George Mason Law School to be renamed Antonin Scalia School of Law

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

The George Mason School of Law will be renamed in honor of the late U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who died earlier this year.

The university announced Thursday that it has received $30 million in combined gifts to the George Mason Foundation to support the law school, the largest gift in the university’s history. The donations make possible three new scholarship programs. Twenty million dollars came from an anonymous donor, and $10 million came from the Charles Koch Foundation, which has given millions of dollars to colleges in the United States. The family is well known for its support of conservative political groups, sometimes stirring controversy.

The Board of Visitors approved the renaming of the school to the Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University. “This is a milestone moment for the university,” Ángel Cabrera, the university’s president, said in a statement. “These gifts will create opportunities to attract and retain the best and brightest students, deliver on our mission of inclusive excellence, and continue our goal to make Mason one of the preeminent law schools in the country.”

Who says you can’t buy yourself a law school?  Is anyone else offended?  I certainly don’t want to clone Justice Scalia and make a whole bunch more little Scalias.   It appears that George Mason sold out to the highest bidder.

This “gift” seems to have a big caveat attached.

151-proof grain alcohol: Drunker than greased lightening

MoonHowler

everclear

Richmond Times Dispatch:

Legislation to allow 151-proof clear grain alcohol to be sold in Virginia liquor stores has moved through the General Assembly with the speed of, well, white lightning, prompting public health officials at colleges and universities to ask Gov. Terry McAuliffe to veto the bill.

The Virginia College Alcoholic Leadership Council warned McAuliffe this week that House Bill 143, which is on its way to the governor after gliding through the legislature with little opposition in either chamber, poses a health threat to students because it would allow the sale of low-priced “extreme strength” alcohol that is tasteless, odorless and colorless.

“These beverages are very low cost, and their unflavored nature makes the level of alcohol difficult to detect,” said Steven Clarke, the council’s executive director and director of the Campus Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center at Virginia Tech, in a letter to the governor.

Clarke warned that the consequences could include an increase in alcohol-related sexual assaults, including use as a weapon by sexual predators. “Further, this would likely result in increases in negative consequences for our campuses, such as personal injury, property damage, and academic non-performance,” he told the governor.

Legislative leaders said the swift passage of the bill, sponsored by Del. Barry D. Knight, R-Virginia Beach, was not influenced by $5,500 in campaign contributions that Luxco made to legislative political action committees in December.

The St. Louis-based company produces Everclear, a neutral grain alcohol product that can be sold at 151 and 190 proof in Virginia only to holders of special permits for industrial, commercial culinary and medical uses, not in state Alcoholic Beverage Control stores.

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Florida Atlantic University attempts to fire Sandy Hook denier assistant professor

MoonHowler

Sandy_Hook_shooting_angels_December_2012

Washingtonpost.com:

Florida Atlantic University on Wednesday moved to fire a professor who outraged many by calling the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School an elaborate hoax.

James Tracy, an associate professor at the university,  has written that although the news media reported that 26 people died in a mass shooting at the school in Newtown, Conn., the incident was staged.

Last week, the parents of  one child, Lenny and Veronique Pozner, wrote an opinion piece in the Sun-Sentinel that began: “It’s been three years since we last embraced our precious little boy, Noah. At six-years-old, he was the youngest child murdered at the Sandy Hook Elementary School….

“The heartache of burying a child is a sorrow we would not wish upon anyone. Yet to our horror, we have found that there are some in this society who lack empathy for the suffering of others. Among them are the conspiracy theorists that deny our tragedy was real. They seek us out and accuse us of being government agents who are faking our grief and lying about our loss.”

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Free speech–the forgotten freedom

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

From a statement by the group Amherst Uprising:

5. President Martin must issue a statement to the Amherst College community at large that states we do not tolerate the actions of student(s) who posted the “All Lives Matter” and “Free Speech” posters. Also let the student body know that it was racially insensitive to the students of color on our college campus and beyond who are victim to racial harassment and death threats; alert them that Student Affairs may require them to go through the Disciplinary Process if a formal complaint is filed, and that they will be required to attend extensive training for racial and cultural competency.

6. President Martin must issue a statement of support for the revision of the Honor Code to reflect a zero-tolerance policy for racial insensitivity and hate speech.

According to the president of the Amherst College Republicans, the “All Lives Matter” posters were pro-life posters (or antiabortion posters, if you prefer).

These young upstarts really need to take a good look at themselves, then at the Constitution.  Right now I am ready to call to repeal the 26th Amendment.  That would be a good place to start.

“All lives matter” is hardly offensive.  Since when are the students running the colleges?

 

Mizzou: The drama continues and I have a new hero

MoonHowler

brigham

Washingtonpost.com:

Dale Brigham thought he was doing the right thing.

As anonymous death threats against minorities swirled on social media Tuesday night, setting the college town of Columbia, Mo., on edge, the bespectacled Mizzou professor began receiving e-mails from terrified students.

“Good Evening Professor Brigham,” wrote an African American student in Brigham’s Nutritional Science 1034 class. “There are online threats at our school warning the minorities to not step on campus tomorrow. I am scared for my life therefore, I will not be attending class tomorrow. When can I makeup the exam?”

[Ed. Note:  Translation:  I didn’t study for my exam because I was out being a drama king or queen.]

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This time it’s in Arizona….

MoonHowler

And yet another shooting.

Washingtonpost.com:

One person has been killed and three others wounded in a fight that escalated into a shooting near a Greek-life dorm at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz.

The suspected gunman, 18-year-old freshman Steven Jones. is in custody, NAU Police Chief Greg Fowler said. The injured survivors — identified by the school as Nicholas Prato, Kyle Zientek and Nicholas Piring — are being treated at Flagstaff Medical Center.

Freshman Colin Brough was killed in the shooting, the school said.

According to Fowler, the police chief, “two separate student groups got into a confrontation” shortly after 1 a.m. Friday. “The confrontation turned physical,” Fowler said, and Jones “produced a handgun and shot four other students.”

 

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Gender college grad rates: How does it feel?

MoonHowler

college

Washingtonpost.com:

If you are a fan of the patriarchy, you should tremble at this fact: Over the past half-century, women have consistently dominated men at school.

Starting with people born in the 1950s, American women have been more likely to graduate from high school; starting with people born in the 1960s, women have also graduated at higher rates than men.

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55 Colleges under scrutiny for handling of sexual violence intestigations

MoonHowler

no

Washingtonpost.com:

The release Thursday of a federal list of 55 colleges with open “sexual violence investigations” underscores that the twin problem of how to prevent and respond to sex assaults on campus has become a national question, touching schools from elite privates to large publics to small regional schools.

The list from the Education Department continues the Obama administration’s push to shine a spotlight on sex assault in response to questions raised in recent years about how prominent colleges have handled rape allegations and related issues. This week, a White House task force released a report aiming to help colleges prevent sex assaults.

There were four schools listed from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia: Catholic University of America, Frostburg State University, the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia.
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Young Conservatives of Texas: “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day”

MoonHowler

USAtoday.com:

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A conservative student group announced Monday they will play a “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Game” this week on the University of Texas at Austin, drawing condemnation from Democrats and a threat of expulsion from campus officials.

The Young Conservatives of Texas have planned the game for Wednesday. Club members will wander the campus wearing signs that say “illegal immigrant,” and students who capture them and take them to the Young Conservatives’ recruiting table will get $25 gift certificates.

“The purpose of this event is to spark a campus-wide discussion about the issue of illegal immigration, and how it affects our everyday lives,” a statement posted by the group’s spokesman, Lorenzo Garcia. The group did not immediately reply to several emails sent by The Associated Press.

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Armed ABC agents apprehend college students buying sparkling water

MoonHowler

NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and Weather

dailyprogress.com:

The voices of the women are panicked.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. We’re really sorry,” the caller says in a 911 recording released Thursday by the regional emergency communications center for the Charlottesville area.

The caller was one of three women confronted by plainclothes Alcoholic Beverage Control agents at about 10:15 p.m. April 11 outside the Harris Teeter store in the Barracks Road Shopping Center.

Agents suspected one of the women was underage and carrying a case of beer, ABC said. Instead, it was LaCroix sparkling water. The women said they didn’t know the agents were officers. Six agents closed in at the height of the incident. One drew a gun.
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Is it even safe to send your kid to college?

MoonHowler

From Roanoke.com:

RADFORD — Six of the seven Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity members charged in the hazing death of a Radford University student last year avoided jail time in a plea deal Friday.

Radford Circuit Court Judge Joey Showalter found five of the men guilty of purchasing alcohol for a minor and for hazing in the death of Samuel Harris Mason, 20, of Chesterfield County. Mason was a Radford University student who was pledging the TKE fraternity.

Charges against a sixth student were continued for 12 months with no finding.

“This case vividly illustrates the hazards and risks of binge drinking,” Radford Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Rehak wrote in a statement released after the plea. “Those who commit crimes of hazing in Radford can expect to be identified, prosecuted and convicted.”

The defendants who pleaded guilty Friday were Chadwick Evancho, 23; Christopher Michael Pizzi, 22; William Taylor Burke, 21; Christopher Scott Cothren, 22; and Louis Hoskins Trible, 22.

Showalter found them guilty of misdemeanor charges of purchasing alcohol for a minor and of hazing. They were each sentenced to 24 months in jail, suspended, and $1,000 in fines.

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Bringing Back the Jobs

MoonHowler

It all started with a tweet from an SMU student to ABC news asking for help finding Made in America products for her dorm room.  It seems that the college catalog for dorm shopping  had NO products that were made in America.  So the search began.

Diane Sawyer reported some amazing figures.  If colleges and universities had Made in America  products in the catalogs they provide the nearly 3 million new students entering college this year, a half million jobs would be created.  $46 Billion dollars are spent each year to outfit new rooms.  Over 800 colleges use this  catalog and all the schools got money back for distributing the catalogs to incoming freshmen. 

Will the colleges switch?  Probably only if students and taxpayers insist!  Why are we peddling foreign made products?

Good job ABC News for ferreting out this glaring problem.  Good for SMU for agreeing to change.  No one had asked.  Therefore, no one knew.