U.S. soldiers in Iraq and up to 23 other countries will soon be able to take on-site college courses with professors from three U.S. universities, thanks to contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported Thursday. Under the contracts, which total $66 million, Central Texas College, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the University of Maryland will send faculty members to U.S. military bases where they will teach liberal arts courses to troops who wish to earn college degrees. As many as 15,000 military personnel are expected to enroll in the courses, Susan C. Aldridge, University of Maryland president, told The Chronicle. The first set of classes are set to begin in Iraq on August 1.
Teenagers who identify with ethnic minorities tend not to spend time with groups composed solely of their ethnic peers, according to a new study released by the Society for Research in Child Development. The study, conducted by researchers at Dartmouth, the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, examined 2,465 black, Asian and Latino students at seven public high schools across the Midwest and West. For students of Asian descent, the study found that spending time with an "ethnically oriented crowd" yielded mostly positive results, such as pride in one's heritage. Most Latino students felt mixed results, including pride and discrimination, when in groups of their ethnic peers. The study was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education.
A group of Dartmouth students held a moment of silence on the Green last night for the massive earthquake in China's Sichuan Province. The moment of silence was organized by the Dartmouth Chinese Students and Scholars Association. The earthquake, which hit southwest China on Monday, has left more than 19,500 dead and 40,000 missing, The New York Times reported. As of Thursday, at least three dozen towns struck by the earthquake had not been reached by rescue efforts. Officials told The Times that the final death toll could rise to over 50,000.
