Thursday, March 2, 2017

Mike Pence to be 2017 Commencement speaker

The ObserverThe Observer Top Stories The University announced Thursday that Vice President Mike Pence will be the principal speaker at the 2017 Commencement ceremony.
Pence, who was governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2017 and a U.S. congressman and conservative talk radio host before that, will receive an honorary degree.
Then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence speaks at the memorial commemorating University President Emeritus Fr. Theodore Hesburgh on March 4, 2015. The current vice president will be the principal speaker at the 2017 Commencement ceremonies, the University announced Thursday.
The announcement comes after months of speculation over whether the University would invite or host President Donald Trump as Commencement speaker, as it has done with several U.S. presidents in the past. Earlier this week, students protested the possibility that President Trump would be invited.
University vice president for public affairs and communications Paul Browne said Thursday that he would not “speculate or disclose” who the University had considered or invited, including Trump.
“Certainly one of the things that figured prominently was the fact that he was governor in our home state who had just become vice president of the United States …  and Governor Pence is a native son of Indiana and coincidentally, we will be celebrating ND’s founding 175 years ago in Indiana,” Browne said. “Those were elements of it.”
The Commencement ceremony will take place May 21 in Notre Dame Stadium.
This is a developing story. This post will be updated.

Tags: 2017 commencement, Donald Trump, Mike Pence



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A-State Young Democrats host “Minority inEquality” panel

The Herald - news









The Arkansas State University Young Democrats hosted a “Minority inEquality” panel to discuss the inequalities people of color face.











The panel was comprised of four Arkansas State faculty members. Booker Mays, Jerrod Lockhart, Ana Saucedo and Sandra L Combs discussed their personal experience with inequality and how those experiences have helped them in their lives.






Assistant Dean of Greek Life and A-State graduate, Booker Mays said his experience with race varied during his time as a student at Arkansas State. 





“I think my experience was kind of unique. As a football player, I was kind of in a box,” Mays said. “So, I would notice some iniquities, but being inside that bubble downplayed some things I should have seen all along.”





He also said that, in order to change those inequalities, it is important to continue to discuss racial issues and interact and understand people from different races and cultures..





Lockhart who works in the Leadership Center with the TRIO Student Support Services program noted that it is important to realize that everyone has a story.





A Little Rock native, he said his experiences with inequality began during his junior high school years. Lockhart, who is currently working on his master’s degree in social work, said he wants to be an advocate for the disenfranchised and encouraged those present to do the same.





“You future leaders who are getting ready to graduate, I encourage you to challenge the structural inequality that exists in this country and be authentic about it,” Lockhart said. 





Ana Saucedo, a recruitment adviser in the A-State Office of Recruitment said she has spend much of her time recruiting Hispanic students. 





 The Hispanic population at Arkansas is only 2% and Saucedo’s goal is to increase that number.





Saucedo was born in Mexico and relates to the obstacles that Hispanic students face when applying for college.





“What ...


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Political activist Shaun King speaks at TCUnity event

TCU 360
Print ArticleNew York Daily News columnist and political activist Shaun King summed what he believed the current times are like: crazy.
“When people in the future are thinking about crazy times,” King said to a crowd gathered in the BLUU Ballroom, “They are going to be thinking about right now.”
King’s visit to TCU Tuesday was sponsored by the Student Government Association as part of its TCUnity Week activities. He spent several hours on campus, meeting with two small groups in the afternoon in the King Family Commons before addressing students in the evening. He also spoke at Como First Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth.
King told the audience of a couple hundred people that the death of Eric Garner, who died in 2014 after being put in a chokehold by New York City Police, influenced him to begin looking into police brutality and social injustice.
“You can never know the moments that shape and change you,” said King.
King said that after the deaths of Garner, Mike Brown and others who were killed at the hands of police officer, he kept hearing people referring to the 60s and 70s and the civil rights movement.
“The thing people kept saying,” King said, “is that they thought we were going back in time, because they feel like we should have gotten over that”
King cited 19th century historian Leopold von Ranke who argued advancements don’t necessarily improve society as a whole.
“Our concept of time is that time is always getting better,” King said. “It’s not. They confuse the improvement of gadgets to the improvement of humanity.”
King expanded on the need for improvement of humanity and spoke about white privilege and the violence that has occurred the last year. The room appeared to be generally in agreement with King’s statements with jokes made by King in ...


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Women’s Basketball: Northwestern upsets Iowa, moves on in Big Ten Tournament

The Daily Northwestern Nia Coffey attempts a layup. The senior put on an 34-point showstopper in Northwestern's Big Ten Tournament win over Iowa.Allie Goulding/The Daily NorthwesternAllie Goulding/The Daily NorthwesternNia Coffey attempts a layup. The senior put on an 34-point showstopper in Northwestern's Big Ten Tournament win over Iowa. Cole Paxton, Assistant Sports EditorMarch 2, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS — Northwestern didn’t enter the Big Ten Tournament with much going for it. The Wildcats struggled through February, lost their finale on a heartbreaking buzzer-beater and fell to Iowa by 19 in their lone regular-season meeting.
Against Iowa on Thursday, Nia Coffey changed that quickly.
The star senior forward put NU (20-10, 8-8 Big Ten) on her back, scoring a season-high 34 points and willing the Cats to an 78-73 win over the Hawkeyes (17-13, 8-8) in the Big Ten Tournament.
“She’s amazing,” fellow senior Lauren Douglas said. “I love playing with her. She makes everybody else’s job easier.”
The win was NU’s first away from home in over a month and gives the Cats a Friday matchup with top-seeded Ohio State.
The Cats charged back from a brief fourth quarter deficit, getting a clutch layup from Coffey inside the final two minutes. NU made the final moments interesting, turning the ball over once and nearly doing so a second time, but senior guard Ashley Deary and Douglas iced the game with two pairs of free throws.
Douglas, a forward, continued her strong late-season play, adding 15 points, and senior guard Christen Inman contributed 11 more. The Cats shot better than 45 percent, helped by Coffey’s impressive 15-of-26 line, and broke out with their highest scoring output since Jan. 14.
“Not turning the ball over was a really big thing for us,” Deary said. “That made a big difference. We got open looks.”
Still, Coffey was undisputably the star of the show. She scored in a variety of ...


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Six UW-Madison women to be honored as 2016 Outstanding Women of Color  

News The six winners of the 2016 University of Wisconsin–Madison Outstanding Women of Color awards will be honored at the annual celebratory reception from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, at the Edgewater Hotel, 1001 Wisconsin Place.  The event is free to the campus and community, but registration is requested.
These six women exemplify being deeply rooted in both the campus and the Madison community through their work toward social justice, service, research and community building.
This year’s honorees are:
Fabu Phillis Carter, poet, scholar, teaching artist, and outreach specialist, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center of the School of Medicine & Public Health;
Joan Fujimura, professor in the Department of Sociology and Holtz Center for Research on Science and Technology;
Binnu Palta Hill, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Wisconsin School of Business;
Sagashus Levingston, Tutor/mentor with the Odyssey Project, Co-teacher in the Odyssey Junior Program, and Founder of the “Infamous Mothers” Project;
Denise Thomas, coordinator of Title VII American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Madison Metropolitan School District; and
Julissa Ventura, Ph.D. Candidate in Educational Policy Studies, and Fellow of the Morgridge Center for Public Service Community-University Exchange-South Madison.
Please register at http://go.wisc.edu/29db5h.
In 2007, UW–Madison launched an annual program of awards to women of color for outstanding service in higher education, said Ruby Paredes, associate vice provost in the Office of the Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer. The university has a multitude of accomplished women of color, Paredes said, and the celebration recognizes their exemplary work as well as how these individuals embody the university’s commitment to community outreach, especially in diversity.
“The growing campus-wide awareness of the annual honor focusing on women and their achievements continues to be very gratifying,” Paredes added. “As I’ve stated in the past, we are not honoring these women simply for being women of ...


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New officer recruits could increase campus security

NEWS – The Signal Georgia State police officers work closely with APD since they’re able to access more Atlanta areas like student housing.
Signal Archives
Georgia State and the Atlanta Police are recruiting new officers to bolster Atlanta’s security.
The Atlanta Police Department’s (APD) authorized strength has been depleted by 150 officers, according to recent Atlanta Police retiree and new Georgia State University Police Department (GSUPD) Chief Joseph Spillane.
“Retirements, resignations and terminations have seen the number of sworn officers drop from a high of 2,034 to 1,884,” Spillane said.
The hires are just the beginning Spillane said in SGA’s campus safety forum Feb. 23, as there will be more officers soon located by Turner Field as well as the university becomes more active in that part of town.
“Once [student] housing moves over there, we will have people there full time,” Spillane said, adding that he hopes to soon have a Wellness Center by Turner Field to keep police officers in shape.
Spillane and Major Scott Kreher of the Atlanta Police Zone Five have worked on numerous details together to keep the campus, as well as the rest of the city safe. Georgia State’s police covers 500 yards from any building leased or owned by the university. This allows university police to share concurrent jurisdiction with APD, thus the newly formed partnership.
The first major collaboration of the departments came after the One12 incident, where a student was shot during a robbery gone wrong. The facility falls under the jurisdiction of Zone Five, but Chief Spillane has met with Atlanta Police to keep the area around the apartment secure.
Spillane further said that residents have complained about security guard stations not being filled, and both departments found weaknesses in the facility’s safety system like doors being open when they were supposed to be closed, and security guards missing from their stations which ...


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Students should not be hooked on Hookah

Opinions – The University Star Illustration by: Israel Gonzalez | Staff Illustrator







The trendy, sophisticated image of smoking cigarettes has changed drastically from its peak during the 1950s and 1960s. Today, smoking is viewed as undesirable due to the understanding it is detrimental to one’s health. As a result of this, smoking cigarettes has reached an all time low among both students and adults. However, a different method of smoking is becoming increasingly popular—hookah.
A study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence viewed the popularity of hookah among university students. The study found “even the lowest prevalence suggests that substantial numbers of college students are water pipe users.”
In San Marcos, there are four hookah lounges, all within close proximity to campus. Students often find advertisements for hookah bars near Alkek. Flyers are sometimes handed out in popular areas such as the Quad. The mere act of advertising hookah is dangerous. Universities should do more to educate students on the danger of smoking hookah.
The general perception is that hookah is somehow safer than smoking cigarettes. When first created, hookah was thought to be a safer way to smoke tobacco. One study found 89.5 percent of beginning smokers believed hookah was safer than smoking cigarettes. This statistic is alarming and uncovers the lack of education regarding hookah.
The reason people believe smoking hookah is safer is because of the way the tobacco is smoked. The tobacco is heated by charcoal, and the smoke is cooled by water before entering the lungs. This provides a smoother smoking experience. However, the CDC found smoking in this way is “at least as toxic as cigarette smoking.”
When drinking alcohol, or smoking cigarettes, most students understand the consequences to these actions. However, students have a misconception that hookah is a safer alternative.
Typically, when people smoke hookah, it is in a social setting. Due to flavorings and the smooth ...


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Final reminder to file 2017-2018 FAFSA

ISU News ISU Today
Final reminder to file 2017-2018 FAFSAMarch 2, 2017In order to be considered for all possible funding, file your 2017-2018 FAFSA by March 10. Filers will be using 2015 tax information and most are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool which greatly reduces errors.Students needing assistance completing their FAFSA can bring their laptop to the Office of Student Financial Aid to meet with a counselor.Office hours are Monday - Thursday 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. and Friday 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.



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SCIENTISTS AND SANDWICHES BRING WOMEN TO STEM

News – The Bengal
Madison Shumway
Staff Writer
When Christina Mottishaw heard about a STEM Mentoring Cafe for women exploring science careers, she jumped on the opportunity.
Area STEM professionals from the Idaho National Laboratory would share their experiences at the sandwich lunch, and the biochemistry student knew she’d receive helpful insight into her future career.
Once Mottishaw shared a room with the group of highly educated and accomplished women, she repeatedly raised her hand, asking about obstacles and resources they had encountered.
“I got a new perspective about the struggles I will inevitably face being in STEM, but I also learned about the community of support that’s available to me,” she said of the experience. “I always enjoy hearing how scientists and engineers accomplished what they did and learning about how I could handle my future, too.”
Such was the goal of the Mentoring Cafe: to inform female students considering careers in science, technology, engineering and math that they had advocates and allies to which they could turn for advice and support.
The event, part of a broader movement by INL, ISU and other organizations to encourage women to pursue STEM careers, aimed to address a gender gap in the field.
Women make up only 26 percent of STEM workers, according to Million Women Mentors, a resource cafe organizers referenced in materials handed out to attendees. Numbers are improving, and so is the environment women in STEM face, said the INL professionals, but both progress slowly.
Mentors who can share advice and provide a positive example help young women interested in STEM build their careers and shrink the gender gap, said event organizer Sonia Martinez.
“We want to be able to create a network and a supportive environment,” said Martinez, who works as ISU’s Diversity and Outreach Coordinator. “We want to provide a bridge of college to career.”
The network created ...


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Coalition asks Congress for more funding to support agricultural research

Penn State News - Top News

UNIVERSITY PARK Pa. — The head of Penn State’s Department of Entomology is among a coalition that includes top scientists from 11 research universities in Washington, D.C, today (March 2) calling for stronger federal support of the food and agricultural sciences.Pointing to achievements that include a new process to remove allergens from peanuts, the group’s just-released report, “Retaking the Field — Strengthening the Science of Farm and Food Production,” reviews research projects funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative at each institution.
“This effort by the coalition of universities sets the table for stronger support of food and agricultural science in the 2018 Farm Bill,” said Gary Felton, professor and department head of entomology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. He and his colleagues conducted one of the studies highlighted in the report. They analyzed how the saliva of caterpillars and other insect excretions trigger the defenses of crop plants, providing a new path for plant breeders to explore as they develop more resistant cultivars.
A drought in federal funding of food and agricultural research exists, according to Thomas Grumbly, president of the Supporters of Agricultural Research Foundation.
“USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative program, the agency’s premier source of competitively awarded grants, generates the science that keeps our farms healthy,” he said. “But farmers need a flood of research breakthroughs, and the initiative’s limited budget only allows for a trickle.”
The new “Retaking the Field” report shows how scientists are solving some of the thorniest questions in food production despite the USDA’s limited research budget. Even as the research budget for all federal agencies has climbed, the USDA’s share has nearly been cut in half.
Grumbly, with the Supporters of Agricultural Research Foundation, notes that funding levels in the USDA’s Agriculture and Food ...

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WONDERINGS OF A WALLFLOWER: MIDTERMS MADNESS

Opinion – The Bengal
Emily Crighton
Editor-in-Chief
The semester is already halfway over. Let that sink in for a moment. It feels like only moments ago I was starting my senior year of college, and now all of a sudden it is three quarters of the way finished. The madness of midterms is in full swing for many of us, and it’s easy to feel a bit overwhelmed.
It’s too late to drop classes, and some of us may already be doing the math to figure out how little effort we can put forward and still pass our classes. I’ve never been one of those people, but as I head into my final midterms week it sure does sound tempting.
Tempting as it may sound, I know that I couldn’t live with myself if I gave my classes anything but my all. That’s been my attitude since day one, this week is not the week to change it. So, here’s a bit of advice from me to you on how to survive the week.
1. Take a coffee break.
If you’re hitting the books hard, odds are your brain could use a couple minutes to recharge. I know plenty of people who get in the zone and deprive themselves of things like food or coffee. I know it feels like every second of studying is vital, but going without isn’t going to do your brain any favors.
2. Sleep at least a little.
I know the odds of getting enough sleep during midterms week are slim, so I’ll just urge you to sleep when you can. Like I said before, pushing your brain and your body too far will come back to bite you. I’ve only had one B in my college career (yeah, I’m that kid), and I got that B because I barely ...


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Football wide-receiver Justin Paige takes his speed to the track

Sports – The MSU Exponent

Justin Paige is a dual athlete in football and track.
Photo by Zach NellJustin Paige can lap you on the track and run you over while doing so. With speed being such a key element in football, it is not uncommon for athletes to cross over between football and track. The most notable of these athletes, Devon Allen, a junior at University of Oregon, won the NCAA National Championship twice in the 110 meter hurdles. He even went on to race in the Olympics in Rio, placing fifth.
When Montana State hired Jeff Choate as the head football coach, Dale Kennedy, the head track coach, approached him and asked if football players would like the opportunity to participate in track. After 35 years of coaches denying his request, he was surprised by Choate’s candor when he responded with, “I don’t see why not?”
Both men left it up to the discretion of the players and with that, junior receiver Justin Paige saw an opportunity. Having run track in high school at Katy Morgan Ranch in Katy, Texas, it wasn’t new to him. There he competed in the in the 100 and 200 meter relay and made it to the state finals in both events.
In his first collegiate race on Jan. 20, Paige impressed in the 60 meter sprint running it in 7.07 seconds, placing him in fifth. “It was really exciting,” Kennedy remarked, “We lined him up and he did do pretty well after limited practice. He has a real shot at the Big Sky Championships.” Paige also placed ninth in the 200 meter race, running a time of 23.75 seconds.
In his second performance at the Bozeman Running Company Invite on Feb. 4, he kept his 60 meter time consistent running 7.07 seconds again, this time placing sixth. However, in the 200 meter race he improved his time to 22.80, taking third place.
For Paige it wasn’t much ...


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The Right to Disconnect From Work

Opinion – The MSU Exponent

On Jan. 1, 2017, French workers gained a right which is found absolutely nowhere else: the right to ignore their bosses over the weekend. Companies with over 50 employees are required to set hours when workers will no longer send or receive emails, pushing back against corporations’ digitally-enabled incursion into private time.
In the United States, younger employees are hit hardest by this invasion of their free time and are seen as inferior workers because, according to one scathing article, “many millennials leave work on the dot of 5 p.m. every day and refuse to answer work calls or emails over the weekend.” The fact that this is absolutely their right, as well as the way work should function in a healthy society, seems never to have crossed the author’s mind. Employees who are willing to work beyond their stated hours are seen as more dedicated, creating a race to the bottom. Workers who naively think that a day off means genuine freedom from work will miss out on promotions and raises, ratcheting up the pressure to be perpetually available.
While this trend is more prevalent in office work, it also occurs in the kind of retail and food service jobs that many MSU students depend on to get by during the school year. Students have class and homework during their days off and the demand for constant availability can limit their ability to succeed academically. In my own school-year job, I was threatened with termination because I went hiking on my day off and my boss couldn’t reach me on my cell phone. Retailers and fast food restaurants schedule their employees so thinly that any single low-level employee calling in sick means that employers are left either losing hundreds or thousands of dollars of profit, which cannot be sacrificed, or taking one of their employees’ days off, which always can.
...


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Healthy Huskies: Making wellness visible and accessible to the UW

www.dailyuw.com - RSS Results in news,news/* of type article The new Healthy Huskies Initiative creates collaborative opportunities to promote comprehensive wellness to both the individual Husky and the UW community. Launched Feb. 17, the initiative is a collaborative effort between various departments and RSOs on campus to support the accessibility of wellness resources for all UW students.“Healthy Huskies essentially brings together what is already on campus,” student ambassador Ali Cho said. “We’re here to make sure that health resources are visible and accessible to the students.”
Since the launch, the team has been looking for ways to reach out to students, staff, and faculty so that everyone in the UW community is aware of the existence of Healthy Huskies.“Our ultimate goal is to be a culture shift — to kind of step away from the stigma surrounding asking for help and making sure that students feel like they are supported and have the space to ask for the help they need, have the resources, and know where to get those resources,” Cho said.RSOs and community programs such as Peer Health Education (PHE) and ASUW are currently involved with the initiative. PHE is a group of students who help the UW community through educational workshops and health-related events and programs.“[Healthy Huskies] is working with us on our ‘It’s on us’ campaign,” PHE Director Micia Vergara said. “It’s our campus-wide sexual assault awareness campaign and so they have been super helpful in getting us the resources and funding we need to make our project grow and be successful.”Healthy Huskies primarily focuses on social and emotional health, including suicide prevention, sexual assault prevention, and alcohol education. “It goes without saying that wellness is something that everyone regardless of experience goes through on a daily basis, and to pretend otherwise is kind of counterintuitive and counterproductive,” Vergara said. “Healthy Huskies has made wellness visible by being upfront ...


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Associated Student Body holds debate for candidates running for executive office

The Daily Mississippian For the first time in three years, student body president candidates defended their claims to office to a standing-room-only auditorium Wednesday night.
All 14 candidates for president, vice president, attorney general, secretary, judicial chair and treasurer gathered at the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics for the debate. More than 200 students attended the debate, most of whom were pulling for one candidate or another.
Presidential candidates Emily Hoffman, Dion Kevin and Austin Spindler spoke about the importance of diversity, community involvement and student feedback.
Austin Spindler, Dion Kevin and Emily Hoffman, Associated Student Body presidential candidates answer questions from students and define their campaign positions at the office debate Wednesday in the Overby Center. (Photo by: Ariel Cobbert)
Hoffman said the most difficult issue facing the student body from the perspective of ASB is the lack of student involvement. She said to solve the problem, ASB must reach out to more groups on campus, especially minority groups, to achieve maximum participation and inclusion.
“It takes us going and being uncomfortable … so that we can get everyone’s voice heard,” Hoffman said.
Kevin suggested ASB require students to have a certain number of service hours, similar to how the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College runs its service hours program, to ensure involvement.
“I want the students to start caring about the community more,” Kevin said. “I am kind of tired of students taking the city for granted.”
Spindler said he believes there is a lot of room for Ole Miss to grow through public forums. He plans to host town hall style meetings to increase participation and student input.
“We need to understand that the Associated Student Body is the collective voice of this university community,” Spindler said. “Each of us deserves to have our voices heard.”
The presidential candidates were also asked how they would have responded to ASB’s ...


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Classifieds – March 2, 2017

Daily Trojan

The Daily Trojan features Classified advertising in each day’s edition.  Here you can read, search, and even print out each day’s edition of the Classifieds.Click the icon to download the PDF of today’s Classifieds:

To place an ad, please contact an ad representative:
(213) 740-2707
USC Student Publications Student Union – Room 400
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0895
http://dailytrojan.com/ads


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Sac State ends soccer exhibition against Republic FC in stalemate

The State Hornet


Sacramento State freshman defender Abraham Rosales shields the ball away from Gabe Gissie of Sacramento Republic FC during an exhibition match Wednesday at Hornet Field. (Photo by Matthew Dyer)
After falling to Sacramento Republic FC last season, the Sacramento State men’s soccer team forced a draw (0-0) against the Republic in an exhibition game Wednesday at Hornet Field.
Republic FC, a local United Soccer League professional team, outshot Sac State by a total of 17-4, but was only two shots (4-2) ahead of the Hornets with shots on goal.
“We knew coming into the game that they would have the majority of the ball,” Sac State coach Michael Linenberger said. “The last two days we worked on trying to stay very compact defensively and make it very difficult for them and I thought we did for the most part — especially in the first half.”
Sac State only permitted Republic FC to get one shot on goal in the first 45 minutes of action, while the Republic’s other six shots of the half were from long distance. The Hornets — which played Republic FC for the fourth consecutive year — had one shot on goal in the first half.
Sacramento State sophomore defender Josh Dull challenges a Sacramento Republic FC defender for a header during an exhibition match Wednesday at Hornet Field. (Photo by Matthew Dyer)Of the four shots on goal that Republic FC had, junior goalkeeper James Del Curto had four saves.
“If we want to get better as a team, we have to play the best teams,” Del Curto said. “Playing against a team of this caliber was awesome to see where we have to be — to either be a team that goes deep into the NCAA Tournament next year or play professionally.”
Republic FC had possession of the ball for the majority of the second half, yet the ...

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No. 8 Men’s Basketball stunned on road, loses to Wake Forest 88-81

The Louisville Cardinal By Jeff Milby–The No. 8 ranked Men’s Basketball team (23-7, 11-6) dropped a game in which they lead by 14 points in the first half to Wake Forest (17-12, 8-9), 88-81.Louisville jumped out to a hot start to begin the game, with strong efforts from sophomores Jaylen Johnson, Ray Spalding and Donovan Mitchell. The Cards led by as many as 14 points in the first half after a hot shooting start, but Wake Forest wouldn’t go out so easily on Senior Night. The Demon Deacons closed on a 10-2 to cut the lead to 43-42 at the halftime break.The Deacons’ run followed some Cards’ foul trouble. Johnson, Mitchell, Spalding and junior Anas Mahmoud all finished the half on the bench with two fouls apiece, and a front-court tandem of senior Mangok Mathiang and junior Matz Stockman saw the Cards lose the rebound battle in the first half, 18-16.The second half began just as the first ended. Wake hit two 3-pointers out of the break to take their first lead of the game less than two minutes into the half. With 15:19 to go in the game, Rick Pitino was assessed a technical foul following a third foul call on Spalding. Wake Forest hit three of the ensuing four free throws, and followed it with a 3-pointer to grow the lead to 11 points.Louisville would fight back to cut the lead to single digits in a back and forth second half, but Wake Forest answered every Louisville run with timely 3-pointers. With 4:32 to go, Ray Spalding’s tip-in cut the Wake Forest lead to three, and a Quentin Snider layup again cut the lead to three at 75-72 with 3:59 to go. Just as the comeback was nearly complete, Spalding threw the ball away with a chance to cut the lead to one, and Wake answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from  ...


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Racist Video Investigation Update from ODU Chief of Police

Mace & Crown



Dear Members of the University Community, On February 21, the University Police Department began a review of a racially intolerant video containing hate speech that had been posted to YouTube. In one segment of the video, a woman wore a sweatshirt with an ODU logo. In response, I immediately forwarded the video to the investigative unit as a top priority. The members of the investigative unit, who have been working on this, have collectively more than 158 years of police experience at various agencies.      I’m writing today to provide an update on the status of that review. We are committed to making our campus safe, so I leveraged the capacity of our crime analysis, intelligence and threat assessment functions with that of our local and federal law enforcement partners to monitor social media and other sources for any indication of potential violence toward our community. At this time, there has been no evidence of violence targeted toward the ODU or the local community and we will continue our aggressive investigation with the ultimate objective of maintaining a safe campus for all.Investigating issues of this nature is complicated due to the open nature of the web, but our partnership with other law enforcement organizations remains active in our efforts to identify the source of the video. University Housing officials confirmed the video was not filmed in an Old Dominion residence hall. Likewise, we investigated tips forwarded by concerned members of the community, which resulted in clearing several women who had been incorrectly implicated on social media. So far, we have found no evidence that any member of our community was involved. The detestable message in this video has had the opposite effect of what this person seemed to have intended. Rather than separate us, it has united the Old Dominion campus community in support of the shared values of diversity, respect ...

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SGA Acts With Unclear Laws

News – The Emory Wheel

Oxford College sophomore and Oxford-Emory Liaison Alexa Cleveland (LEFT) discusses her amendment to the restructure bill Feb. 27. / Michelle Lou, News EditorIn the aftermath of the Student Government Association (SGA) split, several top SGA officials have issued conflicting interpretations of the state of its constitution both in SGA meetings and interviews with the Wheel.
The Wheel spoke to top SGA representatives about the current state of the SGA Constitution following the Jan. 31 University-wide referendum that passed a constitutional amendment that split SGA into two autonomous bodies. SGA officials offered various interpretations of the state of the Constitution, including the understanding that it currently stands, that some provisions currently stand or that no part of it currently stands.
No case regarding the current state of the SGA Constitution has been brought before the Constitutional Council, so no official ruling has been issued by the Council regarding the current state of the SGA Constitution. The SGA attorney general, who is not a Council member, is responsible for advising SGA on possible constitutional concerns, according to the SGA Constitution.
The Debate
Constitutional Council Chief Justice and Emory School of Law student Alex Cohen told the SGA legislature in a Feb. 6 meeting that the Jan. 31 referendum passage allowed the legislators to do anything necessary to restructure the student government.
“When you had [the] University referendum … you guys derived the power to do whatever substantive rule-changing [necessary] to get the new student government up and running as long as you guys can agree or disagree to suspend the rules and mess with the little procedural things you guys have problems with,” Cohen said in the meeting.
Cohen clarified in a Feb. 27 interview with the Wheel that his statement to the legislature was “advice on leadership” based on his experience serving in previous student governments rather than “legal advice” as chief justice.
“What I said at the ...

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ASM votes to make UW campus food stamp accessible

News – The Badger Herald

In an effort to promote affordable living on campus, Associated Students of Madison unanimously voted to approve changes to University Housing and Dining and Culinary Services at a Wednesday meeting.Jeff Novak, director of University Housing, discussed upcoming changes around campus, including a student-led initiative to make campus dining food-stamp accessible.
First, Novak laid out University Housing’s main goal: To provide a space where everyone wants to live. To do this, Novak noted the plan to renovate Witte Residence Hall and to implement the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.
Badger Caring Closet to open its doors to low-income students seeking extra resourcesAs University of Wisconsin students rush to buy new school supplies for the semester ahead, others facing financial constraints will Read…
SNAP will be the university’s first attempt to bring food stamps into the dining halls and convenience stores. At the moment, Oregon State University is one of only a few universities to institute a program similar to this, but it has only been implemented in grocery stores on campus.  
The program will debut fall 2017. Students will be able to apply for the program as it begins. 
While SNAP will allow students to pay for some items with food stamps, Novak said hot prepared foods will not be included. Items such as energy drinks and candy bars, however, will be included.
Salad bars are another example of times that may be eligible under the program as well.
The ability to use SNAP in university dining halls is a great step forward, ASM Chair Carmen Goséy said.
“This opens the doors to a more inclusive campus where students from all backgrounds feel welcome,” Goséy said. “I’m glad University Housing is taking this step. Hopefully we can set an example for universities across the country to follow.”  
In the shadows: UW’s homeless students struggle to succeedFor Brooke Evans,  ...

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TAPS Undergraduate Acting Program: The Tempest behind the scenes

Stanford News


March 2, 2017Theater and Performance Studies Undergraduate Acting Program: The Tempest behind the scenes Stanford Theater & Performance Studies presents William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a vibrant, out-of-this-world tale of romance, revenge and forgiveness. As Shakespeare’s works go, few are more magical than The Tempest, a fantastical and deeply human play about an exiled sorcerer, his budding daughter, a civilization abandoned and a world reborn. This production is presented in conjunction with the TAPS Undergraduate Acting Program and is directed by Amy Freed, artist-in-residence. Performances will be held at 8 p.m. March 2-4 and March 9-11. These images provide a look behind the scenes.





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Costume designer Connie Strayer, senior lecturer in TAPS, was inspired by the Jacobean and late English Renaissance Court Masque tradition of Shakespeare’s time.Image credit: Courtesy Stanford TAPSCostume designer Connie Strayer emphasized themes from nature for the characters of the spirit world, the fairies and Caliban. Image credit: Courtesy Stanford TAPSSet designer and TAPS Lecturer Erik Flatmo set the play in an abandoned Jacobean theater, but updated with a stage-within-a-stage. Image credit: Courtesy Stanford TAPSTAPS lead carpenter Daniel Cadigan works with student carpenters Ewea Tseumah and Stewart Gray III.Image credit: Courtesy Stanford TAPSStudent carpenter Zachary Dammann paints a corbel for the set. Image credit: Courtesy Stanford TAPSLighting designer James Sherwood, on stage, and students in TAPS’s lighting design course get hands-on experience.Image credit: Courtesy Stanford TAPSCostume designer Connie Strayer and wig designer Kerry Rider-Kuhn fit Prospero’s wig on Tim Schurz.Image credit: Courtesy Stanford TAPSDirector Amy Freed was initially drawn to The Tempest because “it’s a wonderful play for a university to undertake. There are lots of great roles, it has a rich history, and it supplies so many areas for research and discussion.” Image credit: Courtesy Stanford TAPSSusi Arguello and Isaac Goldstein find themselves in the eye ...


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​ASCH: Why a controversial historical fixture remains relevant

Cavalier Daily

OPINIONWe can begin making amends by confronting past



by jacob asch
| Mar 02 2017 | 3 hours ago

















The Charlottesville City Council voted to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee located in Lee Park Feb. 6. The decision to remove the statue is deeply misguided. Not only is the city spending an estimated $300,000, but it is removing a piece of our country’s past. We should not seek to remove references of our dark past from public spaces, we should instead be forced to confront them.For example, in Michael Moore’s film “Where to Invade Next,” confrontation with a dark past is explored in Germany, where remnants of the Holocaust are still kept in public spaces. Street signs and Nazi-era relics are left intact to remind the citizens of what happened and to ensure they never forget the horrors which occurred. That type of confrontation is needed in our country. The removal of the relics of inconvenient truths from our past, like the removal of references to slavery from textbooks, are akin to the whitewashing of history. By removing the statue from a public place, we are not confronting our past — we are making it so we do not have to at all. Advocating for a confrontation with our past it is not the same as advocating for interpreting these relics as they were originally intended. Rather, there needs to be a new interpretation of what these relics mean in our modern society. Every time we see these emblems of racism and slavery, we should contemplate what we have done as a nation, and think about how we can be a more compassionate country to all of our people. That does not happen when we hide from our past and attempt to change objects of history. We cannot properly address the legacy of racism in this country without reminders of the sins of ...

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Committee focused on undocumented students at Syracuse University is first step in protecting vulnerable community

The Daily Orange – The Independent Student Newspaper of Syracuse, New York

A new Syracuse University committee that will work to develop an institutional strategy to meet the needs of undocumented students shows the administration is willing to take strides to students who feel concerned about their immigration status under President Donald Trump.
Chancellor Kent Syverud has stated his support for undocumented students, but the university has not yet taken any concrete actions to protect undocumented students in wake of Trump’s rhetoric about cracking down on undocumented peoples in the United States.
Despite some pressure from the SU community, Syverud has not deemed the university a “sanctuary campus,” and he has understandable reasoning for not doing so. Sanctuary campuses, in theory, adopt policies that protect students who are undocumented immigrants, but campuses that intentionally override federal law may face restricted federal aid.
As an alternative, the Ad Hoc Committee on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)/Undocumented Students has the potential to address students’ concerns about Trump’s immigration policies and rhetoric. Although many of these students may like to see their concerns addressed through the declaration of SU as a sanctuary campus, this committee can likely aim to do the same work as a sanctuary campus — just without the title.
The committee, which was established on Feb. 24, is composed of several students and faculty members, who seem to have knowledge of the issues surrounding undocumented students and actively work to address those issues. It’s key for a committee that is focused on vulnerable students has members who are in touch with the topic at hand.
The university must always work to meet the needs of all its students. Ensuring that undocumented students feel safe under the Trump administration should be a priority for SU, and this committee is an important place to start.

Published on March 2, 2017 at 12:34 am

Contact: opinion@dailyorange.com




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UT chancellor kills controversial 300-acre Houston expansion

News – The Daily Cougar By Jasmine Davis March 1, 2017

Around 1 p.m. Wednesday, UH System Board of Regents Chairman Tilman Fertitta hinted that UT’s proposed expansion into Houston would not happen. | Marialuisa Rincon Bianchi/The Cougar
AUSTIN — The University of Texas System will not be expanding in Houston.
“The University of Houston is pleased,” said Tilman Fertitta, chairman of the University of Houston System Board of Regents. “This was a group effort by elected leaders, our Board of Regents, our administration and supporters to stand our ground against an unnecessary duplication of resources that didn’t align with the state’s plan for higher education.”
On Wednesday, UT System Chancellor William McRaven announced the cessation of the project and recommended the UT regents ask the system’s real estate office to begin selling the land, according to coverage by the Houston Chronicle.
Fertitta hinted at the news earlier in the day during UH’s Day at the Capitol, an event which gave students the opportunity to advocate on behalf of the University by speaking with state legislators.
“We’re not putting a campus in Austin, and they’re not putting a campus in Houston,” Fertitta said. “I can promise you that.”
The system’s retreat from Houston follows constant controversy over its leadership’s failure to consult Texas lawmakers before purchasing the 332 acres in 2015. Since then, the system has faced opposition from many in Houston, particularly from the UH community.
Throughout and leading up to the 85th Legislative Session, concerns were raised that a UT school in Houston would be a duplication of services already provided by UH, and would consequently pose a threat to the UH System’s growth and status as the top public research university in the region.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the state’s projected budgetary decreases may have encouraged lawmakers to question the need for another public university ...


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Attending LGBTQ college conference makes students realize WMU is a leader in diversity and inclusion in the Midwest

Western Herald - news









A group of Western Michigan University students headed to Navy Pier Friday, Feb. 17, with high hopes that the 25th anniversary of an annual LGBTQ conference would provide insight and inspiration. Instead, many of the students came away with the realization that there is a lot of work yet to be done.   











The WMU Office of LBGT Student Services funded a group of 14 students to attend the 25th anniversary of the Midwest Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Ally College Conference held Feb. 17-19 in Chicago. While the students who attended said the conference did have its highlights, overall the experience made them realize how advanced WMU is in its practice of diversity and inclusion, and how much room other universities still have to grow.   






WMU junior Jon Curtis, an office assistant at the Office of LBGT Student Services, attended the conference last year and volunteered to take charge of organizing for the group to attend this year.





“It’s always a great experience to just be in that environment with a bunch of other like-minded people and to be around other queer people who feel or have similar experiences that you do,” Curtis said. “That aspect of it was wonderful.”





However, Curtis said many of the workshops offered this year were intro-level and some of the facilitators missed the opportunity to talk about more in-depth issues and seemed unprepared.





“It was definitely eye-opening to be in the environment where I felt like all of the Western students were kind of above it,” Curtis said. “We’re at a different level when we’re thinking about these things critically and that says that Western is highly inclusive, or at least highly inclusive in the aspect that other universities haven’t caught up to us yet.”





For sophomore Nick Smith, a member of OUTspoken, a registered student organization that focuses on LGBTQ support ...


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Wednesday, March 1, 2017

No. 3 UCLA men’s basketball defeats Washington in 98-66 blowout

Daily Bruin The highlight plays came in bunches on Wednesday as No. 3 UCLA pummeled an overmatched Washington team 98-66 at Pauley Pavilion, but the defining moment of the game was a sour one for the Bruins.
Less than five minutes into the first half, freshman forward T.J. Leaf sprained his left ankle by landing awkwardly on Washington’s Noah Dickerson after blocking a shot.
Leaf was down on the ground for over a minute before being helped off the court and into the locker room by two UCLA assistants. He did not return to the game and was scheduled to be re-evaluated after the game, a UCLA spokesman said.
With the uncertain status of Leaf – the team’s leading scorer – hanging over the action, the Bruins did their best to send the crowd home happy, scoring 49 points in each half and entertaining the fans with exciting plays all night long.
With Leaf out of the game, UCLA went to its four-guard lineup for extended stretches, playing at a fast pace that produced plenty of highlight sequences.
At one point, freshman point guard Lonzo Ball received the ball under UCLA’s hoop and lofted a high-arcing football pass over halfway downcourt to senior guard Isaac Hamilton, who drove into the paint and hit a floater.

So Lonzo threw this pass… pic.twitter.com/zLyudD01Hp
— Matt Cummings (@mbcummings15) March 2, 2017

Ball then flew up the court to steal Washington’s inbound pass and, two passes later, drilled a corner 3.
In another sequence, Ball jumped in the air and flung a pass forward to senior guard Alford, who bounced it back to Ball for an easy lay-in.
Alford made eight 3-pointers and scored a game-high 29 points while Ball tallied 19 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals, and senior guard Isaac Hamilton added 15 points of his own.
UCLA shot 52.1 percent for the game, including 14 ...


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Spartan Daily, February 28, 2017

SJSU ScholarWorks Volume 148, Issue 14


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Coach Raves About JUCO Tight End

The Arkansas Traveler - sports









Next season, Razorback football fans will have a chance to see the No. 1 ranked junior college tight end perform on the field and his skill set is a special one.











Jeremy Patton recently signed his letter of intent to play for the UofA. Patton picked Arkansas over Alabama, Auburn, Louisville and several others and is expected to compete for the starting job when he arrives on campus.






His former Arizona Western coach Tom Minnick, the winningest football coach in the school’s history, called him a top-notch run blocker and an elite level receiver.





Minnick broke down the different ways Patton can be an instant asset to the Razorback football team.





“You can use him in different ways to attack a defense, and that’s what we did with him here,” Minnick said. “He improved so much on his on-line blocking, and we count on him to block. We block power, zone and all that stuff and he did a great job with us to get us to the National Championship game because of his blocking.”





Patton signed his letter of intent Dec. 14, and was supposed to enroll and attend classes by Jan. 17, but lacked the required credits to transfer.





Patton said he is working diligently to acquire the credits before the season starts, according to a statement released by the tight end on his Twitter account.





“Last semester, I was on course to graduate mid-year, but I failed to complete this task, which is why I am not at the University of Arkansas at the current moment,” Patton said. “The coaching staff at Arkansas has been so great with guiding (me) down the right path to achieve my goals, and for that, I owe it to them and to all of my Razorback fans and family to give everything I have to come and compete this summer.”





Similar to ...


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MUPD arrests two students for anti-Semitic harassment

The Maneater: Latest Stories Two MU students were arrested for anti-Semitic harassment outside McDavid Hall around 8 p.m. Monday.
According to MU Police Department Maj. Brian Weimer, MUPD received a call earlier in the day and made contact with the victim after “some various incidents that led up to the harassment.”
Weimer declined to provide further details regarding the incidents. More information will be included in an investigative report, he said.
Interim Chancellor Hank Foley sent out a mass email to the university, which stated that “the criminal case is now in the hands of the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office and information is being shared with the university’s Office for Civil Rights and Title IX, where the students could face disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion from the university.”
Foley described the incident as “abhorrent and antithetical to [MU’s] core value of respect.” It “simply will not be tolerated,” he said.
A crime alert was not sent out because the incident did not meet the crime alert requirements, Weimer said. These are, according to the Office of the Chancellor, “any event, manmade or natural, that [threatens] the safety and security of our students, faculty and staff. Examples include weather-related emergencies, bomb threats, and criminal activity on or near campus.”
Weimer said this was not a timely enough incident to send out a crime alert.
Edited by Emily Gallion | egallion@themaneater.com















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SGA candidates announced

The Herald - news









The Student Government Association’s candidates for the 2017-2018 student body president and vice president have been announced.











The presidential candidates and their running mates are Ethan Barnes and Kyle Fouts; Joseph Inman and Claire Rowland; and Haley Stotts and Jon Mark Horton. 






Junior business administration major, Barnes of Hardy, Arkansas, and junior mechanical engineering major, Fouts of Bebee, have teamed up as presidential and vice president candidates. The duo hopes to bring a renewed emphasis to the students of Arkansas State University. 





Their slogan is, “Better Student Representation for YOU, the students of Arkansas State YOUniversity.” 





“We look forward to being a voice for the entire student body, not just a portion,” Barnes said.  “I have dreamed of being a public servant to A-State and pray that God will allow us to fulfill our campaign goals.” 





Their goals for their presidency include improvements on campus safety with UPD, sexual assault awareness programs, reformation of ProctorU testing, as well as, scholarship for the most spirited Arkansas State student. 





“We plan to accomplish many goals. We want to act upon our platform in a timely manner that is fitting to the administration and the students,” Barnes said. 





They also have created an Instagram account with their platforms. For more information about their campaign, contact them at barnesfouts@gmail.com.





Junior biology major Inman of Jonesboro and junior English major Rowland of Paragould plan to “Elevate A-State” as their campaign promises. 





They have created various videos to explain how exactly they plan to improve the campus community. 





“Claire and I want to ensure that we are held accountable for what we have proposed,” Inman said. “We want to keep our promises and not leave [students] unsatisfied.” 





Their campaign promises include a class registration wait list, resolutions on the website, 24-hour library hours during finals, a Starbucks kiosk in the Delta Center, Topinga ...


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Early offense sets tone for Frogs in 13-5 victory over Rice

TCU 360
Print ArticleThe Frogs ended their four game home-stand with a hit parade that led to the 13-5 win over Rice University on Tuesday at Lupton Stadium.
The Frogs’ offense showed no remorse as they put up 10 in the first two innings against the Owls. In the first inning, Evan Skoug knocked one out of the park with a runner on base and Cam Warner soon followed with a two-run double.
Taking advantage of a pair of Rice errors, the Frogs were able to have six players make their rounds on the bases in the second. Elliott Barzilli put one in play just over the third baseman, which kick-started the rally. RBIs by Josh Watson, Cam Warner and Ryan Merrill gave TCU a very comfortable 10-0 lead after two innings.
Rice was able to get on the board with a solo home run in the third off freshman pitcher Jake Eissler. Eissler picked up the win in relief, allowing only one run on four hits in 2 ⅓ innings. Eissler came in after starting pitcher Mitchell Traver had only seen three batters. TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle said Traver felt some discomfort in his back.
Traver missed the majority of the 2016 season due to a muscle strain in his back. When he felt discomfort once again after just two outs, he signaled to the bench to be taken out of the game.
With such a young bullpen, the Frogs put multiple freshmen on the mound in relief. TCU used seven pitchers, with four true and one red-shirt freshman pitching for at least one inning in the win over the Owls.
Austen Wade tallied his second home run of the season by hitting an opposite field home run to lead the fifth inning. Wade extended his hitting streak to seven games and has reached base safely in all but one game the Frogs have ...


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Northwestern student hit by car while crossing Clark Street

The Daily Northwestern Police partially blocked off Clark Street after a 26-year-old Northwestern student was hit by a car Wednesday afternoon. The woman was taken to Evanston Hospital with a head injury.Allie Goulding/The Daily NorthwesternAllie Goulding/The Daily NorthwesternPolice partially blocked off Clark Street after a 26-year-old Northwestern student was hit by a car Wednesday afternoon. The woman was taken to Evanston Hospital with a head injury. Nora Shelly, City EditorMarch 1, 2017A 26-year-old Northwestern student has been transported to the hospital with a head injury after being hit by a car while crossing Clark Street on foot Wednesday afternoon, police said.
The woman was hit at about 3:10 p.m. while crossing the street between Chicago and Orrington avenues, Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan said. The student is currently in serious condition, he said.
The car was traveling northbound through an alley before turning left onto Clark Street when it hit the pedestrian, Dugan said. The driver told police she did not see the pedestrian until the collision. The investigation into the crash is ongoing, Dugan said, and there are currently no signs of impairment in the driver.
The pedestrian was unconscious when emergency officials reached the scene and was taken to Evanston Hospital. Clark Street will be blocked off until 6:30 p.m., according to a tweet from Evanston police.
This story is developing.
Email: [email protected]Twitter: @noracshelly
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Comment on PRIHODA: Putting responsibility for climate change onto our own plates by NM

Comments for Vanderbilt Hustler



It officially started with the disappearance of information about climate change from federal websites. Then, President Trump barred the Environmental Protection Agency from publishing studies or data prior to review by his notoriously anti-environment political appointees. As journalist/activist Naomi Klein points out, the resistance to environmentally-friendly policy is not in fact, actual disbelief in the science, but rather a deep-seated fear of the inevitable change in markets that would necessarily come with environmentally responsible policy. One of the world’s leading climatologists, Professor Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University, has called for a “rebellion” by scientists against Donald Trump – but of course, climate change is not just a scientist’s issue; it is everybody’s issue. Though writing letters, calling our representatives, and protesting are legitimate ways of influencing how policy is shaped, we must recognize our power as consumers in shaping the future of our world.
Fortunately, we have the opportunity to exercise this power approximately three times a day when we sit down (or grab something) to eat.
While turning off the faucet while we brush our teeth, going out of our way to separate recycling and compost, or even opting for a used/hybrid car over a gas-guzzler, the lifestyle changes recommended to consumers to reduce their ecological footprint seem either insignificant or few and far between. Recently, our dietary habits have come under increasing scrutiny. In January this year, Forbes stepped out and made the following statement: the best thing we can do as individuals to combat climate change is to “become a vegetarian, or better yet a vegan”.
Let’s look at the logic behind this statement: If you trace the origins of any animal-based calorie, it is far more resource-intensive than the average plant-based calorie. Consider that animal-based foods require first and foremost the bodies of animals, and like our own, animal bodies ...


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USAC ad hoc committee looks to increase student representation

Daily Bruin A committee trying to reform the undergraduate student government to include underrepresented communities held its first meeting Tuesday night.
The ad hoc committee, which aims to discuss ways to increase student representation in the Undergraduate Students Association Council, is meant to consist of several USAC representatives and a student focus group. However, only one of 15 students in the focus group attended the first meeting.
[Related: USAC creates committee to discuss potential council restructuring]
At the Nov. 10 council meeting, USAC Transfer Student Representative Divya Sharma proposed creating the committee in response to the presidential election results. He said he wanted to see more representation of student communities on the council table. The council approved the formation of the committee at its next meeting on Nov. 15.
Sharma, who plans to oversee the committee, recommended council members Academic Affairs Commissioner Ashly Mohankumar, Internal Vice President Sabrina Zeigler, Community Service Commissioner Zack Dameron and Student Wellness Commissioner Christina Lee to help with outreach or research-based tasks in the committee. The council approved Sharma’s recommendations unanimously Jan. 10. None of the appointed council members attended the committee’s first meeting.
The committee plans to hold weekly meetings to discuss the possibility of restructuring USAC to include more student groups that are currently underrepresented in student government. Sharma added the reform could be small, such as adding a position to an office, without creating entirely new seats on council.
“We need to reform the system,” Sharma said. “The best system is to have people of different communities in power.”
The focus group, which consists of USAC and non-USAC members, is supposed to provide student input to the committee to better inform its discussions.
In November, Sharma suggested restructuring the council to resemble a senate system, and potentially eliminating the general representative positions. However, some council members said they were concerned about the proposal because they thought ...


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App State athletics unveils $60 million renovation plan

The Appalachian Online Coming off of a football season that saw App State featured on national television a record eight times, the Mountaineer athletics program is looking to push the envelope to sustain success.
Following a comprehensive review, an App State press release noted that “needs of over $60 million have been identified.” Moving forward, the plan’s intention is to improve the lives of student-athletes at Appalachian.
“Our goal as an athletic department is to continue to elevate the App State brand and become an even greater source of pride and engagement for our university,” athletics director Doug Gillin said in Thursday’s press release. “To do so, we need to generate and develop a sustainable funding model.”
Gillin said in Thursday’s press release that the model has been identified as “A Mountaineer Impact, A Drive for Excellence,” which looks to meet the needs of “academics, facilities, student-athlete scholarships, staff recruitment and retention, student-athlete development and operating budgets.”
The new Holmes Center basketball center board concept expected to be finished in the fall
Kicking off this new campaign, a new video board for the Holmes Convocation Center and Kidd Brewer Stadium have been announced, both of which will be completed by the start of the 2017-18 seasons.
The football video board will be the largest of its kind in all of Group of Five football, and three times larger than the current board. Utilizing the same technology as boards at Duke, South Carolina and even the Carolina Panthers, the board will be approximately 2,500 square feet. In addition to the board, “The Rock” will be equipped with new ribbon displays and a new audio system combined with the video system.
At the Holmes Center, the long-awaited video board will make its debut. The center hung board will feature a convex curvature, and it will be just one of ...


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Georgia State athletes reflect on Black History Month

Sports – The Signal February is black History Month in America, a time where people look back and reflect on that history and impact of blacks in America. Sometimes its value gets overlooked, but it means different things to different people. Here are how some Georgia State athletes feel about Black History Month.
Tiffany Holston
What does Black History month mean to you?
Holston: I think Black History month means basically celebrating our culture basically going back to what happened in the past viewing on our upbringing. We made it out of tough times and slavery, and I think as blacks we came a long way.
Who is your favorite prominent black figure?
Holston: Currently, I would have to say, [Barack] Obama, he’s shown a lot of leadership as our former [president], definitely was a great leader,”. I looked up to him and the [former] first lady [Michelle Obama]. And of course [Martin Luther King Jr.] that’s a given, but all of them really they basically paved the way for us.
What would you do to help black people achieve social equality in America?
Holston: I wouldn’t try to fight fire with fire. You have to be smart in situations and basically, learn. I think what most blacks don’t know is that knowledge is basically our power, we have to have a lot of knowledge and progress through because you can’t fight fire with fire and we can’t do wars, but that’s what they want. We basically have to learn and get in the books.
D’Marcus Simonds
What does Black History month mean to you?
Simonds: We’ve had a lot of our rights oppressed, a lot of things going on against the black community, so to have this month dedicated to us, it’s just a big part of respecting our culture and just really ...


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Nick Ward named Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Week

MSUToday - Featured stories Michigan State forward Nick Ward has been named Big Ten Player of the Week as well as Big Ten Freshman of the Week, as announced by the conference office Feb. 27. Ward averaged 21.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg and shot .680 from the field in leading the Spartans to wins over Nebraska and No. 16 Wisconsin. Read more at msuspartans.com.


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Unidas Seremos unveils new study abroad scholarship for women of color

www.dailyuw.com - RSS Results in news,news/* of type article On Saturday night, Unidas Seremos hosted its fourth annual Ritmo Latino fundraiser night, a sold-out event full of dancing and community. A multicultural undergraduate organization aimed at empowering all self-identifying women, the RSO made close to $3,000 to go directly toward scholarships for first-year female students.From 8 p.m. to midnight, over 300 attendees of all majors and ethnicities gathered in Gould Hall’s high-ceilinged atrium to dance, socialize, and experience music from all over Latin America. Open to the whole campus community, this event mimicked its predecessor put on last March with a full house and enthusiastic participants. Interest was so high that pre-sale tickets sold out after only two days of tabling in Red Square. “This dance is something that has always been successful and I think it’s genuinely because people like to go out and just have fun,” club treasurer Natalia Esquivel-Silva said. “With the current political climate, there is a lot of division on campus, so this event is a place for people to get together, release a bit of stress, and learn about our culture.” 
Some basic dance instruction in the merengue, bachata, and cumbia styles was provided at the beginning of the evening and after that the dance floor was never empty. The music was overseen by DJ Freddy.The night’s $1,000 scholarship recipient was Ambar Aleman, a freshman member of Unidas Seremos as well a chair for The Purple Group, a peer support network for undocumented students on campus. It was also announced that a second $1,000 scholarship is now available for those who want to study abroad. Any woman of color who is a UW student is encouraged to apply.Unidas Seremos has come a long way in four years. Esquivel-Silva remembers her freshman year, when $500 was the most that they could award scholarship recipients. Now they have the funds for two $1,000 awards with ...


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Ole Miss students, staff talk natural hair

The Daily Mississippian African-American women are increasingly abandoning chemicals and relaxers for healthier, less-damaging, all-natural methods.  
The UM Women of Color Network presented the first part of the two-night event, “Pressed by Perceptions: Natural Hair Care and Cultural Expression on a College Campus,” which is aimed to provide advice for women on how to maintain healthy hair, to conclude Black History Month.
Women gathered at the Robert C. Khayat Law Center Weems Auditorium for two natural hair panels, a hair tutorial by stylist AJ Lester and a “product” talk with free samples, door prizes and a question and answer segment.
Rachel Coleman, an academic advisor at the Center for Student Success and First-Year Experience, moderated the event.
The first panel was led by students. Miss Ole Miss Acacia Santos, a senior mechanical engineering major, Kalah Walker, a senior IMC major and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Tiara Mabry, a senior psychology and nursing major and member of Sigma Gamma Rho, Randon Hill, a sophomore English and Spanish major and member of Zeta Phi Beta and Janell Granger, a senior IMC major and member of Delta Sigma Theta took their seats at center-stage.
As the girls answered questions, photos of their hair transitions from childhood up to now were displayed.
Walker said, growing up, her mom didn’t know what to do with her hair so she just put a perm on it. When she “big chopped,” at 5 years old, and cut off the relaxed or permed ends of her hair in order to transition from chemically processed hair to natural hair, she was devastated.
“I was crying,” Walker said. “I felt like the world was over and I was losing my mind.”
She decided to use wigs for a while until making the transition to natural.
Mabry was natural until she was four and her mom gave her a perm. She had a ...


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