Quick Takes
BYU-Idaho Bans Political Parties
Brigham Young University's Idaho campus has shut down the student groups that back the Democratic and Republican parties, The Rexburg Standard Journal reported. University officials said that the move was designed to assure that the campus is seen as politically "neutral," but some students are complaining, noting that campus chapters of political parties are common at other institutions.
Addressing the Tuition v. Fee Conundrum for California Vets
Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Cal.) introduced legislation Tuesday that would address one, California-specific inequity in the funding formula under the new Post-9/11 GI Bill. Maximum benefits payable under the new GI Bill, which goes into effect in August, are tied to the maximum charges assessed by public colleges in each state. In California, which by a quirk of state law calls tuition “fees,” that trick of semantics leaves veterans exactly $0 that they could apply toward a private college tuition bill (they can apply $6,586.54 per term toward their fees, but that does them little good at most private institutions). “California’s prohibition on tuition was meant to hold college costs down, not unfairly drive them up for our state’s veterans,” Rep. McKeon said in a statement announcing the introduction of the Veterans Educational Equity Act, which would allow veterans to use the full $6,586.54 to offset tuition and fees at private colleges.
With Loan Fight Pending, Kennedy to Return to Senate
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has been a major player in nearly every important piece of higher education legislation for at least the last two decades, and with Congress poised to take on a potentially enormous higher ed challenge -- President Obama's proposal to transform the Pell Grant and student loan programs -- the Massachusetts senator appears likely to be in the thick of things again. The Hill newspaper, citing Congressional Democratic sources, reported Tuesday that Kennedy's brain cancer is in remission and that he is set to return to the Senate after the Memorial Day recess. Kennedy has been promising for months that he would return to lead Congressional efforts to enact President Obama's health care reform plan, but lots of commentators have played down that possibility. Kennedy heads the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that would play a central role in reform of both health care and the student aid programs. The Obama proposal to end the guaranteed loan program and use the proceeds to make Pell Grants an entitlement will get its first Congressional hearing tomorrow before the House Education and Labor Committee, the House equivalent of Kennedy's panel.
U. of Chicago Paper Retracts Column About 'Tramps'
The Chicago Maroon, a student newspaper of the University of Chicago, has retracted, apologized for and re-edited a column criticizing students for shedding too much clothing when spring arrives. While the column said that both male and female students were leaving too little to the imagination, references to "skanks" and "tramps" in the original column led many to argue that it was sexist and offensive. The column (after being edited in response to the criticism) may be found here. The newspaper's apology is here. The Chi-Town Daily News saw the original and altered versions of the column. One change that was made was to alter a question about “do our students become tramps to more effectively enjoy the weather, or do they use the weather as an excuse to more effectively become tramps?” to “do these students shed their clothing to more effectively enjoy the weather, or do they use the weather as an excuse to shed their clothing?”
