The arch in the sorority quad: Girls going through formal sorority recruitment this year will be banned from shaking hands.
Photo: John Meguerian
The Weekly’s sex issue is out, and the stats might surprise you: of 1,000 surveyed NU undergrads, the majority of sexually active students (31.6 percent) lost their v-card freshman year, and most have had one to three sexual partners. But 30.2 percent of respondents are virgins, and of these, 29.9 percent abstain for religious reasons. For the rest? 42.4 percent of NU virgins simply can’t find anyone to sleep with. [The Weekly]
According to a report issued Tuesday by the College Board, the cost of higher education continues to rise: Four year public colleges increased tuition and fees by an average of 6.5 percent last year, while fees rose at private colleges 4.4 percent. And while the College Board points out that tuition increases during recessions tend to be steepest, and that only about a third of students pay sticker price, one education expert called the situation “unsustainable.” So, is there a solution? The authorities the Times spoke with said that financial aid is not the answer: “colleges need to be looking for ways to permanently restructure, not just cut their budgets.” [NYT]
H1N1 strikes again: because of fears of spreading swine flu, NU’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life (OFSL) and Panhellenic Association (PHA) have decided to ban handshakes during formal recruitment. But while freshmen might be “free of clammy hand-touching,” they’re also going to miss out on communal bowls of food and candy. Without M&Ms to reach for, what will this year’s freshmen do when the conversation stalls? [The Weekly]
As Evanston faces a budget deficit projected to hit $8 million by 2010-2011, city officials are considering hikes in property taxes, layoffs, and changes in health care, among other steps, to close the gap between revenue and expenses. Most of the deficit is a result of lower revenue in a down economy, but at a Monday night budget session, Alderman Ann Rainey said that officials should have been more realistic during last year’s budget discussion. According to Rainey, when she raised concerns last year, Assistant City Manager and Finance Director Martin Lyons replied, “We’ll fix it later.” [Evanston Review]
