoke fondly about rummaging through local Dumpsters. Their apartment is filled with eclectic findings – electronics, clothes, shoes, furniture, books and many other useful items. \n“A third-world country could be supported off of the things Americans throw away,” Mazur said, proudly opening a cabinet to display a recent score: sealed bags of Milano cookies. On the kitchen table, he also pointed out a box he found filled with “grilled stickies” from a diner. \nHowever, some students think freeganism is taking conservation too far. \n“We are a wasteful society, but I think there are more effective ways to reduce waste and make their point, rather than Dumpster diving,” Penn State senior Lori Shero said. \nLocal Weis representatives would not comment on the freegan activity occurring in their Dumpsters, but Byrnes and Mazur said they consume the grocery store’s leftovers on a daily basis. \n“Everything other than housing can be found in a Dumpster,” Byrnes said. \nByrnes said he has not purchased food since last December and finds enough food in one night of Dumpster diving to last a whole week. Mazur said he occasionally buys apple cider from the farmer’s market. \nJohn Floros, head of the food science department at Penn State, said the men are “running a risk.” \n“The most important thing is to not harm themselves,” Floros said. “If the food seems packaged well, and they cook it long enough, it makes it somewhat safer.” \nByrnes and Mazur said one night they found more than 10 garbage bags filled with bread and pastries in a Dumpster behind Panera Bread. Panera management was unaware of the existence of freegans or any “urban foraging” taking place in its Dumpsters. \n“People think it’s weird eating food out of the garbage, but everything we eat is either sealed or vacuum-packed, with a few exceptions,” Byrnes said. \nByrnes said they decide whether or not to eat the food by smelling it, getting a “feel for it” and also by looking at the packages’ expiration dates. \nBut Floros said human instinct is not the best way to judge a food’s condition. \n“You can’t always see or smell if it’s bad.”\nThe word “broken” is written across many of the items Byrnes and Mazur have found, but Byrnes said sometimes they aren’t even broken or just simply need some fixing up: He now plays a keyboard that just needed new batteries he found in a past Dumpster dive. \n“Americans could all do much more to conserve,” sophomore Kaitlyn Smiths said. “We’ve become very materialistic as a society, but we work hard.” \nThe assumption that people have to buy things doesn’t sit well with Byrnes. He said if he doesn’t find toothpaste while Dumpster diving, he will do without it until he finds more. He also said he’s had the same toothbrush for the past two years. \nByrnes showed off his three closets filled with assorted free clothes and said he rarely has to do laundry because he has so much to wear. \n“One time in high school, my economics teacher told me there was no such thing as a free lunch,” Byrnes said. “That made me mad, so I decided I should prove him wrong.”
(10/05/07 3:48am)
LINCOLN, Neb. – The stereotype that people leave small towns as soon as they can has little weight to it, according to an annual survey conducted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Applied Rural Innovation. \nThe center, operated by the Department of Agricultural Economics, released the results of the 2007 Nebraska Rural Poll in August. The center sent out nearly 7,000 surveys to households in all but nine Nebraska counties in March, and nearly 2,600 households responded. \n“It’s not uniformly the case that people just turn 18 and leave,” said Randy Cantrell, a senior fellow with the Center for Applied Rural Innovation and a community development specialist with the Nebraska Rural Initiative. \nSuch growth is one reason to be optimistic about the future of small towns, but Cantrell said rural communities are evenly split between those where the population is increasing and those where it is decreasing. \nHe stressed, though, that a decline in population does not necessarily sound the death knell for a small town. \nRural populations are seizing increasing opportunities to pursue higher education, according to the poll. \nNearly two-thirds of the survey’s sample had at least some college education, a number Cantrell said is expected to rise as older populations who may have skipped higher education to pursue work opportunities continue to get smaller. \n“Historically, having a college degree was less common (in rural communities), but that has been changing over time, and that gap is narrowing,” Cantrell said. “The reality is most jobs today require some kind of advanced training, even if it’s a technical certificate.” \nThat means more highly educated people are moving into or returning to \nrural communities.
(10/04/07 3:51am)
The IU Graduate School is among the 188 schools to receive the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Program grant from the U.S. Department of Education this year.\nThe Graduate School will receive $225,000 under the McNair grant. This money is to be used for programs, projects and research that will help students from “disadvantaged backgrounds (that) have demonstrated strong academic potential,” according to a U.S. Department of Education press release.\nThe colleges will use the funding to prepare these students for doctoral studies by working closely with them while they complete undergraduate courses by tracking their degree process through the Ph.D. level, according to the press release.\nThe McNair Program is a competitive discretionary grant that schools must compete for every four years, and the amount of money each school receives depends on how many students the grant will service. This year, more than 300 applicants were considered for the McNair Program, and 188 of these schools were funded, said the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal TRIO Programs office.\nCongressman Baron Hill’s office announced that IU’s Graduate School received the grant on Sept. 24 after receiving notice that the U.S. Department of Education had secured the money for the grant program, said Katie Moreau of Congressman Hill’s office.\n“I applaud Indiana University for receiving such a sizeable grant and know the funding will be put to good use,” Hill said in a press release.
(10/03/07 4:31am)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Students at the University of Memphis returned to class Tuesday without knowing whether the fatal campus shooting of a football player was a targeted or random attack.\nUniversity officials had said they believed the Sunday night attack was specifically aimed at Taylor Bradford. But no suspects have been identified, and police later said they could not yet determine the motive for the shooting outside a university housing complex that led officials to cancel classes Monday.\n“We really don’t know whether it was a random act or whether or not this individual was targeted,” City Police Director Larry Godwin said.\nBradford, 21, apparently was shot near his apartment complex Sunday night, then crashed a car he was driving into a tree a short distance away on campus, authorities said. They have not determined whether he was shot before or after he started driving.\nPolice were responding to the crash when they found Bradford slumped over in the car.\n“It wasn’t until the paramedics got there that they determined there was a possible gunshot wound,” said Bruce Harber, director of university police. He was apparently shot once, police said, though an autopsy was pending.\nUniversity President Shirley Raines said authorities quickly determined Bradford’s killer or killers were not a threat to other students but still banned all outsiders from campus housing throughout the night.\nIn an e-mail alert to faculty, students and staff members early Monday, the University said “the initial investigation indicates this was an act directed specifically toward the victim and was not a random act of violence.”\nThe University, which is primarily a commuter campus and has more than 20,000 students, still decided to cancel classes Monday.\nWitnesses saw two unidentified men running from the area where investigators believe the shooting occurred and other witnesses reported hearing gunfire, said Godwin, the city police director.\nHe said investigators had no evidence that Bradford was involved in any illegal activity.\n“Everything I’ve heard about him ... he was just a good kid,” Godwin said.\nBradford, a 5-foot-11, 300-pound defensive lineman, was a junior who transferred to Memphis last year after two seasons at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. The Nashville resident was to play for the Tigers this season.\nMonday afternoon, several football players and others tied a large red ribbon to the tree Bradford struck with his car and put up a large poster board for friends and acquaintances to leave personal notes.\n“Our entire football team is deeply saddened by the loss of Taylor,” Memphis head coach Tommy West said. “He was well respected and a popular member of our team.”\nBradford lettered in three sports at Antioch High School in Nashville, and held school records in shot put and discus.
(10/03/07 4:31am)
WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue University will focus on increasing retention and graduation rates under a strategic plan taking shape under new President France Cordova.\nCordova will also form work groups of students, faculty, staff and community members to advise steps on student experience, campus design, interdisciplinary research, and quality of life for faculty and staff.\nCordova expects the strategic plan to be presented to the trustees by May.\n“We need a stronger focus on student success,” she told school trustees Friday.\nShe also named more research funding as one of the plan’s top goals.\n“Our aspiration is for Purdue to be a top-rank global research institution,” she said.\nPurdue’s previous plan lasted seven years and ended this summer with the retirement of Cordova’s predecessor, Martin Jischke.\nTrustees heard a presentation on retention and graduation rates. Several thought Purdue needed to be more selective to strengthen its academic reputation.\n“We’re letting in kids that don’t make it,” trustee William Oesterle said.\nThe school has a six-year graduation rate of 70.7 percent for students enrolled in 2001. The average for the peer schools that Purdue compares itself with is 80.9 percent.\nPurdue’s one-year retention rate is 84.8 percent, while peer schools kept 92.2 percent of their students.