COLLEGE SHORTS

Author: Nicha Rakpanichmanee

West Point Confronts 'War' on 200th Anniversary

West Point Military Academy marked its bicentennial on March 16, with a few graduates already dead in Afghanistan. Four of its senior faculty members have joined the planning staff at Afghanistan, and a new course on terrorism was introduced since Sept. 11. The cadets also practice one new drill: developing diplomatic skills by answering mock reporters' questions.

Founded by Thomas Jefferson, West Point has undergone many reforms, most notably minority recruitment of the past several decades, the admittance of women in 1976 and the more recent liberalization of its curriculum to include courses like art history and Eastern philosophy. African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans make up 25 percent of the cadet corps while women compose 17 percent. Aside from the 30-course requirement for a Bachelor of Science degree, cadets can enroll in 12 electives.

The war on terrorism since Sept. 11 has transformed many cadets' visions, as this year's graduates plan to disperse to strategic countries like South Korea and Afghanistan. Director of Admissions Col. Michael Jones cited an increase of prospective students. After his son, a West Point graduate of '96, piloted amongst Afghan mountains last week, Jones said, "I know how my parents felt when I was in Vietnam now."

Many cadets noted, however, that unlike the Vietnam era, the American public views West Point with esteem.

Source: The New York Times



Cornell President Leaves Campus-Wide Legacy

President Hunter Rawlings III of Cornell University announced last Friday that he would resign come June 30, 2003. A classicist, he expressed strong interest in teaching and writing after seven years at Cornell and seven previous years as University of Iowa's president.

Under Rawlings, Cornell led a group of about 30 other prominent universities — like Yale, Stanford and Columbia — to establish a uniform financial aid assessment of family need. He instituted the University's need-blind admissions policy. Rowlings also led Cornell through a doubling of endowments to $2.9 billion and an increase in selectiveness from 34 to 27 percent.

Rowlings also spearheaded the reform of Cornell's residential geography by distributing student housing more evenly beyond the cluster of Greek houses and off-campus apartments. The University's north campus, once occupied mostly by minority students, now houses the brand-new $65 million complex of first-year "living-learning communities." Cornell has also invested $200 million to increase on-campus housing for sophomores and juniors by building five new residential colleges, the first of which should begin next year.

Rawlings has also devoted much energy and resources to Cornell's academic programs, linking the University's biological sciences to its medical school in New York City. Additionally, he convinced the University to create a branch of the medical college in Qatar.

Rawlings has been credited for markedly increasing the diversity of the University's administration, though not as much in its student body or faculty. From one female vice president upon his arrival, there are now six women of eight vice presidents, three women of 10 deans and a lesbian as the College Provost.

Source: The New York Times



Brown to Rid First-Years of Work Study

Brown University will give financial aid without work-study to first-year students, beginning with the class of 2006. Administrators said they hope to ease students' transitions into college life by relieving employment stress.

Yet some students are skeptical of the "no work" policy, citing pocket-book expenses which are often maintained through work-study yet unaccounted for in financial aid evaluations. Showing firm commitment to the change, the administration has refuted that work will still be available. These on- and off-campus employment opportunities, however, are subjected to federal and state taxes.

Some Brown student labor groups, instead, advocate raising the University's minimum wage up to par with those of other Ivy League schools. Harvard and Princeton University workers, for instance, make approximately $9 an hour. Brown workers start at $6.40.

Forty-three percent of the University's students are currently under financial aid. Last year, Brown reformed its policy on student wages to increase them at a rate proportional to budget increases. With pressure from Princeton's recent all-grant financial aid policy and from other Ivy League schools, Brown administrators hope to increase competitiveness through the increased student wages and more grant dollars.



Source: Brown Daily Herald