College Shorts Ball State Endures Tornadoes, UVM Endures Racism

Author: Andrea Gissing

Ball State U. Students Take Shelter as Tornado Hits

Students at Ball State University sought shelter in lower levels of residence halls and departmental buildings Sunday afternoon as violent winds rushed through east-central Indiana.
The tornado touched down in Blackford County a little after 2 p.m. Sunday. Three people were trapped in a supermarket when the roof partially collapsed and a wall was blown out. Ball State geography professor David Arnold, supervisor of the university's storm-chasing team, said that the winds at the supermarket were probably 80 to 90 miles per hour.
Arnold explained the violent storm was not necessarily a tornado, but was the result of a micro-burst, or straight-line wind, that can sometimes be stronger and can do more damage than tornadoes.
Arnold noted that the likelihood of tornadoes to occur in November is almost as high as that of the usual tornado season, the period of time from April through June. "Fall is a transition season, and there is a tremendous difference in temperatures," he explained. Tornadic activity often occurs once every two years; already this season two violent storms have caused concern in the east central areas of the state.
Pertaining to wind damage, Arnold said people should be most concerned about roof damage. If the roof of a building is not securely anchored to its foundation, it can easily be picked up by a strong wind; once the roof is off, the rest of the building normally collapses.
A resident assistant at Tichenor Hall, a residence hall at Ball State said the past two tornado warnings were the first time he has participated in such safety precautions in his five years as Ball State a student.

Source: U-Wire

UVM Officer Investigated for Racial Profiling

A police officer working at the University of Vermont (UVM) has been reassigned to office work following allegations of racial profiling. The officer reportedly handcuffed a female student at gunpoint last Wednesday during a search for a male armed robbery suspect. Both the suspect and the female student are black; that is the only physical similarity they share.
Daniel Fogel, president of UVM, wrote a campus-wide e-mail saying: "While not prejudging the outcome of the investigation of police conduct, we all understand that the detention of an innocent student raises serious questions about the campus climate for persons of color."
The suspect held up a 19-year-old walking in Tupper Hall, a residence hall on UVM's East Campus around 3 p.m. The suspect has not yet been caught. University officials are investigating the racial profiling claims leveled against the officer.

Source: The Rutland Herald

Stanford, Yale Change Early Admissions Policy

Stanford University and Yale University announced Nov. 7 that they would no longer offer the binding early decision option to applicants. The change in policy for both institutions will not take affect until next year's admission cycle for the Class of 2008. Under both Yale and Stanford's policies, students will only be able to apply early to one school. The change would also give all applicants more flexibility and time to consider their options.
Yale President Richard Levin announced on Wednesday that Yale would adopt a non-binding early action policy beginning next fall. This announcement came almost one year after he initiated a national debate on early admissions policies.
Levin said the decision was the first step made towards encouraging the elimination of all early admissions programs. He expressed concern that high school students making a binding decision so early in the year, saying some students were strategizing instead of choosing their first choice schools, putting students applying for financial aid were disadvantaged.
Hours after Levin made his statement, Stanford University President John Hennessy announced that Stanford would no longer offer its binding early decision to applicants. The new policy proposed is a "unique blend of traditional early action and early decision options offered by other colleges." According to Christina Wire, associate dean of undergraduate admissions at Stanford, the new policy "is certainly closer to early action than it is to early decision, however we have not thought of a specific name for it yet." It differs from regular early action policies in that the policy does not allow early applicants to file early applications at other institutions.
"This new policy offers those who have set their hearts on attending Stanford the opportunity to apply early in their senior year without the additional pressure of having to commit before they are ready," Hennessy said.

Source: The Stanford Daily and The Yale Daily News