Syracuse Students Suspended in Latest College Coronavirus Crackdown

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Syracuse University has suspended 23 students following a large on-campus gathering, the latest example of college crackdowns on the kind of socializing that can spread the coronavirus and sink plans for in-person learning this semester.Syracuse officials announced the disciplinary action late Thursday and said they were reviewing security camera footage to identify additional students seen on video crowding into the campus Quad on Wednesday night in violation of rules limiting crowds and requiring masks.The gathering drew a sharp rebuke earlier from Vice Chancellor J. Michael Haynie, who said participants had undercut efforts to make residential learning possible.”We have one shotmore

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US Universities Roll Out COVID Spit Tests

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A recently approved rapid saliva test for COVID-19 is already being used on college campuses across the United States. Also called spit tests, they produce results in less than 24 hours, cost about $10, and are less invasive than the standard swab that is placed deep into the nose.Faster, Easier COVID-19 Test Approved as US Testing Rates Fall A Yale-developed, NBA-funded test uses saliva to detect the coronavirusYale University School of Public Health in Connecticut partnered with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association in June, the school said, to devise the test, called SalivaDirect.“Direct saliva testing canmore

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Trump: Closing Colleges Amid Outbreaks ‘Could Cost Lives’

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President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted universities that have canceled in-person classes amid coronavirus outbreaks, saying the move could ultimately cost lives rather than saving them.Raising the issue at a White House news briefing, Trump said the virus is akin to the seasonal flu for college students and that students pose a greater safety threat at home with older family members than on college campuses. He cited no evidence to support either contention, and the White House did not respond to a request for information on what Trump based his remarks.Health experts have said the novel coronavirus appears to bemore

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Med Students Lose Empathy After Second Year, Study Finds

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While medical school students gain key healing skills as their education progresses, one important quality seems to wane: empathy.According to a study from FILE – Medical students hug during a demonstration, June 5, 2020, in Salt Lake City, Utah.DOs are fully licensed physicians who practice in all areas of medicine, according to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM),  and empathy is an important part of their program.“Emphasizing a whole-person approach to treatment and care, DOs are trained to listen and partner with their patients to help them get healthy and stay well,” according to the American Osteopathicmore

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Western Culture a Challenge for Some Foreign Students in US, Study Finds

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For international students at universities in the United States, one factor stands out in the social divide between them and their domestic peers: self-esteem.     Psychologist Wendy Quinton, at the State University of New York at Buffalo, researched what many international students dread when arriving on U.S. campuses.  “Cultivating close contact with members of the host culture is a consistent and particularly difficult challenge,” Quinton wrote in her study.International students seek relationships with their domestic peers, but differences in culture and communication often interfere.  “The lack of meaningful connection with students from the host culture is associated with manymore

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COVID-19 Infections Rising Among Young People on US University Campuses

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Reports of COVID-19 cases are growing on university campuses as schools reopen for the fall semester.FILE – People remove belongings on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., March 18, 2020.Oklahoma State University announced Aug. 15 there were Patrons stand on the Bear Trap’s rooftop bar on The Strip, the University of Alabama’s bar scene, Aug. 15, 2020, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.The simulation studied the spread of a highly transmissible virus, such as COVID-19, at reasonably large research university and monitored the efficacy of interventions, such as contact tracing, mask-wearing, online instruction, etc.It consisted of 20,000 studentsmore

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University of North Carolina Cancels In-Person Classes After COVID Outbreak

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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the largest schools in the U.S., is canceling all in-person classes after an outbreak of COVID-19.  The sudden change to remote learning comes a week after classes began for the fall semester. The school had instituted remote learning for most classes in March during the initial spread of the coronavirus. On Monday, school officials said that 177 students had tested positive for the coronavirus and another 350 were in quarantine in dorms and off-campus housing because of possible exposure. “We understand the concern and frustrations these changes will raise with many studentsmore

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Climate Activists, Traditionalists Square Off in Harvard Alumni Board Vote

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A Harvard University board election pits proponents of two popular causes against each other: those focused on climate change and those who want to keep money and what they describe as special interests out of the contest.Votes are due Tuesday for five open seats on the Harvard University Board of Overseers, a 30-member alumni body that helps set strategy for the Cambridge, Mass. School.Usually nominees come from Harvard’s alumni association. But five of this year’s 13 candidates were nominated by Harvard Forward, a campaign by recent graduates who want the school to divest fossil fuel assets from its $41 billionmore

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Feds Urge Judge to OK Prison Deals for Loughlin, Giannulli

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Federal prosecutors urged a judge Monday to accept deals that call for “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin to spend two months in prison and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, to serve five months for paying half a million dollars to bribe their daughters’ way into college. Ahead of the famous couple’s scheduled sentencing hearings Friday, prosecutors said in court filings that the proposed prison terms are comparable to the sentences other prominent parents charged in the case have received, while accounting for Loughlin and Giannulli’s “repeated and deliberate conduct” and their “decision to allow their children to become complicit inmore

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Students Protest Tuition Hikes as Universities Continue Online

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Most U.S. universities are returning to online learning in their fall schedules as the coronavirus pandemic continues, and students are challenging paying full tuition.   Many universities are operating hybrid models — combining courses in person and courses online — while others are remaining online only for the 2020-2021 academic year.  As of July 29, 23.5% of nearly 3,000 U.S. universities and colleges are planning for fully in-person or primarily in-person classes, 14% are proposing hybrid models, and 30% are planning for a fully online or primarily online fall semester, according to data from The Chronicle of Higher Education and Davidsonmore

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Students Call for Radical Changes to Thailand Government

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Thousands of protesters called for radical changes to the Thai government Sunday — the latest in near daily protests lead by students against the government.Bangkok police estimated 10,000 attendees, which would make the demonstration the largest Thailand has seen since the 2014 coup. Student leaders are demanding new elections to form a new parliament, including the dismissal of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former general who took power in the 2014 coup and won disputed elections last year. But Sunday’s protests also called for changes to the monarchy  a sensitive subject in Thailand, where anyone criticizing the Royal Family may face long prisonmore

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High-Schoolers Arrange Free Tutoring for Hundreds

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Two high-school students — one a Boy Scout — have created a free, online tutoring service for students during the COVID pandemic.  Manan ShahManan Shah, 16, a high-school senior and Boy Scout from New Jersey, saw many students struggling with online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and created a system to help them. “We still realized there was kind of that missing piece without a teacher being present at all times,” Shah explained to VOA. “So, we figured this was our way to give back if we could get a team of volunteers to help the other students.”  “We” is Shahmore

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Boy Scout Arranges Free Tutoring for Hundreds

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A youngster in the Boy Scouts of America has taken the U.S.-based youth development organization’s motto — “Be prepared” — well beyond himself to help hundreds of high-school students with online learning. Manan ShahManan Shah, 16, a high-school senior and Boy Scout from New Jersey, saw many students struggling with online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and created a system to help them. “We still realized there was kind of that missing piece without a teacher being present at all times,” Shah explained to VOA. “So, we figured this was our way to give back if we could get a team ofmore

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US Classifies Confucius Institute Center as Foreign Mission

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The United States announced Thursday that it would require the center that runs the Confucius Institute to register as a foreign mission of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, alleging the group’s Chinese language courses are part of a widespread campaign of influence and propaganda in the U.S.In a statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo presented the Confucius Institute U.S. Center in Washington as “an entity advancing Beijing’s global propaganda and malign influence campaign on U.S. campuses and K-12 classrooms” and said that the center “has taken advantage of America’s openness.”The announcement comes of the heels of another spat over themore

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Feds: Yale Discriminates Against Asian, White Applicants

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A Justice Department investigation has found Yale University is illegally discriminating against Asian American and white applicants, in violation of federal civil rights law, officials said Thursday.  Yale denied the allegation, calling it “meritless” and “hasty.” The findings detailed in a letter to the college’s attorneys Thursday mark the latest action by the Trump administration aimed at rooting out discrimination in the college application process, following complaints from students about the application process at some Ivy League colleges. The Justice Department had previously filed court papers siding with Asian American groups who had leveled similar allegations against Harvard University.  The two-yearmore

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Over Half of US Lower Schools to Stay Online

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Over half of U.S. public elementary and secondary school students will study online this fall, according to new research.In addition to the 52% of students learning online, 44% will attend school in person on partial schedules, such as rotating days. Four percent of school districts remain undecided, according to a survey by Burbio, a data service that aggregates school calendars nationwide. “We have seen a dramatic shift to online-only learning in the past three weeks,” Julie Roche, Burbio co-founder, said in a press release. “Large districts such as Chicago, and Sun Belt cities such as Houston and Miami, along with largemore

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Screen College Students for COVID Every 2 Days, Researchers Advise  

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U.S.-based colleges and universities continue to struggle with how they will receive students while containing the spread of COVID-19.  Nearly 40% of schools say they will bring students back to campus, according to the FILE – A student takes classes online with his companions using the Zoom app at home.Researchers say schools would have to test their students every two days for COVID-19 to ensure their health and safety, and screening after symptoms emerge won’t control the spread, according to a study published July 31.  “We believe that there is a safe way for students to return to college inmore

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Frequent COVID Testing Advised for Campus Students  

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U.S.-based colleges and universities continue to struggle with how they will receive students while containing the spread of COVID-19.  Nearly 40% of schools say they will bring students back to campus, according to the FILE – A student takes classes online with his companions using the Zoom app at home.Researchers say schools would have to test their students every two days for COVID-19 to ensure their health and safety, and screening after symptoms emerge won’t control the spread, according to a study published July 31.  “We believe that there is a safe way for students to return to college inmore

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No Parties, No Trips, No Outside Guests Allowed

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As they struggle to salvage some semblance of a campus experience this fall, U.S. colleges are requiring promises from students to help contain the coronavirus — no keg parties, no long road trips and no outside guests on campus. No kidding. Administrators warn that failure to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid mass gatherings could bring serious consequences, including getting booted from school. Critics question whether it’s realistic to demand that college students not act like typical college students. But the push illustrates the high stakes for universities planning to welcome at least some students back. Wide-scale COVID-19 testing,more

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College Leaders Talk While Football Players Push to Play

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After the Power Five conference commissioners met Sunday to discuss mounting concern about whether a college football season can be played in a pandemic, players took to social media to urge leaders to let them play.Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said no decisions on the season have been made, but conceded the outlook has not improved. “Are we in a better place today than two weeks, ago?” he said. “No, we’re not.”[Power Five and Big 12 are football conferences, or collections of sports teams organized at the college level, like Big 10 and Pac-12.] Bowlsby cited “growing evidence and the growing poolmore

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COVID Threatens Small Colleges, Small Towns 

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There’s a lot riding on a kickoff set for 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12. The Sterling College Warriors are scheduled to take on the McPherson College Bulldogs at home. If that familiar thud of shoe against football and cheer from the stands doesn’t happen, the college that keeps the central Kansas town’s economy humming, that gives it cultural vitality, and that separates Sterling from the hollowing out that defines so many other small Midwestern towns, might not survive. The school, after 133 years, could die and doom the town that takes such pride in the football squad and embraces the student bodymore

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Liberty University President Taking Leave of Absence

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Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University in Virginia, will be taking an indefinite leave of absence, the university announced Friday afternoon.The executive committee of Liberty’s board of trustees met Friday and requested that Falwell take the leave, to which he agreed. The university statement said it would be “effective immediately.”Falwell has been president since 2007 of Liberty University, which was founded by his father, the late Reverend Jerry Falwell.The leave announcement came after Jerry Falwell Jr. apologized for a recent photo posted on social media in which his pants were unzipped.Talking with local radio station WLNI 105.9 in Lynchburg,more

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Liberty University President Apologizes for Photo

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The president of Liberty University in Virginia has apologized for a recent photo posted on social media in which his pants are unzipped. Talking with local radio station WLNI 105.9 Lynchburg, Jerry Falwell Jr. gave an explanation for the photo in which his arm is around a woman whose pants are also unzipped, and he holds a plastic cup filled with “black water,” as he described the liquid.  “Yeah, it was weird. She’s pregnant. She couldn’t get her pants zipped and I was like trying to like …” said Falwell, who leads the conservative and religious university. “I had on a pairmore

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Doctors Ask Medical Schools to Drop MCAT Tests During Pandemic

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A professional society of 163,000 physicians, trainees and fellows of internal medicine in the United States is asking medical schools to waive the entrance exam because the COVID-19 pandemic has made testing unmanageable. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.The American College of Physicians (ACP) suggests the schools look at applicants holistically – considering factors including grades and experience – and dispense with the Medical College Admission Test – known as the MCAT – for entrance year 2021.“Applicants have experienced disruptions in taking the MCAT examination, whether due to personal health and safety concerns, vendor-initiated scheduling changes, or difficultiesmore

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