Canadian Students Halt Fundraising for “White” Disease

November 30, 2008 in Administration, Campus Protests, Faculty, Gender, Race, Student Government, Student vs. Student | by | 1 comment

The student government of Carelton University in Ottawa, Canada has withdrawn from a national cystic fibrosis fundraising campaign on the grounds that the disease’s sufferers are too white and too male.

In a resolution, the student government declared that cystic fibrosis “has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men.” (A representative of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation says both of these claims are false.)

Public comment on the decision was swift and harsh, with one columnist at the conservative National Post calling the resolution “a new low … even by the loopy standards of student governments.”

Students at Carelton have launched a drive to impeach the president of the student government, as well as a faculty adviser to the group the student government member who drafted the resolution.

December 3 Update: The Carelton student government has apologized for the resolution, and pledged to increase fundraising for cystic fibrosis. See our followup story here.

Technology, the Internet, and the Class of 2012.

November 27, 2008 in Dorms, Media, Students, Youth | by | Leave a comment

An IT administrator at Amherst College has posted a Harper’s Index style list of facts about the incoming class. Some fascinating stuff there with relevance for student organizing.

The relationship of college students to the internet has been transformed in the last few years. In 2003, 33% of Amherst applicants applied online. This year, 89% did. Of 438 first-year students this fall, just 14 brought desktop computers with them, and only 5 have landline phone service. (That’s five students, not five percent.)

On the other hand, the class of 2012 Facebook group has 432 members.

Say what?

November 26, 2008 in Students | by | 1 comment

Apparently someone found this site yesterday by searching for “Hillary Clinton lesbian.”

I just went and checked, and studentactivism.net doesn’t show up in the first fifty hits on either a Google web search or a Google blog search for those three words. So not only is someone searching for info on “Hillary Clinton lesbian,” they’re searching really hard, clicking through page after page of results, ever seeking, never finding.

Godspeed, my freaky weirdo friend. I hope you come to the end of your journey soon.

Students of Color Protest CA Ed Cuts

November 26, 2008 in Students | by | Leave a comment

A thousand students attending the University of California’s annual Students of Color Conference marched on the Los Angeles federal building on Sunday to protest proposed cuts to public higher education in the state.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently proposed more than $100 million in mid-year cuts to the UC and Cal State systems, prompting university officials to float the possibility of enrollment cuts.

Law student Lucero Chavez, the president of the University of California Students Association, told the crowd that “rising fees are one of the largest barriers facing low-income and minority students,” and the group accordingly called for a five-year freeze on in-state tuition.

Student Aid for Undocumented Immigrants Coming Soon?

November 26, 2008 in Access, Financial Aid, International Students, Politics, Students, Tuition and Fees | by | Leave a comment

Senate Majority Leader Harry Read told Gannett News Service this weekend that he doesn’t expect “much of a fight at all” over a comprehensive immigration bill in the new Congress.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the bill is expected to include provisions making some undocumented immigrants eligible for federal student aid, smoothing such students’ paths to legal permanent residency, and rendering it easier for states to charge them in-state tuition rates.

About This Blog

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StudentActivism.net is the work of Angus Johnston, a historian and advocate of American student organizing.

To contact Angus, click here. For more about him, check out AngusJohnston.com.