Arguing that there is a strong correlation between climate change and infectious disease, Dr. Rita Colwell, a world-renowned expert in oceanology and epidemiology, spoke to students in Moore Hall on Tuesday afternoon. The lecture is part of a series about climate change and national security sponsored by the Dickey Center for International Understanding's War and Peace Studies Program and the Dartmouth Institute of Arctic Studies. Using Peru and Bangladesh as case studies, Colwell pointed to a strong correlation between recent climate change, such as the rise in ocean temperatures and the spread of infectious diseases like cholera and influenza.
Princeton University is exploring the creation of a program that would allow students to take a tuition-free gap year during which they would perform community service outside of the United States, according to a Princeton press release. The university aims to create a program that would give students an international perspective, while relieving them from academic pressures for a year before they enter college. Students would not be required to pay tuition and would receive need-blind financial aid. The university hopes to begin the program in 2009 with a small number of students, but eventually plans to expand the program around 100 students per year, roughly 10 percent of each class.
