Stanford Rejects SAT Score Choice

January 07, 2009 02:36 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

Stanford has rejected the College Board's new Score Choice program, which would allow students to pick which SAT scores to send to colleges, the Stanford Daily reports. Stanford said it will not participate in the program and will continue to consider all of an applicant's SAT scores.

"We want to discourage students from taking the SAT more than once or twice and believe that programs like Score Choice encourage applicants with resources to take the SAT excessively to improve their scores," the admissions director said.

Harvard and the University of Chicago have accepted the policy, while USC, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, and Pomona continue to require all scores.

Inside Higher Ed, meanwhile, tackles all angles of the issue, even including a conspiracy theory about the College Board's "two-faced approach" that has the organization assisting admissions deans while being purposefully opaque with students.

Tags: colleges | SAT | College Board | Stanford University

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Maine Community Colleges See Applications Jump 20%

January 07, 2009 02:34 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

Maine's community college system is reporting a 20 percent increase in applications for the spring term, the Bangor Daily News reports. Applications at Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield are up 38 percent, the largest jump within the system. At Central Maine Community College in Auburn, they are up 25 percent. Across the board, that is 600 more people who have applied for admission this term (which starts this month) than last year.

The timing couldn't be much worse, since the system is already absorbing a 63 percent increase in enrollment from 2003, when it transitioned from technical to community colleges. The system also has seen $2.9 million in state cuts for this fiscal year.

Officials contribute the rise in applications to—no surprise here—the weak economy and rising unemployment.

Tags: Maine | colleges | community colleges

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Oreos at Ohio State: Almost $6

January 07, 2009 02:28 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

Ohio State's Lantern points out the ridiculous prices for snacks bought on campus versus the regular grocery store.

$5.85 for Oreos? That's a 114 percent markup. Highway robbery.

Graphic courtesy of Lindsey Swanson at the Lantern

Tags: colleges | food | Ohio State University

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Bowling Green State to Lay Off 43

January 05, 2009 03:00 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

Bowling Green State University is set to lay off 43 salaried employees at the end of the school year, saving the school almost $2 million, the Toledo Blade reports.

Layoffs will affect the administrative staff, which includes nonfaculty salaried workers such as managers and directors in financial aid, residence life, and student services. The 43 employees represent about 7 percent of the administrative staff. The school also expects more layoffs of hourly employees before the end of the year.

Tags: colleges | Bowling Green State University

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Colorado Football Cracks Down on Misbehavior

January 05, 2009 02:56 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

In the past 15 months, 13 current or recent University of Colorado football players have gotten into trouble with the law, the Denver Post reports. In response, the athletic director and coach are " taking a proactive approach rather than sit back" and plan to hire what has been called a director of "student-athletes wellness." Around a month ago, coach Dan Hawkins also established accountability teams, where nine nine-man groups were formed. If one player misbehaves, the entire team is punished.

The results so far?

"I'm getting a lot more texts from players making sure I'm in class, making sure I'm taking care of this and this and this, which helps a lot," said freshman receiver Markques Simas, who was academically ineligible this season. "Now you're not thinking, 'OK, I'm just going to miss this class.' Now you're worried about 10, 12 other guys."

Hawkins replaced the infamously scandal-ridden Gary Barnett in 2005 but has only recently taken serious action against misbehaving players. While problems with student athletes are not unique to CU, the school has had a disproportionately large number of recent off-field incidents when compared with its peers. In the same time frame, Colorado State has had one incident, and the University of Wyoming has had zero.

Hawkins has "brought the wood," as he calls it, to several players. Good players, too. He booted junior linebacker Jake Duren after his arrest for smashing a car window. He suspended Ethan Adkins, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman and SuperPrep All-American, after a DUI citation Sept. 1. Hawkins nearly booted tight end Riar Geer after his involvement in a fight that resulted in a two-game suspension.
The university's Office of Judicial Affairs stepped in and suspended linebacker Michael Sipili and freshman linebacker Lynn Katoa, a Parade All-American, for a year over separate fighting incidents.

Also, check out the Post's "Hall of Shame" at the bottom of the story.

Tags: colleges | sports | University of Colorado | college athletics

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Utah State Sorority and Fraternity Charged With Felony Hazing

January 05, 2009 02:51 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

A Utah State sorority and fraternity have been charged with felony hazing in relation to the alcohol poisoning death of a freshman fraternity pledge in November, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Twelve members were also charged with misdemeanors.

According to the charges filed, Michael Starks, 18, was "captured" by members of the Chi Omega sorority and was then painted and fed vodka. Starks had been pledging to the Sigma Nu fraternity, the documents said. Starks was found unresponsive at the Sigma Nu house at 4 a.m. on November 21. The medical examiner's office said his blood alcohol level was .373, more than four times the legal driving limit.

The court documents say that Starks was not forced to drink to join the fraternity, but Utah's hazing law allows for conviction even with consent as long as the victim is under 21. The students face a year in jail if convicted. Sigma Nu and Chi Omega have already been suspended by the school and their national organizations.

Tags: alcohol | colleges | Greek life | hazing

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Joe Paterno's Glasses Stolen

January 05, 2009 02:48 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

Perhaps it was the shame after USC's 38-to-24 drumming of Penn State in the Rose Bowl, but someone stole the "Coke-bottle glasses" off a Joe Paterno statue on the east side of Penn State's Beaver Stadium some time between 11 a.m. Friday and 10:58 a.m. Saturday, the Daily Collegian reports. Police have no estimate of the value of the stolen item.

Tags: colleges | Penn State University | football | USC

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Yeshiva Says Losses to Madoff Scandal Far Less Than Previously Reported

January 02, 2009 03:17 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

Yeshiva University has downgraded it exposure to Bernard Madoff-related losses, reporting that much of the reported $110 million was based on "fictitious" profits. The university now estimates its losses are closer to $14.5 million.

Two thoughts: $14.5 million is still a ton of money, and don't fake profits still count if the school based projects, salaries, and financial aid programs on what it thought it had?

Tags: colleges | investing | Yeshiva University | Madoff, Bernard

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Seattle Police Shoot and Kill Washington Senior

January 02, 2009 03:14 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

Early Thursday, Seattle police shot and killed a University of Washington senior who was dressed in a World War II-era German uniform and was brandishing a rifle and bayonet, the Seattle Times reports. The shooting occurred at an apartment complex near campus.

[Miles Allen Murphy] was killed about 2 a.m. Thursday when police responded to neighbors' complaints that several men were shooting vintage, military-style rifles and shotguns into a dark alley near the 5200 block of 17th Avenue Northeast, police spokesman Jeff Kappel said.
When police were called, Kappel said, neighbors pointed out an apartment in a large white house. When police knocked on the door, one of the suspects opened the door brandishing a long rifle with a large bayonet attached.
Uniformed police officers warned the man several times to drop his weapon. He didn't, Kappel said, and he pointed it at one of the officers. Two officers shot him several times. He died at a hospital Thursday morning, Kappel said....
Police searching the apartment after the incident found the large collection of German military regalia and a lot of alcohol, Kappel said.

Murphy was described by friends as an "eccentric" history buff.

Tags: University of Washington | police | World War II | history

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Athletes Show Huge Gaps in SAT Scores

December 30, 2008 05:57 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

Now the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has gone ahead and quantified that by comparing average SAT scores and grade-point averagesGPAs of athletes with the rest of the college's student body. Not surprisingly, football and men's basketball players came out on the bottom, and some averaged hundreds of points lower on SATs than their classmates.

The Journal-Constitution studied 54 public universities, "including the members of the six major Bowl Championship Series conferences and other schools whose teams finished the 2007-08 season ranked among the football or men's basketball top 25."

Tags: colleges | sports | SAT | college athletics

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Ohio May Shift to New College Funding Model

December 30, 2008 05:49 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

Ohio higher education officials are looking to shift the state's higher education funding model to one based partially on performance, a change that could occur as early as next fall, the Post reports. Currently, schools receive aid based solely on enrollment.

Under the proposed model, the state would allot funding based on a 30 percent to 70 percent split between performance and enrollment. "Performance" could be based on the number of students who pass core curriculum courses, graduation rates, and the university's efforts at helping at-risk students. No specific benchmarks have yet been determined.

The Ohio University president supports the plan, saying, "We have to be accountable not only for recruiting students but for retaining them and for graduating them." He added that OU would most likely do well under such a system but said the school does not anticipate an increase in funding because state funding for higher education as a whole is likely to be significantly cut in the near future.

Tags: Ohio | colleges | Ohio University

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NYU Loses $24 Million to Madoff

December 30, 2008 01:45 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

New York University is the latest college to admit being affected by Bernard Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme. In a lawsuit against J. Ezra Merkin, Gabriel Capital LP fund, and Ariel Fund Ltd., the nation's largest private university claims to have lost $24 million in investments tied to Madoff. The complaint, which was filed last week, alleges that the funds invested with Madoff without telling investors or conducting proper due diligence.

Other schools that have lost money in the scandal are Yeshiva, Tufts, and New York Law School.

Tags: colleges | Wall Street | NYU | Madoff, Bernard

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Takes Heat

December 30, 2008 01:42 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

Shirley Ann Jackson, the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is taking heat for the cushy compensation package she received even as her school laid off 98 employees, the Albany Times Union reports. Jackson, former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a possible replacement for Hillary Clinton in the Senate, was given a $1.3 million compensation package in 2006-07, as well as access to the presidential residence and a 36-acre Adirondack home that the school bought for $450,000. She also makes around $1.3 million for work on outside corporate boards, such as IBM, Marathon Oil, FedEx, Medtronic, NYSE Euronext, and PSEG, according to the Times Union.

At least one professor has suggested Jackson take a pay cut, pointing to other presidents who have done so already.

The layoffs are of particular concern since they tend to be rare (universities generally lean on hiring freezes and travel cuts first), and Rensselaer's layoffs have mostly been doled out to lower-wage workers.

Tags: colleges | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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LSU Could Owe $750,000 in Meal Plan Back Taxes

December 30, 2008 01:38 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

Louisiana State University may owe $750,000 for three years of back taxes for meal plans, the Daily Reveille reports. For years, LSU and other schools in the state enjoyed a special meal plans exemption from the 4 percent sales tax, but some time ago, the state legislature suspended that exemption. No one at the schools noticed—until now.

"I was shocked," LSU's associate vice chancellor for accounting said. "Now we have this huge tax bill we were told we weren't going to have."

Colleges will start charging the 4 percent sales tax on meal plans in January. The tax will cost current LSU students an extra $37.50 for the spring semester, but officials say it is impossible to track down students from previous years. The university may end up having to pay those costs.

Meanwhile, the University of Louisiana system says the private food-service providers—Aramark, Chartwells, and Sodexo—should be liable for the back taxes. "We're not the provider of the service," [the UL system vice president for business and finance] said. "We're not providing the food."

Tags: colleges | taxes | Louisiana State University

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Best in College Newspapers Contest, Explained

December 29, 2008 12:36 PM ET | Go, Alison | Permanent Link

A quick rundown on what this contest actually is. Since the beginning of the week, I've been accepting nominations for four categories:

Story of the Year
Nonstory of the Year
Newsmaker of the Year
Best Alternative Media Outlet

After some undisclosed amount of time, I will take all those nominated topics and put them up for vote by the population at large. Whatever/whoever gets the most votes wins. I will admit that the "winners" of the first three categories tend not to care, but this is apparently a really big deal for some of the competitors in the last. This is for you, so please nominate yourself.

If you're still confused about what counts as what, read below:

Story of the Year: This is the biggest college story that happened in 2008. Last year's winner was the visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Columbia. This year, I imagine most things involving Barack Obama would fit in this category, as would the epic FAIL that college endowments became. Other important stories include the Northern Illinois shooting that left six dead in February and how the economy is affecting admissions and financial aid.

Nonstory of the Year: Enough of that serious stuff. What in 2008 was utterly unimportant but still captivated our hearts and minds? The Berkeley tree-sitters won last year and could technically be in the running again since their protest mercifully ended in September. Some other worthless bits of college-related news: how many schools Sarah Palin went to and that strange Yale art project that somehow involved abortions (Real? Fake? Who cares! It's art).

Newsmaker of the Year: A guy just elected president whose greatest fans sometimes seem to confuse him with Jesus comes to mind, but we'll humor the rest of the contenders with a vote anyway. Other ideas include Tom Friedman ( pied-in-the-face at Brown) and Sarah Palin (target of scorn and ridicule, also had her E-mail hacked by a college kid).

Best Alternative Media Outlet: For the past two years, this has by far been the most popular category. It's unclear what the parameters are, but basically anything that involves campus news and is not the traditional print college newspaper is OK. I'll accept blogs (both newspaper staffed and outsider), podcasts, Tumblrs, robust Twitter feeds, YouTube channels, or whatever. The point is: We're so hip, anything goes.

This also is the category with the most voting irregularities, so I'm always looking for ideas on how to make this more fair. Also, a note to an unnamed liberal arts school in the Northeast: I'm sorry that a blog coming out of a giant state school (On the Record's University of Michigan blog) beat yours last year. I can't help that its student body is something like a gazillion times larger than yours. Maybe I should break down the votes per capita, but that sounds like a lot of work for me. I'm still open to suggestions, though.

Any more confusion on what this is all about? Leave comments or E-mail me at papertrail@usnews.com.

Tags: colleges | journalism | newspapers

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