good intentions, but...

A certain Lincoln University has decided to test students' body mass index (BMI- typically a measure of obesity: see the cdc) and require a course for graduation if the student's BMI is over 30 (obese). If a student falls under 30 the extra fitness class is waived. (see curriculum here)

A typical college degree includes a fitness class. ok, no problem. But discriminating based on an individual's BMI? The Lincoln University students already take 2 fitness credits! Obesity is unhealthy. Obesity is not good-- but does that make it right to base college degree requirements on physical characteristics? Definitely not!

Here are a few sources that cover this issue:
the lincolnian, the college newspaper
an npr newsblog
usa today

Students, please enjoy this: 5 things professors don't know (chronicle of higher education)

students protest

As a student at small college in the midwest, I don't hear of protests often (nor do I experience protests). Regardless, California students seems to be all about protesting this week. I learned one thing out of these events: a lesson in economics and strategic methods for change.

One student protest was against a clothing manufacturer which fired over one hundred workers after the workers unionized. The protesters were members of an anti-sweatshop movement with organized groups at colleges/universities across the nation. It seems this happened because students convinced their administrations to end or suspend agreements with the company. It needed the college market.

The other protest was against a decision to raise tuition at University of California schools. As a student whose tuition has increased $ 2,000 every year for three consecutive years, I empathize with the students. But somehow, financial aid and scholarships absorbed the extra tuition (for unexplained reasons the college somehow had enough money to increase financial aid, but needed to increase tuition). The real problem seems to be cuts in state funding for the university...maybe the students should be protesting the state budget. (nyt article)

Students protesting tuition hikes could learn from the students protesting sweatshop labor. Be strategic. But they did get plenty of publicity due to the protests!

global students

This New York Times article about China sending more undergrad students to the U.S. this year caught my eye today. Why? Rumor at my Minnesota college has it that we have more students from China than Iowa this year. It turns out this isn't true (but there are more Chinese students than North Dakotan students and 1/3 of all our foreign students are Chinese-- hey it's a big country.)

The article's not interesting apart from this fact-- it talks about the good that foreign students can do for the economy, which I though came out of left field. But it does mention that American universities and colleges are angling for more international students. Some might argue that American students' places at universities are being taken by international students, but really the numbers of international students is tiny compared to the number of American undergraduates. I think it sounds like a win-win situation. Foreign students who want an American education get it. American schools get a new student market ($) and international connections.

American students have a lot to gain from international connections, too. And I'm gonna take a stab at cliche and say that American student can learn from international students who have another perspective on the world and American life. In an interview with three Chinese students who studied at American colleges and wrote a book about it, one student said:

"I was really surprised to see how much peer pressure can work on American college students and how much people want to be the same -- to dress the same way and talk in the same tone" (interview:insidehighered)

The student might have been talking about Greek life, and I'm not agreeing with what she's saying, but it gets you thinking...I got to thinking about international students that I've known. Particularly a German exchange student in one of my English classes. She actually spoke up and had some different opinions about the texts we read. Unfortunately, the rest of us seemed incapable of responding to her perspective and ideas. We could have learned a lot...maybe we weren't prepared to interact with ideas different from your traditional English class discussion trajectory.