According to a Princeton Review Survey of high school students, Harvard University ranked as the top "dream" school. Princeton University was the favorite among parents who were questioned in a separate survey. The survey, entitled "College Hopes & Worries Survey," was featured in The Princeton Review's "Best 366 Colleges" book and asked students about college admissions and financial aid. In answer to the question, "What 'dream college' do you wish you could attend (or see your child attend) if acceptance or cost weren't issues?" students chose, Harvard, followed by Stanford, then Princeton. Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania were the only Ivy League schools not included on the lists. Eighty-four percent of students say financial aid will be "very necessary," 50 percent of students said that the greatest factor in choosing a college will be the school with the "best overall fit."
A New York judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by a businessman shown in the movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." The businessman, Jeffrey Lemerond '97, claims to have suffered "public ridicule, degradation and humiliation," because of his undesired role in the movie. New York civil rights law accords a small protection to any person whose image is used for advertising or trade purposes without his written consent. However, the use of someone's image in the coverage of "newsworthy events or matters of public interest is exempt from the law." The judge came to the conclusion that "Borat" depicts newsworthy events. "The movie employs as its chief medium a brand of humor that appeals to the most childish and vulgar in its viewers," but she acknowledged that it attempts an ironic commentary on American society. "The movie challenges its viewers to confront, not only the bizarre and offensive Borat character himself, but the equally bizarre and offensive reactions he elicits from 'average' Americans," she said, according to Business Week.
Heidi Byrnes, a German professor at Georgetown University and editor of the Perspectives column in The Modern Language Journal, held a conference to discuss the improvement of America's linguistic resources. The conference, held at Georgetown, included academics and government representatives concerned with creating a national foreign language policy for the government and for education. The concept of a unified, stronger foreign language policy arose in light of the rising emphasis on what President Bush's administration calls "national-security languages," in a post-September 11th world. The result of the conference was the creation of a panel that will act as an intermediary agency between academics in the foreign languages field and government and business agencies.
