#Buzz
Supreme Court to revisit affirmative action
The Supreme Court agreed to hear a white student’s appeal against affirmative action Tuesday. The last time the nation’s highest court considered affirmative action was in 2003, when the justices decided that race could be allowed as a factor in admission decisions. In what is most likely going to be one of the most high profile cases of the year, today’s more conservative court will reconsider 2003′s ruling in light of the student’s claims that she was denied admittance to the University of Texas based on the color of her skin. This controversial topic will likely also become a major topic in this year’s presidential campaigns as the case will be taken to court this fall, in the midst of the 2012 elections.
[NY Times]
Evanston Police Department acquires super fancy car plate scanner
If raids on various bars and BYOB restaurants and the new scanners at EV1 weren’t enough of a crime deterrent, the Evanston Police Department has now acquired an automated license plate reader to digitally scan and store plates’ numbers as the police car drives by. The scanner’s database can inform police whether a car is stolen or belongs to someone on a warrant. With such technology at their hands, maybe next time if a pedestrian gets hit by a car the police will actually be able to figure out who did it.
Join the Mile High Club with Flamingo Air’s blessings
On Intel’s sex survey, at least one respondent said their kinkiest sexual fantasy was to join the Mile High Club, and plenty of you responded that you’d love to have sex in a public place. So all you exhibitionists might be interested to hear that Cincinnati-based airline Flamingo Air is offering a romantic package for couples to have sex in the sky. For the price of $425 passengers will receive 60 minutes on a private plane with chocolate, champagne and a “very discreet pilot.” If Valentine’s Day with your sweetheart wasn’t exciting enough, Ohio is only a few hours away.
Trader Joe’s plans to set up shop in Evanston
Granola crunchers now have something to distract from the worries of global warming during this mild winter. Our favorite Trader named Joe is finally coming to town. Just as we were all tiring of buying our oat bran and soy beans at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s plans to build a store at 1211 Chicago Avenue. This will be the very first of Joe’s outposts in Evanston and just the 14th in the state. Mayor Tisdahl said that the prospect of Trader Joe’s proves that Evanston’s economy is on the rise. The store is set to open the first quarter of 2013, so until then we’ll have to busy ourselves with making hemp bracelets and growing out our dreads.
Donate those drunk texts to research
Please sign here to become a text-donor. Come again? That’s right; now researchers are looking for more than just livers and spleens from organ donors to conduct research on. Linguistic researchers from three Canadian institutions—the universities of Montreal and Ottawa, and Simon Fraser University are working together on a project called Text4Science, a global project to collect 100,000 text messages. Researchers are hoping to disprove the theory that texters are lazy and use informal language to text friends. Your text messages are more than just a collection of letters on a tiny screen, they are linguistic proof of our evolving language and culture. So next time you’re about to erase those week old drunk texts, think twice and send them in here. Make your texts matter.
Lice outbreak takes over Indiana university, all we can say is “ew”
Well, we thought we were done with this after mom threw away all of our stuffed animals and combed our hair for us for weeks in second grade, but it looks like lice is back. At Huntington University, a lice outbreak has affected four campus dormitories. The university is pointing to a group of students returning from a trip to India as the source of the outbreak. Okay, okay, we get it. Dorms are breeding grounds for infections and illness. But it’s still gross, and we’re scratching our heads at the students who had it in the first place and thought it would be a good idea to return to the dorm. Where’s mom when you need her?
Body Acceptance Week 2012 starts this week
Ever feel dejected when catching a glimpse of yourself in the mirror before stepping into the shower? Body Acceptance “Week,” sponsored by CAPS, takes place on campus this week from Monday to Wednesday. The Body Affirmation Station will teach you how to love your body by handing out pamphlets at Norris, Hinman and Sargent on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. A campus chef and dietitian will demonstrate how to cook healthy, nutritious meals at Norris Wednesday at 6 p.m. with free samples and a prize drawing for those who register online. And then the keynote event, a screening of Killing Us Softly 4 will be at Searle Wednesday at 6 p.m. with a discussion of women’s body images and a prize drawing to follow. Now get out there and learn to self-gratify, but in a totally different way from the SPAC criminal.
Students at Dickinson State University graduated without doing all the work
Many a Northwestern student has fantasized about graduating college without having to endure the all-nighters and feverish studying. But for hundreds of foreign students at Dickinson State University in North Dakota, this dream was a reality. An internal audit showed that since 2003, 584 international students, mostly from China and some from Russia, received degrees without the right number of credits or proper admissions requirements, and with falsified transcripts from their Chinese universities. Dickinson State University is working to notify the students and help them meet the actual requirements, and the school has been advised to immediately terminate its international programs. It might be nice to graduate without doing all the work, but it’s probably just better to do it right the first time.
Ohio State tries out new recruiting system
College recruiting just got a whole lot easier. For students interested in The Ohio State University, gone are the days of sifting through heaps of boring letters and standard brochures filled with pictures of students captured mid-laugh surrounded by a group of attractive friends on a spacious green lawn. Beginning just this past week, Ohio State launched CollegiateChat, where high school students can search for an Ohio State student with similar interests. Potential students can then email, IM, or call the OSU student to ask any questions they have. The conversations are completely private and Ohio State only knows that the potential student is interested. For prospective students it will be a useful tool: just like Chat Roulette minus the unwanted nudity.
Yale students organize a Kiss-In
Sit-ins are so outdated. Yale students who attended Anthony Esolen’s “The Person as a Gift” speech participated in a Kiss-In, where homosexual and straight couples stood up in the middle of the lecture and began snogging passionately to the tune of “I’m Coming Out”. Esolen, a Princeton alum and English professor at Providence College, wrote and published an extensive, ten-part treatise against gay marriage, and was asked to deliver a speech during Yale’s “True Love Week”, which is meant to counteract the casual hook-up culture supposedly propagated by Yale’s Sex Week. Homosexual students were naturally offended and tested out a new form of non-violent protesting. Here’s to hoping that Kiss-Ins become popular nation-wide, because who knew it could be so much fun to protest?
[Ivy Gate]
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HOW BRAZEN of you Shayna Starr. don't want people to know you wrote this garbage? Good thing I already got ...