Campus Informer - September 19, 2006

Pledging and porn, the ultimate college rankings, and more news from schools around the country.

By Annika Carlson, Hope College
Tuesday September 19, 2006

Another reason to ditch U.S. News rankings
University of Washington

Throw away those guidebooks and browse the Ultimate Players Association website instead—a study released this month by a University of Washington professor, Michael Norden, finds that colleges and universities with high-ranked ultimate Frisbee (aka “ultimate”) teams are consistently top-notch academically.

The study compares ultimate team rankings to more common measures of collegiate excellence, including SAT scores, grades, faculty, and financial resources, finding that schools with good ultimate teams also have high graduation rates, as well as more Rhodes and Marshall scholars. It all adds up when you look at the top ten schools for ultimate: Brown, Stanford, Yale, and Princeton all make the list. Of course, we at Campus Progress know the real reason for this correlation—hippie sports are played by progressives, and progressives are smart.

Oh, and Norden collaborated on the paper with his son, Jeremy Norden, who is a member of the U.S. National Juniors Ultimate Frisbee team.

A call to arms, university style
University of Utah

Get out your handgun and get ready to celebrate with the NRA: Utah’s Supreme Court struck down the University of Utah’s on-campus concealed weapon ban. According to the Court, the ban violates a 2004 state law preventing state entities from restricting gun possession and use.

University President Michael Young refuses to act on the Court’s decision, stating, “There will be no change in policy” until the lawsuit is finalized. But if the University continues enforcing the anti-gun policy, the Court’s ruling means that those punished for carrying concealed weapons on campus have grounds to file civil suits against the school.

Students have expressed mixed reactions to the potential policy shift. Some, like senior Melissa Carey, support the University’s ban on concealed weapons, saying, “I don’t believe there is any need to have firearms or weapons on campus.” Others, like senior Jason Clark, relish the ban’s reprieve. He wrote in the Daily Utah Chronicle, “I get to pack heat on campus when I want, where I want, and there isn’t squat you can do about it!” Charlton Heston would be proud. But Students at Duquesne may have another view.

Frat’s porn generosity shot down
University of Georgia

The University of Georgia, Athens chapter of Chi Phi fraternity was forced to suspend pledging and social activities after an unfortunate pledging incident: Apparently, UGA’s hazing regulations frown upon public displays of pornography.

Pledges were caught flashing porn mags to unsuspecting students on a public plaza and taking pictures of their reactions. When confronted, they denied being part of a Greek organization, but even minor porn-related activities attract the attention of administrators. According to Director of Greek life Claudia Shamp, fraternities are often held responsible for the actions of individual members, even if the organization didn’t sanction the event. “ We want to have a full understanding of exactly what happened,” Shamp said. Presumably that means they’ll hold on to those magazines for the investigation. Hey, after all, the articles are well-written!

Plagiarism wrong on so many levels
National

Plagiarism is completely wrong ethically and educationally—and in case you’re still tempted, it’s probably bad for your grade even if you don’t get caught (which you will). In fine back-to-school form, The New York Times tested out several online paper-writing services. And—surprise, surprise—none of the services live up to their claims of meeting any reasonable academic standards.

According to the professors enlisted by The Times, papers from these services are full of spelling errors, clumsy grammar, and worse-than-usual BS-ing. So, even if you’re desperate, remember the sage reflections of Stephen Greenblatt, a Shakespearean studies professor from Harvard: “If I had paid for this, I would demand my money back.”

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