February 28, 2006Campus safety bill passes General AssemblyA campus safety bill that will set standards for campus police departments, centralize crime data and provide assistance for campus police departments passed the Virginia General Assembly today. Virginia 21, a young voters advocacy group touts the bill as "an essential step towards ensuring our state colleges are safe and secure environments for everyone." February 22, 2006Sleep tight, college students, your professors have you coveredLiberal arts or technical college, Ivy League or safety school, college students from all over have been united for years by a common perception. They can sleep. In class, in the dorms or in the library. During all hours of the day. So who better to discuss the topic of sleep than college professors? Apparently national media agree. A. Roger Ekirch, a professor of history at Virginia Tech, wrote an editorial about the history of sleep habits in last Sunday's New York Times. Another Tech professor, urban entymologist Dini Miller, will appear on Dateline NBC next month to discuss the comeback that bed bugs are making. Yuck. February 21, 2006Tech student claims she was misquoted in ethnicity storyA colleague of mine has a quote posted next to his computer that reads: "I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant." It's a great quote for anyone in my profession to remember. Because a story I wrote in today's Roanoke Times may be an example of that happening. I received a call this afternoon from Lauren O'Neil, chairwoman of Tech's College Republicans. I quoted her in the story, which was about how more Tech applicants are checking the box marked "other" when asked about their ethnicity in applications. In the story and in my notes, I have O'Neil quoted as saying: "The college campus is a place for diversity of ideas, not diversity of ethnicity." That quote got O'Neil the Trent Lott leadership award for mildly inappropriate racial remarks on truthcaucus.com. She called me this afternoon because she felt she was misquoted. She insisted that she said, "The college campus is a place for diversity of ideas, not JUST diversity of ethnicity." Continue reading "Tech student claims she was misquoted in ethnicity story" » February 20, 2006Sex-related events cause conflicts on campuses"Girls Gone Wild" created quite a stir when it visited Radford University last fall. And we're all well aware at some of the alleged indiscretions involving Virginia Tech football players. But, when it comes to pushing the envelope on sexual innuendo, it appears that the New River Valley's two universities have nothing on some of the most selective schools in the country. Yale University just completed its biennial "Sex Week". The event featured a sex therapist and frank discussions on dating and homosexuality. While proponents hail it as a way to educate people and promote healthy, open discussion, not everyone feels that way. Not to be outdone by it's Ivy League rival, Harvard University students have launched an online sex magazine. In a slightly tamer controversy, the University of Notre Dame has recently made the news for discussions about the appropriateness of a Catholic university sponsoring the Vagina Monologues on campus. No matter what the event, publication or form of art, you can pretty much guarantee that someone will have a problem with it if it involves sex. The question is, "Where do you draw the line?" Does the answer change dependent on the school and whether its public or private, religiously affiliated or not? February 15, 2006Cartoon controversy migrates to college campusesThe recent appearance of a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammed in the UNC-Chapel Hill student newspaper has created a stir among Muslim students at the school. While student newspapers in Southwest Virginia didn't run any cartoons, The Collegiate Times has weighed in on the subject multiple times on its editorial pages. So is it religious bigotry or freedom of the press? Or perhaps both? February 10, 2006Gold, frankincense and cancer treatmentEver wonder what two of the three Wise Men were thinking? I mean, if I was going to bring a gift to celebrate the birth of my savior, I might bring gold. But who brings mirh? And frankincense? What are they anyway? Well, researchers at Virginia Tech's college of veterinary medicine recently presented findings to the American Cancer Society about their use of frankincense as a way to treat skin cancer in horses. Apparently, frankincense oil was a valuable treatment for wounds 2,000 years ago. It may prove to be an valuable treatment on humans as horses with malignant melanoma have several similarities to humans with the same disease. February 9, 200612,531 petitions to save $1,246The student advocacy group Virginia 21 has been busy touting bills in the General Assembly this winter from textbooks to campus safety. But their top goal has been to convince politicians to close a base budget adequacy gap of about $377 million, or $1,246 per student. After three weeks of collecting signatures, they announced that 12,531 people signed a petition asking for additional funds from Richmond to close the gap. See how they made their point, here. February 8, 2006Professors rating students?While most students are well aware of RateMyProffesors.com, a website that allows students to anonymously critique and grade their professors, there's another website that gives professors a similar venue to vent. Some professors -- who apparently aren't satisfied with their ability to give lazy, stupid or unruly students poor grades -- have begun gossiping about students at a blog set up by an associate professor at a small southern college. A story in Inside Higher Ed gives more details. If you went to the professor's site Tuesday, you would have found chatter and comments from professors about students and the professor-rating site. But if you click on the link to rateyourstudents.blogspot.com today, you'll be directed to a linkless black screen with the words, "Inflate Your Students" at the top. Maybe it's a simple glitch that will be repaired, maybe the URL has been changed. But you have to wonder if professors are in over their heads in attempting an online war of words with the Y2K generation. February 7, 2006Global warming groups come to local collegesClear the Air, a Greencorps campaign to encourage politicians to back policies to stop global warming, held events at four college campuses in Virginia today including Radford University. Virginia Tech will hold a similar event Wednesday on the Drillfield from 9 a.m to 2 p.m. The event was directed specifically at U.S. Sen. John Warner. Event participants will be signing petitions and clean air Valentine's Day cards to the senator and calling his offices to encourage him to back legislation to clean up the air in Virginia. Radford senior Stephanie Boothe said Tuesday's event was well attended. Over 80 postcards and 20 letters were sent to Warner's office and over 25 phone calls were made, she said. Field coordinator Leila Darwish said the group has been lobbying Warner on this issue for a couple of months. She said the Virginia Republican's backing of a Sense of the Senate resolution last year recognizing the need for a cap on America's global warming pollutants was encouraging. Now they're waiting to see if he'll back any specific legislation. "Obviously he's willing to say that this is an issue...We thought that he'd be a very good senator to try to take it a step further." February 1, 2006New Tech logo to be unveiledVirginia Tech President Charles Steger will swoop onto campus tomorrow long enough to unveil an updated university logo and brand campaign with a new trademarked tagline. The presentation will be on the second floor foyer of Burruss Hall at 11 a.m. In addition to the brand campaign, Steger will announce the start of a new university-wide communications campaign. Go to roanoke.com late tomorrow morning to see the new logo and learn about details of the campaigns and Steger's speech. |
About this blog
Rhode Island native and Virginia Tech reporter Greg Esposito posts on everyday college life, trends and issues affecting the 35,000-plus students in the New River Valley and beyond.
Tim Thornton, who is old enough to have children attending college, is still taking classes and is still fascinated by colleges, the students who populate them and the bureaucrats who operate them. His reporting beat is Radford University.
West Virginia native Anna Mallory blogs on student life topics at Virginia Tech, Radford University, New River Valley Community College -- and beyond.
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