U. North Carolina Among First Schools to Eliminate Early Decision
By Alex Garinger
The Chronicle
(U-WIRE) DURHAM, N.C. – Just less than six months after Yale University President Richard Levin proposed a nationwide elimination of early-decision admissions, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill last week became the first highly selective university to abolish the practice.
Duke University officials, in response to their Tobacco Road neighbors’ decision, said the move will add fuel to the growing debate on the issue, but Duke will retain its early-decision process.
“At Duke, we have decided to continue to limit the number of students we take by early admission, rather than dropping the process,” President Nan Keohane wrote in an e-mail. “We will continue to concentrate on recruiting and admitting most of our students in the regular decision pool.”
Duke currently limits the number of students it admits early to about a third of each class, Director of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag said.
In his December statements to The New York Times, Levin said the process forces high school students to decide too early on their colleges of choice and also limits diversity by favoring students from private or affluent public schools, who are not as dependent on the financial aid packages specified only after binding admissions.
UNC-CH and its chancellor, James Moeser, agreed.
“We want to encourage students to approach their education seriously, not by using strategy, and we hope to contribute to a national climate that encourages thoughtful choice,” Moeser said in a statement.
According to the statement, an internal review conducted over the past several months showed 82 percent of those admitted early decision to UNC-CH were white, as opposed to 72 percent from the later pool – statistics that UNC-CH Director of Admissions Jerome Lucido said were a major factor in the decision.
“No matter how responsibly you run an early-decision program, it still tends to be a group of students who are more financially able and less diverse,” Lucido said.
Twenty-four percent of early decision applicants to Duke this year listed themselves as minorities, compared to 34 percent of all applicants, regular and early.
Keohane said she was not surprised by UNC-CH’s decision, as Moeser previously had told her the university was considering it. She added she thought some other universities may follow their lead.
“Since this was an institution making a decision it perceived to be in its best interest, I think any other institutions following suit would do so only for the same reasons,” Guttentag wrote in an e-mail. “I’d be surprised if any institution that has a well-established early decision program followed suit.”
Early decision was re-instituted at UNC-CH in 2000, after more than a 30-year hiatus. The university also has an early action process, which will remain. Guttentag said early action is not a likely alternative for Duke and cited as rationale Brown University, which switched from early action to early decision effective next year because of lack of resources and time to evaluate all applications fairly.
Keohane said Duke will continue to evaluate its admissions process.
Amphibians Stolen from American U. Bio Lab
By Mackenzie Ryan
The Eagle
(U-WIRE) WASHINGTON, D.C. – One turtle and five African Claw Frogs have been missing from the main biology lab in Hurst Hall since last Monday night, prompting speculation that the animals were stolen as part of a prank or by students protesting their captivity.
In the frog aquarium, only the smallest remained behind, possibly because it was hiding behind a rock, according to Laboratory Director Nancy Zeller. The other laboratory species, including giant cockroaches and goldfish, were left unharmed, she said.
Professor David Carlini was the first to notice the animals missing Tuesday morning, but “didn’t think it was a big deal,” he said.
The frogs were raised from tadpoles, and have grown to be about five inches around. While the biology department raises frogs from tadpoles, a pair of grown frogs costs about $50.
“If people took the frogs and put them in a stream, they won’t survive the winter,” Zeller said. Freeing any kind of species into an area that they are not indigenous to can be dangerous. The `alien’ species may not survive the new habitat or upset it by overpopulating the ecosystem.
The turtle was “left over from a fraternity prank,” Zeller said, about this time of the semester five years ago, raising the question whether the animals were taken as a prank.
“We care for our animals here,” Zeller said, who explained when the turtle had a growth on its head, some graduate students pooled $50 for a visit to the veterinarian.
The amphibians were “a wonderful display to have in a biology lab and as a learning tool. They were used to teach students about different aspects of organisms and how they function in their habitat,” Zeller said.
Zeller said that she would welcome the animals back with “no questions asked.” A Public Safety report has not yet been filed.
Honor Code Violations Increase at U. Maryland
By Raymund Lee Flandez
The Diamondback
(U-WIRE) COLLEGE PARK, Md. – With the implementation of the honor pledge this semester, administrators and faculty had hoped for a decrease in the number of honor code violations at the University of Maryland.
But the pledge may have an inverse effect.
More cheating cases are being reported to the judicial programs office. The office has already received 40 more cases than had been reported at this point last year, said Andrea Goodwin, assistant director of academic integrity. And the trend is likely to continue, she said.
Last year, the number of cases referred to the judicial programs office jumped to 236 referrals, 30 percent higher than the number in 2000.
“That’s a big increase,” Gary Pavela said, director of the judicial office. “[But] I don’t think there’s more cheating. I think there’s more reporting.”
The increase reflects a trend that has been happening for several years. In 1999, 155 cases were referred to the judicial office. In 2000, 165 were reported.
This year’s caseload could break another record. The honor pledge, which requires students to write and sign a statement, may prompt faculty and other students to report more violations.
“This year we have more cases than in the past. I think it’s good,” Andy Schaffer said, a senior economics and government and politics major who has served on the Student Honor Council for three years. “But it’s also bad that we’re seeing a lot of cases.”
Pavela said awareness about problems with academic integrity throughout the university has risen because of the implementation of the honor pledge.
In recent years, the university has attempted to create an environment of high academic integrity standards of its students as it pushes to become one of the top public universities in the country.
In recent years, the university has attempted to create an environment of high academic integrity standards of its students as it pushes to become one of the top public universities in the country. Although punishments for those students charged with violating the honor code may not be as severe as some universities around the country, officials have said it has proven effective.
The honor code has resulted in more university colleges and departments cracking down on students cheating, lying or altering work, committing plagiarism and facilitating academic dishonesty.
America vs. Canada `Rally’ Mocks Middle East Protests
By Lisa Fleisher
Washington Square News
(U-WIRE) NEW YORK – Three New York University students gathered outside the Virgin Megastore on Union Square in New York last night to protest the American and Canadian occupation of … each other.
The students stood within three feet of each other, held small signs of protest and shouted at each other, attracting attention and a crowd of about 10 friends and passersby.
“We’re in a rally to end the Canadian occupation of the United States. Meanwhile, he’s in a rally to end the American occupation of Canada,” College of Arts and Science freshman Jesse Unkenholz screamed. “This is what the rally is for. To get everyone aware that they need to push the Canadians back out of our borders.”
Meanwhile, Tisch School of the Arts freshman Ron Hackel explained the true motive behind the rally.
“There have been lots of demonstrations here recently about occupation and aggression – Israeli aggression – the occupation of Palestine and all this stuff,” Hackel said. “We’re trying to point out that that kind of language can be really misleading – language of occupation and aggression.”
Hackel added holding opposing protests, as Israeli and Palestinian groups did on campus last week, is pointless.
“There requires a real change in attitude, a real willingness to understand the other side, both from the pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian side,” said the third protester, Gallatin School of Individualized Study senior Jaki Levy. “If protesters aren’t willing to make any kind of understanding, how are the leaders of their countries who have … a very real stake in what is happening going to come to any kind of understanding?”
The students shouted other amusing sayings, mocking Palestinian and Israeli rhetoric.
“Five hundred Canadians suffered from frostbite last winter at the hands of Americans!” Levy said.
“That was a lie!” Hackel said. “That was a conspiracy created by the Canadians.”
On a more serious note, Hackel did say the Middle East protests can be more than just blowing off steam.
“There is one thing that these protests do accomplish, and that is to incite people,” Hackel said.