Fashion school receives three out of five faculty awards at conference

Kent State fashion professors received three of the five faculty awards given at the International Textiles and Apparel Association conference Oct. 30 in Seattle.
Faculty of The School of Fashion Design and Merchandising attend the conference every year. More than 20 countries present designs and research at the juried event.
Professor Vincent Quevedo said Kent State has the most "Lectra" award winners in its faculty. He said the award used to be named "Best in Show."
"There was a lot of buzz after the conference because of Kent State," Quevedo said. "Everyone knows that the top faculty are teaching here. We are trying to create a new graduate program. It will attract the best of the best graduate students."
KentNewsNet.com
Kent State University, Kent, OH

Boston College: Fallen Alumni Honored

Boston College dedicated a memorial yesterday to the 209 BC students who have died in the course of military service. Their names, from William F. Colwell, BC '19, to David S. Connolly, BC '94, are etched into a polished stone memorial that curves against the slope on the Burns Library lawn.
"We are gathered here today to honor those who bore the ultimate burden," said Andrew Jenzer, ROTC cadet and A&S '10.
University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., said that this monument will bring a new sense of solemnity to its area of campus. "May we make our prayer the prayer for each of the individuals whose names are inscribed on the memorial here today," he said. "May we rededicate ourselves to the values and beliefs that inspired these alumni."
The Heights
Boston College, Boston, MA

HIV/AIDS cases rise for women

According to the World Health Organization, AIDS is the leading cause of death among women between the ages of 15 and 44.
Originally, health officials thought HIV and AIDS mostly affected homosexual men. However, women have always suffered from the disease, too. A 2006 Centers for Disease Control report stated that young adults aged 13 to 29 accounted for the largest number of new HIV infections in the United States. Even though more men have HIV than women, women are catching up.
In fact, according to the CDC, if new HIV/AIDS infections continue at their current rate worldwide, women with HIV/AIDS may soon outnumber men.
"It's scary to know how young women are affected by this virus," PUC student Brittany Shepherd said. "No one ever thinks that HIV or AIDS can happen to them, but obviously it does."
Many people don't know or understand the difference between HIV and AIDS. According the CDC, HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. It is different from every other virus since it attacks the immune system. HIV finds and destroys a type of white blood cell that our immune system must have to fight diseases.
The CDC reports that AIDS is the final stage of HIV, meaning that the virus has weakened the immune system to the point to where it is difficult to fight diseases.
PUC Chronicle
Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN

Study finds interracial dorm roommates reduce prejudice

Students who live with a roommate of another race gain a new perspective, according to a recent study from The Ohio State University.
Russell Fazio, Ohio State professor of psychology, conducted several studies in 2008 with Natalie Shook, assistant psychology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, about the effects of interracial roommate relationships on racial attitudes.
Freshmen interracial roommates showed more positive racial attitudes over time, according to the study. It examined only black and white interracial roommates.
Fazio said interracial roommates have reduced anxiety among groups of a different race, and this makes them more comfortable around other races.
KentNewsNet.com
Kent State University, Kent, OH

Quantitative skills decline across country, not at Smith

Fewer university students in the United States are interested in math, science and internationalism, a recent report by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities concluded. The study argued that this decline could make U.S. college students less competitive on the international stage and decrease international enrollment on campuses.
While math and science professors nationwide are concerned about this development, these fears may have very little relevance to Smith.
The Sophian
Smith College, North Hampton, MA

Smith singled out for vegan, vegetarian options

Smith, along with many other colleges nationwide, has expanded its vegan and vegetarian meal options in recent years. This year, youth animal rights organization peta2 recognized these efforts by selecting Smith has one of the top 32 schools in the U.S. for providing vegan and vegetarian dining.
"Smith's success in offering great vegan options is good for students' health and for the school's bottom line," said peta2's Senior College Campaign Coordinator Ryan Huling in a press release. "More and more young people are learning that the best thing that they can do for animals, the planet and themselves is to go vegan."
For many students, Smith provides a supportive environment to make vegan or vegetarian food choices. Lillie Scheffey '13, for instance, praised Smith for including vegan protein substitutes at meals.
The Sophian
Smith College, North Hampton, MA

Tarleton told of $137,500 fine for inaccurate crime reporting

Tarleton State University's failure to disclose information about campus burglaries and drug and sex offenses has prompted the U.S. Department of Education to propose a $137,500 fine for violating The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.
It is believed to be the first fine levied against a Texas university under the Clery Act.
In a prepared statement released this week, the university said it had "recognized that unintentional mistakes had been made in its reporting under the Clery Act."
The Clery Act is a federal law that requires universities to annually disclose information about serious crimes, such as murder, robbery, sex offenses and burglary.
A Department of Education report, released following a request by The J-TAC under the Texas Public Information Act, states that Tarleton underreported the number of forcible sex offenses, drug law violations and burglaries between 2003 and 2005.
The J-TAC
Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX

Fulbright applicants, fellowships expected to rise at Lehigh

The Fulbright Commission sends about 1,000 college graduates to 140 countries each year, he added.
There are two types of Fulbright Programs. The first is a more traditional program, which allows selected applicants to obtain their masters or do research in a foreign country. In the second type of program, those selected go to a foreign country and teach English at the high school or college level.
The program was set up by Senator J. William Fulbright after World War II in an attempt to expose American scholars to a global education, Aronson said. Now, the grant program promotes an exchange of faculty and students.
Because there are only a limited number of grants per country, the increase in candidates nationwide is likely to make the process more competitive for all applicants, especially those who apply to countries that are in high demand, like Japan, Israel and Western Europe.
The Brown & White
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA

Friday 13th Fears Stem From History

About 21 million Americans suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia, the fear of Friday the 13th, or Black Friday.
They avoid daily activities that could potentially put them in harm's way and some are too afraid to get out of bed in the morning.
But why? Where did the superstition come from?
One theory suggests 12 is the most complete number. It occurs in common cultural references - 12 months in a year, signs of the Zodiac, labors of Hercules, tribes of Israel, gods of Olympus and apostles of Jesus Christ. Thus, 13 is considered irregular.
Friday has been considered unlucky, and therefore a bad day to start a new journey or project - stemming from the Canterbury Tales. Also, according to Christian scripture, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
The Red and Black
University of Georgia, Athens, GA

MSU begins Green Certification Program

Departments, programs and people at Michigan State University will soon have the opportunity to be recognized for the work they do that helps reduce the university’s environmental footprint.
Beginning Nov. 9, departments and on-campus students can earn green certification by completing an online form showing the steps they take to reduce MSU’s impact on the environment through energy efficiency and conservation, waste reduction, water conservation and purchasing.
In addition to reducing MSU’s environmental impact, there will be several other benefits to earning green certification:
Recognition for units, departments and students at an Earth Day event April 22, 2010.
Use of the green certification seal on departmental communications, recruitment and other materials.
Buildings where all departments earn green certification will have a tree planted or a plaque recognizing the building as “green certified.”
Media Newswire

Censorship of LACC Newspaper, Stifles Student Journalism, Free Speech

Los Angeles City College's student-run newspaper, the Collegian, is an award-winning publication that has been in continuous print for 80 years. Its staff of approximately 30 students works tirelessly to publish high-quality content while adhering to rigorous journalistic values. The Collegian is a training ground for writers, reporters, columnists and editors, as are thousands of other student-run publications that hold to the same principles, standards and ethics.
But LACC's president, Jamillah Moore, has made calculated attempts to hinder the students' right to a free press. She has tried to forbid a company working with the college from speaking to the student press; she has tried to pressure student reporters to sign releases for recording public meetings; she has violated California Open Meeting Laws by requesting that reporters identify themselves; and she has attempted to silence the Collegian by slashing its budget by 40 percent - when the budgets of other student organizations were cut only 15 percent. Adam Goldstein of the Student Press Law Center said that if he had to choose the biggest First Amendment offender in the country, he would most likely choose Moore. And now, Moore is attempting to move the Collegian under student services, where the administration would have the option to edit all content, monitor stories and determine the direction of the paper.
An attack on free speech anywhere is an attack on free speech everywhere. That is why we, the undersigned, have come together to universally condemn the actions of Jamillah Moore and the actions of any administration that makes deliberate efforts to break the free speech of student publications.
As students, we have been taught to expect an environment where freedom of speech will go uncontested. And as student journalists, we expect our administrations to understand that we strive to be an objective voice of reason. But we also recognize that any publication that disturbs the comfort of the comfortable will be challenged. Student journalists at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of New Mexico and the University of Oregon, as well as countless untold others, have seen such assaults on their rights. This cannot stand
The Daily Orange
Syracuse University, Syracuse,NY

NSSE changes how colleges judge success, identify weaknesses

Online courses at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., have generated such rich student conversations that some faculty have started using electronic discussion boards in on-campus classes, too.
And after officials at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J., discovered that students who don't interact much with other students outside of class are also among those least satisfied with their experience, and therefore may be more likely to drop out, they made an extra effort this fall to reach out to freshmen who had seemed a bit shy during summer orientation. Those students got an extra phone call inviting them to a campus-sponsored party.
USA Today

Modern Slavery Awareness

Slavery is far from being dead in our world; it's a current worldwide problem that most people are not even aware of. It is estimated that 13 billion dollars are generated by slavery each year and that there are 27 million slaves worldwide. In the United States an estimated 10 to 15 thousand slaves are brought in to the country each year.
Most Americans would think that slavery ended in 1865 with the end of the American Civil War. However, when people think of slavery, it is often associated with "old slavery." Old slavery, before 1863, was an expensive system because of transportation costs and the relatively small number of people who were slaves. It is for those two reasons that slaves during this time were treated somewhat better than the slaves of today.
The slavery of today, modern slavery, is not at all like our image of old slavery. Modern slavery is a less expensive system; there are more people being brought into the system and transportation is cheaper-both of which makes modern slaves expendable.
The Racquette
SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY

Tuition scheduled to increase next year

Budget Committee Chair and Associate Professor of Economics Bob Williams said that there will be an increase in tuition for next year.
"Yes (fees) will go up," said Williams during a question and answer session at a Community Forum held Nov. 4 in Bryan Auditorium.
"The school is almost maxed out in terms of the number of students," said Williams. "We can't increase enrollment much more so we do have to increase fees to cover higher costs."
Randy Doss, vice president for enrollment services, said that tuition increases are almost inevitable for a school with only a small endowment.
Guilford pays about 80 percent of its yearly expenses with tuition income. The school's small endowment and tuition-driven budget place its fees within national trends for all colleges and universities.
...The College Board reported last month that private non-profit schools increased tuition an average of 4.4 percent this school year. Tuition increases for traditional Guilford students were higher than the national average for 4-year private colleges at 5.5 percent....
The Guilfordian
Guilford College, Greensboro, NC

USG copes with budget cuts, possible student fee increase

A University System of Georgia-wide budget cut increase from 6 percent to 8 percent will result in eliminating many positions that are currently frozen according to GCSU President Dorothy Leland. An additional $150 mandatory emergency fee may be added to the existing fee, totaling $250 per student for Spring 2010 semester, according to Leland.
Colonnade
Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville, GA

Brown Set To Go Green

In a push for more sustainable living, students will now have another, less scandalous reason to turn off their lights. The Green Dorm Initiative, which launched Wednesday, is a way for students to rate their dorm and receive incentives based on their levels of environmental friendliness.
The Green Dorm Initiative committee, part of the Environmental Club, is working in conjunction with EcoReps and the Rice Student Green Building Initiative to encourage students to assess their current behavior and reward them for adopting more environmentally friendly practices, GDI committee leader Nicole Kwan said.
"The concept is to recognize individual green efforts and give an incentive for people to change their lifestyle to be more environmentally friendly," Kwan, a Baker College EcoRep, said.
The pilot program launched Wednesday for students at Brown College lasts until Thanksgiving Break. If successful, the program will expand to other colleges next semester, Environmental Club co-President Becca Sagastegui said. Sagastegui, a Sid Richardson College EcoRep, said Brown was chosen based on diversity of room type, which includes doubles and quads, and general interest from the student body.
The Rice Thresher
Rice University, Houston , TX

University of Miami hires controversial expert

The UM medical school hired a psychiatrist who has been criticized for taking millions of dollars from drugmakers.
Charles Nemeroff, an Atlanta psychiatrist who was the subject of a Senate investigation concerning huge sums he received from drug companies, has been named chairman of the psychiatry department at the University of Miami.
Last year Nemeroff, as the top psychiatrist at Emory University, was the focus of an investigation by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who said he was concerned about the millions the psychiatrist received from drug companies while conducting supposedly unbiased research for the National Institutes of Health on drugs made by the companies he was receiving money from.
On Thursday, Pascal Goldschmidt, dean of UM medical school, called Nemeroff ``an exceptional psychiatrist and an exceptional scientist who has one issue in which he recognizes he made a mistake,'' in not telling Emory how much he was getting from drug makers.
Goldschmidt said he had read investigative reports from Emory about Nemeroff's activities and Emory found nothing to indicate that payments the psychiatrist received had in any way influenced his research results.
Miami Herald

Bob Barker donates $1 million Creates endowed professorship of Animal Rights

Drury's most famous alumnus, Dr. Bob Barker, made a return visit to campus Tuesday to give $1 million for the establishment of the Dorothy Jo Barker Endowed Professorship of Animal Rights, named in honor of Barker's late wife.
"What we're doing here today is something they will be talking about all over the country," Barker said.
Dr. Barker has helped put Drury University on the map in terms of the unique course offering on the topic of animal ethics. The Animal Ethics course, established by Barker's first $1 million endowment, established Drury as the first undergraduate institution to offer a multi-disciplinary course on animal ethics.
The course analyzes animal ethics through the lenses of philosophy, criminology, psychology, religion and biology and is taught by experts in each of these fields to give the students a well-rounded, well-informed perspective on the issue.
The Dorothy Jo Barker Endowed Professorship of Animal Rights will allow this program to grow. It is the hope of Dr. Patricia McEachern, director of forum on animal rights, to use this endowment to eventually establish an entire program devoted to the study of animal ethics.
The Drury Mirror, Drury University, MO

CT Extends Unemployment Benefits Again

Staying under the national average, Nutmeg State sees unemployment claims skyrocket
Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced on Oct. 22 that unemployed Connecticut residents will be eligible to receive an additional seven weeks of benefits.
High Extended Benefits (HEB) is a federal extension plan that states qualify for when their unemployment rate averages 8 percent or higher over three consecutive months.
"These benefits offer the lifeline we need to help our families weather this economic storm," said Rell in a press release from state. "While I am confident our nation will soon emerge from this recession, until we do recover and begin to create new jobs, we must provide assistance to those who felt the brunt of this downturn."
Unemployment rates have risen in the past three months, with 7.8 percent of the workforce unemployed in July, 8.1 percent unemployed in August and 8.4 percent unemployed in September.
According to Nancy Steffens, the spokeswoman for the Connecticut Department of Labor, the state issued nearly 132,000 unemployment checks totaling $44.7 million in last week alone.
"In 2007, we had about 40,000 workers filing for unemployment each week. In 2009, we've seen about 90,000 each week," said Steffens.
State economists anticipate that Connecticut's unemployment rate will continue to trend toward the national average of 9.8 percent. Steffens said that Connecticut may see its unemployment rate rise as high as 8.7 percent. Many economists believe the unemployment rate may begin to drop in 2010.
The Daily Campus, University of Connecticut, CT

Popular costumes should make your Halloween, not break the bank

The Joker is sooo 2008. Batman? It's been done. Move over, Wolverine. You've been replaced.
Halloween costumes last year were all about the comic book characters and political figures such as Republican hockey mom Sarah Palin, geriatric John McCain and what would be our president-elect Barack Obama, which were all widely celebrated. You betcha. But 2009 seems to be the year for dressing creatively as recognizable celebrities for fractions of what a traditional costume would typically cost.
So Wolverine's steel claws have now been replaced with vampire fangs. The Joker's smudged make-up and green hair are out, but the "King of Pop's" white sequined glove and fedora are in. And Lady Gaga's flashy, metallic leotards are the new black Teflon Batman bodysuits.
But while designer pantsuits, masks and walkers can certainly be expensive, some might not be celebrating Halloween like they used to.
Many believe the current recession will impact how much consumers spend on costumes, leaving many cutting back on scary attire or not partaking in the holiday at all. According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween spending is estimated to drop 18 percent down to $4.75 billion. That's down from $5.77 billion from last year.
However, just because funds are low is no reason to go without a costume. New reality figureheads and TV show characters are emerging as this year's "it" costumes with more bang for not nearly as much buck.
Gateway, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE