Donation to Berkeley
is largest ever for classified-ad giant
San Jose Mercury News Jan 18, 08 8:44 PM CST
(Newser)
-
Internet mainstay Craigslist is giving $1.6 million to help the University of California-Berkeley set up a faculty chair devoted to new media, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The gift will help create a setting "where scholars and students can explore the powerful effect of new media and think rigorously about how new media will continue to change our lives," Berkeley's chancellor said.
More »
Hooded thugs open fire on students returning from Caracas march
Associated Press Nov 8, 07 6:18 CST
(Newser)
-
A band of hooded gunmen opened fire and tossed tear gas cannisters into a crowd of college students returning yesterday from a massive rally protesting President Hugo Chavez' policies. At least eight were injured, but no one was killed, AP reports. Panicked students raced through campus as ambulances arrived. Students had led a peaceful march of 80,000 to protest Chavez' constitutional proposals that would abolish presidential term limits and expand his powers.
More »
Undergrads moonlight as hookers, strippers, and essay writers
to foot tuition
Varsity Oct 10, 07 2:35 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Cambridge University students who turn tricks, strip, and sell essays to pay their rising tuition costs have Britain atwitter, following a student newspaper's exposé. One undergrad slept with 40 to 50 men in a space of two months, counting other students among her clients, reports Varsity, duly noting that hundreds of Cambridge students have profiles on an escort site.
More »
At least on the SAT, where you may need only write long words
Boston Globe Sep 20, 07 3:57 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The hours and dollars spent on SAT writing preparation might be for naught, the Boston Globe reports, as 56% of four-year colleges don’t even use the newest section of the aptitude test. Skeptics find fuel in a study showing that big words were all it took to achieve near-perfect scores. "These aren't higher-level learning measures," one admissions officer says.
More »
Associated Press Sep 3, 07 3:33 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Brittney Exline is just 15, but Wednesday she begins her Ivy League career at UPenn. The Colorado Springs native started sixth grade at age 8, and finished high school math at 13, the AP reports. "Her motivation, discipline and maturity provided clear evidence that, despite her age, she was ready to travel halfway across the country and thrive," said an admissions dean.
More »
Not quite: Undergrads still turn to more
traditional sources
Ars Technica Aug 25, 07 3:46 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Contrary to expectations, college students are not rushing online for answers to research assignments. A new survey shows only 3% of undergraduates with research tasks went to Wikipedia first and only 13% tried search engines. The largest number, 40%, turned to course materials first and 23% sought out the library.
More »
Princeton Review dons a toga and lists the top party schools
Associated Press Aug 21, 07 4:28 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Students are knocking back celebratory shots and administrators are tearing their hair over the Princeton Review's annual list of the top 20 party schools. The full list appears in the 2008 edition of The Best 366 Colleges, on sale today. West Virginia University University of Mississippi University of Texas, Austin
More »
Annual survey comes under increasing fire for favoring the rich
Inside Higher Ed Aug 17, 07 6:35 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Facing a barrage of criticism, the latest college rankings from U.S. News and World Report were released today, and Princeton is still No.1, followed by Harvard and Yale. The editors have tried to address complaints about the survey's bias toward schools that educate the well-to-do and the well-prepared. But dozens of college presidents are refusing to fully participate in the survey or use the rankings to promote their institutions.
More »
Sure, you can just apply to Yale, Harvard and Princeton—but why be boring?
MSNBC Aug 15, 07 1:19 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
It's not all about GPAs and SATs—each of these schools excel in their own way. MSNBC picks the best colleges in 25 quirky categories: Ivy Leaguer: Cornell University Sports: University of Florida Men's college: Morehouse College
More »
New teaching, learning styles may spell
an end to lectures
CNET Jul 31, 07 6:33 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
An increasing number of colleges and universities are using new Web applications to engage a generation of students eager to collaborate—and strut their stuff—on the Internet. Blogs, wikis, and other collaborative tools are being used as more than just empty Web 2.0 buzzwords, CNET reports; they allow students to work and learn more efficiently and even help recruiting.
More »
German schools book young US speakers to combat anti-Americanism
Der Spiegel Jul 27, 07 10:03 CDT
(Newser)
-
American exchange students in Germany are so bombarded with broadsides against the US government and lifestyle that one university has started a program called "Rent an American." Yanks visit German schools to answer questions about the Bush administration, climate change, and the death penalty, all in an effort to help parry anti-American attitudes.
More »
The best outcome human players can hope for against program is a draw
Scientific American Jul 19, 07 6:25 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
After 18 years of number-crunching, a checkers-playing computer program has conquered the game. Checkers is the most complicated game computers have mastered, Scientific American reports, beating Connect Four by a factor of a million. "I was a bit obsessed," says the lead researcher. "My wife would say more than a bit obsessed."
More »
Old-world schools hear footsteps from China, India in college rankings
Times (UK) May 21, 07 6:21 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Top-tier European universities like Oxford, Cambridge and the Sorbonne will fall behind competitors in China and India within 10 years, the EU's education commissioner warns. The Times of London reports underfunding and outmoded curricula could cost the mossier Western schools their international reputations, and international enrollments with them.
More »
Applications—and rejections—up at second-tier colleges
New York Times May 16, 07 2:12 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Top-tier colleges are getting more applicants than ever, the Times reports, allowing a new class of schools to court—and reject—the overachievers increasingly turned away from the Ivy League. Universities like Bucknell, Colgate and Lehigh are tightening standards as students with top SATs and grades seek higher learning lower in the rankings.
More »