College Tidbits Blog

In a recent court case, Virginia Judge M. Hannah Lauck held that the Virginia law violated the student publications’ constitutional right to free expression.

The student publications argued that not being able to run such ads put them automatically at a competitive disadvantage against commercial papers that faced no such prohibition against advertising beer, wine or liquor — but also reached students. Read full article.

Binge and under-age drinking has become a major problem on many college campuses. Statistics show that, nearly 1,700 college students between the ages of 18-24 die each year from alcohol related incidents.

Short of returning to “Prohibition”, which we know didn’t work, what can be done to help curve under-age drinking?  Since I do not drink alcohol, it’s easy for me to say we should raise the legal drinking age and develop tougher laws.  But will that really solve the problem?  Will it only make things worse?

Second thought, if alcohol is legal…Why isn’t it legal to do drugs?  Drinking has the same negative impact as drug abuse.  If you legalize drugs, wouldn’t that greatly reduce the crime associated with drugs?  That way the government could legislate it like alcohol and cigarettes, even tax it.

What do you think? Do you think I am crazy…Share your thoughts…

I know this was written some time ago (Sept 9, 2007), but I just recently stumbled upon it.

The article was posted in the Sentinel which claims to be a monthly, independent publication for The Ohio State University.

I am sorry but I did not find it very humorous.  But what I do find interesting are some of the comments.  I am always amazed at the what people will say when they think that they have complete anonymity.

While I am certainly a proponent of free speech, does it and should it carry over to our college campuses? Share your thoughts…

The article title and brief excerpt are shown below:

The Black Guy’s Guide to Landing White Chicks

The Sentinel’s satirical guide to breaking down racial barriers

I know what you may be thinking already; yeah, I’m white. I’m a total honky. At a healthy mix of Italian and Croatian, I have no place giving advice for black guys.

But, after consulting several black friends of mine and watching two whole seasons of Flavor of Love, I assure you that I speak from a position of authoritative knowledge.

So, for all of my slightly darker colleagues who have ever dreamed of hooking up with a Caucasian female, I humbly offer you a few tips on how to seal the deal…full article

A recent report issued by America’s Promise Alliance, found that about half of the students attending public school systems in the nation’s largest cities receive diplomas.

APA’s report clearly shows that how we do school in America, especially within our inner cities is obviously broken and needs fixing.

Hopefully, bringing attention to this issue will heighten our awareness and help gain support for resolving this growing problem.

This report seems to be gaining a great deal of attention. However, I always find it ironic how the most critical, most controversial and most negative stories always become such hot items, see for yourself by clicking this link.

So, instead of focusing on the negative, today I have chosen to draw attention to the positive — Community Links High School, located on Chicago’s Westside, is celebrating a 100% graduation rate.

They have been able to accomplish this through:

1. Smaller class sizes
2. Parent participation
3. Community involvement.

In a recent interview with ABC-Chicago, Community Links Principal, Francisco Borras said this regarding the 100% graduation rate:

“That takes a lot of work. And really I think what helps us is working, really, alongside parents, community, a student’s family along the course of their high school career.”

Just as a small light has the ability to brighten an entire room…The success of a common few, can inspire us all…