Stories related to: student

Ten Tulane University frat boys face battery charges after taking "Hell Night" hazing way too far and severely burning two pledges, CNN reports. The Pi Kappa Alpha members poured boiling water with pepper spray in it and "crab boil" seasoning mix onto the backs of pledges to see who could withstand the most pain. The two who held out the longest before screaming were hospitalized. More »

Parents who schooled in same-sex dorms are surprised to hear that their kids are sharing coed college rooms, the AP reports. About two dozen schools—including Brown, Penn, and Oberlin—allow the practice, and more are following suit this year, including Stanford. Schools say coed dorm users are usually heterosexual and happen to like living with a friend of the opposite sex. More »

A presidential panel today called US math education “broken” and demanded greater focus on key skills ranging from preschool to middle school, the Washington Post reports. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel responded to concerns that Americans are growing less competitive in the realm, and pointed the way to better teaching, better textbooks—and even reducing “math anxiety.” More »

Students will find college entry far easier in coming years as the number of high school graduates falls, the New York Times reports. The annual US grad count is expected to peak at around 2.9 million in the next year or two, and then slump until 2015. “For the high school graduate, this becomes a buyers’ market,” said University of Vermont President Daniel Fogel. More »

US teens know little history and less literature, says a study out today. Only 52% of 17-year-olds could name the theme of George Orwell's 1984, and 43% knew when the Civil War was fought. Students faired far better on topics that schools cover, however, such as Pearl Harbor and Martin Luther King Jr., USA Today reports. More »

Police, the FBI, and the US Postal Service are investigating hate mail sent to black students at an elite prep school, the New York Times reports. Sources say students at St. Paul's School in New Hampshire received letters containing their photos from the school's directory with the words "bang bang get out of here" beneath. The letters had apparently been posted from a nearby town. More »

Four young students heading home were killed yesterday when their school bus was broadsided by a van on a rural highway in southwestern Minnesota, the Minneapolis-St.Paul Star-Tribune reports. "Some of these kids were so little," said a motorist who helped evacuate children from the rooftop emergency hatch of the toppled bus. "And there were just so many. They were screaming and crying. Some were bleeding." Once children were safely on the ground, some called out for siblings still inside. More »

With overseas demand for an American education skyrocketing, US universities are racing to go global, reports the New York Times . Many schools are building foreign branch campuses, where students, especially in the Middle East, can skip over to Abu Dhabi and return home with an NYU degree—without mastering culture shock. Universities use the added presence to build international prestige and draw star professors. More »

Five young men were killed on a joyride in Florida last night when their speeding car careened off a private airstrip, flew 200 feet in the air, hit a large tree, and split in two. Three were thrown from the car and two were partly ejected, but all were pronounced dead on the scene, the Ocla Star-Banner reports. More »

College students aren't such movie thieves after all. Hollywood laid heavy blame for illegal downloading on colleges when a 2005 study alleged that 44% of domestic industry losses came from students downloading films. Now the industry has revised to 15%, citing "human error" in the study. Critics, however, say even the new figure also looks fishy, the AP reports. More »

The University of Washington has become the second Pacific Northwest school to refuse to pass along warning letters from the RIAA to students whose IP addresses were used for illegal downloading. The RIAA considers students liable for any swapping connected with their IP addresses, but the UW, along with the University of Oregon, argues that there's no way to know who was using a computer at a given time. More »

The suspected killer of community-college student and internet porn star Emily Sander, 18, was arrested today in Mexico, the Wichita Eagle reports. Israel Mireles, 24, is being held in Melchor Muzquiz until he is extradited, the AP reports. Sander turned up dead along a Kansas road after reportedly leaving an El Dorado bar with Mireles on Nov. 24. More »

Gunfire hit six people as they stepped off a Las Vegas school bus around 2pm today, the AP reports. One adult male was hurt critically and one teenage male seriously after both were shot in the torso, a hospital spokeswoman said. Four others received minor gun shot wounds, and one has been released. Police suspect at least two gunmen in the shooting. More »

American teens are worse at math and science than peers in 16 of 30 countries, according to test results released today. The 5,600 US students who took the test last year scored 24th in math, but almost made average in science. "How are our children going to be able to compete with the children of the world?" an education advocate asked. "The answer is not well." More »

Administrators of the Sorbonne in Paris shut down the historic university today after clashes took place between student protesters and those trying to go to class, AP reports. School officials say the protesters, who object to a new French law that could lead to higher tuition, assaulted other students. The student protest coincides with a rail strike now in its 10th day. More »

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 »

Police Tasered and arrested a University of Florida student after his belligerent questioning of John Kerry during a campus event last night. Andrew Meyer, who has a history of recording his own pranks, spent the night in jail after pressing Kerry beyond his allotted time, the AP reports. Officers removed him as he struggled and screamed, "What did I do?" More »

College students are preferring plastic to low-rent living, a trend that has banks and consumer advocates battling over credit card plugs on campus. Critics say students are susceptible to easy money marketing and rack up too much debt. Banks blame students for not reading the fine print. With Dems in charge of the Hill, new laws may limit student credit. More »

Congress yesterday passed a student loan reform bill that slashes billions of dollars from lender subsidies and redirects the funds into grants for low-income students, the New York Times reports. The sweeping measure will cut $20B from federal lender subsidies, halve the interest rate on need-based loans, and pump $12B into Pell grants for needy students. More »

The average SAT score for 2007 was the lowest in years, but that's not necessarily bad news. Scores from round two of the revamped college-entrance exam declined an average of seven points nationwide, which the College Board chalks up to greater participation, particularly among students who weren't on a traditional college-prep path, the AP reports. More »