Oregon Law Trades Education for Future Paychecks

#Loans

When the Federal student loan interest rate doubled, Oregon countered by offering free tuition to students attending its universities. Instead of paying back a loan with a set interest rate, students would pay 3% of their paycheck to the state after they graduate. The plan is no doubt revolutionary, but not everyone is excited about it:

“Why work so hard?” Walker said, mentioning that those who graduate and find higher paying careers would end up contributing more to the fund than those who decided to go into service positions, such as teachers or reporters. “You don’t know how much you’re going to make after college,” Walker said. “Just saying it’ll be 3 percent won’t matter if I don’t get a job.” – Daily Emerald

The bill will enter a study phase in 2015, meaning that it will not become the law of the land until at least 2019.

Sonoma State Orientation Leader Asked to Remove Her Cross Necklace

#Religion

When Sonoma State Junior, Audrey Jarvis, was asked to remove her religiously affiliated jewelry before going in front of future students as an orientation leader, she was understandably shocked. After the incident received national coverage and Jarvis teamed up with Liberty Institute to seek restitution, school president, Ruben Armiñana, released an official school-wide apology:

“Somebody made a mistake. It should not have happened . . . you are free to display whatever religious instrument you wish.” – President Ruben Armiñana, as quoted by the Sonoma State Star

Jarvis will be meeting with school officials, and it’s possible that legal action will be brought against the school as well.

Nick Offerman, aka Ron Swanson to Visit Ohio University in November

#Entertainment

Award-winning actor and comedian, Nick Offerman (best known for his role in NBC’s Parks and Recreation) will be visiting Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Nov. 9 as part of his American Ham Comedy Tour. Offerman’s tour begins in Rhode Island this August and marches down the Northeast coastline before heading inland to Ohio’s campus.

Gainsville Florida, Columbus Ohio, and Los Angeles California Named Top Cities for “Bros”

#Fraternities

Unsurprisingly, some of the biggest cities for “bros” are those with large fraternity presences, but don’t think that being a bro is necessarily a bad thing:

“I generally think of it positively. Sometimes being a bro and having bros means a lot of times you’ve gone through a lot of the same things and shared experiences. That’s what makes you bros.” – Chris Sposito, Junior at the University of Florida

Apparently popped collars, beer pong tourneys, and lots of muscle-y beach pics aren’t always thought of as a bad thing.

Federal student loan rates have dominated the news this week, and one former CIA Director is trying to hide on the sidelines as Gawker unveiled his massive salary for teaching just one class at CUNY. Also, read on to hear about the future of the English Major and the latest social trend: video sharing.

Student Loans Just Got Pricier

#Loans

Students expecting to get student loans next year may be facing a new, unexpected challenge if Congress can’t make a decision before their recess in August:

Subsidized Stafford loans, which account for roughly a quarter of all direct federal borrowing, went from 3.4 percent interest to 6.8 percent interest on Monday. Congress’ Joint Economic Committee estimated the cost passed to students would be about $2,600. – The Huffington Post

In a world where over 11% of people can’t afford to pay back there student loans at all, this increase amounts to a big hit.

Disgraced CIA Director Receives Comfy College-Funded Paycheck

#Professors

As Gawker points out in their report this week, most new professors at City University of New York will bring home only $25,000 per year for their efforts. Still, the school has seen fit to pay former CIA Director David Patraeus $200,000 for teaching a single class:

[Patraeus] will net a whopping $200,000 a year for the course, which will total about three hours of work, aided by a group of graduate students to take care of “course research, administration, and grading.”…That works out to approximately $2,250 per hour. – Gawker

Fortunately, it looks like his salary will be granted from a “Private Gift,” but it’s still got people questioning this use of funds.

Humanities Majors Continue to Decline

#Majors

English, History, Literature, and the rest of the humanities majors have dwindled, and many believe that’s a problem. It’s easy to let them pass by the wayside when faced with an economic crisis, but is there something more we can do to help them return to glory?

The teaching of the humanities has fallen on hard times. So says a new report on the state of the humanities by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and so says the experience of nearly everyone who teaches at a college or university. Undergraduates will tell you that they’re under pressure — from their parents, from the burden of debt they incur, from society at large — to choose majors they believe will lead as directly as possible to good jobs. Too often, that means skipping the humanities. – New York Times

The Social Medium of 2013: Micro-Video

#Technology

Snapchat, Vine, and now Instagram have all made a big splash in the mobile social networking markets, and it looks like that trend will continue into 2013. More on micro-video on CNN.