Last College Sailor Found Dead

As yacht rapidly sank, safety officer gave his life pushing his 2 crewmates to safety

(NEWSER) - Survivors of a capsized college yacht yesterday hailed the boat's safety officer as a hero who gave his life to save theirs, CNN reports. Roger Stone died after pushing two of his Texas A&M University crewmates to safety from below decks last week as the craft rapidly took on water. The five who made it out of the boat spent 26 hours in the Gulf of Mexico before being rescued. More»

Wall Street Journal looks at the numbers and isn't impressed

(NEWSER) - Rick Perry often boasts of his $440 million Texas Enterprise Fund, which he says has created more than 59,000 jobs. But the program’s estimates often appear wildly exaggerated, the Wall Street Journal reports. A $50 million grant to Texas A&M for a new Genomic Institute, for example, has been credited with creating 12,000 jobs, but the Institute only actually employs 10 people. To get the 12,000 figure, officials tallied every job created since 2005 even vaguely related to biotechnology—including makers of dental supplies and fertilizer. More»

Huffington Post grabs his college transcripts

(NEWSER) - Rick Perry’s not even in the presidential race yet, but it looks like someone’s already doing opposition research. An unnamed source passed Perry’s Texas A&M transcripts to the Huffington Post , and the details ain’t pretty: Perry received mostly Cs and Ds, including a C in US history and a D in principles of economics. At one point, he was even put on academic probation. More»

Two-month journey for charity completed

(NEWSER) - Anthony Smith was in high spirits as arrived in St. Maarten yesterday, and why not? After all, he’d just realized a boyhood dream, sailing a 40-foot raft on a two-month journey across the Atlantic with the help of three of his friends—at the ripe young age of 85. “Some people say it was mad,” Smith, a London native, told the AP. “But it wasn’t mad. What else do you do when you get on in years?” More»

Golden Gate University tops list at 10%

(NEWSER) - Graduation rates at US institutions of higher learning have dropped 33% since 2002, a Chronicle of Higher Education study finds, and the recession may be to blame. The Huffington Post lists the 12 colleges with the lowest graduation rates:

• Golden Gate University, San Francisco: 10%
• Alliant International University, San Diego: 11%
• Idaho State University, Pocatello: 16%
• University of Arkansas, Little Rock: 21%