Michigan State To Hold African American Graduation
By Ellen Miller
Cornell Daily Sun
(U-WIRE) ITHACA, N.Y. – African-American seniors at ichigan State University (MSU) will have the option of participating in two graduation ceremonies this spring. Following the example set by the University of Michigan, MSU students organized an additional commemorative event specifically to honor the accomplishments of black graduates.
The event, which will be open to all members of the MSU graduating class regardless of their race, was created partially in response to exceptionally low graduation rates among black students. MSU’s African-American retention rate is the lowest of all minorities on campus at only 44.7 percent.
While students initiating the event have received donations and support from various campus administrators, the MSU undergraduate student government did not offer its support, saying that the event did not apply to all students.
“I don’t see it as any more segregationist than having a [ceremony just for the] graduate school,” said Rodney Patterson, director of Racial and Ethnic Affairs at MSU and a supporter of the event. “I don’t understand the distinction between this [ceremony] and theirs,” he added.
While, according to Patterson, the event has not elicited much substantial protest on campus, it has received dissent from some students arguing its racist implications.
“Everyone who graduates has accomplished something. There is no need to have separate celebrations for members of a different race. It’s time to put things like that behind us,” said Michael Cykouski, a student at MSU in an editorial published by The State News, MSU’s student-published newspaper.
Other students argue that the commemorative event is a positive incentive for African-Americans to graduate.
“[This] is a great opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of black students,” said MSU student Michael Barry in another editorial published by The State News. “Blacks have the lowest graduation retention rate at MSU. I think students who make it definitely deserve recognition,” he added.
Regardless of whether or not Cornell students support such a commemorative ceremony, chances are likely that the university will not be faced with this controversy.
“I think it would create bad blood,” said Don Ohadike, director of the Africana Center. “Such a thing could encourage other communities [to hold similar ceremonies]. That could lead to balkanization of a community that is supposed to come together annually for a major event,” he added.
Professor Studies Levels, Causes of Happiness Worldwide
By Christina Wall
The Daily Illini
(U-WIRE) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – University of Illinois sophomore Mike Cozzi thought he was very happy. But after taking a short survey developed by psychology professor Ed Diener, he found out he was about average on the happiness scale.
“I would have said I was above average,” Cozzi said. “But it’s normal for a person to want to change things in their life. There is always room for improvement.”
Diener is one of the few professors in the United States researching happiness as part of the positive psychological movement that has emerged in the last four years.
“As an undergraduate student, I had to take a research design class,” Diener said. “I wanted to measure the happiness of migrant farm workers. But my professor said absolutely not – he didn’t think happiness was able to be measured.”
Eventually, Diener came back to his passion for studying happiness. He has conducted more than 100 studies and traveled to places like Africa and Calcutta, India.
“What I hope is eventually my findings can help the world,” Diener said. “But right now I’m not in the position to intervene in people’s lives. I don’t want to impose happiness on people.”
Diener discussed many factors that play into a person’s happiness levels. He suggested weather, money, appearance, age, sex, lifestyle and social interaction have some impact on a person’s happiness.
Diener said money has less of an effect than many believe. He found a jump in income can bring greater happiness to someone who has gone without necessities or is extremely poor. But for the rest of the population, greater happiness from money is fleeting.
In fact, Diener said someone who makes a decent salary is almost as happy as someone who is extremely wealthy.
“If you live in the slums of Calcutta, making $1 or $4 a day is a huge difference,” Diener said. “It means you can eat.”
Appearance also has a role in determining a person’s happiness. Diener compared people’s views on appearance with the Messiahs’ in Africa. He said Messiahs believe a person’s beauty is controllable, while people in America are almost never happy with the way they look.
Diener said sex and age don’t matter as much as some think. He said lifestyle and social interactions can be most important in predicting happiness.
He recommends people “find the right niche for them” and make decisions based on what is congruent with their personality and values.
Diener warns the road to happiness and success is not a check list, “it’s a process.”
Some Universities Cancel Study Abroad Programs in Israel
By Christina Yang
Daily Pennsylvanian
(U-WIRE) PHILADELPHIA – University of Pennsylvania’s suspension of Penn Abroad programs in Israel last week is not an unusual reaction among American universities, many of which also have pulled students out of the nation due to increasing violence in the Middle East.
Penn, which opted to suspend its Israel program last week, joins institutions like the entire University of California system, University of Colorado and University of Southern California in preventing students from studying in the tumultuous state.
According to University of California spokesman Hanan Eisenman, the UC system has decided to suspend its study abroad programs in Israel for safety reasons.
“When we have education abroad programs overseas, our priority is always safety,” he said. “With the escalating violence in Israel, we felt it was the prudent and safe decision to suspend the program in Israel.”
On Thursday Penn administrators sent a letter to all people involved with the Israel abroad program, saying the university was suspending the program.
This left the four students currently in Israel with only two options to finish their coursework for the semester. Students will be able either to leave their coursework incomplete and receive a full reimbursement for the semester, or they will have to finish their work under the watch of a Penn faculty member upon their return to the United States.
Eisenman said the 27 UC students who were studying in Israel this semester are in the process of making travel arrangements and gradually are making their way back to the United States.
In addition to suspending its current Israel program, the UC system is taking further precautions for student safety.
“We also decided to put on hold the fall session of next year,” Eisenman added. “That will be until and unless the situation in the Middle East improves.”
Eisenman emphasized University of California is not “abandoning” its Israel programs.
“We’re leaving in place infrastructure and staff,” he said. “This is just a temporary suspension.”
He also added this program suspension is not without precedent, as the UC system has chosen to suspend its study abroad programs before. For instance, in the 1980s its China programs were suspended after the Tiananmen Square unrest.
While some schools have decided to mandate students’ return from Israel, the California State system has opted not to do so. Two students and one faculty member from the Cal State system currently remain in Israel.
Clara Potes-Fellow, a Cal State spokeswoman, said tconditions in the Middle East are being watched closely.
“The students are there, but they have been supervised and monitored closely day by day,” she said. “Things could change in the next 24 hours.”
Computers Pose Addiction Risk, Expert Says
By Meg Kociemba
The Daily Free Press
(U-WIRE) BOSTON –The high-speed Internet lines found in nearly every dorm room and residence on campus can be a blessing for students but may also pose risk of addiction, according to Dr. aressa Hecht Orzack, a Harvard University psychologist and founder of the Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Belmont.
Students who develop a computer addiction tend to be those students who are bored, shy or unable to handle their first time away from home, so they turn to the computer to interact with familiar friends, Orzack said.
Computer addiction is harmful to students because they don’t get their work done and their sleep cycles are interrupted, Orzack said. Students who turn to their computers right after class, if they go to class at all, tend to lose relationships with their peers because they don’t go out with friends. In some cases, hygiene also suffers and students neglect to exercise.
The phenomenon of instant messaging a friend or roommate who is nearby is a cause for concern because it may be indicative of a larger problem of a student who cannot handle simple student interactions, Orzack said.
Other signs of students in trouble include people who sleep all day, and people who bring their food back to the dorm room on a consistent basis, avoiding socializing with other students in dining halls.
Ellen Rosoff, a junior in the College of Communication, said she had to “delete Snood her freshman year, because I knew I couldn’t get any work done.”