TresSugar

Tufts to Dorm Dwellers: Get a Room!

TresSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:30:00 -0700

Tufts University has just instituted a policy you'd think wouldn't need to be an official rule: don't have sex in your dorm room while your roommate's present, and don't "sexile" (sex + exile) your roommate, say at 3 a.m., because you want to get it on with your college sweetheart (or random hookup). So basically, if you're dwelling in a dorm, either have enough money to get a hotel room, find a comfy broom closet if passion strikes, or go without.

The Tufts policy arose because students were complaining that their horny roommates were intruding on their privacy and interfering with their studies by either having sex while they were present (ewww!) or asking them to leave for a few minutes. I am so glad I never stayed in a dorm - I just moved in with the boyfriend when I was in college! Problem solved.

How was dorm sex negotiated when you were in college?

Get Educated on the Candidate's Higher Ed Proposals

LibertySugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0700

An educated population benefits an entire country. Thus, both John McCain and Barack Obama have plans to make college degrees more affordable. Both candidates reach for that goal with drastically different plans.

The AP analyzed the proposals, finding that Obama's are more detailed, and expansive, while McCain's are generalized and call for the elimination of pork-barrel university research projects. Both want to simplify financial aid. To see key points from the candidate's proposals, read more.

Obama

New Program: Obama would provide most students up to $4,000 a year in tax credits for college, in return for 100 hours of community service. Obama's education proposals are paid for by cutting other federal programs, contracting, and procurement reform, and by eliminating spending on special Congressmember projects.
Student Grants: Obama pledges that Pell grants, which go to families with incomes under $50,000, will ''keep pace'' with increases in the cost of college. Pell grants used to cover half of tuition cost, now they cover about one-third.
Student Loans: Right now the government provides student loans directly, and subsidizes private lenders. Obama proposes moving the whole student loan system to direct-government loans, instead of subsidizing private lenders, too.

McCain

New Program: McCain does not propose any new program, citing existing spending pressures. McCain would simplify existing tax benefits, which many eligible families don’t claim, in order to ensure that more families have lower tax burdens when they are helping to send their children to college.
Student Grants: McCain would only consider raising Pell awards if there is a pressing need and the budget allows.
Student Loans: He supports the dual system of government and private loans. Supporters of the dual system argue it provides competition, which helps students. They also say the government could not administer the full program. (But thanks to the credit crisis, the government has propped up the private lending portion, so the parallel programs already are merging.)

Check out Obama's Education Plan and McCain's Education Plan in their entirety. Even though public colleges and universities fall under the jurisdiction of individual states, which candidate do you think represents your view of a proper national government approach to higher education?

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Hungover? Two Withdraw From Petition to Lower Drinking Age

LibertySugar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:00:00 -0700

Pressure from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, safety experts, and politicians has sobered up two college presidents who originally attached their names to a petition to lower the drinking age. In the meantime, 15 other presidents added their names.

Kendall Blanchard, the president of Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, and Robert M. Franklin, the president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, removed their names from the list of 123 presidents in favor of lowering the drinking age to 18. Blanchard said, “It was clear to me that they didn’t see this as a dialogue; they saw this as some kind of effort on our part to turn our schools into party schools.”

Leaders from schools including Dartmouth, Duke, and Tufts argue that the legal age of 21 brews a binge-drinking culture and is disrespect of the law. Students feel the need to use fake IDs, and drink the forbidden appletini in secret. To see what the other side has to say, read more.

Those in favor of 21 point out that a higher drinking age has had positive results, including a reduction in alcohol-related traffic deaths among young drivers. Perhaps a new law could lower the drinking age, but keep a zero-tolerance policy for younger drivers: if they've had even one drink and then drive, they've broken the law.

While both sides of the age debate have compelling arguments, it would be a shame if a discussion got shut down before it started. Would college students be more responsible if we stop treating them like they're irresponsible?

Souce

Check This: Exporting US Universities

CitizenSugar — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:02:26 -0800

It was so gorgeous yesterday that as I was walking around, I thought my whole town looked just like one of those glossy college viewbooks - you know the idyllic pictures of students lounging on the grass, being studious. I inhaled those when I was picking a college. Apparently, that US shiny-student lifestyle is the new hot export.

According to the New York Times, US universities are racing each other to set up outposts abroad - and their campuses are becoming neighbors all over the Middle East. In the Persian Gulf country of Qatar, students can head to "Education City" and study medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, international affairs at Georgetown, computer science and business at Carnegie Mellon, fine arts at Virginia Commonwealth, engineering at Texas A&M, and coming soon, journalism at Northwestern.

To find out why colleges are rushing to take extended trips abroad, read more.
Overseas programs can:

Help American universities raise their profiles.
Build international relationships and attract top research talent who, in turn, may attract grants and produce patents.
Gain access to a new pool of tuition-paying students, just as the number of college-age Americans is about to decline.

But not everyone is wild about the idea. Dana Rohrabacher (R- CA) is reluctant. “I’m someone who believes that Americans should watch out for Americans first. It’s one thing for universities here to send professors overseas and do exchange programs, which do make sense, but it’s another thing to have us running educational programs overseas.”

What do you think? Do we raise our profile by sharing our educational system? Or should we hunker down and make sure we educate at home the top priority?

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Group Therapy: Am I Too Young to Be Having a Midlife Crisis???

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 11:35:45 -0800

Is it possible to be as unhappy with how things have turned out as I am right now? I'm 28, no real career, no man, no money (well not really) and I never ever thought I'd still be renting at my age!! I'm only now considering going back to school, which is a start, but by the time I'm done I'll be 32!!

Everytime I talk to my parents they make sure to remind me that I'm not doing anything and that I should try and change the situation as soon as possible cause I'm not getting any younger. Sometimes I wish I could be someone else for a day, and just have a good time.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: To be involved in more GROUP THERAPY, click here]

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Oh Snap! Venezuela Rules the Universe

TresSugar — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez was crowned Miss Universe 2009 last night at the Miss Universe pageant. The Donald Trump-led franchise, which has been televised since 1955, definitely gets a lot of attention for bringing together the world's "most beautiful" women (read: tall, thin, great bathing suit body). Despite the objectifying nature of beauty pageants, they don't seem to be going anywhere soon. How do you feel about these contests?

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Oh Snap! Miss Tiffany's Universe Contest Crowns Beauty

TresSugar — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:30:00 -0700

Over the weekend in Pattaya, Thailand, the 12th annual Miss Tiffany's Universe contest crowned another winner, 20-year-old Sorrawee Nattee.

All of the Miss Tiffany's contestants are transsexuals or transvestites and the contest aims to promote human rights for the transgender population in Thailand. In Thailand, the transgender population is considered a third gender. Below are tearful runners-up.

View 4 Photos ›

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Say What? Priest Says Don't Just Sit There and Masturbate!

TresSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

"My concern is these students are in this developmental phase, and I don't think it's a good developmental practice to just tell somebody to just sit around and masturbate. I don't think that promotes good relationships."

- Father Joe Vetter, Duke University's Catholic Center director, reacting to news that a behavioral economist and student health workers at Duke University asked women on campus to discuss how they felt about sex toys. Of course, Father Vetter is also concerned about women sleeping around too much: "I'm concerned about promiscuity also," he said. Ummm, so what's a gal to do?

The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun!

GiggleSugar — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:00:00 -0800

Well, actually, she has a penis, but who cares! George Mason University showed some major cojones when it crowned a special homecoming queen at its Saturday basketball game: the super cute Ryan Allen who was dressed in his drag persona Reann Ballslee. Curious about Ryan/Reann? Then read more

Taunted mercilessly in high school, Ryan found a home at George Mason, which he says prides itself on its openness to diversity. He began performing as his drag alter ego at nightclubs, emceed Mason's drag show, and wore a silver bra and animal-print pants while lip-syncing Britney's "Womanizer" at the qualifying pageant.

Not everyone's happy. Named the number one national university to watch by US News & World Report, George Mason, according to one student, made a mistake. "All eyes were on us," he said. "And we do something like this? It's just stupid." Au contraire, mon frere! This just makes George Mason even cooler. Congrats Ryan/Reann! You're awesome.

University of Washington Students Eat With Compost!

LibertySugar — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:00:37 -0700

When people live somewhere as naturally beautiful as the Pacific Northwest, I imagine they stop at no limits to help keep their environment clean and green. The University of Washington has banished all things plastic from its dining hall, opting for serving products that can be tossed directly into a compost pile.

The cups, containers, plates, and utensils are made of corn, reed work, and sugar cane. Sweet! The "silverware" wasn't so hot at first. Not only did it break down in the soil, it broke down in warm dishes like soup, too. But a year and a half after it began the creative-green initiative, the campus found a product that gets the job done.

Seattle should thank the University of Washington for the trial-and-error success because starting Jan. 1, all food establishments in the city will have to stop using foam, and by July 2010 all plastic must be substituted with recyclable or compostable containers. Sounds like hometown-company Starbucks has to rethink its lids!

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