Despite increasing tuition rates, more students are attending college than ever before. But are students actually learning anything?

Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa recently published “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses,” which exposes national issues of higher education and claims that undergraduates are slacking more than ever before.

In today’s society, a college degree is a basic requirement for a job in almost any profession, and some parents start saving for their children’s college expenses when they are very young.

However, research by the Collegiate Learning Assessment illustrates that once in college, many undergraduates do not learn much. The main reason: a lack of motivation.

Academic drifters are students who have no clear idea of what they want to do with their degree and who show little discipline.

Compared to previous decades, “Students as a whole have fewer academic standards and lower work ethic,” Stacey Reycraft, director of Student Disability Services, said.

Economic surveys in “Academically Adrift” show that in the 1920s students averaged 40 hours a week on academic studies. This number has declined over time, and by 2003, the average student spent only 13 hours a week on academics.

The authors also gave a cognitive test to 2,300 students across the country, and 45 percent showed no sign of improvement in cognitive thinking, complex reasoning and creative writing during their first two years.

This decline has very little effect on GPA fluctuation. Rather than learning the substance of their majors, students learn the art of managing college.

According to statistics released by Duke University, students shape their schedules to include classes that require less study time and have professors who are more inclined to grade leniently and choose classes based on student evaluations rather than the class syllabi.

“Colleges and universities, for all the benefits they bring, accomplish far less for their students than they should,” Derek Bok, former Harvard University president, said.

Economists challenge professors to look past the temporary recession and build students up for long-run productivity by finding creative ways to assign more reading and writing course work outside the mandatory curriculum.

Economists like Claudia Goldman argue that investments in higher education lead to profitable economic circumstances, but if these investments produce “scholars” who cannot think abstractly, this “investment” becomes a loss.

The blame of scholastic decline does not rest only on the professors and the students; it also rests on the administration.

Statistics released by universities show that on average, four-year colleges spend more money on athletic endeavors than on academic scholarships and programs.

According to statistics released by the NCAA, athletic spending generates revenue for SEC schools, but Ole Miss was the only university that broke even, with $45,737,904 of operating expenses and revenue.

Regardless of the financial expenses of education, the way students spend their time has a significant impact on cognitive enhancement.

Arum and Ruska also took surveys at Duke University and other four-year colleges, which showed that students who spend more time in Greek life have lower academic rates of return for their college degrees.

“Educational practices associated with academic rigor improved student performance, while collegiate experiences associated with social engagement did not,” Arum said in “Academically Adrift.”

In the book “Academically Adrift,” “The most significant increase in cognitive development, creative writing and complex reasoning is found in the school of liberal arts,” the authors said in their book.

Their economic research illustrated that students whose majors fall in this category graduate with higher levels of cognitive development than those who major in business, communication, education or social work.

Arum said in the book that federal mandates regarding testing on classroom curricula, new editions of textbooks and better classroom technology are not the key to a better education.

“The challenge of getting a college degree is to emerge with the ability to think critically and solve problems as they arise in the world,” Trey Fonde, economic major said.

“In the race to completion, there is this assumption that a credit is a credit is a credit, and when you get to the magic number of credits, you will have learned what you need to learn.

Debra Humphreys, vice president for communications and public affairs of the Association for American Colleges and Universities, said,
“What Arum’s book shows is that you can accumulate an awful lot of credits and not learn anything.”

During a lecture at Duke University, biology professor Zhen Ming Pei encouraged students to study.

“The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do is balance how much I want to achieve with how much effort I’m willing to put forth,” he said.

The potential NFL lockout has been covered endlessly, but the possibility of an NBA lockout also looms, and it could destabilize the tremendous growth the league has seen over the last few months.

The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement will expire shortly after the 2010-11 season comes to a close, and there has yet to be any progress toward making a new one. Union President Billy Hunter and League Commissioner David Stern last met during the All-Star break, and rather than come closer to an agreement, both sides moved further apart.

The labor history of the NBA differs drastically from that of the NFL. For instance, the last time the NBA entered a lockout was in 1998, which caused the league to miss the first half of the 1998-99 regular season. Meanwhile, the NFL has been more stable, with its last lockout coming in 1987.

More importantly, the ramifications of an NBA lockout are different. An NFL lockout would equal a one-year loss of billions of dollars for the NFL, but the league’s long-term future seems to be secure. Football is the most profitable sport in America, with its stadium attendance and television contracts dwarfing that of other professional leagues. The 2011 Super Bowl was the most-watched sporting event in American television history, with 111 million viewers. It supplanted the 2010 Super Bowl, which had 106.5 million viewers.

The NBA’s long-term future is far from stable. One ongoing problem has been dwindling ticket sales. During the 2008-09 season the league sold over 91 percent of its tickets; that percentage has dwindled to just over 88 percent this season. The New Jersey Nets have built a reputation of playing in a half empty arena. In the past couple seasons, television ratings were also down, with the biggest example being the horrendous 2007 NBA Finals between San Antonio and Cleveland.

Luckily for the NBA, this season’s television ratings have been up, thanks to the controversial acquisitions of the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks, the improbable playoff pushes of the Memphis Grizzlies and the Atlanta Hawks, and the consistently superb play of Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant. The NBA has a solid base of popularity that it needs to build upon. Losing a season would destroy its momentum.

Much like the NHL after its lockout cancelled the 2004-05 season, the NBA’s attendance and television ratings would likely plummet when play resumes. While a lockout in any professional sport would result in the loss of millions of dollars, the NBA faces the prospect of stunting its budding economic growth for a long period of time.

Oregon State University, in collaboration with the University of Washington, has chosen a new site for the wave energy program off the coast of Newport, which will be the only of its kind in the United States.

After research, development and many years of planning, this local testing site will be available to students and faculty.

“This new site is a testing ground,” said Dr. Ted Brekken, assistant professor in electrical engineering and computer sciences. “The location has already been permitted, the path has been cleared and it is ready for the new technology.”

Through the wave energy program, new technology will be tested in order to further the development of ocean waves into energy.

“Wave energy refers to the moving water particles that enable the technology that converts it into energy,” Brekken said. “This program initially started in the electrical engineering department and has now spread to a number of electrical, mechanical and civil engineering students, as well as marine biology students and faculty.”

The new testing site will primarily be used for the production and implementation of new technology and devices.

“Wave energy buoys will be tested with a few possible configurations,” said Annette von Jouanne, professor of electrical engineering. “For example, the wave energy developer could deploy a device and monitor its power generation using equipment contained within the device.”

Through this process, OSU has also been continuing its work with the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center.

“This program was established, led by OSU in collaboration with the University of Washington,” von Jouanne said. “NNMREC will be able to help the wave energy developers test, advance and optimize their technologies, including answering important environmental and social questions.”

Not only will this new site benefit the wave energy program and academic research here at Oregon State, but the local area will also be affected.

“This site development will be good for the technology, but for the local community as well,” Brekken said. “Since this is a testing site and isn’t necessarily permanent, we have been in working with the Newport fishing community in terms of development.”

Newport has been known as a fishing town since the 1870s. Today, this area has become a tourist attraction, as well as an increasingly busy harbor.

“We have spent years collaborating with the ocean community, including fisherman, crabbers and recreation to find a low-impact site for them, and that would be suitable for wave energy developers,” von Jouanne said. “Overall, efforts have included building strong support for wave energy at the state and federal levels, in addition to building essential collaborations with the industries, utilities and the community.”

Discussions have been ongoing for two years with the local community and how they will be affected by this new research facility to ensure the testing facility is handled appropriately.

“The site will not necessarily be off limits to other ocean users,” said Kaety Hildenbrand, a marine fisheries faculty member with Oregon Sea Grant. “As part of our continuing outreach to the coastal community, we plan to have a series of dialogues with safety experts and ocean users to discuss allowable uses.”

What was expected to be another dismal year of sports in Cleveland has turned into the biggest surprise of the early baseball season.

The Cleveland Indians currently sit at the top of the AL Central division with a 19-8 record and have a 4.5 game lead over the Kansas City Royals, another team that has been a pleasant surprise.

One of the most remarkable aspects of this early season surge is how the team has played at home. After their 5-4 come-from-behind win against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, the Indians have won 13 home games in a row. They also set a team record for the most wins in team history in the month of April.

This isn’t to say the Indians have a playoff berth locked up. They’re still far from it, and the St. Louis Blues are a prime example of how a season can take a turn for the worse. The Blues started the season with a 9-1-2 record, but injuries ravaged the team and the Blues missed the playoffs.

Injuries and starting pitching will play a large part in how long the Indians can remain at, or near, the front of the AL Central, but so far Cleveland’s pitching staff has allowed more than five runs only twice in its first 27 games. Plus, the Indians’ disabled list has just four members, although two of them, Mitch Talbot and Carlos Carrasco, were part of the Indians’ opening day rotation.

Although its still early, many believed Cleveland would be in full-on rebuilding mode yet again and have a record closer to the Minnesota Twins’ 9-18 mark.

The previous sports year was otherwise quite forgettable for Cleveland sports fans. The Browns finished their season at 5-11, the Cavaliers went 19-63 with a 26-game losing streak mixed in and the Indians were coming off a 69-93 season and finished 25 games behind the division-winning Twins.

Expectations for this year were equally low, but the Indians have thus far shown Cleveland fans there is reason to hope.

The economics of Major League Baseball are much different than they were back in the mid-1990s when the Indians last had a team make the playoffs multiple years in a row, but they have the youngest team in baseball that could give fans optimism for another similar run of success.

The Indians had the makings of a great team in 2007 with a pitching staff led by C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee and almost went to the World Series, but salary restrictions forced the Indians to trade both Sabathia and Lee before the 2009 season was finished.

Maybe this early success is just a fluke and the Indians will be in fourth place by the time September comes around, but they have already beaten teams that are over .500 such as the Royals and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and they’ve beaten teams that likely will be over .500 by the end of the season, including the Tigers, Twins and Boston Red Sox.

The Indians’ May schedule doesn’t look to be any more difficult than April, so maybe this team will be this season’s baseball surprise and give Cleveland fans a reason to believe they can have a good team without a dominant superstar such as LeBron James.

A total of 22 intentionally set fires took place around Morgantown Sunday night and early Monday morning, as West Virginia University students took a break from the imposing finals week to celebrate Osama bin Laden’s death.

The fires began at 11:42 p.m., Sunday, according to Morgantown Fire Department Chief Mark Caravasos.

Celebrations could be heard throughout city streets early Monday morning, Hundreds of students stood near burning couches, mattresses and trash on fire near campus late Sunday night and into the early morning hours on Monday following President Barack Obama’s speech detailing the Al Qaida leader’s demise.

Caravasos said at times firefighters were delayed to certain areas of the city due to large crowds of people celebrating in the streets. Several fires caused minor damage to the asphalt on the roads, he said.

WVU spokeswoman Becky Lofstead said that most of the fires occurred in the areas surrounding the campus.

“(The first responders) did their jobs admirably considering the spontaneity of the news,” she said. “They do a great job responding to those situations.”

The majority of fires occurred in the Sunnyside neighborhood and High Street areas of Morgantown. Hundreds of students chanted and cheered near the intersection of High and Willey Streets early Monday morning for hours.

“People were feeling very patriotic last night and responding to the moment,” Lofstead said. “For the most part, students were not participating in destructive activity. It’s usually a small group of participants that partake in (destructive activity).”

University Police Chief Bob Roberts said University Police made two arrests on alcohol-related charges. An underage, intoxicated male hit the window of a University police car as it drove by, while another intoxicated individual had “burning material” in his hand, Roberts said.

“I understand why people are celebrating; it’s been almost 11 years,” he said. “People were compliant and cooperative. We had no issues really.”

Roberts also said the Morgantown City Police made no arrests last night.

Lofstead said the University was working in coordination with the Morgantown Police and Fire Departments to identify any students cited for setting fires or not cooperating with first responders. Photos and videos are being reviewed to identify any additional individuals.

“We will work to identify those students, and then they could be disciplined through the University judicial process,” Lofstead said. “They could also face additional consequences through the law.”

Interim Dean of Students Corey Farris said WVU should have everything it needs within the next few days to move forward with the judicial process on any students who were cited.

WVU will receive the police reports from either University Police or Morgantown Police. Once it gets that information, it will determine the type of student conduct allegations. Faculty, staff and students sit on the conduct panels and hear perspectives from all parties involved.

According to Farris, a punishment for an offense such as underage consumption would likely involve alcohol counseling, while destructive behavior such as a fire can result in suspension or expulsion from the school.

“Whether a student is celebrating because of a big win or the death of Osama bin Laden, I don’t know if it has any different effect on the punishment,” Farris said. “Students were celebrating and reacting.”

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said Sunday that the federal government has classified the state’s recent tornadoes as a category one natural disaster, which was the same ranking given to the results of Hurricane Katrina and 9/11.

On its Web site, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) lists 10 primary factors in determining the severity, magnitude and impact of a disaster event, including the amount and type of damage, the impact on the infrastructure of affected areas or critical facilities, imminent threats to public health and safety and dispersion or concentration of the damage.

“NOAA was in town yesterday measuring and taking measurements on the disaster to put into whatever category it should go into,” said FEMA spokesperson Tim Tyson.

Tyson said that FEMA follows the Stafford Act, which tells FEMA exactly how to respond to a disaster. He said the magnitude of the disaster only dictates the size of the response, not how it is coordinated.

“We would have responded the in the same nature if this was an F-1 tornado,” he said. “It’s going to be the same response, but [the category] determines the scope of the response.”

Bentley said the fatality count for Alabama is up to 250, while another 1,700 are injured. In Tuscaloosa alone, as of Sunday evening, 39 were confirmed dead, 1,000 were injured and 455 were missing.

A deplorable act on campus followed one of the U.S. most important victories in the War on Terror.

Hours after President Barack Obama announced Osama bin Laden had been shot and killed in a firefight during a U.S. Navy SEALs operation, the American flag hanging over the Parade Ground was cut down and burned.

ROTC students said they found the burned remains of the flag at about 5:45 a.m. The flag has since been replaced.

Burning the American flag while the rest of the nation is in celebration is despicable and embarrassing for our campus against a backdrop of patriotism. But the First Amendment protects all symbolic speech — including flag burning (Texas v. Johnson).

But even more cowardice and hatred exposed itself in the comments section of our online story Monday about the burning.

Soon after we published, anonymous commenters on lsureveille.com began blaming Muslims for the burning. We deleted one comment in particular for its inciteful nature:

“Some stupid Muslim student getting a free education probably did it… It’s sad we still choose to educate these people and all they want to do is kill or do harm to us! I wish some of the ROTC guys would have caught this or these cowards and burned them!”

The comment was submitted at 12:43 p.m. — far too early to know who the police were pursuing.

Who’s to say a non-Muslim deviant didn’t burn the set of colors to frame the campus’ Muslim population? Who’s to say it wasn’t some misguided form of patriotism?

It’s narrow, incendiary convictions like this that guide hateful terrorism in the first place, and directing stereotyped hatred at a religious group helps nothing.

Burning our own flag amid celebrations of strides against some of the world’s greatest hate doesn’t need compounding with bigotry of any sort.

We’ll deplore whoever did this with complete impartiality — whether or not they’re Muslim.

Just past midnight on Sunday, thousands of Ohio State students celebrated the death of Osama bin Laden. While some jumped in Mirror Lake or set off fireworks, others were disappointed with the reactions of their classmates.

“I mean, I think it’s a good thing. That’s what our military is for, to eliminate threats and obviously, (bin Laden) was a threat, but most of those students who jumped last night were not directly involved with 9/11,” said Greg Lavins, a second-year in French and sociology. “It’s kind of sad celebrating someone’s death with beers and Facebook photos. Someone died. We killed someone.”

From a psychological perspective, the jubilation was not a surprise and could mirror OSU sports, said assistant professor of psychology Kentaro Fujita.

“With his assassination … it kind of represents, symbolically I guess, for many people a tangible sign that people are making progress,” Fujita said. “This has been the goal of the United States for some time. I think for a lot of people, given how important this goal has been for the country, their celebration represents the celebration of achieving that goal much like when the football team wins.”

Though some students were upset with the celebrations, they were not surprised.

“It was just a typical OSU celebration,” said Amanda Ross, a third-year in fashion and retail studies. “I told my boyfriend, ‘I guarantee someone jumps into Mirror Lake.'”

In addition to the impromptu swim, fireworks could be heard around campus for hours after President Barack Obama announced the news of the al-Qaida leader’s death in an address to the nation Sunday.

Even if the celebration may be understandable from a psychological viewpoint, some students struggled to find reasons for joy.

“I’m disappointed in OSU,” said Pete Metz, a fourth-year in political science. “People just don’t understand. I’m relieved, but I can’t celebrate someone’s death. This isn’t (Victory in Japan Day), there are still terrorist threats, if not more. Those students just don’t understand. It’s kind of morbid.”

The discomfort some felt can best be explained by conflicting values, Fujita said.

“With some individuals, I think they may feel uncomfortable because on the one hand, it was a successful goal accomplishment, but on the other hand, the manner in which it was carried out and the goal itself may not be one which they were happy with,” he said.

Kate Haverland, a third-year in fashion and retail studies, echoed the opinions of her fellow students.

“I wasn’t shocked that students jumped,” she said. “It was just another excuse to celebrate, but what I want to know is where students are storing fireworks in the dorms.”

The celebration of students could be related to the self-esteem and the psychological phenomenon known as basking in reflected glory, Fujita said.

“When people who are part of the same group to which you belong, when they accomplish something, we like to believe that it reflects something about us as well,” Fujita said. “There may also be a self-esteem component because we like to align ourselves with successes that people of our group have had. … We feel joy and jubilation when we accomplish our own personal goals. We do the same thing when our groups accomplish their goals.”

Metz reflected on his friends in the military and how they reacted to the news.

“They’re pleased, but it’s just another reminder that it’s not all settled,” he said. “If anything, we’re on heightened alert now. It’s a big deal.”

Some said they were excited OSU students made such a big deal out of the news.

“I think it’s cool that this matters so much to everyone and that it is on the same level as the Michigan game,” said Jessica McKean, a third-year in marketing.

Other students do not think reactions to a football game and a death should be on the same scale.

“I don’t understand. I mean, I am happy that it happened, but I’m not celebrating,” said Emma Morgan, a second-year in psychology. “I don’t think we should celebrate someone’s death.”

Though some students look at the reactions as a celebration of death, there may be other root causes, Fujita said.

“Are they celebrating because they think it is over or because they think we have reached a significant milestone?” he said. “So there may be some misunderstandings among people. Even though we are all celebrating, the reasons why we are celebrating may be very different for different people.”

After a hospital stay, senior citizens may feel like students who have pulled an all-nighter, according to the lead researcher of a study recently conducted at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Researchers discovered that seniors may experience low cognition or short-term memory loss after spending more than one night in a hospital. According to the study, memory tends to improve about a month after discharge.

Researchers studied 200 seniors over the age of 70 who did not have previously reported memory problems. After staying in a hospital for more than 24 hours, almost one-third of seniors scored low on memory tests. One month after discharge, 58 percent of patients had improved scores on their cognition tests.

This memory loss can be especially detrimental when it comes to remembering discharge instructions, said Dr. Lee Lindquist, lead researcher for the study.

“If you don’t follow instructions just right, you can end up back in the hospital, and re-hospitalization is detrimental to their health,” said the assistant professor in geriatric medicine. “For every day a senior is in the hospital, it takes two weeks to regain their strength.”

Seniors who go home confused about their discharge instructions may be labeled as having memory loss and may be placed in a nursing facility unnecessarily, Lindquist said.

Many insurance companies no longer cover re-hopsitalizations, which also makes forgetting instructions a financial burden, she said.

Patients are often woken up in the middle of the night to check their vital signs during a hospital stay, which can cause sleep deprivation, Lindquist said. A combination of new medication, changed eating patterns and lack of sleep contributes to seniors’ loss of cognition, she said.

“They’re pretty sick, so when you put these all together, you can see how a hospital stay can make memory a little worse,” Lindquist said.

Dr. Victoria Braund is the director of the division of geriatrics at NorthShore University HealthSystem, and she said she has seen many patients who experience delirium after a hospital stay and get their “days and nights flipped around.”

Still, remembering instructions from a doctor can be difficult for anyone, she said.

“People just don’t remember,” Braund said. “Doctors talk fast and use big words, and people are stressed and don’t always get it.”

Braund said she recommends writing discharge instructions down, and both she and Lindquist said letting seniors maintain their sleep cycles may help them remember more.

Family members are the most important tool for seniors to remember their instructions, both doctors said. Braund said she always takes a week off of work whenever her mother needs surgery to visit her at a hospital in Utah.

“Anybody who goes into a modern hospital has to have family with them every step of the way because it’s too complex and there’s too much room for error,” Braund said. “You need to have family members looking out for you.”

State universities all across America are suffering as they watch government funding dwindle away. While some schools are reacting with strong protests against these cuts — including, we’re proud to say, our University — schools in Pennsylvania are being told to take a different approach. In response to concerns about a proposed 2011-2012 budget that includes slashing aid to higher education by half, Gov. Tom Corbett, R-Pa., suggested that six public universities which sit on the Marcellus Shale start extracting natural gas from the shale in order to make up for their lack of funding. We wish we could say that Corbett was just joking, but the unfortunate fact is that he was not. Even if he was, though, we would still be upset. The higher education crisis is no laughing matter, especially not to students like us who are experiencing it firsthand.

Corbett’s comments are, in some ways, illustrative of why higher education is in danger in the first place. Sure, the languishing economy is not helping the matter, but it is not solely to blame for the situation state schools are in. Perhaps even more harmful than the economy are politicians such as Corbett, who fail to see the dire importance of funding state schools. These people do not care about the exorbitant student loans many of us are forced to take out just to get by. They do not care that we will be paying for these loans for the rest of our lives. They do not care that even state schools are becoming too expensive for average people to attend.

It would, we have to admit, be pretty encouraging if these schools — faced with Corbett’s seeming apathy and impractical solutions — actually accepted his challenge and did find a way to mine natural gas from the shale to profit. It would be an excellent and effective slap in the face to Corbett and his ilk. Then again, the chances of that happening are slim to none, and we cannot forget the well-documented dangers involved in drilling for natural gas.

As long as people like Corbett are in charge, higher education will only suffer more. We need people in charge who actually care about students and the plights they are being forced to shoulder. Instead, we have people who cut without thinking about the terrible damage they are causing to our nation as a whole.