March 21, 2006Food Network stars Rachel Ray and Cat Cora coming to Tech?I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it appears rumors flying around about two Food Network stars coming to show off their cooking skills at Virginia Tech tonight are untrue. It appears this week's HokieCast, a new podcast feature on Tech's website, is at the root of some of the confusion. The podcast, which delivers news every Monday "by students, for students" announced that "D2 will host two famous woman chefs, Rachel Ray and Cat Cora" at dinner tonight. Not exactly. I'm no Food Network devotee and after hearing the podcast I didn't think it was a big deal. But after we received an email from a recent Tech graduate about some excitement their visit was causing I mentioned the names to an intern in the office. Apparently, Rachel Ray is to the Food Network what Dick Vitale is to college basketball. Continue reading "Food Network stars Rachel Ray and Cat Cora coming to Tech?" » Enrollment begins for online classes at Tech
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 If you ride the Blacksburg Transit, perhaps you've noticed the new ads on the side of the buses for online summer classes at Tech. The ad campaign, "Take Your Classes With You" was conceived by Tech students at Visual Design Studio Four. The ads debuted Monday and registration for both summer and fall 2006 courses begins today. Nearly 3,300 students enrolled in the online summer school program last year, said Jenise Jacques, spokeswoman for Tech's Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning. Jacques said this is the most aggresive advertising the institute has attempted since the online program began in 1998 and she hopes it will result in 4,500 to 5,000 students enrolling this summer. March 17, 2006Update on minority scholarshipsEarlier this week I blogged about how minority scholarships throughout the country were opening up to white students. I referenced a recent story in the New York Times. In my blog, I said local universities hadn't announced any changes in scholarships, which they hadn't. Initially, Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski said he didn't know if the changes mentioned in the article had happened at Tech, but he would check on it. When I caught up with him today, he said that actually those changes happened a few years ago. March 15, 2006Daily Illini editor firedIn what many people are seeing as a blow to free speech, Acton Gorton, editor of the University of Illinois student newspaper was fired after choosing to publish caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed last month. The paper's publisher made the announcment Tuesday, saying Gorton was fired not for running the cartoons, but for failing to discuss the decision with others in the newsroom. According to the Associated Press, the Illini Media Co. board of directors voted unanimously to fire him after a review found that he violated newspaper policies"about thoughtful discussion of and preparation for the publication of inflammatory material." That sure sounds like a cop out to me. Gorton refutes the allegations, saying he spoke with the newspaper's former editor-in-chief and others before making his decision. March 14, 2006Minority scholarships opening up to white studentsThis article in today's New York Times seems to indicate that the long-running debate concerning race in higher education isn't going away. Three years ago, two decisions by the Supreme Court concerning affirmative action at the University of Michigan seemed to preserve affirmative action at colleges while not completely protecting it from future challenges. The most recent news concerns changes in minority scholarship programs at schools throughout the country. Fearing litigation, some colleges have opened the scholarships up to white students. Continue reading "Minority scholarships opening up to white students" » March 13, 2006Critics of new student loan policies growing louderWhen I wrote a story about student financial aid in February, I mentioned how new legislation will bump up interest rates on student loans. What I didn't mention was how recent legislation restricts students from refinancing loans. This opinion piece in The Providence Journal last week is one of many that have cropped up over the past month to criticize the move. Continue reading "Critics of new student loan policies growing louder" » March 10, 2006Upward Bound in danger againLast year, I wrote a story about plans in President Bush's budget to end the Upward Bound and Talent Search programs. Congress prevented it from happening but will have to do it again this year. Inside Higher Education reports that the program is on the chopping block again, along with Talent Search, a similar, but less intensive program that serves more students. Upward Bound pairs high school students with colleges throughout the country in the hopes of getting first-generation, minority and low-income students to attend college. It offers trips to colleges, advice on admissions, tutoring and SAT preparation. It's been around since the 1960s and was threatened in 1983 and 1995, but congressional support kept funding in the budget, as it did last year. March 9, 2006Radford elects new SGA presidentRadford University junior Martin Mash won a landslide victory in a three-way race for Student Government Association president. Mash came away with about 63 percent of the vote outdistancing Brian Erskine and Mallery Spencer by over 40 percentage points each. While all three had experience with the school's Student Government Association, Mash's experience representing the students on the Board of Visitors and the Executive Board at Radford set him apart from the other candidates, said SGA President Stephanie Harmon, who endorsed Mash. Mash made headlines beyond the university as the author of an online petition asking Radford City Council to address the demeanor of city police toward students. Harmon, a senior, said she's glad Mash will be involved as SGA president as talks between students and the city continue. March 6, 2006Supreme court upholds on-campus military recruitingThe U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that colleges that receive federal money must allow military recruiters on campus, regardless of their take on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexual soldiers. While Virginia Tech, with its strong military ties, hasn't tried to exclude the military from campus, other schools have viewed the military's discriminatory policies as a reason to ban them from campus. While the military itself hasn't experienced much difficulty with on-campus recruiting, students have protested the presence of the Central Intelligence Agency on campus the past couple of years. March 3, 2006The jobs are there. Now where are the students?I spoke with Virginia Tech's Director of Career Services Donna Ratcliffe today about how the senior class job hunt is going at Virginia Tech. Her answer, in a nutshell, is that the jobs are there, but the students aren't. Ratcliffe has heard several companies used to mining Virginia Tech for employees express this sentiment this year. With graduation fast approaching, how many seniors are headed to spring break with the thought of joining the world of the working stiffs this summer? Continue reading "The jobs are there. Now where are the students?" » |
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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