Collegiate Press Roundup

We present our weekly review of selected student editors and news analysts. In this week’s survey, they weigh in on residential learning communities, the deficiencies of standardized tests, the exploitative objectification of college women and the accountability of campus police at private institutions.

1. As a presidential candidate in 2008, Barack Obama promised to clean up the system in Washington, under which higher educational policies often reflected pressure from big-money lobbyists. As president, he’s unfortunately continued to play the same old game, and the editors of the Minnesota Daily think that’s really a shame.
2. Two columnists for the Arkansas Traveler offer their respective views of the various holidays observed in the month of December. One thinks the season goes better if we respect the diversity of traditions represented, while her colleague insists that it’s ultimately about Christmas.
3. The editors of the DePaulia think that actor Alec Baldwin deserved to get the boot from an American Airlines flight recently. It’s bad enough when celebrities misbehave in public places, even worse when they’re wholly unrepentant.
4. Although he doesn’t object to the idea of individual residential learning communities, a regular for the Iowa State Daily thinks that the proliferation of themes along racial, ethnic and sexual lines has little to do with academic achievement.
5. Getting into college ought to reflect many factors, not simply the arbitrary results of standardized tests, according to an op ed writer for the Michigan Daily. 
6. The editors of the BU Free Press shake their heads at the news of a big name,  big salary professor at the school who was truant most of the time. Her employment status, they suggest, should be “re-evaluated.”
7. As North Carolina residents ponder their votes on a proposed marriage amendment for May 2012, a columnist for the Duke Chronicle challenges the College Republicans to break with their party’s opposition to same-sex marriage.
8. The sexual objectification of women is visible everywhere on the U of P campus, and a writer for the Daily Pennsylvanian demands that it cease forthwith.
9. Although George Washington U may be a private institution, a writer for the Hatchet argues that the campus police should be subject to greater transparency and accountability. If there’s police misconduct, then we need to know about it.
10. An opinion columnist for the Daily Nebraskan elaborates the difficulty of compiling a list of Top Jackasses for 2011, since the field of worthies is so overcrowded.
11. From Afghanistan to climate change, a news analyst for the Kentucky Kernal finds US foreign policy to be derelict and destructive.   A lively comments thread indicates that his readers take issue with his conclusions.
12. What is Carrier IQ? A columnist for Student Life at Washington U, St. Louis explains, and says why you should be concerned about this omnipresent and invisible technological threat to privacy. He argues for stringent restrictions and close monitoring of its use.