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Black on Campus has a pair of new posts up on the issue of alcohol consumption on campus, and they’re both well worth reading.
First, there’s a quick overview of the situation, and an endorsement of lowering the drinking age back to 18. Dr. Mance argues that “the current prohibition policy for drinkers under the age of 21 encourages an illicit alcohol culture, and one that is characterized by the same excesses and extremes (and denial) that accompany any illicit activity.” (Mance also links to Choose Responsibility, a drinking-age reform group that arose out of college administrators’ frustration with the status quo.)
The second post explores the fact that drinking rates are lower among black college students than among white students, and lower still among students at historically black colleges and universities. The post concludes with a provocative quote from a black student leader on the relationship between binge drinking and bias crime.
The Rutgers Daily Targum may take a financial hit soon, if the university enacts a student senate proposal to allow students to opt out of paying the fee that funds it.
The Targum is independent of the university and the student government, but receives about a third of its funding from a $9.75 per student per semester designated fee. Currently, students can request a refund of the newspaper fee at the end of the semester, but the student senate proposal would allow them to opt out in advance by checking a box when they pay their tuition bill.
The newspaper’s editor says that about one half of one percent of students currently opt out, and that if the check-box system caused that figure to rise as high as ten percent, the paper would likely be forced to eliminate one edition per week, ending its run as a daily newspaper.
The Targum is one of two organizations on the Rutgers campus funded through such a designated fee. The other, the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG), already has an opt-out check-box provision.
Rutgers’ president is expected to make a decision after the end of the semester.
A new addition to the blogroll: Black On Campus.
It’s a great blog, with all sorts of material on black students, black faculty, and other issues relating to African-American higher education past and present. Just a really rich resource. I’ve already spent a chunk of the morning over there, and it’s going to be a regular read for me from now on.
I recently stumbled across an interesting study of hazing in American colleges and universities, released earlier this year. I haven’t had the chance to fully digest it yet, but I thought I’d pass it along.
A few highlights of the executive summary:
55% of college students involved in clubs, teams, and organizations experience hazing.
Hazing occurs in, but extends beyond, varsity athletics and Greek-letter organizations and includes behaviors that are abusive, dangerous, and potentially illegal.
Alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep- deprivation, and sex acts are hazing practices common across types of student groups.
In more than half of the hazing incidents, a member of the offending group posts pictures on a public web space.
More students perceive positive rather than negative outcomes of hazing.
In 95% of the cases where students identified their experience as hazing, they did not report the events to campus officials.
Nine out of ten students who have experienced hazing behavior in college do not consider themselves to have been hazed.
The study defines “hazing” quite broadly, and I’m not sure I buy all of its premises, but it’s certainly worth a peek.
Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania is offering free tuition for “individuals who have recently become unemployed due to business or industry plant closing or layoff.”
The program, which has been implemented twice in the past, offers local residents 12 credits worth of classes in career programs, or up to $900 in free non-credit work-related classes.
(Thanks to Bill Shiebler of USSA for the heads-up.)
studentactivism.net 
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