January 31, 2008The importance of community collegesCommunity colleges are vital to shoring up the U.S. economy -- and they need more money -- according to a report due out today. Read about it here. The price of free speech?A student government association cut off a student newspaper's funding because the paper hired a lawyer because the SGA often meets in secret. The SGA has relented. Sort of. Temporarily. Read about it here. More graduate moneyVirginia Tech's Graduate Student Assembly is expected to decide today whether to create fund that would help students with work/life balance issues, such as paying for child care. Initially, the idea was to solicit donations into the Karen DePauw Graduate Fund for child-care alone, but a committee decided to broaden the money allotted to include other family-related issues. The pot, named after the school's dean did not have a specific objection, but this could mean it does. During tonight's 5:30 meeting of delegates, members of the assembly will give the fund specific objectives and, within the semester, donors could begin pouring money into the fund. It's part of a bevy of ongoing child-care issues the assembly is addressing. They're also looking at compiling a list of scholarships that could help ease the financial burden of being a student while raising a family. We'll keep you posted. January 30, 2008RU, meet your deanOr, at least, someone who wants to be your dean. This just in -- well, just a few hours ago -- from Radford University: A couple of dean candidates will be on campus meeting students and faculty on Jan. 31. One of them will still be doing that on Feb. 1. The schedule is below. January 29, 2008Black History MonthRadford University's celebration of Black History Month begins Friday, Feb. 1, with a reception from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. in the Pocahontas Lounge. The celebration concludes on Thursday, Feb. 28, with Showtime at the Bonnie from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m, in the Bonnie Auditorium. The African American History Bowl begins at the same hour in the Bonnie Food Court. Find the full list of events here. Boyd among Virginia’s bestRadford University anthropology professor Cliff Boyd is getting one of 12 2008 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Awards. This is the award’s 22nd year. Boyd is the ninth RU professor and the second member of his household to receive the award. Donna Boyd, Cliff's wife and fellow anthropology professor, collected a VOFA in 2006. Read the RU press release below. Beat Indonesia!Martin Sayer, a member of the Highlander tennis team, is heading to Jakarta to play in the Davis Cup. Sayer, a Hong Kong native with a 9-0 Davis Cup record, will be playing against the Indonesia national team for the Hong Kong Tennis Association. Learn a little more about Sayer here.
January 23, 2008Gannett's college newspapersGannett, the newspaper chain that owns USA Today and many lesser products, is getting into the college newspaper business. Gannett is not known for overpaying staff, so maybe running papers that pay virtually nothing is the next logical step. Or maybe it's like the New York Yankees buying a minor league baseball team. Or not. Recording industry crackdown touches Virginia TechThe Recording Industry Association of America sent out settlement letters to 36 Virginia Tech students earlier this month asking them to settle their debts and avoid legal action for what the association says are illegal music downloads. The letters sent to Tech students were part of the latest wave that the RIAA has sent out to college students as part of its "college deterrence campaign" to crack down on illegal music dowloads at universities. Eighteen colleges and 407 students were targeted this month in the 12th round of letters the organization has sent asking students to settle with them. Continue reading "Recording industry crackdown touches Virginia Tech" » January 22, 2008A Tough Way to Pay for CollegeThe Chronicle of Higher Education is blogging about a pair of books -- one a memoir, one a study -- that indicate some French college students are turning to what used to be called the world's oldest profession to pay for their higher education. The discussion suggests French students aren't alone. Read more about it here. January 21, 2008No illegal immigrants at RUOver the weekend, Radford University issued a release about the university's policy on illegal immigrants. RU says it doesn't admit illegal immigrants and the administration is convinced there aren't any illegal immigrants enrolled at RU. Read the release below. January 15, 2008Is new software an invasion of student privacy?Check out this article on a software program being marketed to universities as a way to track online postings of their student athletes. Sounds downright Orwellian. When Virginia Tech's internal review concerning campus security and infrastructure after April 16 was released I heard from some students who were freaked out at the thought of beefed-up security cameras and even talk of technology that could track where students were on campus. I'd be interested in your thoughts on where the line should be drawn when it comes to using technology to monitor students' -- or anyone's -- whereabouts, online interactions, etc. January 9, 2008Virginia Tech professor weighs in on Presidential candidatesVirginia Tech political science professor Craig Brians loathes election predictions. But I was able to get him to open up a little bit on his thoughts about the leading Presidential candidates Wednesday. - Mike Huckabee: Brians gives the former Arkansas governor high marks on likeability and his loss in New Hampshire shouldn't be much of a setback. The Baptist minister should do well in South Carolina and even Michigan, which is a more conservative state than people think, he said. But if he somehow falters in South Carolina, his campaign is probably over. - Mitt Romney: The former Massachusetts governor and Mormon also has connections to Utah and Minnesota, where his father was governor. The South is a different story and Brians expects South Carolina to come down to a battle between Romney and Huckabee. A Baptist minister against a person who, Brians said, many Republicans "have a real problem with." - John McCain: Despite his win in New Hampshire, Brians still sounded skeptical about McCain's chances. Again, he pointed to South Carolina. With the Republicans relatively limited campaign coffers, Brians doesn't see more than two viable candidates coming out of South Carolina, a primary that signaled the beginning of the end for McCain in 2000. Continue reading "Virginia Tech professor weighs in on Presidential candidates" » January 4, 2008UNC- Greensboro to simulate attackThe University of North Carolina, Greensboro, will simulate a gunman's attack on its campus Monday. Volunteers will pose as victims and some as parents pleading for information. The idea of the four-hour "attack" is to test the school's emergency response plan. "There are a lot of systems that we want to practice so we know how to do the right things," Bruce Griffin, assistant vice chancellor for environmental safety at UNCG, told the Greensboro News and Record Apparently, the university started looking at the mock incident after the manhunt for William Morva in 2006. January 2, 2008Virginia Tech families and gun lawsI spoke with Suzanne Grimes today, mother of Kevin Sterne, the student photographed being carried out of Norris Hall with a tourniquet around his wounded leg on April 16. She said that she plans on getting more involved with advocating for gun control and mentioned a group, protesteasyguns.com, that has been making demonstrations all over the country since April. The demonstrations consist of 32 people dressed in black lying down to represent the people killed at Virginia Tech on April 16. They will be protesting in Richmond on Jan. 21. Other families of Tech victims have advocated for legislation proposed by the Brady Campaign. |
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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