College Shorts

Green Mountain College Slaughters Beloved Ox (Vermont Public Radio)

Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vt. euthanized its retired farm ox Lou on Sunday, explaining that the 11-year-old ox’s hind leg injury was worsening and was expected to continue to deteriorate during the harsh winter. The school announced plans to turn the body into beef products that will be served in the college dining hall.

Lou and another ox, Bill, were retired from the college’s farm this summer. Green Mountain College has a long-standing tradition of utilizing livestock in the dining halls in keep with the school’s emphasis on sustainable agriculture. The plans for Lou’s remains, however, were met with opposition for animal rights activists who wanted Lou to be spared and sent to a sanctuary.

Bill the ox will continue to live at the college.

 

NYU Library Suffers Storm Damage from Sandy (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

On Oct. 30, Hurricane Sandy drew up a 14-foot surge of water from the East River into the Ehram Medical Library at New York University.

The storm ruined most of the library’s on-site print collections, study spaces and work areas. Access to electronic resources and services was also wiped out by the storm, and the staff has been working overtime from a remote location to retore online operations.

Paula De Stefano, head of the university's preservation and conservation department, described the foroce of the water as “tremendous.”

"Furniture was moved, metal was twisted,” said De Stefano. “It was really pretty amazing."

Jason Kucsma, executive director of the Metropolitan New York Library Council, a nonprofit membership group representing more than 250 New York libraries, said that Sandy forced the group to craft and implement disaster-recovery plans.

“It’s a stark reminder [of] how vulnerable our infrastructure is,” said Kucsma.