College Shorts

Author: Andrea Gissing

College Criticized for Inviting Palestinian to Speak
An invitation extended to Hanan Ashrawi, a well-known spokeswoman for Palestinian causes, to speak at Colorado College has angered Jewish groups both at the college and throughout the state.
The groups have accused the college of insensitivity because her talk is scheduled for the day after the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, at the three-day symposium entitled "September 11: One Year Later, Responding to Global Challenges," calling the timing an affront to the victims of 9/11.
Officials of Colorado College have asserted that the conference was "not intended as a memorial to September 11," and that separate events have been scheduled. "The focus [of the symposium] is the challenges we face in the world, post-9/11," said Richard F. Celeste, president of the College.
Despite this, some Jewish organizations have planned demonstrations against Ashrawi's visit, including a vigil outside the building where she appeared and a civil protest.
Source: The New York Times

Princeton Officials Break into Yale Admissions Site
Princeton admissions officers repeatedly gained unauthorized access to the admissions decisions of 11 Yale applicants in early April, Yale and Princeton officials reported in July.
According to a security report drafted by Yale's Information Technology Services, Princeton officials viewed Yale admissions decisions by entering the applicants' birth dates and social security numbers to bypass the security measures in place, in several instances before the applicants themselves learned whether they had been accepted or not.
Princeton's use of the student's social security numbers may constitute a violation of the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act, which was designed to protect student information, say legal experts.
Stephen LeMenager, the director of admissions at the time, was reassigned to Princeton's Office of Communications in the wake of the incidents.
Following Yale's complaint to the FBI on the matter, and after Princeton President Shirley M Tilghman issued an apology to the Yale admissions office and to the applicants whose admissions decisions were accessed by Princeton staff, Yale President Richard Levin said that no further action would be taken in response to the unauthorized access.
Source: Yaledailynews.com

University of Calgary to Put a Hit on "The Sopranos"

This fall, the University of Calgary is offering a course that will examine how the award-winning HBO series "The Sopranos" fits into the gangster film genre.
English professor Maurice Yacowar, who will be teaching the course as a part of the university's film studies program, said " 'The Sopranos' episodes represent the evolution of the gangster film style by showing that even denizens of organized crime suffer the same basic human problems as the rest of us."
The course has been full for months.
Before watching the episodes, students will view the 1931 gangster classic "The Public Enemy" and then Francis Ford Coppola's "Godfather" series.
Source: CNN.com
Koran Controversy at UNC Settled
First-year students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill began discussing an annotated translation of excerpts from the Koran this August following a nationwide debate on religions and academic freedoms.
Severe opposition from conservative critics and heavy media attention arose this summer after UNC-Chapel Hill announced its decision to assign "Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations" as summer reading for incoming first-years.
While the UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty Council released a statement supporting academic freedom, the UNC Board of Governors did not adopt a similar resolution and, according to the Chapel Hill Herald, the State Legislature threatened to cut funding for UNC-Chapel Hill's summer reading program unless the school chose material that represented all religions.
A conservative Christian policy group, The Family Policy Network, filed a lawsuit against UNC-Chapel Hill on behalf of three incoming students, saying the assignment constitutes religious indoctrination because it presents materials from a religion's holy text and presents Islam in a positive light.
A federal appellate court threw out the lawsuit a few hours before the book was to be discussed by students.
Source: U-Wire