Universities Weblog

Here's a shocker from USA Today: Getting into top colleges is difficult. It seems good students are clamoring for admission to the Ivies and other elite institutions. And it's getting more and more competitive. Go figure.

Anyway, sample this bit:

Every college admissions cycle has its own set of dynamics, and this year is no exception. Many selective private colleges are reporting a boom in applications and, as a result, expect to admit a lower proportion of high school seniors than last year.

The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia had a 21% jump. "I was taken aback by the increase," admissions dean Lee Stetson says. Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., had a 29% increase; the University of Denver, 14%; and Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., 12%.And read the rest here.

Sometimes, you have to take a deep breath and step back from the stress of classes and college 'issues,' and just appreciate how fun being a student can be.

A great example of this is Pat Bertoletti, a college student who hopes to open his own restaurant some day. He proved he knows his way around food by scarfing down a record two pounds of chocolate hearts in seven minutes.

It wasn't just for the glory: Bertoletti won $2500.00 for his gastronomic feat.

As every college student knows, that's big money.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:Bertoletti, currently ranked 10th in the nation, is a rising star on the eating circuit. Monday's title brings his winnings to $12,000 in two years.

"He's being very smart about his money," said his mom, Deborah Bertoletti, one of five family members cheering him on. "He said he's saving to open his own restaurant."

College students used to stuff themselves into phone booths and tiny cars for fun. Eating chocolate sounds better to me, but whatever your poison, remember that college is about enjoying yourself, too.

(Photo Source: Experience Chocolate)

Several Syracuse students received punishments including expulsion and probations after posting insulting comments about a T.A. of one of their classes on the college networking site, Facebook.com.

Trading insults online is nothing new, though there has been a rash of harsh punishments as of late for students caught participating.

It brings up the age-old question: do universities have the right to limit students' freedom of speech? Isn't free speech the very goal that higher education is based on?

Or, do you believe that the students' punishments were justified, considering the crudity of the comments?

Please share your thoughts in the Comments section; we would love to know your opinion.

From Inside Higher Ed:While thousands of students nationwide have added similarly outspoken language to online discussion groups and message boards, four students at Syracuse have learned the hard way that private institutions have the right to Dole out punishments if they deem content expressed on Facebook.com, or any other online medium, to violate their official codes of student conduct.

"If [the judicial office] wants to operate on a case-by-case basis, that doesn't seem like a standard process," Kaplan continued. "What can and cannot be said on the Internet should be spelled out clearly."
(Photo Source: Intershadows.com)

That's the question of the hour, after a university policewoman shot a student at Florida Atlantic University. This was the school's first experience with such an incident.

Many people argue that allowing guns on campus, regardless of who carries them, increases danger for everyone.

Others argue that guns are necessary, as life-threatening circumstances may arise.

Others, like Police Chief Bill Ferrell, want to compromise: eliminate guns, but let officers carry Tasers.

The Palm Beach Post reports:Officer Mary Douglas shot FAU junior Zachary Carroll in the hand and chest early Wednesday after he went on a rampage, bashing windshields and car windows, smashing a stop sign and lunging at her.

"I can't predict what would've happened 24 hours ago if the officer had the Taser," Ferrell said, adding that it might not have stopped Carroll, who is taller than 6 feet and weighs more than 250 pounds. "But it's definitely a tool we need to look at so we can consider putting it to use."
What do you think? Which option would provide the safest setting for students and officials?

Folks at Harvard just can't seem to accept Larry Summers and his confrontational, dictatorial leadership style. The boston globe reports that the Harvard faculty will be voting on a "no confidence" motion, calling into question Summers' handling of a decanal appointment, among other issues.

Witness:

Harvard University's president, Lawrence H. Summers, will soon face his second vote of no confidence, a concerted faculty assault on a president's leadership that has never happened before in Harvard's history.

Professors in the same school voted no confidence in Summers last March, but the public outcry against him abated in the fall. These new moves, early in the second semester, indicate the depth of rage against the president among some professors, and fuel speculation among faculty that he may step down or that he may be forced out by Harvard's governing board, the Corporation.As the piece suggests, Summers faced a similar vote last year and lost. But he's still there. How long will this turmoil persist?

(Source: Yale Law School)It may be a good time to start thinking about law school. Applications are dropping, even among elite schools.

This comes from the New York Times:

Last year, for the first time since the 1997-98 admission cycle, the number of applicants to law school declined, by 4.6 percent, and so far this year, the number has declined by 9.5 percent.

At Yale Law School, however, there were just five fewer applicants last year, a drop to 3,778, from 3,783.

For more, read here.

First Oxford and Cambridge established business schools to rival America's best. Now it seems Russia is following suit:

Read this from MosNews.com:

In next two or three years Russia is expected to form two business schools which will compete with Harvard and Stanford. One school will be set up in Moscow and another one in St. Petersburg, the Russian Education Ministry said.

While Russian system of higher education is regarded quite highly in the world, especially in the sphere of natural sciences, international community has no regard for Russian business schools. The project, which is being spearheaded by the Economy Ministry, Education Ministry and Troika Dialog brokerage, aims to change this situation.

So MBA hopefuls, especially those with an international focus, will soon have new options. Will Russian B-schools compete with America's best? Not right away.

East Tennessee State University freshman Kimberly Sams received a shock recently when she was dismissed from her college's cheerleading squad. She says her coach told her Sams was axed because of the part-time job the freshman holds at Hooters.

Hooters is a restaurant famous for the scanty clothes of the waitresses. However, as Sams pointed out, her cheerleading uniform is nearly as miniscule.

From WBIR:Sams says she was called into a locker room after practice and dismissed by squad coach Tammy Bartow about three weeks ago. Sams says Bartow told her the off-campus job was the reason.

Hooters Vice President Mike McNeil in Atlanta said the owl-themed restaurant chain "supports the employee and the statements she's making." He also said ETSU should reinstate her to the cheerleading squad.

What do you think? Is this hypocrisy? More importantly, do college officials have any right to dictate students' off-campus activities? What would you do in this situation?

(Photo Source: Hooters Restaurants)

(Source: Wharton School of Business, U of PA)Admissions consultants can help you prepare your application to top MBA programs, but it's probably a good idea to write your own essay. The gatekeepers are on the lookout for fraud.

Consider this from the AP:

Some of the nation's top business schools are looking for ways to shut out the growing number of consultants who coach applicants on essays and interviews.

"Our value is in helping the applicant match himself or herself to a school," Linda Abraham, president of Accepted.com, a Los Angeles-based consulting firm, told the Globe. "We're not creating a generic application, and we're not fitting to a generic application."Read the rest here.

College: a time to grow, open your mind, and relish learning other point of views. It's a time to meet new people, and learn from those with different interests and experiences.

But what if you find your college classmates–or yourself–missing out on these aspects of higher education?

That is the concern at the University of Alabama, where many students and administrators look towards fraternities and sororities as the worst examples of human nature.

Could organizations that promote bonds of sisterhood and brotherhood really be working towards an opposite goal…racial segregation?

From Inside Higher Ed:Many had thought that the integration of the university's sororities and fraternities would progress after Carla Ferguson, an African-American student, was offered membership in the Gamma Phi Beta sorority in 2003. More than two years later, Ferguson remains the only black woman to have been accepted into any of the 15 "traditionally white" sororities. The situation is similar at the approximately 30 "traditionally white" fraternities on campus, where students say that only one or two African-American males have ever been admitted.

What do you think? Should students or administrators step in to demand change? Is it something that will evolve naturally? Should this issue be a concern? If so, what should the next step be? Please share your thoughts with us in the Comments section.

(Photo source: Alabama Alumni )