Other College News in Brief
Harvard will reduce spending as endowment investments struggle
Harvard's $36.9 billion-endowment has plummeted in the current financial crisis, leaving the University scrambling to reduce spending, according to an announcement from President Drew Faust.
Officials have said Harvard may institute a freeze on their budget and wages. The University's Faculty of Arts and Science has lost $225 million from its budget because of $4.5 billion lost in market endowment.
The announcement comes after hiring freezes at Boston University, Brown and Cornell, as well as planned budget cuts at Darthmouth College.
Faust stated that there would only be a slight increase in tuition, which creates 20 percent of Harvard's revenue. The cost of tuition, room and board increased 3.5 percent last year to $47,215. Faust pledged to continue offering financial aid at the same rate.
- Marie Cushing
No injuries reported after gunshot fired in NKU dormitory
No students were injured despite reports of a gunshot fired at around 4 a.m. on Wednesday in a dormitory at Northern Kentucky University.
According to University officials, the shot was fired after a dispute between a woman's former and current boyfriends. A .25 caliber shell casing was recovered from the scene.
Police have not identified who fired the weapon or any suspects in the case. Investigations are ongoing.
- Marie Cushing
Dartmouth College student wins local N.H. election
The votes of college students are being credited for helping a junior at Dartmouth College get elected in New Hampshire.
Vanessa Sievers, 20, won the race for Grafton County treasurer by 500 votes.
Her Republican opponent has blamed her loss on "brainwashed college students," according to local reporting.
The defeated incumbent, Carol Elliott, 66, also called Sievers a "teenybopper" and hoped to run for state legislature in the future so she could change the law allowing temporary residents to hold local government seats Â- the law that allowed Sievers, a Montana native, to run for the position.
The part-time position of treasurer involves monitoring all county finances and comes with a salary of $6,408.
- Marie Cushing
Court rules in favor of ban on academic travel to Cuba
Academic travel to Cuba is still restricted, thanks to a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling. The federal appeals court upheld a lower ruling against the Emergency Coalition to Defend Educational Travel. The coalition of 450 higher-education professionals felt that the Bush administration restrictions violated their freedom.
The court ruled, however, since restrictions did not dictate what was taught, just where. Since the original ruling, the number of programs in Cuba have dwindled dramatically.
- Marie Cushing
Obama victory sparks protest at Baylor University
Baylor University students burned Obama signs and other paraphernalia on Nov. 5 in protest of the election results. The incident was accompanied by a verbal confrontation between Obama and McCain supporters.
Two contradictory accounts of the events were given to The Lariat, Baylor University's campus newspaper. Obama supporters said some of their fellow supporters were driving when they passed a group of white students who began to scream at them.
McCain supporters claimed that eight to 10 white individuals were standing outside talking about the election when a group of African-American women drove by and shouted racial slurs.
According to both Baylor students and a police officer at the scene, no violence occurred.
Baylor administrators and police officers alike have not yet made any official comments about the incident.
- Laura Muth
UC-Berkeley finds cross-racial friendships may reduce social anxiety
A study conducted by UC Berkeley found that cross-racial friendships could reduce cortisol, a hormone linked to stress, in situations involving individuals from different social groups or ethnicities. This type of anxiety might be a result of prejudice or fears of prejudice.
The study was performed by recruiting 144 Latino and white Berkeley students and dividing them into two groups.
In one group, students were paired with someone of a different race, while in the other group, students were paired with another member of the same race. The partners met once a week for three weeks.
Saliva samples were used to test participants' cortisol levels before and after each of their weekly meeting. Individuals in cross-racial partnerships had higher cortisol levels before the first meeting but decreased significantly during the following meetings.
After participating in the study, students in cross-racial partnerships reported being more willing to form cross-racial friendships.
While cortisol levels also decreased throughout the course of the study for participants in same-race partnerships, they did not report any change in their willingness to form cross-racial friendships.
Authors of the study believe that people who have established cross-racial friendships are then more likely to associate themselves with that social group and therefore experience less anxiety.
The study will be published in the November issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
- Laura Muth
Hundreds become sick after outbreak of
norovirus at Hope College
A college in Michigan opened for classes today after a campus virus outbreak made more than 400 members of staff and student body ill.
Officials at Hope College cancelled classes on Friday after the norovirus outbreak was identified. Dining halls were closed, and several sporting events were postponed.
The norovirus causes vomiting and diarrhea for 24 to 48 hours and is contagious for three days after recovery.
Students and staff were warned against congregating in groups.
- Marie Cushing
"Open Yale" brings Ivy League to the world
Yale University professors are teaching classes all around the world through the online project Open Yale.
The Web site will allow people from around the world to watch free videos of Yale professors lecturing.
The project was always intended to provide information to an international audience. It has been accessed from Quito, Ecuador to the University of Bahrain.
Open Yale was preceded by a similar project, known as AllLearn, which the University of Oxford and Stanford University also participated in.
However, that venture was ultimately a failure and had to close in 2006. In contrast, Open Yale is thriving.
Some of the professors involved believe that the biggest reason Open Yale is so successful in comparison to AllLearn is that Open Yale is free.
AllLearn had fees for accessing lectures that ranged anywhere from $80 to as high as $300.
According to Diana Kleiner, Open Yale Courses director, the Web site has been used by viewers in 187 countries.
- Laura Muth
Harvard's $36.9 billion-endowment has plummeted in the current financial crisis, leaving the University scrambling to reduce spending, according to an announcement from President Drew Faust.
Officials have said Harvard may institute a freeze on their budget and wages. The University's Faculty of Arts and Science has lost $225 million from its budget because of $4.5 billion lost in market endowment.
The announcement comes after hiring freezes at Boston University, Brown and Cornell, as well as planned budget cuts at Darthmouth College.
Faust stated that there would only be a slight increase in tuition, which creates 20 percent of Harvard's revenue. The cost of tuition, room and board increased 3.5 percent last year to $47,215. Faust pledged to continue offering financial aid at the same rate.
- Marie Cushing
No injuries reported after gunshot fired in NKU dormitory
No students were injured despite reports of a gunshot fired at around 4 a.m. on Wednesday in a dormitory at Northern Kentucky University.
According to University officials, the shot was fired after a dispute between a woman's former and current boyfriends. A .25 caliber shell casing was recovered from the scene.
Police have not identified who fired the weapon or any suspects in the case. Investigations are ongoing.
- Marie Cushing
Dartmouth College student wins local N.H. election
The votes of college students are being credited for helping a junior at Dartmouth College get elected in New Hampshire.
Vanessa Sievers, 20, won the race for Grafton County treasurer by 500 votes.
Her Republican opponent has blamed her loss on "brainwashed college students," according to local reporting.
The defeated incumbent, Carol Elliott, 66, also called Sievers a "teenybopper" and hoped to run for state legislature in the future so she could change the law allowing temporary residents to hold local government seats Â- the law that allowed Sievers, a Montana native, to run for the position.
The part-time position of treasurer involves monitoring all county finances and comes with a salary of $6,408.
- Marie Cushing
Court rules in favor of ban on academic travel to Cuba
Academic travel to Cuba is still restricted, thanks to a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling. The federal appeals court upheld a lower ruling against the Emergency Coalition to Defend Educational Travel. The coalition of 450 higher-education professionals felt that the Bush administration restrictions violated their freedom.
The court ruled, however, since restrictions did not dictate what was taught, just where. Since the original ruling, the number of programs in Cuba have dwindled dramatically.
- Marie Cushing
Obama victory sparks protest at Baylor University
Baylor University students burned Obama signs and other paraphernalia on Nov. 5 in protest of the election results. The incident was accompanied by a verbal confrontation between Obama and McCain supporters.
Two contradictory accounts of the events were given to The Lariat, Baylor University's campus newspaper. Obama supporters said some of their fellow supporters were driving when they passed a group of white students who began to scream at them.
McCain supporters claimed that eight to 10 white individuals were standing outside talking about the election when a group of African-American women drove by and shouted racial slurs.
According to both Baylor students and a police officer at the scene, no violence occurred.
Baylor administrators and police officers alike have not yet made any official comments about the incident.
- Laura Muth
UC-Berkeley finds cross-racial friendships may reduce social anxiety
A study conducted by UC Berkeley found that cross-racial friendships could reduce cortisol, a hormone linked to stress, in situations involving individuals from different social groups or ethnicities. This type of anxiety might be a result of prejudice or fears of prejudice.
The study was performed by recruiting 144 Latino and white Berkeley students and dividing them into two groups.
In one group, students were paired with someone of a different race, while in the other group, students were paired with another member of the same race. The partners met once a week for three weeks.
Saliva samples were used to test participants' cortisol levels before and after each of their weekly meeting. Individuals in cross-racial partnerships had higher cortisol levels before the first meeting but decreased significantly during the following meetings.
After participating in the study, students in cross-racial partnerships reported being more willing to form cross-racial friendships.
While cortisol levels also decreased throughout the course of the study for participants in same-race partnerships, they did not report any change in their willingness to form cross-racial friendships.
Authors of the study believe that people who have established cross-racial friendships are then more likely to associate themselves with that social group and therefore experience less anxiety.
The study will be published in the November issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
- Laura Muth
Hundreds become sick after outbreak of
norovirus at Hope College
A college in Michigan opened for classes today after a campus virus outbreak made more than 400 members of staff and student body ill.
Officials at Hope College cancelled classes on Friday after the norovirus outbreak was identified. Dining halls were closed, and several sporting events were postponed.
The norovirus causes vomiting and diarrhea for 24 to 48 hours and is contagious for three days after recovery.
Students and staff were warned against congregating in groups.
- Marie Cushing
"Open Yale" brings Ivy League to the world
Yale University professors are teaching classes all around the world through the online project Open Yale.
The Web site will allow people from around the world to watch free videos of Yale professors lecturing.
The project was always intended to provide information to an international audience. It has been accessed from Quito, Ecuador to the University of Bahrain.
Open Yale was preceded by a similar project, known as AllLearn, which the University of Oxford and Stanford University also participated in.
However, that venture was ultimately a failure and had to close in 2006. In contrast, Open Yale is thriving.
Some of the professors involved believe that the biggest reason Open Yale is so successful in comparison to AllLearn is that Open Yale is free.
AllLearn had fees for accessing lectures that ranged anywhere from $80 to as high as $300.
According to Diana Kleiner, Open Yale Courses director, the Web site has been used by viewers in 187 countries.
- Laura Muth
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