Category Archives: Students

Labor Fight Ends in Win for Students

The New York Times: Labor Fight Ends in Win for Students

The anti-sweatshop movement at dozens of American universities, from Georgetown to U.C.L.A., has had plenty of idealism and energy, but not many victories.

In August, members of United Students Against Sweatshops picketed a Target store in Washington, to pressure the retailer to stop selling products made by Russell Athletic.
Until now.

The often raucous student movement announced on Tuesday that it had achieved its biggest victory by far. Its pressure tactics persuaded one of the nation’s leading sportswear companies, Russell Athletic, to agree to rehire 1,200 workers in Honduras who lost their jobs when Russell closed their factory soon after the workers had unionized.

Oklahoma: Quadriplegic student forced out of dorm

NewsOK.com: Disability may keep ECU student from staying in dorm room

ADA — A Tupelo quadriplegic is wrangling with East Central University officials over whether he can live in the

Joshua Jackson, 35, an East Central University junior, was notified Oct. 21 he could not live in the dorms unless he hires an assistant to stay overnight. He must move out by Dec. 12 if he doesn’t have one. Campus officials say the decision is a matter of safety. Jackson says the $11,000 a year it would cost to pay for an assistant is not within his means.

Read more: http://newsok.com/disability-may-keep-ecu-student-from-staying-in-dorm-room/article/3415868?custom_click=lead_story_title#ixzz0WUK6XIaP

Detentions Leave Palestinian Students in Limbo

The Chronicle: Detentions Leave Palestinian Students in Limbo

Ashraf Abuiram should have graduated from college long ago, but his life took an unexpected turn.

In late 2005, when he was a second-year student pursuing a degree in sociology at Birzeit University, 20 jeeps carrying 100 Israeli soldiers showed up at his home in the dead of night. He was arrested, detained without a trial, and spent a year in a prison camp in the south of Israel before being released and allowed to return to college.

Mr. Abuiram was suspected of aiding terrorist organizations but never charged with any crime. His story is not an uncommon one.

Authorities in Iran Arrest 18 Students

The New York Times: Authorities in Iran Arrest 18 Students

Iranian authorities arrested 18 student leaders in Tehran on Friday in a crackdown on demonstrations, which flared up at two universities as classes resumed this week.

Protecting Grad Student Employees

Inside Higher Ed: Protecting Grad Student Employees

Graduate student employees would have expanded due process and informational rights, under a draft plan released Tuesday by the American Association of University Professors to amend its recommended policies for colleges and universities on academic freedom and tenure.

The AAUP’s statement on academic freedom has long included provisions about the work done by graduate students as teaching or research assistants. But the association decided to revise the statement to reflect changes in higher education.

The Experience of Working Class Students at a Research I University

From Michael Zweig at SUNY Stony Brook:

Please see a new study, “The Experience of Working Class Students at a Research I University,” by Veronica Gonzalez, a recent intern at the Center for Study of Working Class Life. Gonzalez compares the academic experiences of students from working class families with those from middle class famllies who entered the State University of New York at Stony Brook between 2001 and 2003.

Go to the study from the link at the upper right of the Center’s home page

http://www.stonybrook.edu/workingclass/publications/VGonzalez09.pdf

or go directly to the .pdf at

http://www.stonybrook.edu/workingclass/publications/VGonzalez09.pdf

Cuba Denies Exit Permits to Students With U.S. Scholarships

The Chronicle: Cuba Denies Exit Permits to Students With U.S. Scholarships

The Cuban government has denied exit permits to 30 Cuban college students who had been offered scholarships by the U.S. Department of State for academic programs at American colleges, and several of the students have been expelled by their home institutions.

Doctoral Students Think Teaching Assistantships Hold Them Back

The Chronicle: Doctoral Students Think Teaching Assistantships Hold Them Back

A new survey of recent Ph.D. recipients has found that more than four out of five of those who received paid teaching assistantships believe that having them prolonged their doctoral education, though not enough to keep them from completing the programs in a timely manner.

Anti-Indian racism rampant in Australian unis

Sydney Morning Herald: India is losing interest in our universities, say agents

AUSTRALIA’S elite universities are set to pay a high price for the Indian student crisis as middle-class parents, concerned for their children’s safety, opt for degree courses in Britain, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.

Two months of media reports about attacks on young Indians and allegations of rampant racism in Australian suburbs are having a serious impact, Indian education agents say.

Do Elite Colleges Produce the Best-Paid Graduates?

The New York Times: Do Elite Colleges Produce the Best-Paid Graduates?

Forget U.S. News’s academic rankings and Playboy’s party-school list. For some prospective college freshmen, here’s the important question: Will I make more money if I go to Harvard, or if I go to Harvey Mudd?

PayScale, a site that collects data on salaries for different professions, argues that it can help students answer that question. Today the company is releasing an updated, gigantic data set on the salaries of graduates from hundreds of universities and colleges, as well as salaries and career choices broken down by department/major.

The summer of student discontent

Globe and Mail: The summer of student discontent

Laura McGhie was pretty certain by last fall that her well-paying summer job was history. For the past two years, the McMaster University student had spent her holiday working on the shop floor of U.S. Steel’s Lake Erie works, her dad’s employer. The collapse of Ontario’s manufacturing sector put an end to that.

MEXICO: Student kicked unconscious by police

World University News: MEXICO: Student kicked unconscious by police

Amnesty International has condemned police in Chiapas State in southern Mexico after a 16-year-old student activist was beaten unconscious last month. Jose Emiliano Nandayapa Gomez was reportedly attacked because of his ‘subversive haircut’ although he has been involved in promoting the rights of young people.

GERMANY: Students strike for education

World University News: GERMANY: Students strike for education

Students at secondary and higher education institutions staged campaigns throughout Germany calling for a better education policy last week. The ‘education strike’ focused on a new, six-semester bachelor degree courses and plans to shorten secondary education without any substantial reform of contents in either sector.

Report Assails Israeli Policy That Keeps Palestinian Students From Leaving Gaza

The Chronicle News Blog: Report Assails Israeli Policy That Keeps Palestinian Students From Leaving Gaza

Jerusalem — An Israeli human-rights group says that new restrictions imposed by Israel on Palestinian students trying to leave the Gaza Strip to study abroad include a demand that they be personally escorted by foreign diplomats.

Grove City College suspends student for participation in pornography

The Herald: GCC student suspended for off-campus participation in online gay porn

To Grove City College, John Gechter was a bright young student majoring in molecular biology. But to his online audience, he was Vincent DeSalvo, a baby-faced rising star in the gay pornography industry.

Students’ union accused of snooping on lecturers

Times Higher Education Supplement: Students’ union accused of snooping on lecturers

It simply wants advance warning of cancelled lectures, says president. Rebecca Attwood reports

Students are being encouraged to “snoop” on academics by texting a hotline if their teachers turn up late, the University and College Union has claimed.

Manchester Metropolitan Students’ Union launched its “LATE” campaign after receiving a number of student complaints about lectures running late and being cancelled without warning.

Tufts to suspend student in fight

Boston Globe: Tufts to suspend student in fight

The Tufts University freshman involved in a high-profile altercation last month with members of the Korean Students Association has publicly admitted making racial and ethnic slurs and threatening to kill the students.

Alleged racial incident stuns Tufts

Boston Globe: Alleged racial incident stuns Tufts

Allegations of racism are roiling the Tufts University campus after an allegedly drunk freshman and members of a Korean student group got into fisticuffs earlier this month in a dorm lounge.

Tuition backers vow to press on in Colorado

Denver Post: Tuition backers vow to press on

The fight over whether to allow in-state tuition for high school students whose parents came to the United States illegally isn’t over; it’s just beginning.

Profs blast lazy first-year students

Toronto Star: Profs blast lazy first-year students

Wikipedia generation is lazy and unprepared for university’s rigours, survey of faculty says

University professors feel their first-year students are less mature, rely too much on Wikipedia and “expect success without the requisite effort,” says a province-wide survey to be released today.