The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

It's The Jerks Who Are Ruining Fraternities

What is wrong with fraternities lately? It may have been that nasty Yale lawsuitbut lately it seems like the Greek system just can’t catch a break. One wonders how this happened. Until roughly the middle of the twentieth century, it seemed like everyone was Greek. At most schools if you weren’t a member of a fraternity or a sorority you couldn’t really live on campus at all, or have much of a social life. And then something changed. Fraternities now seem to signal something else. Critics like Flanagan suggest that fraternities foster disrespect for women.  Read more at:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/blog/the_greek_systems_asshole_prob.php?page=all&print=true

Working More Than 15 Hours Per Week In High School Decreases College Completion

Students who work more than 15 hours a week in high school show lower rates of college completion, suggests a new study assessing the harm of high school work intensity.  High school students who work long hours are likely to show increased problem behaviors and decreased school engagement. But keeping up a routine filled with six or seven hours at school, time spent on sports and extracurricular activities, and then another five or six hours at a job, followed by homework, can put a significant strain on students who then feel tired and have trouble focusing the next morning. Read more at:
http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/parenting-family/teen-ya/2011-04-28-highschooljobs28_st_N.htm

Hard To Explain The Huge Number Of Applicants Put On Wait Lists

For those families running the college admissions gantlet for the first time, the use of waiting lists can be among the most bewildering aspects of a process that offers no shortage of bewilderment. How can a college (or a college admissions blog) possibly explain to an applicant that Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh has offered 5,025 students places on its waiting list this year, for a freshman class that will likely be less than a third that size. Nonetheless, many universities have been criticized for their unwillingness to send a clear-cut, final answer — admit or deny — to so many prospective students before May 1. Read more at:
http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/waiting-list-2011/?partner=rss&emc=rss 

 

Despite Efforts The Elite IHEs Struggle To Attract Low-Income Students

 An annual price tag that tops $52,000 aside, Washington University's commitment to luring more low-income students is hard to question.  The highly selective private school gave out nearly $70 million in scholarships to nearly 60 percent of its undergraduates last year. But the 158-year-old school ranks dead-last among the nation's 50 wealthiest schools when it comes to enrolling low-income students. WashU's struggles to recruit more qualified students from poor families mirror those of other elite public and private universities, even as a growing chorus of higher education experts suggests that when it comes to affirmative action on campus, class – not race – is the more entrenched dividing line between the haves and the have-nots. Read more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/selective-colleges-strugg_n_855097.html

Tornado Misses Campus But Leaves Many Off-Campus Dwellers Homeless

Dozens of University of Alabama students are living in the campus recreation center after a tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa on Wednesday evening and damaged several off-campus apartment buildings. The college town was one of the areas hardest hit by fierce storms and tornados that swept through the South. he tornado did not significantly damage the university campus, although many students living off-campus were affected. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/u_of_alabama_students_displaced_by_tornado_that_destroyed_off_campus_homes/2011/04/28/AFxzOq5E_blog.html?wprss=rss_education

Rutgers Students Protest By Occupying Administrative Building

Demanding a tuition freeze, better wages for workers and a greater voice for students, about a dozen undergraduates at Rutgers University on Wednesday occupied Old Queens, the historic administration building in New Brunswick, N.J., where the president, Richard L. McCormick, has his office; 11 were planning to stay in the building until their demands were met and said they were prepared to be arrested. Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/nyregion/rutgers-students-occupy-building-in-protest.html?_r=1

Animals For Research Makes Higher Ed A Target For Protests

She is among thousands of animals used every year at Michigan universities for research and training, and a subject of intense debate over their scientific value and ethics. Several uses of animals at Michigan universities have come under fire recently by animal rights organizations and led to some changes. While animal research is regulated by federal law to protect them from inhumane treatment and neglect, some say that research should never involve animals. Read more at:
http://detnews.com/article/20110426/METRO/104260329/Colleges’-animal-research-under-fire#ixzz1KjYxwGPU

Global Health Care Studies Is A Rapidly Growing Program

The university's newest academic branch — the Department of Global Health — is where enthusiasm abounds for tackling medical problems around the world. Since being launched a scant four years ago, the department has grown to more than 50 faculty and 350 students. More than 900 applicants compete annually for 35 graduate slots and less than two dozen health-statistics fellowships. And while state budget woes have forced cuts in other departments, funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has allowed Global Health to rapidly expand its course offerings. The dollars pouring into global health translate into contracts for nonprofits, grants for laboratory scientists and demand for health-care workers. Read more at:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014866521_uwglobalhealth25m.html

Despite Prospects Of Debt California Students Switching To Private Colleges

She transferred to Notre Dame de Namur in Belmont this year, joining a growing number of students so frustrated by cutbacks at public campuses that they are flocking in record numbers to California's small private schools despite facing higher tuition and the potential for years of debt. Transfer requests to tiny Notre Dame de Namur have more than doubled since 2008 - from 106 to 240 so far this year - hinting that more community college students are avoiding public universities.Other small private schools are also seeing dramatic growth in transfer applications for next fall. Read more at: 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/22/MNDC1J3PA6.DTL#ixzz1KdWv2mzR

Students Take Advanced Courses But Don't Advance Their Learning Much

 Even though students are getting more credits in more advanced courses, they are not scoring any higher on standardized tests. The reason, according to a growing body of research, is that the content of these courses is not as high-achieving as their names — the course-title equivalent of grade inflation. “Like the misleading drink labels, course titles may bear little relationship to what students have actually learned,” said Dr. Mellor, who has analyzed course completion, test records and other student data in Texas. “We see students taking more and more advanced courses, but still not performing well on end-of-course exams.” Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/education/26inflate.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss