Fine overturned against VaTech over gunman warning

A U.S. Department of Education judge has ruled that Virginia Tech did not violate federal law in its response to the campus massacre that left 33 people dead in 2007, the Associated Press reports. Administrative Judge Ernest Canellos overturned a $55,000 fine against the school and determined that the university’s actions on April 16, 2007, didn’t violate the Clery Act, which requires schools to issue timely warnings of campus threats.

“This was not an unreasonable amount of time in which to issue a warning. .. if the later shootings at Norris Hall had not occurred, it is doubtful that the timing of the email would have been perceived as too late.” the ruling said.

The decision comes about two weeks after a jury in a wrongful-death lawsuit found the university was negligent in its actions on the day of the mass shootings. The lawsuit was filed by parents of two slain Virginia Tech students. The state is considering whether to appeal……Read More

Dharun Ravi, Rutgers webcam defendant, says he’s ‘sorry about Tyler’

The former Rutgers University student convicted in a webcam spying case says that he was insensitive toward his gay roommate but not biased, and that he doesn’t think he was the reason for his roommate’s suicide, the Associated Press reports. Dharun Ravi, 20, was convicted last week of invasion of privacy and bias intimidation, a hate crime, after using a webcam to view a snippet of Tyler Clementi’s dorm-room liaison with another man, then tweeting about it. The case gained huge attention when Clementi threw himself off a bridge.

“I didn’t act out of hate, and I wasn’t uncomfortable with Tyler being gay,” Dharun Ravi told The Star-Ledger of Newark in his first media interview since the saga began in September 2010. Ravi also gave an interview to ABC News’ “20/20” that’s to be broadcast Friday night. He told the news show he is sad about the suicide but doesn’t believe it was spawned by his actions…

Click here for the full story…Read More

Christian fraternities & sororities can’t be officially recognized campus group, affirms supreme court

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider a request by Christian groups on a college campus to allow them to limit membership based on religious beliefs, the Associated Press reports. Justice turned back a legal effort by a Christian fraternity and sorority at San Diego State University that challenged an anti-discrimination policy at California state universities. The lawsuit filed in 2005 said the plaintiffs should be allowed to insist members follow their religious standards of conduct and avoid sex outside of marriage between a man and woman. Susan Westover, head of the California State University system’s litigation unit, welcomed the Supreme Court decision…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

NetZero to launch free wireless broadband service

It’s like the ’90s never left: Billy Crystal hosted the Oscars. internet IPOs are back. And NetZero is returning with free internet service —only this time it’s wireless, the Associated Press reports. United Online Inc. announced Monday that it will offer free wireless internet service under its NetZero brand, the one that started the free dial-up phenomenon in 1998. The company is backing up the plan with TV, print and online advertisements. There are plenty of catches with the free plan. United Online isn’t offsetting its costs by making users look at advertising, as it did with its original offer of free dial-up internet access. The “free” users will be money-losers for the company, United Online Chairman and CEO Mark Goldston said. That means United Online is using the free plan as a way to lure customers with the hope of upselling them to paying plans, which start at $9.95 per month. To take advantage of the offer, consumers will need to buy a $50 antenna stick that plugs into a laptop, or a $100 “mobile hotspot” that allows any Wi-Fi equipped device to connect to the internet. United Online will be selling the devices on the NetZero website…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

Fla.: Business wins, colleges suffer this session

Florida’s businesses scored victories in the Legislature in the newly concluded annual session, but some college students say they wonder if the treatment lawmakers gave that sector came at their expense, the Associated Press reports. For businesses, legislators reduced a mammoth increase in unemployment compensation taxes set to take effect this year, resulting in $550 million in expected savings for businesses over two years. Lawmakers also approved $120 million in various tax breaks. They put a constitutional amendment on the ballot boosting the tax exemption for what’s known as “tangible personal property,” which includes computers, tools, machinery and other equipment…

Click here for the full story

 …Read More

Stafford loan interest rate doubles, students petition Congress

Millions of college students could be in for a shock this summer when the interest rate on a popular federally subsidized student loan doubles unless Congress acts, the Associated Press reports. College students on Tuesday delivered more than 130,000 letters to congressional leaders asking them to stop rates from increasing from 3.4 to 6.8 percent. The rate hike affects new subsidized Stafford loans, which are issued to low and middle income undergraduates. They hope to raise enough awareness to get Congress to stop it.

“I will be put back into buying a house and saving up for my expenses later on in life, and life as we know, is very unexpected. Adding that variable definitely limits my ability to be successful,” said Tyler Dowden, 18, a freshman at Northern Arizona University who spoke at a press conference outside the Capitol before the letters were delivered in boxes with “Congress: Don’t Double Student-Debt Rates” printed on the outside…

Click here for the full story…Read More

College presidents think NCAA scandals hurt higher ed

More than two-thirds of college presidents surveyed believe recent sports scandals have compromised the reputation of higher education as a whole, and just 13 percent think the presidents of big-time sports schools have control of their programs, a new survey finds, the Associated Press reports. The survey, of more than 1,000 campus chief executives by the online publication Inside Higher Ed, suggests widespread worry among presidents about problems in college athletics but inspires little confidence they will be able to do much about them. Three-quarters agreed colleges and universities spend “way too much money” on athletics, but only 15 percent said too much is spent at their own institutions (at public doctoral universities, the category of most big-time sports schools, the figure was 36 percent). One prominent college president told Inside Higher Ed the survey “confirms the need for major reforms but demonstrates why they are so unlikely to occur.”

Click here for the full story

…Read More

New iPad expected with faster chip, sharper screen

Apple is holding an event Wednesday in San Francisco, and has hinted that it will reveal a new iPad model, the Associated Press reports. Rumors speak of an updated tablet with a speedier processor, a sharper screen and an option for faster wireless broadband access. If last year’s launch of the iPad 2 is any guide, the new iPad model will go on sale in the U.S. next week, likely on Friday. The upgrade from the iPad 2 to the iPad 3 will be less significant than the upgrade from the original iPad to the iPad 2, which added two cameras while cutting both the thickness and the weight of the device. One big unknown is whether Apple will keep the iPad 2 in production and offer it at a lower price, like it kept the iPhone 3GS after the launch of the iPhone 4…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

At some colleges, parental recommendations welcome

The letter recommending Christianne Beasley for admission to Smith College didn’t come from the most unbiased of sources. But there was no disputing the writer knew this applicant as well as anyone, the Associated Press reports.

“Christianne and Smith seem to be a perfect match,” wrote Nancy Beasley, four years ago, on behalf of her only daughter, now a Smith senior. She described Christianne’s “grace and dignity,” and explained why she thought the prestigious and diverse Northampton, Mass., women’s college was the perfect fit for the girl she’d raised. Smith is among just a few colleges—among them nearby Mt. Holyoke and Holy Cross in Massachusetts, St. Anselm in New Hampshire, and the University of Richmond—that invite parents to submit letters on behalf of their children (either as part of the application itself, or in a follow-up invitation after the application is received)…

Click here for the full story…Read More

Student protesters shut down most of UC Santa Cruz

Student protesters at the University of California, Santa Cruz, shut down most of the campus Thursday as part of statewide demonstrations against budget cuts to higher education, the Associated Press reports. Hundreds of students blocked all entrances to the coastal campus and prevented vehicles from entering, said Josh Brahinsky, a graduate student and union representative who helped organize the action. The protest at Santa Cruz is part of demonstrations being held by college students at about 30 campuses across California and was scheduled to coincide with state budget negotiations, organizers said. Rallies, marches, teach-ins and walkouts to call on lawmakers to restore funding to higher education were also planned…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

Oops! We could not locate your form.