News
Quick Takes: Violent Fights, Private Loan Recommendations, Black Students' Security Fears at Northern Illinois, Myers U. Plans to Shut Down, Canadian Price War, More Than a Minyan at Muhlenberg, Happy Academics in Iceland
December 11, 2007
- Authorities are investigating the death of an Alfred University student in an off-campus fight with another student, the Associated Press reported. And in Alabama, authorities are investigating an incident following a basketball game in which two police officers were injured and several students at Oakwood College were arrested, The Huntsville Times reported.
- The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators is urging Congress to tighten the rules on certifying private loans, which operate without the protections students receive in federal loan programs. Among measures endorsed by the aid association: a requirement that borrowers be advised of all options and the impact of private loans, that institutions not certify private loan amounts that exceed an institution's cost of attendance minus other aid and loans, and that students have a choice of lenders.
- Black students at Northern Illinois University held a press conference Monday to demand more information and greater efforts to protect them in the wake of the discovery of a racial slur and references to the Virginia Tech shootings, the Chicago Tribune reported. The threats, found on a bathroom wall, prompted the university to postpone Monday's final exams, but the university will be open today. A statement from the university said that officials are continuing their investigation but feel that there is no "imminent threat" at this point.
- Myers University, a business-oriented college in Cleveland that has been financially struggling for some time, is planning to shut down at the end of the semester, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. The university only has enough money to pay employees for another two weeks. However, a for-profit university still wants to buy Myers and may seek a court order to keep the college open, the Plain Dealer said.
- Newfoundland, Labrador, and Prince Edward Island are cutting tuition rates substantially at their universities, hoping to lure students from Ontario, The Ottawa Citizen reported.
- A feature in The Philadelphia Inquirer explores how Muhlenberg College, a Lutheran institution in Allentown, Pa., has seen a huge growth in Jewish enrollments, to the extent that 31 percent of students are Jewish, compared to 6 percent who are Lutheran. Officials credit the college's location, the seriousness with which issues of faith are considered, and a vibrant Hillel program.
- Employees of some of Iceland's top universities report unusually high levels of job satisfaction. An article in The Guardian explores the relationship between that fact and another: Women who are committed to gender equity in pay hold many of the top positions.
