The Observer, December 8, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 13
Outside the circle
Rhode Island College sued over free speech issues
A Rhode Island College women's group is suing the college after their signs reading "Keep Your Rosaries Off Our Ovaries" were taken down by campus police. The signs were spotted near the college's entrance by a priest on his way to Mass who then contacted the college president.
The student group then filed a lawsuit against the college, claiming that their right to free speech had been violated. "The issue is this is a public university, and a public university can't abridge anyone's free speech rights – including the students'," said Jennifer Azevedo, a volunteer attorney with ACLU.
The group had been working with the college over the course of the year to get the signs up, and they met many roadblocks along the way. The college says that the signs were taken down because they were located in an area where students were not allowed to post. Members of the women's group say that they have seen signs there often, such as political signs that were hung for a recent election.
The women's group says that they had been told that they had met all necessary clearance for the signs before posting them. There is no word yet as to how the issue will be resolved.
Students arrested for aiding Taliban
Federal authorities have apprehended three students from Houston Community College, the University of Houston, and the University of Texas at Dallas, charging them with a number of violations, including possession of firearms, in connection with attempts to help the Taliban against the U.S. in Afghanistan.
So far, one student has pled guilty and another is denying the charges. Kobie Diallo Williams, a student at University of Houston, pled guilty to providing the Taliban with a few hundred dollars and to going through firearms training with the intent to go help the Taliban.
The three men who were arrested allegedly met many times in Houston to train with weapons and study reconnaissance. In the statement, Roderick Beverly, an FBI special agent, said, "While these subjects did not operate at a high level of sophistication in comparison with the 9/11 hijackers, the expressed goal was to aid the Taliban by training to carry out jihad against coalition troops in the Middle East."
Universities across the country are working to prevent backlash against Arab and Middle Eastern students enrolled, as well as to protect international students, because two of the men arrested were here on student visas. Administrations worry that the publicity will create fear and resentment toward Arab and Middle Eastern students.
No more SAT at Lake Forest
Students applying for admission to Lake Forest College in Chicago no longer have to sit through the SAT or ACT. The college made a jump, taking the SAT out of its admission requirements for applicants seeking admission in fall 2007 or later.
According to their website, the SAT/ACT can be replaced by a personal interview, which are encouraged for all applicants. Instead of focusing on test scores, the students are evaluated "based on qualities that determine success in college: strong academic performance in a challenging high school curriculum, leadership experience and commitment to community, extracurricular involvement and individual talent."
Students are still able to submit the scores if they choose. Students applying for certain academic scholarships must still submit the scores in order to be considered for those awards. International students must still submit TOEFL scores.
"We admit great students, not just great test-takers," said President Stephen D. Schutt.
Cheating at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Students in a journalism ethics course, Critical Issues in Journalism, at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism are wrapped up in a cheating scandal. The students were given an online final exam, consisting of essay questions. The students had a 30-hour window during which to log on and complete the 90-minute exam.
According to reports from students, at least one student who had completed the exam offered to tell another what the questions were, so that the student would have more time to prepare before the 90 minutes started ticking down. The student did not identify who had made the offer.
The professor called an extra class meeting to discuss the issue and decided to assign the students a 500-word essay that mirrors the situation they had put the professor in. The prompt asks what the executive editor of a newspaper should do after getting "a tip from a credible source that one or more unspecified articles in recent editions of the newspaper contain fabricated material?"
The situation is now under review at the school's disciplinary committee.
Recent study advises against starting out at a two-year college
A recent study published by the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute has found that students who transfer from a two-year community college to a four-year college have more academic problems than those who make no transfers and than those who transfer in from another four-year institution.
Researchers looked at the grades of students who transferred into Clemson University. The students were divided into two groups, based on whether their university was more or less selective. Students coming from more selective schools received statistically higher grades in their upper courses.
Taking the data and looking at the impact on future income, the study found that it costs the student more money in unrealized future income to attend a less expensive college for the first two years.
"They learn more by going to high-quality schools," said a co-author of the report, Angela Dills. "And it is worth it economically."
